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Convergence: Special Operations Forces and Civilian Law Enforcement
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In recent years there has been an apparent convergence of the operations conducted by Special Operations Forces (SOF) and those of civilian law enforcement agencies (LEAs), especially Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) units, in what were formerly separate and distinct missions. The requirements to obtain warrants prior to execution of raids for high-value targets, collect and preserve evidence for criminal prosecution, and on occasion present testimony in courts of law are new missions for SOF. They are not relatively simple changes in the rules of engagement or comparable techniques. As far as can be determined, previously no U.S. military combat arms unit has ever been tasked with such a mission during combat operations. |
IL: Illinois Traffic Stop Of Star Trek Fans Raises Concerns About Drug Searches, Police Dogs, Bad Cops
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Terrance Huff and his friend were returning to Ohio after attending a convention in St. Louis. A police officer, Michael Reichert, pulled Huff over to the side of the road. Reichert interrogated the two men, employing a variety of police tactics civil rights attorneys say were aimed at tricking them into giving up their Fourth Amendment rights. Reichert conducted a sweep of Huff's car with a K-9 dog, then searched Huff's car by hand.
Huff posted to YouTube audio and video footage of the stop. Huff's video raises important questions about law enforcement and the criminal justice system, including the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, the drug war, profiling and why it's so difficult to take problematic cops out of the police force. |
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Gains on Fears Over Gun Control
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Gun and ammunition manufactures have seen a sharp increase in sales from customers who fear President Obama will enforce stricter firearm regulations if reelected. Others fear economic conditions will worsen, and want firearms to protect their property from break-ins and robberies.
Others still are arguing that the stigma over gun ownership is changing towards a more positive acceptance, propagated by TV shows like Top Shot on the History Channel.
Regardless of the cause, one thing is certain: guns are flying off the shelves nationwide. Wicked Local reports The Federal Bureau of Investigation “carried out 16.5 million criminal background checks on potential gun buyers last year, 15% more than in 2010.” |
NY: New York State Rifle & Pistol Association: Let Microstamping Rest in Peace
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Putting aside the flair for the hysterical in use by pro-microstamping forces, and claims that the blocking of microstamping legislation will hinder police investigations – thus making the streets of New York more dangerous: the only response that can be offered is "here we go again"! The hype, the hysteria and the half truths role off the tongues with such fervor that we can only ask: Are the political proponents of microstamping that badly misinformed, or do they simply want to ignore the facts to shove more bogus, ill-conceived and dubious technology down the throats of New Yorkers and into law? |
District Court Upholds Illinois Total Ban on Carrying Guns
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Illinois basically bans private citizens from carrying guns outside the home in any way that’s useful for immediate self-defense. Shepard v. Madigan (S.D. Ill. Mar. 30, 2012), has just upheld this ban; other courts, in California, Illinois, Maryland, and Massachusetts have done the same, though the federal district courts in Maryland and North Carolina, as well as an appellate court in Puerto Rico have held the opposite. |
NY: Cuomo whacks Pataki gun law
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With virtually no public notice or legislative debate, a centerpiece of ex-Gov. George Pataki’s controversial multimillion-dollar anti-gun-crime program was shot dead Friday by Gov. Cuomo’s new state budget. The budget killed off the so-called CoBis, or Combined Ballistics Identification System, which was rolled out with much fanfare by Pataki in 2000 in what was widely seen as an attempt by the politically ambitious Republican “moderate’’ to appeal to anti-gun Democrats nationally, possibly for a future presidential run. |
Debunking the ‘stand your ground’ myth
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According to one side, Mr. Zimmerman was the criminal aggressor. Thus, he would have no self-defense rights at all. According to the other side, Trayvon attacked Mr. Zimmerman, knocked him to the ground, got on top of him and continued the attack. So Mr. Zimmerman would have had no ability to retreat. Either way, the retreat rules for lawful defenders have nothing to do with this case. |
FL: Analyses of enhanced video, audio could support both sides of Martin case
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The sharper footage shows an apparent bump, mark or injury on Zimmerman's head more clearly than previously released video, which had a grainy quality.
The 28-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer has said he killed Martin in self-defense, saying the teen punched him and slammed his head into a sidewalk before the shooting...
Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the Martin family, said Monday night that it's up to a court of law to determine whether the enhanced video supports Zimmerman's claim of self-defense.
But he added, "Is that enough to justify deadly use of force to kill an unarmed teen?"
Ed.: Yes. Slamming someone's head into concrete is deadly force, and can justifiably be met with deadly force. |
Self-Defense Becomes A Popular Defense
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At a time when the overall U.S. homicide rate is declining, more civilians are killing each other and claiming self-defense—a trend that is most pronounced in states with new “stand your ground” laws. These laws, which grant people more leeway to attack and even kill someone who is threatening them, are attracting close scrutiny following February’s controversial killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida by a neighborhood watchman. |
AK: Parnell supports bill that would expand right to use deadly force for self-defense
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Gov. Sean Parnell supports a proposal that would expand Alaskans' right to use deadly force as a means of self-defense —despite concerns raised in the past by members of his administration.
Current law describes a right to use deadly force in self-defense only when a person is at home or work. Rep. Mark Neuman, R-Big Lake, the sponsor of HB80, would extend the right to any place a person is legally allowed.
Supporters claim there is a "duty to retreat" imposed by current law that puts people's lives at risk and could send them to prison for defending themselves. They frame Neuman's law as a right to "stand your ground." |
IN: Self-defense law could pose problem to law enforcement
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Leading the way of the not-so-good laws passed during the recent session in my view is the so-called "right to resist" legislation that became law.
The law is a measure that allows homeowners to use force when resisting police entry into their homes in some cases.
The bill was a response to uproar over a state Supreme Court ruling that said residents could not resist officers, even during an illegal entry.
The law says that residents are protected by the state's self-defense law if they reasonably believe force is necessary to protect themselves from unlawful actions by an officer. |
FL: The Stand Your Ground Case That Wasn’t
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The problem? First, this was apparently a basic self-defense case, not a Stand Your Ground case. The incident took place in July of 2005, and the Stand Your Ground law didn’t take effect until October 1 of that year. Though the Florida Supreme Court did not definitively resolve the issue until after this case had concluded — prosecutors dropped charges against Ansley, and a judge dismissed the case against Swofford for lack of evidence, in early 2007 — Stand Your Ground is not retroactive in Florida. This is because the Florida constitution states: “Repeal or amendment of a criminal statute shall not affect prosecution or punishment for any crime previously committed.” |
NC: Judge: NC can’t ban guns during emergencies
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Now, a federal court has agreed, ruling that state law can’t make a blanket ban that keeps the plaintiffs from carrying or buying guns and ammunition during an emergency.
“While the bans imposed … may be limited in duration, it cannot be overlooked that the statutes strip peaceable, law-abiding citizens of the right to arm themselves in defense of hearth and home, striking at the very core of the Second Amendment,” Senior U.S. District Judge Malcolm J. Howard wrote in his order.
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Still, attorney Alan Gura, who represented the plaintiffs, said the impact of the ruling will be that police are “on notice” that they cannot enforce the ban on people who are law-abiding citizens exercising their rights. |
OH: OU Students To Wear Empty Gun Holsters This Week
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Members of the Ohio University Second Amendment Club are planning to take part in a nationwide protest this week against laws that ban concealed weapons on college campuses.
From tomorrow until Friday, the students will wear visible, but empty, gun holsters.
"The hope is to interact with people. It's kind of a way to start these conversations and to say our viewpoints," said Thomas Stierhoff, president of the club. |
MA: Judge rules immigrant gun law unconstitutional
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A federal judge has ruled that a state law barring legal immigrants from possessing handguns and large-capacity weapons is unconstitutional.
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The ruling doesn’t apply to all legal immigrants, Woodlock said, only to legal immigrants who have been granted permanent residency.
That’s because he decided that two organizations that joined in the suit on behalf of other legal immigrants — Natick-based Commonwealth Second Amendment Inc. and Second Amendment Foundation Inc. of Bellevue, Wash. — didn’t have standing. |
WI: Killing of unarmed 20-year-old reignites debate over 'castle doctrine' law
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The fatal shooting of 20-year-old Bo Morrison has reignited the debate over Wisconsin's newly enacted "castle doctrine," which presumes property owners are acting reasonably if they use force against home invaders or carjackers.
Supporters say the law provides commonsense legal protection from prosecution for people defending themselves in their own homes. They note Morrison's shooting probably would have qualified as self-defense even without the new law. |
TX: In case of firing range, state law goes too far
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Tripp says the TSRA also convinced Republican state Sen. Craig Estes to author a bill last year that prevents local governments from suing shooting ranges or their owners — absurdly, in the name of “public safety.”
That law is now a thorn in the side of Municipal Golf Association-SA, a public/private partnership created by the city to manage its golf courses.
The golf association has filed for an injunction against A Place to Shoot, a range less than two miles from the Mission Del Lago municipal golf course, where golfer Justo Flores somehow survived a slug to the sternum. |
MO: Self-Defense Killings Rise Nationwide; Ozarkers Take Action As Well
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The case is shedding new light on what are considered "justifiable" killings. Across the United States the number of people who claim they killed in self defense has doubled over the past decade.
There's no one Missouri agency that tracks shootings and killings in what's claimed to be self-defense, but according to the Greene County Sheriff more homeowners are taking defensive action for a very good reason. |
AK: Former state AG once decried stand your ground legislation
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Two years ago, when the Legislature was debating the first incarnation of "stand your ground" legislation, then-Attorney General Dan Sullivan decried the bill as an invitation to violence.
Covering a broad swath of beliefs from religion to atheism, from conservatism to liberalism, Sullivan's unequivocal letter to the House Judiciary Committee, written by a subordinate, said the bill had no place in the statute books. |
OK: Students to carry empty holsters in protest
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Students who support carrying concealed weapons on campus are going to show it in a nationwide protest.
This week, members of Students for Concealed Carry will wear empty holsters to symbolize how defenseless students are against an attack on Oklahoma State University campus.
The protest was organized by the national organization of Students for Concealed Carry, a group advocating concealed weapons on college campuses with slogans like “Disarming good guys won’t stop bad guys” and “Self-defense is a human right.” |
IL: Slaying may have been self defense: 'This was over a girl'
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Police continue to investigate the shootings, but Brady said Williams opened fire on Larry Watts, 23, and Casnova P. Hobbs, 28, as they sat in a vehicle about 11 p.m. Saturday in the 1900 block of West Garden Street. In self-defense, one of the two men returned fire, striking Williams multiple times, once in the head, Brady said.
"That's a fair way to summarize it," Brady said. "You have the man who was killed opening fire on the two occupants of the vehicle, and one of those men shot back and killed (Williams)." |
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