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The Federal Governments Brief in the D.C. Gun Ban Case: A Glass That Is More Than Half Full
Submitted by: Robert Hilton

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"Although some thoughtful lovers of liberty have lamented the half-empty aspects of the U.S. Solicitor General's recently-filed brief in the D.C. gun ban case (District of Columbia v. Heller), the portion that is full is legally far more significant in securing Second Amendment rights in the arena that counts most: the Supreme Court. On careful analysis, the brief's departures from sound principle are internally inconsistent and otherwise not particularly effective. Americans should recognize the importance of the government's concessions to individual liberty and ignore its predictable, bureaucratic attempt to defend existing federal laws. That is what the High Court is most likely to do." ...

SUBMITTER'S COMMENT:
This opinion is that the Supreme Court will pay attention to the part of the Government's brief which says that the Second Amendment confers or recognizes an individual right, and the Court will politely disregard the Government's request to send the case back to a lower court for the lower court's views relating to the law's Constitutionality. After all, the Supreme Court agreed to decide only whether it is Constitutional to completely ban handguns, and completely ban possession of any operable gun, even if you are being assaulted in your home. It doesn't need any more lower court input to figure out the answer to that question.

WA: Seattle Crime Down, Yet Mayor, Police Chief Want to Attack Gun Owners, Says Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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BELLEVUE, Wash. -- How do politicians capitalize on good news about crime statistics to attack gun rights? Just ask Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

"Mayor Nickels announced that there were fewer murders and assaults involving firearms, yet he and Chief Kerlikowske want to close gun shows and further restrict the firearm civil rights of law-abiding Washington residents," observed CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. "There is no indication that any of the firearms involved in Seattle's homicides last year came from a gun show. It was the same story in 2006.

"Greg Nickels needs to take off his blue state sunglasses," he continued, "so that he can see the difference between Seattle -- where thousands of private citizens are licensed to carry -- and cities where they are not. Seattle last year had 24 murders, while in Boston, where gun permits are limited, there were 66 killings. Milwaukee, where there is no right to carry, reported 105 homicides. And Washington, D.C., which bans handguns, reported 181 slayings in 2007." ...

IL: La Salle County committee seeks gun ownership views in defending against Chicago's anti-gun legislation
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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"Some La Salle County Board members are weighing whether local views on gun ownership need to be made clear to the state Legislature." ...

"At Thursday's meeting of the County Board's Legislation and Rules Committee, members considered a resolution..."

"The resolution says gun ownership is guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and opposes proposed state legislation that 'would ban the possession and use of firearms now employed by individual citizens of La Salle County.' "

"The resolution ...does not specify any particular legislation. But Leininger also provided a list of 10 legislative bills concerning gun control, ranging from a ban on assault weapons and .50 caliber rifles to outlawing the private sale of handguns. He also offered a state map showing the more than 60 counties that have approved the resolution."

"Those proposed laws, Leininger said, were aimed at dealing with problems in Chicago." ...

GOA Calls on Bush to Withdraw Anti-Gun Brief
Submitted by: RPA-PAC
Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org

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"Gun Owners of America (GOA), a grassroots lobby representing over 300,000 Americans, has called on the Bush administration to withdraw an anti-gun brief field by the Solicitor General in the U.S. Supreme Court. The amicus brief, filed last Friday in the D.C. gun ban case of D.C. v. Heller, argued that any gun ban - no matter how sweeping - could be constitutional if some court determines that it is 'reasonable.' " ...

"People need to prove themselves before obtaining a gun license"
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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... "Guns alone do no harm. Guns are a sporting tool. Firearms, like any sporting tool in the right hands, are not dangerous. In the wrong hands, many objects -- guns included -- are dangerous. An owner's lack of responsibility cannot be blamed on an inanimate object. It is not the car's fault that it ran over a young child. It is an owner's responsibility -- with respect to a car, knife, firearm, or blunt stick -- to be competent, able and proficient in its use, maintain proper upkeep and keep the item safely locked away."

"People who are unable and unwilling to do these things pose a threat to society and therefore should not be privileged with the use and possession of the item, whether it be a car or a firearm." ...

ATF agent arrested on hit-and-run charge
Submitted by: Idaho Ordnance
Website: http://www.id-ord.com/

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"A federal agent has been charged with hitting a woman with his car in a parking garage then zooming off, only to be arrested three blocks away, Miami Beach police said."

"Arnold Smalley III, 40, of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), was arrested early Friday on charges of leaving the scene of an accident."

"Smalley made 'an abrupt intentional turn and accelerated, striking the victim and knocking down the female victim,' according to a police report."

"The woman ran down the garage stairs to the security station by the entrance -- only to see Smalley's car accelerate toward her, police said, 'causing her to run to avoid being struck again.' " ...

The ATF truly is dangerous!
Submitted by: Idaho Ordnance
Website: http://www.id-ord.com/

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Here is a frightening story that just happened with an ATF Agent who was arrested, after he hit a woman with his car, then:

The woman ran down the garage stairs to the security station by the entrance -- only to see Smalley's car accelerate toward her, police said, ``causing her to run to avoid behind struck again.'

Smalley claims that the woman jumped on his hood and fell off.

For those wanting to contact Agent Smalley regarding an internship with the ATF, he will be out of the office for a while. Expect him back though, "Maximum" Mike Sullivan gave a promotion to an attorney at the US Attorney's office, not long after the prosecutor was rebuked by a Judge for lying under oath.

Founder of government-funded anti-gun group pleads no contest to weapons charges
Submitted by: Antonio Luevano
Website: http://www.e-guns.us

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LOS ANGELES - "A former Los Angeles gang member who founded an anti-violence group called No Guns has pleaded no contest to federal weapons charges."

"Hector (Big Weasel) Marroquin, 51, and co-defendant Sylvia Arrellano, 25, entered pleas Thursday for three counts of manufacture, distribution and transport for sale of an unlawful assault weapon."

"Arrellano also pleaded no contest to machine-gun conversion and possessing a silencer and acknowledged the crime was committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang." ...

"Marroquin was arrested in June at his home following a nine-month investigation into weapons sales by the 18th Street gang..." ...

"Marroquin founded No Guns in 1996, ostensibly to reduce gang and gun violence. The group received $1.5 million from the city as a subcontractor on anti-gang efforts but its contract was cancelled last year after authorities learned Marroquin had hired relatives, including his son ... an acknowledged 18th Street gang member who pleaded no contest in June 2007 to home-invasion robbery and was sentenced to nine years in state prison."

POSTER COMMENTS:
"Do as I say, not as I do." I love the part where the group received $1.5M US to help reduce gang violence.

NJ: Wayne police lost their H&K MP5 machine gun
Submitted by: John Donovan

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WAYNE, N.J. (CBS) Ż "A large police department in New Jersey is in nail biting mode. It has lost one of the deadliest weapons in its arsenal -- a fully automatic submachine gun, and has no idea where it could be."

"A 9 mm submachine gun of German design, the MP5 was developed in the 1960s by a group of engineers from the West German arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. It's used by law enforcement tactical teams across the country, as well as Army Rangers, Delta Force and Navy SEALs, among others. It is a deadly, fully automatic weapon, which can fire up to several hundred rounds per minute."

"The Wayne Police Department had three MP5 submachine guns. That is until last week, when one of them went missing." ...

NJ: Cops: Anyone seen my submachine gun?
Submitted by: Greg

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FULL TEXT BELOW:

WAYNE, N.J. (AP) -- Wayne police are trying to find a submachine gun that's been missing for at least a week.

The 9mm weapon can shoot 700 to 900 rounds per minute.

Deputy Police Chief John Reardon says he doubts the weapon is out in the public.

The department noticed the MP5 weapon missing during an inventory of the arsenal.

Passaic County prosecutors are investigating what happened to the weapon. It's listed as missing or stolen in a national police database.

From JPFO: Unpleasant Legal Analysis -- Bush Admin Lawyers Attack Second Amendment - Saluted By Brady Campaign!
Submitted by: Dirtrhodesscholar Blog
Website: http://stewart-rhodes.blogspot.com/

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... "More proof the government wants you disarmed. Now would be a great time to wake up the 'It can't happen here' crowd."

"So much for the old saw that Republican politicians, if only they could, would get rid of all of those unconstitutional federal gun laws, but we just need to be patient until they are in a position to do so. Now, when a case is before the Supreme Court, and they actually have a chance (however remote) of striking down those federal gun laws by convincing the Supreme Court to rule those laws unconstitutional, we have the US government, in the form of the Bush Administration controlled Justice Department, chock full of Republican lawyers, arguing to the Court that all of those federal gun laws are perfectly constitutional." ...

VA: Despite pleas by Tech families, Va. panel rejects gun bill
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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"Families of those killed and wounded during a deranged gunman's rampage at Virginia Tech implored a legislative panel to close the loophole in state law that allows criminals and the mentally ill to buy firearms at gun shows."

"The Republican-dominated committee ignored them, voting 13-9 along party lines Friday to kill legislation to require unlicensed sellers at gun shows to run criminal background checks on buyers. Such checks now are required only of federally licensed gun dealers." ...

"Gun-rights advocates who opposed the bill noted that Cho did not buy his weapon at a gun show, and one even suggested gun-control activists were capitalizing on the Virginia Tech tragedy to advance their agenda." ...

WA: 1st year Pierce county deputy (Iraq vet) charged w/ rape of woman he pulled over
Submitted by: none

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Law enforcement officer definitely having sex with a woman he pulled over for drunk driving -- after a "courtesy ride" home.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/15062787/detail.html

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/256066.html

The 27-year-old deputy was booked into the county jail just after 7 p.m. on two counts of first-degree rape and one count of 1st degree burglary

He was being held in lieu of $150,000 bail Tue. night.

Troyer said Tuesday that the deputy, a married Iraq war veteran who has been on the force about a year, is suspected of having sexual contact with an intoxicated woman after giving her a courtesy ride home last week.

Pierce Cty Sheriff Paul Pastor said, Its our duty to protect victims of crime and we will do so even when the suspect is a law enforcement officer.

VA: Aftermath of failed gun show bill: anti-gunner excuses vs. Reality
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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... "A bill requiring unlicensed gun dealers to run background checks at gun shows was indefinitely deferred..."

"It failed with all 13 Republicans on the committee voting to defer it. The nine Democrats on the committee voted for the legislation..." ...

The media is airing anti-gunners' whining on the loss of their pet legislation:

"We weren't given enough notice for families to show up and testify."

The defeat "is disappointing."

"It was impossible for people to mobilize on time."

In reality, this is what really happened:

"Each year both sides have made the same arguments, and each year they have had the same results." --Jess Ryer, press secretary to House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith (R-Salem)

Carico v. Commonwealth, "as a palladium of personal security and social order and peace", 1870
Submitted by: GunShowOnTheNet.com
Website: http://GunShowOnTheNet.com/

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"...2. Assured and continual danger and self-defense.--Speaking of assured and continual danger to life, this court, in the case in 2 Duvall, defined the principle of self-defense as follows: "Like the sword of Damocles, the threatened danger is continually impending every moment and everywhere. The threatened man may be waylaid or otherwise attacked unawares without the possibility of defense or of escape . . . And does either human or divine law require such prolonged agony and peril; or can the best and most prudent men suicidally forbear to strike for riddance, if they have the courage to defend themselves, in the only way of secure and lasting escape?" ..."

Weep for Washington D.C, Will We Be Next?
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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"If the citizens of DC were a nation, we would arm them for the purpose of protection. As U.S. citizens, we strip them of their protection."

"This week the Bush administration effectively launched an attack on Second Amendment Rights where it lives-DC. The Supreme Court is reviewing a case where the residents of D.C. are denied the right to own guns. If the Supreme Court allows the residents of D.C. to have their Second Amendment Rights restricted, would that not open the door for them to also be restricted for the rest of us?" ...

Was Martin Luther King, Jr. a Good Man?
Submitted by: On MLK Day, Celebrate the Whole Truth

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"Martin Luther Kings statement that a person should be judged by his character not the color of his skin is a majestic thought. I will do that as I look at King..."

"Some will object to my research, questioning my motives but do my motives really matter? Isnt it the truth that is important?" ...

"Richard John Neuhaus said of King: 'Dr. King was, for all that was great about him, an adulterer, sexual libertine, lecher, and wanton womanizer.' Neuhaus is a well-known liberal theologian and writer. My research also indicates that King was a drunk, plagiarist, bisexual, and Marxist. Try to remember that we are not concerned with his race or complexion, but his character." ...

Canada: Another innocent bystander shot dead on the city's streets
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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"Toronto Mayor David Miller has urged the city's residents not to hide at home in the wake of the second fatal shooting of an innocent victim, who was killed after being hit by a stray bullet."

"Hou Chang Mao, 47, was shot in the chest Thursday night while working outside a grocery store in east Chinatown. He was rushed to hospital, but pronounced dead at the scene."

"Police said he was working at an outdoor grocery stall stacking oranges, when he was hit by the stray bullet. Shoppers had to duck for cover as bullets struck store windows and parked cars." ...

Sullivan: Bush would support measure to close 'gun show loophole'
Submitted by: Idaho Ordnance
Website: http://www.id-ord.com/

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"Michael J. Sullivan, the wannabe director of the ATF, spilled the beans regarding the SOBs (Son Of a Bush) desire to close the gun show loophole for firearms purchases. So lets see, because you refuse to close the border and there is a gun running problem across it, then lets enact this legislation which will potentially affect all U.S. gun owners and merchants? Have the SOB and his side-kick Sullivan lost their minds? No, actually it is all a scripted effort to limit and remove guns from the U.S. citizenexcuse me, soon to be, North American Union peon." ...

UK: US, Mexico strengthen gun checks (BBC)
Submitted by: Anonymous

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"The US has said it will give Mexico access to an electronic database to trace weapons smuggled from the US to powerful drug gangs across the border."

"Speaking during his official visit to Mexico, (Attorney General) Mukasey said the e-Trace database would be installed at US consulates across Mexico to help local police track gun dealers back in the US."

"He said US officials would then be able to 'target that dealer'."

Submitter's note: Does anybody still believe that GW Bush isn't behind the BATFE's efforts to destroy gun dealers?

OH: Watch for expiration of concealed carry license
Submitted by: RPA-PAC
Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org

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"This letter is for anyone who received their concealed carry license before March 2007. They need to be aware of their expiration date. I got my license in April 2004 and they expire this April. The only licenses that have the five-year expiration date are the ones issued after March 2007. You can start the renewal process within 90 days of the expiration date and up to 30 days after the expiration date."

NY: Statement of Paul Helmke On Mayor Michael Bloomberg's "State Of The City" Address Submitted by: RPA-PAC Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"We salute Mayor Bloomberg for speaking so eloquently yesterday about the terrible toll gun violence is taking in our country, and for emphasizing, now that Congress and the President have acted to strengthen the Brady background check system, how important it is for New York and all the states to improve the job theyre doing to enter the appropriate records into the system." ...

Canada: Toronto's proposed federal handgun ban would miss target
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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"Toronto city councillors are seeking a federal ban on handguns following the fatal shooting of 42-year-old John OKeefe on Yonge Street early Saturday morning. OKeefe was on his way home shortly after 1 a.m. when he was struck by a stray bullet allegedly intended for a bouncer at the Brass Rail Tavern. The bouncer had asked the gunman and his friend to leave shortly before one of them opened fire outside the tavern."

"Although the handgun was legally registered, it has sparked national debate on whether the weapons should be outlawed. On Monday, Toronto city councillor Michael Walker motioned for the prohibition of handguns and received support from Toronto mayor David Miller." ...

State v. Moore, "Those rules recognize a right in every man to defend his property, as well as person and habitation, by taking the life of the aggressor, as a natural right", 1863
Submitted by: GunShowOnTheNet.com
Website: http://GunShowOnTheNet.com/

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"...The right to take life in the defense of property, as well as of person and habitation, is a natural right, but the law limits its exercise to the prevention of forcible and atrocious crimes, of which burglary is one..."

"...The class of crimes in prevention of which a man may, if necessary, exercise his natural right to repel force by force to the taking of the life of the aggressor, are felonies which are committed by violence and surprise; such as murder, robbery, burglary, arson, breaking a house in the day time with intent to rob, sodomy and rape..."

"...The taking of life by spring guns or otherwise is confessedly lawful, by the common law..."

IN: Friends of NRA lauded for fundraising
Submitted by: RPA-PAC
Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org

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"The Shelby County Friends of the National Rifle Association committee was honored at the recent annual Friends of NRA Funds Meeting in Indianapolis and presented with the Special Achievement Award in recognition of its performance in 2007. The committee netted over $27,000 at its regular banquet last February, which was attended by roughly 330 local people. The amount is almost unheard of in a community the size of Shelbyville, and most banquets in cities the size of Shelbyville raise around $10,000, said committee chairman Brad Landwerlen." ...

Mexico: Gun battle erupts in busy Tijuana district
Submitted by: Anonymous

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TIJUANA "A gun battle began Thursday morning in this city's La Mesa district pitting state and federal police agents and army soldiers against several suspects who barricaded themselves in a house there."

"According to the Border News Agency, at least one municipal police officer was wounded."

"The incident apparently began when federal police agents and soldiers went to question suspects in a house in the Electricistas neighborhood. Upon their arrival, the people in the house responded with gunfire."

"The residents tried to escape, at one point running across roofs, then fled into another house, from which they continued to fire their weapons intermittently throughout the day, the news agency reported." ...

Smith v. Ishenhour, "that Act, to take from the citizens of the county, their guns . . . His Honor was of opinion the law was in violation of the Constitution", 1866
Submitted by: GunShowOnTheNet.com
Website: http://GunShowOnTheNet.com/

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"...The case was submitted to the Circuit Judge upon an agreed State of facts. The plaintiff in error was appointed, in 1862, by Isham G. Harris, then acting Governor of the State of Tennessee, under an Act passed by the Legislature the 18th of November, 1861, and duly commissioned, under the provisions of that Act, to take from the citizens of the county, their guns. Under this authority he seized the gun of the defendant in error, and carried it off; the gun being valued at $25. His Honor was of opinion the law was in violation of the Constitution, the plaintiff in error a trespasser..."

"...This is the first attempt, in the history of the Anglo-Saxon race, of which we are apprised, to disarm the people by legislation..."

Sutton v. State, "not intended to infringe upon the rights of any citizen to bear arms", 1867
Submitted by: GunShowOnTheNet.com
Website: http://GunShowOnTheNet.com/

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"...The defendant's counsel excepted to the charge of the court, and "insisted" that a "weapon carried on the person so as to be seen, does not come within the statute "secretly;" 2d, that the proviso means "any part of the pistol outside of all the clothes so that it may be distinguished."

The statute under which this indictment was found provides, "that hereafter it shall not be lawful for any person in this State to carry arms of any kind secretly on or about their person, &c.: Provided, that this law shall not be so construed as to prevent any person from carrying arms openly..."

"...The statute was not intended to infringe upon the rights of any citizen to bear arms for the "common defense." ..."

AZ: Good news: Arizona Game & Fish Decided Against Lead Ammo Ban
Submitted by: Dustin
Website: http://dustinsgunblog.blogspot.com

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Good news in Arizona - The Arizona Game & Fish Commission met today & Decided Against the Lead Ammo Ban. Below is the NRA-ILA update:

Friday, January 18, 2008

Thank You for Your Attendance and Vocal Opposition to the Ban!

The Arizona Game and Fish Commission met today to discuss a number of issues related to the firearms and hunting community, but most importantly the impact that spent lead ammunition has on wildlife . . .

Stockdale v. State, "then the act itself was an infringement of the constitutional rights of the people to keep and bear arms", 1860
Submitted by: GunShowOnTheNet.com
Website: http://GunShowOnTheNet.com/

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"...That, so much of that Act as prohibited the citizen from bearing arms openly, was in conflict with the Constitution and void; that while the Legislature had the right to prescribe the mode of carrying arms, yet, if in doing so, the manner prescribed amounted to a prohibition, then the act itself was an infringement of the constitutional rights of the people to keep and bear arms. That decision has been constantly adhered to from that time to the present, and must continue to stand as the law of this Court on that subject. . . . it is impossible for one to have and bear about his person a pistol or weapon of any kind, without having some part of the weapon concealed from view..."

Philips vs. Commonwealth, "legal self-defense may become a mockery and the sacred right itself a shadow...", 1865
Submitted by: GunShowOnTheNet.com
Website: http://GunShowOnTheNet.com/

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"...3. The principle applicable to a mutual rencounter, or an affray with deadly weapons, does not apply to a case in which the first escape from threatened assassination by a determined and persevering enemy would not probably secure the ultimate safety of the accused. (2 Stark. on Ev., p. 523.) The party once assailed by an enemy who had threatened to kill him, is not bound to run and thereby escape that assault, leaving the danger still impending, and, perhaps, increased by the act of running..."

"...The principle assumed in these instructions, as to the duty of escaping, we cannot recognize as either safe, sound, or maintainable as the law of the land..."