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WA: Seattle man on trial for refusing to show ID to TSA agents
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In November 2009, Phil Mocek was scheduled to board a Seattle-bound plane in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Instead, he wound up in a jail cell, headed for a fight that could prove historic.
The Seattle man refused to show TSA officers his ID with his boarding pass, and argued he has a right not to show it.
There is no law requiring that passengers show their ID at checkpoints; however, passengers who refuse to show their ID are subject to additional security screenings.
After he refused many times to show his ID, officers asked him to leave. But instead of leaving, Mocek began taking photos and video of TSA officers against their warnings.
"I do not believe that there is a rule that bars me from using a camera in publicly acceptab |
WA: Lynden man charged with 'blinding' Border Patrol pilots with flashlight
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A Lynden man has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he temporarily blinded the pilots of a Border Patrol helicopter with a flashlight. The pilots say the light was so bright it temporarily blinded them.
Wayne Groen says he stepped outside of his home last September 22nd to investigate a loud noise. He shined his flashlight at a helicopter flying low over his home.
“I was in bed when it happened, so when I went out with the flashlight to see what was going on I didn't think about it," Groen said.
Prosecutors are charging him with interfering with an aircraft. The indictment says Groen shined “a high powered spotlight” into the cabin of the Blackhawk helicopter, which was on a law enforcement mission near the border. |
MT: Investigators Rule DeBorgia Shooting Self-Defense
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A month after a man in DeBorgia was found shot dead on his kitchen floor, Mineral County Detectives are calling it self-defense.
Now, we know more details, and the small western Montana town is still talking about it.
Just miles from the Idaho border off I-90 sits DeBorgia, a town of about 70 people. Phil Fingar lives there and plows roads for the state. He'll never forget coming home from one shift mid-December.
"It had come over the radio that there had been a shooting," Fingar said. |
PA: Self-defense bill a focus for Alloway on judiciary committee
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Alloway said that his main focus as a newly-appointed member of the committee is the “Castle Doctrine” bill, which deals with citizens’ rights to defend themselves.
“If you’re in your home, you have Castle Doctrine protections,” Alloway said. “But my bill expands a person’s right to defend themself to any place that person has a legal right to be, like a public swimming pool or a shopping mall.”
Despite a 45-4 vote of approval from the Senate, Alloway’s bill was vetoed by former Governor Ed Rendell last year. The first-term legislator is optimistic that with newly-elected Governor Tom Corbett in office, his bill has a better chance. |
The Gun Lobby Removes Its Silencer
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After the shooting spree in Tucson, a simple message appeared on the website of the nation's premier gun-rights booster, the National Rifle Association: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this senseless tragedy. We join the rest of the country in praying for the quick recovery of those injured." Asked to comment on gun-control legislation floated since the massacre, the NRA sent a similar statement to Mother Jones: "At this time anything other than prayers for the victims and their families would be inappropriate." Was the powerful gun lobby standing down amid calls for stricter gun laws? Nope, it was merely prepping for what could be a fierce legislative fight. |
AZ: Untrained but armed citizens a safety threat
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How do these kind of lax gun laws we have in this state promote a civil and safe society? You say, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people," but if the killer didn't have a gun, he couldn't have killed these people. I cannot think of a recent outcome where an untrained person, with a concealed weapon, made us safer. I demand that our state legislature show us facts, not opinions! |
OH: Armed bystanders the only solution
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The tragedy in Tucson has caused many people to begin pointing fingers at one thing or another to prevent a recurrence. But how can you prevent such attacks in a free society? The simple fact is that you cannot.
Look at all the laws broken by the criminal that day, and yet people are dead and wounded. Now the cries for more laws go up: “Let’s restrict magazine capacity. Let’s ban assault weapons.”
What if, instead of a pistol, this killer had chosen to use homemade explosives? |
MO: Criminals, stolen guns
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When the police arrive, their first statement when they walk in your door is, “We will fill out a report for your insurance, but we will not investigate because nobody got hurt.”
That’s hundreds of guns every year for the criminals to pass around among themselves.
So if you want to thank someone for providing guns to criminals, thank the police, who only fill out reports and will not investigate. |
OR: Dems and gun rights
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A little research shows that in almost every case Democrats vote in favor of more and more gun control. (We are lucky to have Representative DeFazio as he is against restrictive gun laws!)
And both Sens. Wyden and Merkley did vote to allow a concealed weapon license holder to carry a firearm in a national park. In Denali Park, that recently saved a woman’s life. Her licensed partner stopped an attacking grizzly with a .45 pistol.
But otherwise, the Democrats voting record for gun rights is poor. |
MT: Right to bear arms doesn't cover 30-shot clips
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Tension was high in Congress in the months before the Civil War when an observer wryly noted that the only members not carrying a pistol were carrying two pistols. Perhaps high tension explains why Montana State Sen. Verdell Jackson, R- Kalispell, has introduced legislation to allow Montana lawmakers to carry concealed weapons on the floors of the state House and Senate.
Especially because now is an angry time, is any useful purpose served by our lawmakers packing heat? As a way of punctuating a point of logic in spirited debate, couldn't they get by with just a good old-fashioned punch in the nose? |
CT: Himes promotes legislation banning high-capacity ammo clips
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Among the gun-control groups supporting the ban is the Washington, D.C.-based Violence Policy Center, ...
"The Arizona attack joins a long list of mass shootings made possible by the easy availability of ammunition magazines that can hold up to 100 rounds: Columbine, Virginia Tech, Luby's, Wedgewood Baptist Church, Stockton, and all too many others," Kristen Rand, the group's legislative director said in a statement posted on the organization's website. "High-capacity ammunition magazines facilitate mass shootings by giving attackers the ability to fire numerous rounds without reloading," Rand said.
Ed.: Hey Kristen, if 100-rnd mags are so easy to get, how 'bout you send me one for my .40 cal Taurus PT 24/7 PRO? |
Gun Control Wouldn't Have Stopped Loughner
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A very public shooting spree, with victims including a congresswoman, a judge, and a little girl, committed by a known lunatic, using equipment that had previously been banned: Jared Loughner’s crime seems an unparalleled opportunity for gun control advocates to gin up support for new legislation to restrict the weapons legally available to Americans and to restrict which Americans have access to those weapons. |
MI: Free Press columnist warns against treating the Second Amendment as "sacred" in gun violence debate
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We're told she expects us to dialogue about a cornerstone feature of the Bill of Rights, but according to her rules of engagement, those who might disagree shouldn't "use the Second Amendment as an excuse."
Later in the piece, she contends that there are "no absolutes in the gun debate," other than that more people will get shot if we don't stop treating the Second Amendment as "sacred" and above regulation.
... I'm angered that Giffords was gunned down, too. But how can we address this if we don't engage with the issue at the most fundamental levels? Rather than a dialogue, Riley really seems to be calling for mass concurrence and capitulation to her position. |
TN: Time to repeal 2nd Amendment
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The recent Arizona tragedy has, of course, brought the entire issue of firearms control to the front of our national consciousness, along with the usual assortment of bloviators, pundits and podium thumpers. At the risk of being considered one of them, I would like to offer several alternatives to address the problem.
Repeal the Second Amendment. At the time of its writing and through the early 1900s, The United States was a nation of largely isolated communities that depended on their own initiative for mutual security.
That time is clearly passed and, with it, the requirement for a Posse Comitatus and all the associated furor over the "well regulated militia" clause of the amendment. |
Canada: U.S. gun lobbies: the inmates who run the asylum
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Why is the United States so much more violent than Canada? Canadians receive, even welcome, violence-based American mass culture pumped out 24/7 by the mammoth entertainment industry. Yet our society remains dramatically less violent than theirs. Take guns.
The United States has by far the highest gun homicide rate in the industrialized world. In a study of 23 of these nations, the American rate was nearly 20 times higher than the others. Some 100,000 shootings take place in the U.S. every year, 30,000 of them fatal. In Canada, with about one-tenth the U.S. population, 190 people were killed by guns in 2006. |
CO: Greeley school board member can't take gun to meetings
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A Greeley radio personality and Board of Education member will not be allowed to bring a gun to future Board meetings.
The Board voted 5-2 Thursday evening to hold all future meetings in Greeley-Evans district schools where, by current law, weapons are not allowed.
Board member Brett Reese had asked for permission to carry a gun for self-protection. Reese, who airs a show on The Pirate, 104.7 FM in Greeley, has received a number of death threats since broadcasting a letter critical of Dr. Martin Luther King in the weeks leading up to the recent King holiday. |
Canada: Should we be allowed to use force to defend our homes?
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It is called the Castle Doctrine, as in "your home is your castle". Many US states legally allow the use of force in defending your home. Some high-profile cases north of the border have opened up debate over how much force should be allowed in Canada.
The National Post lists some incidents, such as the man who started shooting when his house was being firebombed by masked men and another who shot a thief riding off on his ATV. There's also the shopkeeper in Toronto who tied up and held a repeat shoplifter. That kind of self defense often ends up in charges against the defender.
There have been more calls for a Canadian version of the Castle Doctrine, but on the streets of Vancouver, not everyone's a fan. |
CA: California court strikes down law that would restrict handgun ammo
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“As a former prosecutor, I’ve certainly sympathized with victims of gun violence,” said Chuck Michel, attorney for the California Rifle and Pistol Association. “This law would not have done anything to protect us from violent criminals.”
For Second Amendment supporters, this case sheds light on what they have long argued is the faulty logic of gun control schemes – it's impossible to codify violent activity out of existence, that is, to get malicious people to abide by the law. All attempts to do so have only hampered law-abiding citizens in their ability to protect themselves and their own. |
WA: Seattle bus tunnel security co. cited
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"They're required to contact an individual who could become aggressive, and if a situation develops they're expected to remain on scene," Castro said. "They don't have the training or the equipment to protect themselves, and the steps they're required to take to call for assistance only increase those hazards."
...
The attack on the girl at Westlake Station last Jan. 28 prompted a public outcry after the surveillance video was aired around the country. The victim, Aiesha Steward-Baker, who had her own criminal record involving robbery and assault, made an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America." |
OK: Let's not punish responsible gun owners
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We can also be grateful that one of many other common rifles weren't used that are more powerful than the AR-15, a rifle that apparently Police Chief Bill Citty sees “no practical reason” to own. A sidebar to the story misleadingly stated that the 1994 10-year “assaults weapons ban” outlawed civilian versions of traditional military assault rifles. Existing ones were still legal to sell, purchase and own and so were the ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds. New sales to civilians were outlawed. |
What's not to like about high-capacity gun magazines?
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ust so you know: There are plenty of perfectly good reasons to buy high-capacity magazines for your favorite firearm. Unfortunately, I seem to have misplaced my list.
So we'll have to figure out some of those perfectly good reasons for ourselves. Feel free to chime in. It's like the ammo makers always say: The more, the merrier.
Ready? Here we go:
- High-capacity magazines are the only way to defend yourself if you're ever attacked by a high-capacity pack of wolves.
- High-capacity magazines let you create your own decorative doilies for festive occasions.
- High-capacity magazines help you qualify more quickly for the airlines' Frequent Plugger programs. |
Kaine Throws Support Behind Gun Control Measure As White House Remains Silent
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Steadfastly refusing to weigh in on the gun rights debate following the deadly shootings in Tucson, the Obama administration now finds itself behind not only former Vice President Dick Cheney but also the head of its own party committee.
Appearing on "Political Capital with Al Hunt," airing Friday night, Democratic National Committee Chair Tim Kaine said that he supports measures to restrict the number of bullets that can be fired from a single magazine. |
IN: Reasonable compromise
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There has to be some kind of reasonable compromise when it comes to gun control. When our forefathers wrote these things into law, they could not envision the debauchery and 30-shot clips, Uzi's, street sweepers and automatic weapons, not to mention gun manufacturers producing millions of fire arms annually. |
CA: Open Carry Meets for Pizza Amid Protests
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Brooklyn Brick Oven Pizza on Sepulveda Boulevard was the site of a dinner meeting for local gun rights group South Bay Open Carry Thursday night. While members munched on pizza with firearms attached to their holsters, the Los Angeles Brady Campaign Chapter held their own gathering in protest of gun violence.
Situated close to the pizzeria, campaign members gripped signs denouncing firearms, and specifically, open carrying in a restaurant.
"If more guns translate to being safer and having less crime, then we should be the safest country in the world," said Jeff Peak, husband of chapter president Suzanne Verge. |
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