Keep and Bear Arms - Gun Owners Home Page

Shooting accidents at home a record low
Submitted by: New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
Website: http://www.nysrpa.org

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"Accidental shootings in the home are at an all-time low, but that's not low enough, said Bill Brassard, director of Project ChildSafe."

"In 2001, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which is affiliated with Project ChildSafe, a national program to distribute free gun locks, reported that firearms were used in 72 accidental deaths by children younger than 14. That constituted 1.3 percent of all unintentional fatalities in children younger than 14 that year and a 60 percent decrease in such deaths since 1995." ...
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KABA Note: According to the CDC, this number dropped again in 2002, to 60. To put this in perspective, 5 times this number of babies under age 1 were murdered in 2002.

Armed for battle
Submitted by: New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
Website: http://www.nysrpa.org

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"By one count, there are 280 million guns in America, where the notion of guns or butter is largely treated as a false choice and resoundingly rejected. The weapons are spread throughout the 50 states, with many households keeping two or 20; lately, it only seems as if every last one of them was playing a starring role here." ...

"An emerging view, not emerging fast enough, is that the pitched battle between lawful owners, who believe the Constitution is on their side, and gun-control advocates, who have a mind of taking guns away, overshadows a more fundamental question: What steps need to be taken to make ours a less violent culture? And make no mistake about it, 'ours' really means males teen-age boys and men, lopsidedly the perpetrators of gun violence, and invariably the victims, by a wide margin." ...
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KABA Note: According to a DOJ study(.pdf file), teenaged boys who had legitimate access to firearms had zero gun crime violations and lower substance abuse and street crimes than other boys.

Richard Stevens: Could Science Prove You Guilty Of A Crime You Didn't Commit?
Submitted by: Longenecker

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... "We have written before that prosecutors are increasingly concerned more with their 'stats' -- their conviction percentages -- than with actual justice."

"Couple this with the vast number of new crimes constantly being created by governments and with the outrageous mandatory minimum sentences for anyone convicted of a 'gun crime,' and you have a recipe for disaster."

"Furthermore, with programs like Project Safe Neighborhoods actively seeking to prosecute "gun crimes" (including the most non-violent acts) no gun owner is safe. ..." ...

Mike targets NRA over cop slay
Submitted by: New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
Website: http://www.nysrpa.org

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"The National Rifle Association was in Mayor Bloomberg's cross hairs yesterday as he blasted the group for putting guns ahead of the lives of cops and children."

"Fundamentally, if you want to solve the problem [of gun violence] it's up to Congress, and Congress keeps getting rolled by the NRA," the mayor said during his weekly WABC radio show."

"'This is plain and simple, the NRA versus the lives of our children and our police officers,' he declared."

"Bloomberg described gun violence as a national issue after telling listeners he had earlier visited the 70th Precinct station house in Brooklyn and comrades of Officer Dillon Stewart, who was slain by a shot through the heart." ...

Canada: U.S. gun lobbyist here to 'counsel' Submitted by: New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Website: http://www.nysrpa.org	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"The National Rifle Association, arguably the most powerful lobby group in the United States, has been enlisted to help shore up the influence of the Canadian gun lobby during the federal election campaign something opponents say smacks of foreign interference and is indicative of the NRA's widening influence around the globe." ...

CA: Hand in hand: Guns, gangs -- Assault weapons found only occasionally by authorities
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"When it comes to weapons and gangs, art may not mimic life."

"In the latest action movies and video games, gangsters run the streets while armed to the hilt with the latest in high-tech, assault weaponry. As highly efficient killing machines, these military-grade rifles literally cut down scores of people on screen in a matter of seconds."

"Meanwhile in the living world, police officers only occasionally encounter AK-47s and AR-15s, usually while searching the homes and hangouts of gang members. Most of the time, handguns are the weapon of choice to commit violent crimes and further a gang's business throughout the Inland Empire and the rest of the state." ...
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Submitter's Note: Obviously these cops are bought and paid for by the NRA: Everyone (Sarah, Rosie, DiFi, Chuckie etc.) knows that 'assault weapons' are the choice of gang-bangers.

NE: Jewelry store owner acted in self-defense
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"The co-owner of a pawn shop who shot two would-be robbers, killing one, won't be charged with any crime, the Douglas County attorney said Friday."

"County Attorney Stu Dornan said Ken Blankenship acted in self-defense when he fired six shots from two different guns at the two teenagers as they pointed guns at him and his partner in their Benson Jewelry & Loan shop Tuesday afternoon."

"Kendall Tealer, 18, died outside the store, and 17-year-old Brandon Bowie was wounded. He was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center."

"Once Bowie gets out of the hospital, he will be charged with robbery and use of a weapon, Dornan said." ...

CA: Shooting may have been in self-defense
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A man shot to death on a local road Thursday may have been killed in self-defense, according to a report from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department." ...

"... According to the sheriff's department, Morris had previously found Creek's disabled car on Harvard Road, full of property. Morris stopped to investigate, concerned that Creek might have burgled a nearby home."

"Creek then ran towards Morris, yelling and threatening his life, according to the sheriff's department report. Morris said he saw Creek reach into his jacket and thought he was reaching for a weapon. Morris was armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and fired one round into Creek's chest, according to the report." ...

IN: Lessons old and new after campus attacks
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Perhaps the scariest part about a string of assaults on women near the Purdue University campus this week is just how random they appeared."

"The women were targeted as they walked outside -- or, in one case, waited for a friend to buzz her into a sorority house. And the women were badly beaten."

"At the risk of sounding alarmist, but it's the kind of thing that could have happened to anyone. And that truly is frightening." ...
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Submitter's Note: From the University's Prospective Student information page: "Weapons: University Residences policy towards weapons is one of ZERO TOLERANCE. ..."

GA: Deadly shooting follows accident
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A Pickens, S.C., man fatally shot the driver of a Suzuki Sidekick on Saturday afternoon during a road-rage argument that resulted from a fender bender ..."

"North Augusta Department of Public Safety Detective Tim Thornton said authorities aren't sure whether Clarence Shehan, 51, will face criminal charges." ...

"Mr. Sharrock then left the scene of the accident."

"Following him, Mr. Shehan reached for his cell phone to report the incident, but before he could dial authorities, Mr. Sharrock stopped abruptly ..."

"Mr. Sharrock got out and approached Mr. Shehan's window ..." ...

"Detective Thornton said Mr. Sharrock began choking Mr. Shehan, who took his .45-caliber pistol from his glove box and shot Mr. Sharrock ..." ...

CO: 911 dispatcher sued over woman's violent death
Submitted by: Anonymous

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"Lawyer's say it appears to be a first of its kind case in Colorado. A Denver woman is suing a 911 dispatcher for not sending police after two emergency calls for help."

"Le Thu Nguyen was killed in 2001 after she was kidnapped and murdered by her ex-fiance, Omar Green. A witness and Nguyen's mother called 911 during and just after the kidnapping, but the 911 dispatcher who answered both calls wouldn't send police." ...
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KABA Note: Dial 9-1-1 and die.

ME: Gun crime in Boston? Just blame northern New England
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"SHOOTINGS in Boston are up 28 percent over last year, The Boston Globe reported last week. One culprit the Globe singled out: New Hampshire gun laws."

"The paper noted that police have traced some guns to 'New Hampshire and Vermont, where firearms laws are less strict and easy for criminals to manipulate.'"

"Or, to put it another way, they have traced guns to New Hampshire and Vermont, where firearms laws are less strict and citizens have an easier time obtaining guns for self-defense. If our firearms laws are the cause of high gun crime, then why is most of the crime in Boston?" ...

AL: Invitation to gunplay
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Some six years ago, a secretary shot and killed another woman off Interstate 65."

"The secretary said the other woman had tailgated her for miles on the interstate after the two got into a vehicular confrontation over who had cut off whom."

"Both cars stopped on the exit ramp. The angry woman got out of her car and approached the secretary, who pulled a pistol and shot the woman."

"After a trial, the secretary was convicted of manslaughter. ... a jury decided hissy fits over bad driving shouldn't escalate into killings."

"Now comes Rep. Albert Hall, D-Gurley, with a bill that lowers the bar on personal responsibility with firearms. It appears to legalize shootings like the one on the exit ramp." ...

OH: Vigilance for hunters rights brings attention to Kenton man
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"His first political battle taught Kentons Gary Oates an important lesson about the struggle for hunters rights."

"In 1977, he helped raise money for a campaign to maintain trapping rights in Ohio. He went door to door to convince people how important the issue would be. Even 63 percent of voters favoring it, when preliminary polls showed only 20 percent of Ohioans favoring it, couldnt dissuade him from remaining ever vigilant."

"'I even knew in 1977 when we had that trapping issue that the harder we can beat them, the longer itll be before they come back,' the 60-year-old Oates said about the first statewide ballot initiative in the country to restrict hunting or trapping. 'If we barely won, theyll come back at us ...'" ...

SC: Four seventh-graders charged after guns reported at school
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"The fate of four seventh-graders arrested and suspended after police confiscated two guns at Georgetown Middle School on Wednesday will be decided during a district hearing into the incident within 10 days ..."

"Police said three of the students arrested and suspended because of the district's zero-tolerance policy either were shown or knew about the weapons: a BB gun and a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber pistol. Police said the fourth student brought the weapons to school. All four are being recommended for expulsion, officials said."

"Another student who saw one of the weapons alerted school officials Wednesday morning at the Anthuan Maybank Drive school, which contains grades six through eight." ...

MD: Student's aide faces gun charge
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A personal assistant to a 17-year-old special-needs student from Catonsville High School has been charged with carrying a gun in the school ...
The student's grandfather reported a burglary at his Halethorpe home last month ... The grandson admitted to detectives to the burglary but said he took only one gun, which he said he gave to the personal assistant, police said."

"The personal assistant told police he took a gun from the student Nov. 17 and carried it around the school that day before taking it to his home so that the student would not get in trouble, police said. The personal assistant told police he didn't tell anyone of the gun because of his felony criminal record, police said." ...

UT: Web of Preston power abuse claimed
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Court records in the Bart Pitcher wrongful-prosecution case reveal a number of previously unreported accusations against former Preston Police Chief Scott Shaw and other city and county officials."

"These include that Shaw illegally used Pitcher, who was on probation for methamphetamine use, as a confidential informant, busted him for drugs used in a police-sanctioned 'controlled buy,' then seized property unrelated to the drug bust even property belonging to his parents."

"Court depositions in the case also accuse the police chief and Pitchers probation officer, former Preston Mayor Jay Heusser, of using their positions to gain sexual favors from Pitchers girlfriend and coercing Pitcher into pleading guilty." ...

AR: Ex-chief sells guns on last day; inquiry ongoing
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"On his last day at work, former Springdale Police Chief Sid Rieff sold handguns being held by police for safekeeping and deposited the money in the departments benevolent fund."

"Interim Police Chief Rick Hoyt said detectives are investigating whether the July 29 transaction was legal and proper. So far, detectives know that the police property officer failed to document when Rieff removed the guns from a police locker, Hoyt said."

"Records show that Rieff sold five of the six guns in question to a Springdale pawn shop. However, Rieff hasnt been able to produce documentation that he sold the sixth weapon, Hoyt said." ...

WI: Reserve member faces conspiracy charges
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve has been arrested on charges he stole $100,000 from the Iraqi occupation authority and accepted money and gifts in exchange for steering reconstruction contracts to a businessman, the Justice Department said."

"Michael Brian Wheeler, 47, of Amherst Junction, faces conspiracy, money laundering and weapons violations charges, according to the criminal complaint ..." ...

"Stein and Wheeler also ... acquired four grenade launchers, 20 fully automatic submachine guns, 12 machine guns, 12 .45-caliber pistols and substantial ammunition, the affidavit said."

"Using his Army status to take possession of the weapons at Fort Bragg, Wheeler, along with Stein, took them to Stein's home ..." ...

Brazil: Deaths mount in Rio's war on crime
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"The pop-pop-pop of firecrackers filled the air. But this was no party."

"To warn drug dealers of a police sweep, youngsters employed as lookouts ... lit string after string of fireworks. Moments later, five officers waving automatic rifles charged down the crowded main street."

"As they ducked for cover, fruit vendors and taxi drivers seemed more spooked by the cops than the criminals." ...

"In their crusade against brutal cocaine and marijuana dealers who control many of Rio's shantytowns, or favelas, police often move in with guns blazing."

"The operations have failed to dislodge the drug gangs or, analysts say, make the city safer. But the shock-and-awe tactics have produced a massive body count." ...

Malaysia: Armoury break-in: Firearms recovered, case solved -- Stolen guns found in front of police station
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"At 7.15am yesterday, guns and bullets were found missing from a police armoury in Terengganu. Before dawn today, they were recovered."

"The 21 guns and 596 bullets were found in a bag placed in front of the police station in Lubok China, Malacca, some 600km from the scene of the crime."

"In less than 24 hours, three men were picked up in connection with the theft at the police General Operations Force camp at Kubang Badak."

"Two of them are policemen working at the camp while the third is a technical school student picked up in Negri Sembilan." ...

UK: US cop quits 'too risky' UK force
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A TEXAN patrol officer who became the first foreigner to join the British police is to resign after three years because he says policing is too dangerous here compared with America."

Ben Johnson ... has written to his chief constable asking to carry a Glock 17 handgun on his routine beat in Reading."

"He said officers are dying unnecessarily because they are less well equipped and trained to protect themselves and the public than their American counterparts." ...

"Johnsons decision was prompted by the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky, a mother of three children and two step-children, who was shot during a robbery in Bradford last month. He said her death demonstrated the lack of training and equipment given to British police." ...

AZ: Lookin' Back: For collectors, vintage guns are like old friends
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Merrill Brown likes to gather some of his old friends (the fowlers) and take them down to meet some of his newer old friends and chew the fat about the good old days."

"That may need some translation:"

" The 'old friends' (fowlers) are vintage firearms, some more than two centuries old, that Brown, who celebrates his 83rd birthday today, collects and loves to shoot."

" The newer old friends are a small group of fellow black-powder enthusiasts who like to gather at area shooting ranges regularly to 'burn some powder' and discuss their mutual interest in vintage firearms."

" The good old days, in Brown's view, are the portion of yesteryear when such firearms were the cutting edge of game-getting technology." ...

ME: Kids make the most of hunting in Maine
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. Some folks will tell you that hunting is an anachronism, outdated in modern society. However, most of those folks live or were raised in urban or suburban areas. Maine is still largely a rural state, where hunting is an integral part of our way of life."

"... The hunting population is aging, and on a nationwide scale, we seem to be falling short at recruiting youngsters into the sport. On the local level though, we're doing just fine."

"Joe Cushman is a typical fifth-grader from Pownal, a typically rural town in southern Maine. Joe turned 10 this year, making him eligible to hunt while accompanied by an adult. The adult, in this case, was his father, Tom." ...

OK: Bagging a Buck With a String
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"For most any hunter, getting an 11-point, 170 pound buck on the very first day of hunting, using a new gun in a new place would definitely seem like a stroke of good luck."

"For Tim Parrish of Edmond, it was the thrill of a lifetime."

"Parrish is not your average Oklahoma deer hunter."

"He is paralyzed from the neck down, a C5-6 quadriplegic with only limited movement in his arms."

"To bag his buck, Parrish devised a firing mechanism using heavy string attached to the trigger of his new rifle." ...

IA: Listen up, if you still can
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"There's some advice I'd like give a young person interested in hunting or shooting. Ironically, it has nothing to do with putting a bullet where you want or sending a charge of sixes into a pheasant at 40 yards. These are fairly easy to do and come almost naturally with practice."

"My advice, simply put, is: 'Protect your hearing.'"

"I know, that's not a very interesting topic for young shooters. They'd rather learn how to tune their rifles to put five shot groups into a one-inch circle at 100 yards."

"But, protecting your hearing is more important." ...
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Submitter's Note: Of course if the NFA hadn't banned them in 1934, most people would be using 'silencers' on their weapons . . .

FL: Indoor gun range opens for business
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Paul Olsen grew up hunting and shooting at targets in his native Wisconsin, but has felt a void living in heavily populated Southwest Florida."

"He still wants to shoot a gun. But there has been no safe place to do it around here."

"'I've always shot outside, making my own gun range,' said Olson, 54, of Alva. 'I've never shot in a controlled area."

"He can now head indoors to the long-awaited Lee County Gun Range, which opened Saturday in Buckingham in eastern Lee. The $7.7 million, 51,000-square-foot center is a joint-use facility that allows both law enforcement and community members to take target practice." ...

UK: Boost for burglars
Submitted by: John Fansler

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"The Government that has vowed to cut violent crime and make us all safer in our homes achieved precisely the opposite result last Friday. Authorised by the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary, Andrew Dismore, a Labour MP, gave a speech lasting more than three hours during the Second Reading of Anne McIntosh's Householder Protection Bill. Mr Dismore's lengthy filibuster ensured that the Bill will never become law."

"The measure would have given householders greater rights to protect themselves against intruders. It would have ended the confusion over what they are allowed to do when confronted by thugs who have broken into their homes. It would have finally put an end to the topsy-turvy situation in which burglars can sue or even prosecute householders for using 'excessive force' against them. ..." ...

Philippines: Another Journalist Gunned Down
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A hard-hitting newspaper and radio journalist was fatally shot in the central Philippines, and police said Friday they were investigating whether his reporting on alleged corruption by customs officials led to his murder ..."

"George Benaojan, 27, was talking to a man in front of a store in Cebu city on Thursday evening when an unidentified man shot him in the mouth, chest and neck with a .45-caliber pistol, regional police commander Chief Superintendent Edward Gador said." ...

"The AP further reports in The China Post Online that police suspect Benaojan's commentaries on Cebu Radio DYBB accusing officials in the Bureau of Customs of corruption may have played a role in his killing, Gador said, but he offered no other details." ...

Canada: Holiday shoppers flee gunfire
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A man fired at least five shots into an empty police cruiser parked outside The Bay on busy downtown Ste. Catherine St. yesterday afternoon, injuring two passers-by who were struck by stray bullets."

"As the shots rang out, shocked Christmas shoppers screamed and ran for cover on the street adorned with festive lights, witnesses said."

"The victims, a 30-year-old man and a woman, 54, suffered injuries to the legs and were rushed to a nearby hospital. Their injuries were not life-threatening, police said."

"Police described the shooter as a man in his 20s. He fled on foot." ...