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False alarms over nat’l CCW legislation only help anti-gunners
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This week, perhaps as early as Tuesday, the House of Representatives will vote on HR 822, the National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011, and hysteria about this legislation is not merely coming from the usual gun prohibitionist corners.
Incredible to some, perhaps, but one organization – the National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) – is working just as hard as anti-gun Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy to derail the measure and get President Obama to promise a veto. Maybe harder. Why? |
Grassley fires broadside at Eric Holder, DoJ subordinates
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Senator Charles Grassley late Monday afternoon fired a broadside at Attorney General Eric Holder in the wake of last week’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee that left not only Grassley, but others very unhappy with Holder, as this column noted.
As this column reported, the Iowa Republican is staying on point with his investigation of Operation Fast and Furious, who is responsible, who knew what and when did they know it? |
Gun-Check System Misses Millions Of Drug Abusers, People With Mental Illness, New Report Finds
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Perhaps more troubling is a startling lack of compliance by federal agencies, the report found.
"Federal agencies are not reporting records to NICS, even though the NICS Improvement Act requires all federal agencies to provide 'any record of any person' who is prohibited from purchasing firearms to the FBI on at least a quarterly basis," the report says.
Of 61 agencies that the mayors were able to get data on from the FBI, 52 had reported no mental illness records, with nearly all of the 143,579 that were reported coming from the Department of Veterans Affairs. |
WA: Lock Up Your Guns: Tips for Responsible Gun Ownership From Sammamish PD
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Sergeant Sullivan said that the first step in keeping firearms off the street is to properly secure your home when away. Lock your doors, close your garage, set your alarm, Sergeant Sullivan said.
If you own a firearm, Sergeant Sullivan recommends keeping it secured in a gun safe. She understands that many people buy guns for home protection and want to be able to get to them quick in an emergency and recommends purchasing a gun safe with a fingerprint lock. These safes can be opened quickly and with minimal hassle in a stressful situation, Sergeant Sullivan said. |
WI: Keeping guns out of public buildings
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Meanwhile, the City of Waukesha's Common Council will vote Tuesday on a policy to allow concealed weapons into any city building except municipal court.
We understand the council's desire to be in tune with gun-toting constituents but aldermen might want to rethink that policy, and follow the county's example, instead. Given past tensions between the mayor and some aldermen, a gun ban might be the better part of valor. |
Chicks With Guns
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The stereotype is as old as the Spartans. Those ancient, dichotomy loving Greeks had gender-specific definitions for heroism: men who fell in battle and women who died in childbirth. Epics sang of arms and the man—not arms and the woman. The roles have been so ingrained century after century that, despite the inclusiveness of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (“…the right of the people to keep and bear arms”), guns are still primarily perceived as a male purview. The photographer Lindsay McCrum plays on this preconception in her recently published collection Chicks with Guns, a playful yet perturbing visual essay on the statistic that some 20 million women in America own guns. |
In praise of the Roberts court
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Under Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court has rolled up its sleeves and taken on the tough cases: Citizens United, Heller and now Obamacare. For all intents and purposes, the Heller case was the first Second Amendment case in American history and the court gave the litigants 75 minutes to argue their positions. This was a throwback to the 19th century when lawyers made oral presentations and debated the law in person rather than the more impersonal and scholastic briefs. Citizens United pretty much cast aside 35 years of congressional attacks the First Amendment. Gutting McCain-Feingold took much work.
Now comes Obamacare. The justices will hear oral arguments for 5 1/2 hours. This is near Amistad level. |
IL: The right gun control
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The first step is to increase the penalties for the criminal sale and use of guns and revoke the licenses of any whose negligence supplies those guns.
Machine guns are essentially weapons of mass destruction and should, without question, be banned. (Hunting weapons are OK.)
The goal is to reduce drunken, distraught and/or “accidental” shootings, and to reduce violent crime by making handguns more difficult and expensive to obtain.
As for the Second Amendment, “well-regulated militias” no longer have any role, but regulation certainly does. |
MN: Minn. town to replace police with private security force
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The central Minnesota town of Foley tried having its own police department and contracting with the county sheriff's department for law enforcement.
Now, in an effort to save money, the city with a population of 2,600 is making a controversial move few others have done: Starting in January, it plans to employ a private security company to patrol its streets.
Foley is believed to be the first town in Minnesota to replace its police force with private guards, according to the Minnesota attorney general's office. |
ID: Guns vs. Grizzlies
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State and federal agencies provide big game hunters in grizzly country with solid information on how to avoid conflicts with bears, but there’s scant advice on how to handle a dangerous encounter with a nearby bear or a charging grizzly. Here are 12 tips that will help hunters survive a worst-case scenario with a grizzly.
1) Bring enough gun. Lots of people hunt deer with a .243 Winchester, but would you want to face a charging grizzly with a .243? In 1983, the Tongass National Forest in Alaska did comprehensive review of firearms meant purely for self-defense against bears. The recommendation was a .338 Winchester Magnum, a .375 HandH Magnum, or a 12-gauge shotgun with slugs. |
MI: Michigan bill would allow guns at work
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The legislation proposed by Rep. Paul Opsommer, R-DeWitt, would allow employees to bring their guns to work if they are licensed and registered with the state. They could keep them concealed in their trunk or glove box of their car.
Michigan hunters are currently hindered if their employer does not allow them to store their rifles in the trunk of their car, said Mike Thiede, vice president of Michigan Gun Owners.
"The biggest issue that we have is our vehicle is our personal property, and why should we not be able to store our firearms safely and securely within that personal property?" Thiede said. |
Holder Admits Lies in Fast and Furious, Refuses to Resign
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Instead of offering his resignation as a growing chorus of critics has demanded, Attorney General Eric Holder (left) is going on the offensive over his alleged perjury and the growing scandal surrounding the Obama administration’s deadly “Fast and Furious” program that supplied weapons to Mexican drug cartels.
Meanwhile, Holder is also calling for more gun control while attacking Congress for shedding light on the alleged government criminality. But Republicans and some Democrats are still pursuing the truth.
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PA: 50 guns stolen from gun shop over the weekend
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The person, or people, who hit the gun bunker on East Forrest Avenue chiseled there way into the store sometime between 3 and 6 a.m. Sunday morning.
Once inside, within 15 minutes, they stole the 50 handguns. Five of those guns are fully automatic.
For people living in Shrewsbury, that many missing firearms is alarming.
Ed.: Really? Fully automatic? |
House to consider national concealed carry gun bill Tuesday
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The House of Representatives will consider a bill on Tuesday allowing concealed carry permit holders to carry handguns across state lines.
A floor vote is expected on the National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act, a bill introduced by Florida Republican Cliff Stearns and North Carolina Democrat Heath Shuler.
The legislation would allow those with permits to carry a concealed handgun in any state where concealed carry is not restricted. Forty nine states currently allow some form of concealed carry, but the training and requirements for obtaining a permit vary. |
CA: Don't blame guns
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Before you start blaming the guns, and by extension, all those involved in the manufacture of these "killing machines" (re: "Quality everywhere," Oct. 31), then blame yourself for being ignorant, and forgetting that more people are killed by drunken drivers and DUIs than by guns in the hands of responsible adults, when the police take more than four minutes to respond to an emergency call. |
Big Consequences, Even for Small Crimes
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The federal government and most states have created long-term consequences for individuals convicted of a felony, typically including the loss of the Second Amendment right to bear a firearm.
Ed.: There are several articles in this debate about felons and rights revocation and restoration (not just RKBA). |
AR: Support local police
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More recently, Obama advocated enlarging the U.S. Marshal’s Service into a “stability police.” He is being assisted by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The group has convinced many local police and sheriff’s officials that conservatives are the enemy.
Indeed, in 2008, the Missouri Highway Patrol was alerted that people who supported Ron Paul, Bob Barr, the Constitution Party, Libertarian Party, Second Amendment Advocates or the John Birch Society, or who were devout Christians, were potential terrorists.
Today, we are again beginning our “Support Your Local Police” campaign. This time, the effort will probably be harder due to the numerous grants local police have been conditioned to apply for and accept with all strings attached. |
Knuckleheads and Worse, Bringing Guns in Carry-ons
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EVERY day, screening officers find four to five guns in carry-on bags at American airports, according to John S. Pistole, the head of the Transportation Security Administration.
Now, considering that about 1.7 million travelers pass through security checkpoints each day at the nation’s 450 commercial airports, that may not sound like a lot — until you think about how many guns it would take to set off a nasty scene on an airplane. |
CA: Police: Video of market shooting will not be released
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Green said Friday that the video clearly shows Samrith Vong acted in self-defense for himself and his family.
...
The altercation turned physical, and as Samrith Vong and Chamna Vong fought Lyons, Wandick entered the store, Green said. Wandick, who outweighed Samrith Vong by 80 pounds, beat Vong while Vong was on the floor and fractured his cheekbone.
Samrith Vong then pulled his gun and shot Wandick, 41, in the chest, Green said. Lyons, who had left the store, came back in and advanced on Vong, who shot him in the head.
Green said she and a group of prosecutors she gathered to examine the case were unanimous in their decision that Vong acted in self-defense. |
DC: Taking the D.C. gun safety class
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It took weeks of research and dozens of phone calls to finally find a suitable place to take the required gun safety class to register a handgun in the nation's capital. Thanks to a referral from Atlantic guns, I found Donna Worthy -- even though she's not on the list of certified instructors given out by Metropolitan Police Department.
Ed.: Part of the "Emily gets her Gun" series. |
IN: Student senators visit shooting range
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Sunday afternoon, some Purdue Student Government senators visited a shooting range to fire guns in an effort to show firearms are not as dangerous as many perceive.
During PSG’s last meeting, the group extended the decision date on the concealed carry resolution until this Wednesday’s meeting in order for the issue to be more extensively researched.
This resolution would allow students, with the exemption of those living in residence halls and on-campus housing, to possess firearms as long as the firearms are concealed and students have gone through the process of getting a permit. In order to obtain a permit to carry, students would have to go through an eight-hour training course on self-defense. |
IN: South Bend firing range about more than guns
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Norm Hood peers slowly around the corner, semiautomatic pistol in hand.
There’s a bad guy waiting, Hood knows, and he’s going to take him out.
For years, Hood — a former Alaska State Trooper and a 25-year Army veteran — was placed in positions like this, looking for the bad guy, not knowing if he was armed.
But this day, although the gun is real, the scenario is not. |
WY: Council seeks clarity on guns and streets
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“I’m still getting them [e-mails] and they’re still hostile towards me, and I voted no, so I don’t know to what degree they’re not reading the newspaper, the Casper Star-Tribune or the Journal,” said Mayor Paul Bertoglio, adding later, “I’ve responded back and simply said, ‘We’re simply saying we would like to see the concealed weapons restrictions narrowly applied to open carry for public meetings.’ And most of them have said, ‘Oh, well that makes sense.’” |
UK: Guns, and lots of them
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The policeman that dealt with me was very polite but from his reaction it was pretty apparent that requests to keep a shotgun in NW London were few and far between.
The first question he asked was “what is the intended use of the gun?” There were plenty of answers I could have given that would have stopped the process right there and then, but I refrained.
The Spanish Inquisition began, and it took forever. The final piece of the process happened on a Saturday evening. We were sat watching TV and there was a knock on the door, not expecting anybody, we were a little surprised to be confronted by a policeman. |
Rep. Trent Franks: Pass National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity
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The policy choices of Illinois (and Washington, D.C.) are respected and not impacted by this law. It is consistent with the Supreme Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which made clear that the right to bear arms is a fundamental, individual right. Put simply, the government has very little legal ability to restrict this right, without a compelling government interest. |
Report: Felons Easily Regaining Gun Ownership Rights
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In addition to spending time in prison, people convicted of felonies lose some rights for life, including the right to vote and to own a gun. However the latter is no longer the case. A long report in The New York Times on Monday said that many ex-cons are getting their gun rights back -- and it isn't even that difficult, writing: Under federal law, people with felony convictions forfeit their right to bear arms. Yet every year, thousands of felons across the country have those rights reinstated, often with little or no review. In several states, they include people convicted of violent crimes, including first-degree murder and manslaughter, an examination by The New York Times has found. |
NY: Gun Buyback Nets 85 Weapons in Brooklyn
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They held a gun buyback in Brooklyn over the weekend, and now 85 more guns are off the streets. According to the Fort Green-Clinton Hill Patch, "49 revolvers, 20 semi-automatic weapons, three rifles, four shotguns and nine other weapons (such as zip guns and flares)" were collected at a church in Flatbush on Saturday. People received a $200 bank card for surrendering an operable handgun and $20 for a shotgun or rifle. There was a limit of three payments per person. “The guns turned in (Saturday) bring the total to 1,997 guns taken from the streets of Brooklyn since 2008, when the program began," Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said. |
WA: Tension between Whatcom farmers, Border Patrol
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That calm has been jarred by a bursting paramilitary force.
A fleet of white SUVs rolls down local dirt roads daily, often parked for hours, engines running, the agents shielded by dark, tinted windows.
32 remote-control cameras atop a string of 50-foot posts. Ground sensors monitor
Others say they've been left shaken and confused when agents swarmed onto their property in some mystery operation, only to withdraw without telling residents why they were there.
Most conspicuous of all is a military Blackhawk helicopter that patrols the border and, until recent months, routinely flew late-night, low-elevation sorties that not only rattled windows, but scared the bejeebers out of farm animals and farmers alike. |
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