Keep and Bear Arms - Gun Owners Home Page

Nicki F: Idiots with keyboards, part... a lot
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"When 32 students were killed at Virginia Tech almost a year ago, many students around the country shared the sadness and fear ... students at UW-Oshkosh couldn't help wondering if the same thing could happen here."

"Finally, almost a year after the Virginia Tech shootings, Wisconsin legislators are reconsidering a bill that will further ensure the same cannot happen at a Wisconsin school."

"The bill, which was proposed right after the Virginia Tech massacre, proposes to expand the list of Wisconsin residents who are prohibited from owning guns." ...

"That'll sure keep violent scum from obtaining guns. Not that they're available on the black market or anything..."

ATF Expertise shirt for Len Savage
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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FULL TEXT BELOW:

What do you get a friend who exposes ATF Abuses? I am sending Historic Arms President Len Savage, who the ATF has refused to approve a patent for 2 years, the following shirt. He has continued to bring up the ATF's decision to declare a shoe string a machine gun and challenged their firearms testing.

Savage was recently an expert witness in the Olofson case, appeared in the JPFO documentary The Gang and I am told was interviewed by CNN recently.

Len can wear this shirt for his next interview!

Hey Kids, Shoot Your Favorite Candidate!
Submitted by: Anonymous

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"For the aspiring young assassin, a popular online games site offers kids the opportunity to assume the identity of a leading presidential contender and then shoot their political opponents in a series of armed confrontations in the White House. While the ammo is paintball, the game on the highly trafficked miniclip.com site allows kids to train a rifle scope on six presidential aspirants and squeeze off a hail of shots (which are accompanied with a rat-a-tat sound). The game, 'Presidential Paintball,' features six candidates in the crosshairs: Barack Obama; Hillary Clinton; John Edwards; Mitt Romney; John McCain; and Rudy Giuliani (it seems the game was developed before the ascension of Mike Huckabee). ..." ...

Paul Helmke: The Bush Administration's Support for Gun Control
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"More evidence emerged this month that the gun debate is turning a corner in America."

"Only days after signing the first gun control legislation in over a decade, the Bush Administration has now disavowed the most extreme outcomes implicit in the gun lobby's view of the Second Amendment."

"In its brief in the D.C. v. Heller case pending in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Bush administration acknowledges that because of the 'unquestionable threat to public safety that unrestricted private firearm possession would entail' that 'various categories of firearm-related regulation are permitted by the Second Amendment.'"

"The Brady Center welcomes this surprising development. ..." ...

The D.C. Gun Case
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Jan Crawford Greenburg writes on the administration's brief in the case, which gunners are criticizing. I think she characterizes the administration's position more fairly than John Lott did on our site the other day. I don't think the administration is saying, as Lott puts it, that 'since the government bans machine guns, it should also be able to ban handguns.' I think it is saying that if the Supreme Court forbids laws against handguns, it should be careful to make sure that it does not do so on the basis of a rule that also forbids laws against machine guns. It leaves open the possibility that the courts could find the D.C. gun ban unconstitutional." ...

Rep. Virgil Goode To The Bush White House: Withdraw Your Brief
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) has sent the following letter to the White House asking them to undo the huge harm they have caused the Second Amendment with the brief they filed in the DC gun ban case." ...

"Your Solicitor General has just filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the D.C. v. Heller case arguing that categorical gun bans of virtually all self-defense firearms are constitutional if a court determines they are 'reasonable' -- the lowest standard of constitutional review."

"If this view prevails, a national ban on all firearms -- including hunting rifles -- could be constitutional, even if the court decides -- on ample historical evidence -- that the Founders intended the Second Amendment as an individual right." ...

OH: Jury acquits man accused in shooting of estranged wife
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"After 2.5 hours of deliberations, a jury acquitted a man Wednesday of criminal charges in the shooting of his estranged wife in a motel parking lot."

"Adrian D. Banks, 44, of Lima, was on trial on the charge of felonious assault with a gun. The acquittal came after a two-day trial. He was accused of shooting his now-ex-wife, Tamara S. Banks, then 39, in the parking lot of Knights Inn on Elida Road. The shooting took place at 1:45 a.m. May 13."

"He faced up to 11 years in prison on the charge."

"Banks said he acted in self-defense by firing a handgun at his wife as she tried to run him down with her car. She was shot in the leg." ...

WI: A shattered door, gunshots and a death in rural Wisconsin
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Shot twice in the chest Sunday night after forcing his way into his ex-girlfriend's house, John Peach turned and ran about 30 feet, fell into a friend's arms and then onto the frozen earth." ...

"After an unarmed Peach broke through the front door about 9:52 p.m., Huggett allegedly shot him with a .38-caliber revolver, authorities said. Peach's two friends fled after he stumbled outside." ...

"Huggett told authorities it was self-defense, but Wisconsin law only allows the use of deadly force when an individual is faced with deadly force, [District Attorney Ken] Kutz said. 'When you have somebody who's unarmed, as Mr. Peach was in this case, you can't shoot them,' he said." ...

OH: Teen Shot At Cleveland Rec Center
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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FULL TEXT BELOW:

Cleveland police are searcing for a man believed to be involved in a shooting at a Cleveland recreation center Saturday night.

Officers said a teenager was shot in the leg at the Zelma George Community Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive just before 8 p.m.

One man was arrested.

No other information was available.
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Submitter's Note: According to the Buckeye Firearms Association, the city rec center is a Victim Disarmament Zone.

NY: Murder-suicide in Selden shuts down neighborhood
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A man in Selden killed his estranged wife yesterday, then used a shotgun to kill himself, Suffolk police said, in a murder-suicide that shut down a neighborhood for several hours."

"Police made the discovery at an Oakdale Avenue home after they responded to a domestic dispute involving a man who had barricaded himself in. Dozens of police officers in tactical gear surrounded the house for nearly four hours before sending a robot inside." ...

"The couple had a history of domestic troubles, Fitzpatrick said, and there was a restraining order prohibiting contact between the two." [emphasis added] ...

Permit guns in schools to stop massacres
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A popular saying tells us that one sign of insanity is continuing to do the same thing while expecting different results. This statement was never more true than in the case of the so-called 'gun free zones.' It's time for a serious re-evaluation of this failed policy. No matter how well intended, any policy that results in the loss of innocent lives should be examined in the stark light of reality."

"I grew up in the 1940s and 1950s. Living on a military base and attending a school on the base resulted in constant exposure to guns -- guns of all types. Everyone's parents had guns in the house, and most of us who were old enough to do so ('old enough' often meant 7 years old), had fired guns on many occasions." ...

NY: Panic at Queens HS over gun hoax
Submitted by: Dennis

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"A telephone tip that someone had a silver handgun inside a Queens high school Thursday caused panic as dozens of cops swarmed the hallways - but it turned out to be a hoax."

"A few hours after the 9 a.m. siege began at Hillcrest High School, police arrested the man who made the bogus claim on charges of filing a false report, police sources said." ...

"Cops inside the school ... searched lockers, bathrooms and the students, police sources said."

"A spokesman for the NYPD said there was no lockdown and that students were allowed to come and go, but in a note to parents Principal Stephen Duch said the school was locked down." ...

SD: Bill would allow guns on campus
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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FULL TEXT BELOW:

Some South Dakota legislators want to make sure that the Board of Regents cannot ban guns on college campuses.

A bill introduced Tuesday would bar the regents from outlawing firearms on state university campuses.

HB1261 says the universities cannot expel or discipline anyone who legally carries a gun onto campus.

But the proposal would allow campuses to require that all firearms in dormitories be locked up in gun safes if not in a person's immediate possession.

How Liberal Is John McCain?
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Recent discussion on John McCain has come from talk radio hammering away at John McCains Liberal tendencies. However, talk radio host Michael Medved has ripped his Conservative colleagues on the subject:" ...

"David A. Keene is Chairman of the American Conservative Union and he sets the record straight." ...

"From taxes to his relationship with social conservatives and his position on Second Amendment or 'gun' issues, McCain has shown an unending willingness to do just what he so self-righteously accuses others of doing-tailoring his position to suit his needs of the moment." ...

Huckabee is the man for the Republican nomination Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"On Feb. 5, I encourage Alabama voters to select former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as their Republican presidential nominee. Huckabee is the only major candidate of either party that has consistently reflected our pro-life, pro-family values. Huckabee has never wavered in his support for the Second Amendment." ...

Another sign John McCain is the wrong choice for gun owners
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"As if there wasn't already plenty of evidence that Senator John McCain is the wrong choice for pro-gun Republicans in the Presidential primary, the Columbus Dispatch has added one more item to the list:"

"The specter of Mike DeWine as U.S. Attorney General." ...

"DeWine, an anti-gun candidate sporting a Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly Handgun Control Inc.) endorsement, proved himself out-of-touch with Ohio voters on the Second Amendment, was drummed out of office just over 1 year ago. Comments about his fantasies of a political future in Ohio, and his support for John McCain's presidential candidacy prove he didn't learn a thing from his defeat." ...

MD: Gun measure seeks to make it easier for average citizens to carry firearms
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Gun advocates seeking to make it easier for average citizens to carry handguns for their own protection were back in force again at the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. They urged lawmakers to join 37 other states that require no special reason for getting a permit to carry a weapon."

"'Will there be more guns?' asked the sponsor of HB2, Del. Dan Riley, a Harford County Democrat. There will be, but 'those guns will be in the right hands.'"

"Riley stressed that all the current requirements to get a permit to carry a handgun would remain. ... But Riley's bill would remove the requirement that someone have 'a good and substantial reason' to carry a handgun." ...

GA: Local politics affect student life, rights
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"With all the hype over the presidential preference primaries on campus and in the newspaper, it is important to remember that the Georgia General Assembly is in session." ...

"There are a few key pieces of legislation pending in the General Assembly that students need to be aware of." ...

"... House Bill 89 would prohibit property owners from banning gun storage in cars in parking lots. While I am a strong supporter of the second Amendment and the right to carry, this bill takes away the rights of property owners. It opens them up to legal liability and takes away their decision-making power."

"Does having a gun in your glove box really make you any safer while inside a home or business? ..." ...

FL: Florida lawmakers should try to tighten concealed weapons permitting process
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Hopes are high for passage of a sensible bill by state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, who wants to bolster the state's ability to get concealed weapons permits and the guns out of the hands of permit holders who are found to be mentally ill."

"The Florida Department of Law Enforcement collects data on individuals declared mentally ill by the courts. The problem is the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which administers the permit program, does not check the mental health status of its permit holders."

"The good news here is that the agriculture department supports Aronberg's bill ... Credit the change in heart partly to the horrific tragedy at Virginia Tech University. ..." ...

VA: Logic favors gun show checks
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"NORFOLK SHERIFF Bob McCabe wondered aloud Monday what all the fuss was about over legislation to close the gun show loophole."

"'I'm not even sure why we're even debating this,' he told a Senate committee."

"In his typically plain-spoken way, McCabe cut through all the hype surrounding a perennial punching bag for Second Amendment advocates."

"Extending instant background checks to sales at gun shows injures no one, and makes it a little harder for felons, the dangerously mentally ill and wife-beaters to get guns they're not supposed to have in the first place."

"The impact on law-abiding buyers is two to five minutes. That's how long it typically takes to do a background check ..." ...

VA: Gun bill a symbolic first step
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"When it comes to gun-control proposals down at the Virginia General Assembly, Donald Eddleton takes a fatalistic approach."

"'They're gonna do whatever they're gonna do,' said Eddleton, a manager and vice president of Green Top Sporting Goods, an outdoorsman's paradise and Second Amendment haven in Hanover County. As for a controversial measure to close the so-called loophole that allows unlicensed gun show dealers[sic] to sell weapons without running criminal background checks, 'I haven't paid a lot of attention to it, to be honest with you,' he said." ...

VA: Close the loophole
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"It's a simple, essential, logically unassailable public policy: no firearms for felons."

"So why preserve a loophole that allows felons ready access to weapons? What possible benefit?"

"The loophole is this: At gun shows, licensed dealers have to run instant background checks ... But sellers who aren't licensed dealers don't have to, whether they're selling grandpa's classic carbine to a collector or an ordinary handgun to a drug dealer with a felony record ..."

"Those who deny there's a loophole, or argue there's no need to close it, insist that those background checks impose an unnecessary burden and that restrictions generally do not achieve their purpose greater public safety." ...

VA: Gun-show loophole law is another useless law
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"It is never wise to create laws when emotions are high, but our Democratic governor has proposed to 'close the gun-show loophole' in the aftermath of the tragic and senseless Virginia Tech mass shootings ..."

"It makes no difference that the deranged shooter purchased his guns legally and that flaws in the mental health and legal systems made that possible."

"It also continues to fall on political deaf ears that studies ... determined that 'gun shows were such a minor source of criminal gun acquisition that they were not even worth reporting as a separate figure.'"

"What the governor and other anti-Second Amendment factions want is for ... private citizens ... to go through the same legal hurdles that licensed dealers do ..." ...

OH: Sheriff ready for concealed carry renewals
Submitted by: RPA-PAC
Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org

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"The Licking County Sheriff's Office is bracing for an influx of concealed carry license holders seeking renewals in the coming weeks, Sheriff Randy Thorp said."

"In 2004 -- the first year Ohioans were allowed to carry concealed firearms -- 507 licenses were granted, Thorp said."

"'It's a very good possibility that all those folks -- I would have to assume that at least a good number -- are going to come back in and reapply,' he said."

"The first licenses awarded had four-year life spans and holders have 120 days -- 90 before their date of expiration and 30 after -- before the permit becomes invalid, according to Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann's Web site." ...

Marine's death blamed on accidental shooting
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"An accidental shooting has been cited as the cause of death of a 19-year-old Marine lance corporal who was scheduled to leave for Iraq later this year."

"Lance Cpl. Cameron M. Babcock was shot once in the chest shortly before midnight Sunday in his barracks at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms ..."

"'Thus far, information does not indicate that the shooting was self-inflicted or intentional, but rather was the result of the negligent handling of a privately owned weapon,' the release stated."

"... Babcock was taken to the base hospital at Twentynine Palms, where he was pronounced dead." ...

KS: Part-time police officer charged with sexually abusing 11-year-old
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A part-time Conway Springs police officer has been fired after being charged with sexually abusing an 11-year-old Wichita girl."

"Bradley Whorton, 53, was ordered held without bond Tuesday on two counts each of aggravated criminal sodomy and aggravated indecent liberties with a child. ..."

"The girl's 38-year-old mother also was charged Tuesday with one count of aggravated child endangerment, and the 33-year-old father has been arrested in the case ..." ...

"Wichita police said the abuse started in October 2006 and occurred in Wichita, where the girl lived with her mother, and in Florence, where the father lives."

"The girl reported the abuse last week to a school district employee, who notified authorities." ...

OH: Damon Wells wants his gun - and his life - back
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Grassroots gun owners have likely not forgotten the name Damon Wells, the concealed handgun license (CHL)-holder who defended himself from a violent attempted robbery in his front yard back in April 2007. Though CHL-holders have defended their lives in many other instances, Mr. Wells' situation played in the media for days and weeks after because of the reaction of his gang-infested neighborhood ..."

"The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Regina Brett recently reported that not only was Damon Wells made victim by his attackers, and subsequently his neighbors, he is now being made victim by the City of Cleveland's police department. That's because, 9 months later, Wells is still waiting for CPD to return his confiscated firearm." ...

KS: Ex-Dodge City cop charged with killing woman bound over for trial
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Charges against a former Dodge City police officer in the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend have been upgraded to first-degree murder."

"Chris Tahah was bound over for trial Tuesday in the May 4 death of Erin Jones, who died after being shot with a .270 caliber rifle through an exterior door to her bedroom. Tahah had seen Jones dancing with another man at a bar earlier that night."

"Tahah told investigators that he had talked himself out of shooting Jones and that the rifle fired as he lowered it outside the door. But prosecutors said that as a policeman, Tahah should have known better than to put his finger on the trigger until ready to shoot." ...

PA: Ex-Hamburg officer fired as police chief
Submitted by: jac

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"A former Hamburg police officer has been fired from his job as police chief in Lykens, Dauphin County, after being accused of stealing and of lying about his arrest record."

"Chris W.R. Wade, 39, Hamburg, was charged earlier this month by Dauphin County authorities with stealing more than $3,000 seized in drug busts."

"The charge of lying about his arrest record stems from his failure to reveal on a municipal police officers reporting form that he had been arrested in 2000 for threatening to shoot a customer in a West Reading diner."

"Authorities also say the Lykens police department was not sending seized evidence and drugs to the prosecutors office." ...

FL: Fla. Woman's 10-Month Old Missing Cat Found in Owner's Lost Suitcase
Submitted by: Anonymous

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"The last time cat-owner Kelly Levy saw her tiger-striped feline was before she took her husband to the airport. The 24-year-old came back to her house late Friday to find the bottom step, where Gracie Mae would usually be waiting, empty." ...

"Gracie Mae had crawled into Seth Levy's black suitcase undetected, been put through an X-ray machine, loaded onto an airplane, thrown onto a baggage claim conveyor belt and picked up by a stranger." ...
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Submitter's Note: Sorry, kitty, TSA and homeland security are not there to protect you.

IA: Cedar Rapids police officer stripped of duties
Submitted by: jac

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"A Cedar Rapids police officer will never wear a law enforcement uniform anywhere again, according to an agreement between the officer and the government."

"The agreement is part of a guilty plea Kevin Sims, 36, made to a federal misdemeanor charge ..."

"He admitted that while he was on duty as a police officer, he intentionally denied a citizen of rights provided by the Constitution when they had consensual sexual relations following a traffic stop." ...

"The woman voluntarily engaged in the acts believing that by doing so she would escape any criminal charges. Sims did not arrest the woman and did not issue a citation for driving on a suspended license. He did not report the traffic stop to the dispatcher or his supervisor." ...

MN: $1 million-plus settlement in Golden Valley police excessive-force case
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A settlement of more than $1.1 million has been reached between the city of Golden Valley and Al Hixon, who was chased and pepper-sprayed when police mistook him for a bank robber."

"The City Council approved a $1,146,552 settlement with Hixon regarding his lawsuit claiming excessive force by officers on April 2, 2005." ...

"Hixon is black, and 911 transcriptions show officers were told the bank robbery suspect was white."

NC: Sheriff's Deputy Accused of Stealing Guns While on the Job
Submitted by: jac

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"A Franklin County sheriff's deputy is out of a job after being charged with larceny."

"Richard (Ricky) Bryan Shearin was accused of stealing guns from a Louisburg home on Aug. 18. He and other emergency workers were at the home of David Gillespie Sr. responding to a 911 call."

"When they arrived, Gillespie's body was found inside. He had died of natural causes."

"Investigators said Shearin then stole two valuable pistols and an UZI 9mm submachine gun from the home. He returned the guns after a family member reported them missing." ...

"This is the second incident involving a Franklin County sheriff's deputy in less than a month. Deputy Crystal Mitchell struck and killed a pedestrian on New Year's Eve when responding to a non-emergency call." ...

TX: Carrying guns will stop violent crimes
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Are all of the amendments in the Bill of Rights equally important? Should we uphold some while not upholding others? That seems to be the trend we are increasingly seeing in our society." ...

"States are losing their rights of self-governance on a daily basis. The First Amendment often is set aside when someone is persecuted for making a comment that doesn't fit the politically correct mold." ...

"Even on Texas Tech's campus, free speech is limited to special 'free speech areas' designated by the school. Moreover, there is an ongoing battle on how the Second Amendment can be whittled away."

"Anti-gun groups constantly are fighting to remove guns from our society, regardless of our constitutional right to bear them." ...