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CCRKBA Says Chicago Alderman Should Suffer Like Other Gun Owners
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Chicago Alderman Richard Mell ought to be prosecuted like any other negligent gun owner for failing to re-register his firearms under an ordinance he helped pass, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today."

"'I don't care if anti-gun Mayor Richard Daley supports giving Mell a break, and it doesn't matter that Mell is the father-in-law of Gov. Rod Blagojevich,' said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. 'For years, the draconian ordinance supported by Mell and enforced by Daley has terrorized Chicago gun owners. It's time for Mell to face his own music, and it's time for Daley to just shut up.'" ...

Ammo prices shoot up
Submitted by: RPA-PAC
Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org

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"Ammo prices are on the rise and it's forcing some competitive shooters to scale back."

"'Ammunition materials, lead, copper and brass have doubled, tripled, quadrupled in price,' said Fred Calcagno, owner of American Sportsman in East Rochester."

"Competitive shooting is taking a big hit."

"'A box like this is $14.99, we used to sell for $7.95,' said Calcagno who says ammo prices have shot up over the past few years." ...

"'This is probably one of the things that I do the most,' said Paul Roberts, who has been a competitive shooter for the last 15 years. He loads his own ammo to save money."

"... But Roberts says that too is getting more expensive." ...

Smith & Wesson Wins Law Enforcement Contract for M&P45 Pistols
Submitted by: RPA-PAC
Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org

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"Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation ... announced today that it has shipped an order for 500 of the company's M&P45 pistols to the Worcester, Massachusetts Police Department (PD). The M&P45 will be issued to each officer in the department to replace non-Smith & Wesson pistols that previously served as Worcester PD's primary duty firearm."

"Officials at the Worcester PD indicated that they selected the M&P45 because of its unique design features, modularity and reliability during testing. After a standard testing and evaluation period, Worcester PD officials noted the accuracy of the M&P45 pistol and the ability of each officer to select the grip size of his or her preference." ...

FL: Gun regulation needed
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Re the May 18 letter Ban on guns, freedom: The assault-weapons ban, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994, was not, as the letter writer stated, 'ineffective' and therefore 'allowed to sunset.'"

"President Bush, despite his assertion that he would keep it in place, allowed the bill to expire, backed by a Republican-led Congress. As early as 1996, the National Rifle Association pushed the U.S. House of Representatives to vote to repeal the ban, but the Senate would not follow suit. The NRA listed opposition to renewal of the law as one of its criteria on its 2002 election candidate questionnaire." ...

CA: Relaxation on gun control, unlicensed sales contribute to gun violence in Oakland
Submitted by: New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
Website: http://www.nysrpa.org

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"Seventeen-year-old Dominique Nubie stood on a West Oakland street corner talking about what matters in his life."

"'Guns '... everybody here has guns,' he said, motioning around."

"Instead of the usual high school concerns about finishing homework or making the basketball team, Dominique worries most about survival in a neighborhood where many of his peers own guns."

"Oakland is teeming with guns. They're easy to buy, easy to steal and seen by some young men as a necessary possession in certain Oakland neighborhoods where to be unarmed means to be vulnerable."

"'If I got a gun, I feel like I can't be touched, like I'm the man,' said one 18-year-old who said he never shot a gun, but has held one." ...

Judge: Bloomberg grandstanding in guns lawsuit
Submitted by: RPA-PAC
Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org

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"Hold your fire, Mayor Bloomberg."

"A Brooklyn federal judge has told Hizzoner that he can't testify as a lead off witness in a city lawsuit against a Georgia gun dealer next month."

"Judge Jack Weinstein said that it didn't make sense -- except for the sake of publicity -- to have Michael Bloomberg take the stand in the case, in which New York is seeking to control out-of-state gun sales."

"Bloomberg was scheduled to be called as witness to testify about the effects on the city of gun violence and about his having to go to the funerals of police officers killed in shootings." ...

Mike's gun 'stand' Submitted by: RPA-PAC Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
FULL TEXT BELOW: Mayor Bloomberg is expected to take the stand against a Georgia gun dealer who allegedly engaged in illegal firearm sales, sources said yesterday. The mayor will testify at the trial next month of Jay Wallace, who owns a Smyrna, Ga., sporting goods shop and is accused of illegally selling guns that were used in crimes in New York City, the sources said.

NYC's Nuisance Action Proceeds Against Ga. Gun Retailer
Submitted by: RPA-PAC
Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org

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"New York City's public nuisance action against a Georgia sporting goods shop, one of the three remaining defendants in the city's effort to hold 27 out-of-state dealers responsible for the use in New York crimes of guns they sold, will go forward following a Brooklyn federal judge's denial of the shop's motion for summary judgment."

"... Eastern District of New York Judge Jack B. Weinstein found that the claim for personal jurisdiction against defendant Adventure Outdoors had only strengthened since the court denied two motions to dismiss."

"'Extensive discovery since then has suggested that at least 41 additional guns sold by Adventure ... may have been recovered in connection with crimes in New York City,' Weinstein wrote ..." ...

Gun Dealer and Mayor Face Showdown
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"When Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg stood at City Hall two years ago to announce that he had just filed suit against several gun shop owners, mainly in the South, it was in a certain fashion the capstone of a signature campaign. ..."

"Now, however, Mr. Bloomberg is likely to answer verbally and literally in person for his personal crusade. ..." ...

"Within weeks of the filing of Mr. Bloomberg's suit, Mr. Wallace countersued with a libel claim against the city, arguing that Mr. Bloomberg had personally defamed him in the case. ..."

"Mr. Wallace ... started an Internet fund-raising site, bloombergfightbackfund.com, which lists its top half-dozen donors, with the Second Amendment Foundation ($5,000) at No. 1 ..." ...

Gun dealer shoots from lip
Submitted by: RPA-PAC
Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org

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"On the eve of his federal trial, a Georgia gun dealer had a message for New Yorkers Wednesday."

"'I believe I care more about firearms getting into criminals' hands than the mayor of New York City,' said Jay Wallace, owner of Adventure Outdoors." ...

"The Smyrna dealer has never sold a gun directly to a New York City resident, but his firearms have been tied to 21 violent crimes here between 1996 and 2000 ..."

"The mayor filed civil suits against 27 gun shops in 2006, accusing them of selling firearms - intentionally or negligently - to straw buyers who then passed the weapons to criminals. ..."

"Most of the gun shops have settled with the city, agreeing to track inventory and sales, but Wallace is fighting to the end." ...

FL: Murder widow shoots intruder in bedroom
Submitted by: New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
Website: http://www.nysrpa.org

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"North Miami police declined to press charges against a woman who shot an intruder in her home a month after her husband was gunned down in the front yard."

"Janepsy Cindy Mesa was in the process of moving out of the ill-fated house when she walked into a bedroom and was confronted by a man."

"The man, who turned out to have been an acquaintance of her late husband, was shot several times by Mesa, who then ran screaming outside and called 911. North Miami police deemed the incident a case of self-defense."

"'She was not expecting him to be there,' said Police Lt. Neal Cuevas."

"Mesa's husband had been shot to death outside the home on April 23 by two gunmen who were still at large. ..." ...

Brady Campaign Strongly Endorses Senator Frank Lautenberg, A Hero in The Fight to Reduce Gun Violence
Submitted by: RPA-PAC
Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org

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"The President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence announced today that the organization was endorsing New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg in the Democratic primary to serve New Jersey in the United States Senate. The organization rarely endorses primary candidates."

"'Senator Frank Lautenberg is a hero to those who fight to reduce gun violence in America. He has always been a courageous champion for sensible gun laws and has worked tirelessly to make our communities safer,' said Paul Helmke, Brady's President. 'We will do everything we can to ensure that Senator Lautenberg is re-elected.'" ...

Former Outside NRA Lobbyist Gives A Boost To McCain
Submitted by: RPA-PAC
Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org

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"When he went to woo the National Rifle Association convention in Louisville, Ky., on Friday, it did not hurt that presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, was accompanied by a former outside NRA lobbyist turned campaign adviser, Randy Scheunemann."

"Officially the top foreign policy and national security adviser to McCains campaign, Scheunemann told National Journal in March he has weighed in with advice on Second Amendment and firearms issues. He said he had stopped lobbying for all his clients early this year, and his lobbying registration forms show that the NRA work ended at the end of 2007." ...

NY: Guns and bluster
Submitted by: RPA-PAC
Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org

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"Whenever a gun control measure begins to wind its way through the Legislature, the gun lobby goes into full-bore opposition. The approach is as familiar as it is effective. It includes lobbying lawmakers; spreading around campaign contributions to sympathetic legislators; holding press conferences, and sending out opinion articles to newspapers to make its case to the public."

"That's within the bounds of accepted practice. But what happened Monday went far beyond ..." ...

"To demonstrate microstamping technology, Ms. Schimel arranged a target practice session ... What she didn't expect was that one of her colleagues ... would try to crash the event. They were thrown out before the demonstration began, but later returned." ...

OH: HB450 (Armed Services 18-21 purchase) passes Ohio House with bi-partisan support
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"With a strong bi-partisan 90-3 vote, the Ohio House of Representatives has passed HB450, sponsored by Representative Bruce Goodwin (R-74)."

"'This is important legislation,' said Buckeye Firearms Association Chairman Jim Irvine. 'We are talking about men and women who volunteered to lay their life on the line for their country and their fellow man. We trust them with the full might of the U.S. military. Surely we can trust them with a handgun when they return home from duty.'"

"Current Ohio law prohibits persons under the age of 21 from buying a handgun. ..."

"The bill would add an exemption for active or reserve members of the armed services or the Ohio National Guard, aged 18-20 who have received firearms training." ...

OH: Debate over guns in cars gets heated
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Gun supporters and law-enforcement representatives clashed yesterday over proposed changes to relax Ohio gun laws, while the House committee chairman wondered why the State Highway Patrol was sitting silently in the back of the room."

"Associations representing police chiefs, police officers, county sheriffs and county prosecutors urged lawmakers not to support a National Rifle Association-backed proposal that, among other things, would allow anyone to carry a gun inside a vehicle." ...
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Submitter's Note: Contrary to what the anti-gun Dispatch implies, the law would require that a gun carried in the car would have to be unloaded and in a case, which could be unlocked.

LA: Panel kills bill on assault weapons
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A pro-gun rights House committee Wednesday shot down, 12-1, a bill to impose a statewide ban on assault weapons starting Jan. 1."

"House Bill 68 by Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, is dead for the session unless he can amend it onto another bill. ..."

"Richmond was joined in his presentation by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and ranking members of the New Orleans Police Department, who brought confiscated assault weapons and ammunition to the hearing. Nagin said that since Hurricane Katrina, the department has seized more than 600 illegal assault weapons in the city, many used by drug dealers." ...

FL: Consultants fault responses to 911 call before Plantation woman was shot
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Driving to the police station in an attempt to seek refuge from a gunman bent on killing her and himself, Olidia Kerr Day made a 911 call from her cell phone that could not save her life."

"Some experts said there was nothing the 911 operators who handled the April 25 call could have done to save Day, while others said the operators didn't do enough." ...

"Robert Krause, an emergency services consultant ... thinks the 911 operators should have told Day to keep driving and should have realized she would have been in danger if she stopped the car."

"'It makes common sense to keep driving,' he said."

"Day, 45, of Plantation, was shot to death as she tried to run to the lobby of Plantation's police station ..." ...

CT: West Haven woman arrested after her gun shows up on MySpace
Submitted by: RPA-PAC
Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org

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FULL TEXT BELOW:

West Haven police have arrested a woman after linking her gun to a photo on the MySpace social networking Web site.

Police say the picture of a Bailey Middle School student pointing a gun at another student led to the arrest 38-year-old Elizabeth Paris, the mother of one of the teenagers.

Paris has been charged with risk of injury to a minor, reckless endangerment and failure to properly store a firearm.

Police say the charges are the result of her failure to properly lock up the weapon. Police say a 14-year-old boy visiting his friend took a gun belonging to Paris, his friend's mother.

The photo was posted to a Web site on MySpace, leading to the investigation.
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KABA Note: So after having her property stolen she is victimized again by the police.

FL: Transcript of Olidia Kerr Day's 911 call
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Olidia Kerr Day's frantic 911 phone call from her cell phone lasted 3 minutes and 24 seconds. In that time Day drove about a mile from her Plantation home in the 6800 block of Northwest 14th Street to the city's police station at 451 NW 70th Terrace."

"One of the 911 operators who handled the call tried to use data from nearby cell phone towers to track Day's cell phone to a specific location but was unsuccessful."

"The operators were still on the line when Day was shot to death." ...

GA: Georgia Cop Gets 4 1/2 Years for Lying After Raid That Killed Elderly Woman
Submitted by: Anonymous

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"An Atlanta police officer was sentenced Thursday to 4 1/2 years in prison for lying to investigators about a botched drug raid that ended in the shooting death of a 92-year-old woman."

"Arthur Tesler, 42, was the only officer to face trial in the raid, which led to an outcry from civil rights activists and to a shake-up of the police department. Tesler also was sentenced to serve six months of probation and 450 hours of community service."

"Kathryn Johnston died in a hail of police bullets after narcotics officers burst into her northwest Atlanta home ... using a special no-knock warrant to search for drugs."

"Testimony showed that Tesler was in Johnston's back yard when other officers went in through the front door. ..." ...

IL: Police union boss blasts 'double standard' on gun plan
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Fraternal Order of Police President Mark Donahue today decried the 'double standard' that prompted Mayor Daley to endorse the idea of temporarily re-opening gun registration in Chicago after a request from Ald. Richard Mell (33rd)."

"'We have retired police officers who have a right to carry concealed weapons across the country, and they're being barred from registering their weapons in Chicago. We've taken one of these cases to Circuit Court. Dick Mell has taken his case to the City Council,' the union president said."

"'Whether he knows it or not, the mayor, by this agreement [to endorse a temporary gun amnesty] is establishing a double standard. One for members of the City Council, the other for everybody else.'" ...
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Submitter's Note: Let me make sure I have this right: Mr. Donahue is objecting to the "double standard" of having retired LEOs in Chicago treated like every other non-Council-member in the city, and he wants to relieve this injustice by including them (and only them) in the special class of privileged people?

NC: Ex-trooper pleads guilty in DWI case
Submitted by: jac

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"A former state trooper who was arrested after he drove his personal vehicle into a pond while his children were inside pleaded guilty Wednesday to driving while impaired and assault on a law enforcement officer."

"A 16-year veteran of the North Carolina Highway Patrol, Steven Ellis Bradley was sentenced to 24 months of supervised probation, a 12-month suspended sentence and $420 in court costs and fines."

"Bradley was also given a suspended 60-day jail sentence, 12 months' probation and 24 hours of community service on the assault charge."

"Judge Kristin Ruth also sentenced Bradley to a 24-day active jail sentence on the DWI conviction. ..." ...

"Bradley, 38, resigned from the Highway Patrol in December after the accident ..." ...

PA: Seize Kelly's weapons (first letter)
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Editor: I don't like Chris Kelly's article ... I want you to call the police and have them, in public, confiscate his notebook and his pen, and publicly humiliate him. Let's see how he feels about being oppressed like that." ...

"Mr. Kellys statement that a room without any guns is safer than a room with even one gun in it, no matter what the color of your hat, is ludicrous. That simply flies in the face of many years of real-life experience that proves just the opposite."

"The Dickson City officers that responded to the 'people with guns' call at the restaurant should be disciplined for their extremely poor handling of the incident. It was the police that escalated the situation beyond the point of being reasonable." ...

PA: Look it up (second letter)
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Editor: I read with some amusement and some amazement the May 18 column ... by Chris Kelly. The writer is very correct when he writes he is not a lawyer. He is not much of a U.S. citizen, either. What kind of thinking is it that makes a person believe that there must be a law that 'affords the right' of any citizen?"

"And, how is it that the absence of a law that would afford us the right is a loophole. Read the Constitution. It tells you what your rights are as a citizen of the United States. Only a fool would ask the government to give them a law to specify each of their rights. The Founding Fathers wrote out

PA: Big difference in right v. smart
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A small group of gun owners who decided to openly parade their hardware recently at a Dickson City buffet restaurant were out to prove that they had the right to do so. So, they know everything about their right, but nothing about wisely using it."

"The gun-wielders became known to their activist brethren as the 'Dickson Dozen' after someone in the restaurant complained to police that they openly were carrying their guns."

"Police detained one of the armed diners and temporarily confiscated his weapon when he declined to answer their questions. So, the point was made. ... Pennsylvania has no law precluding citizens from openly brandishing the hardware. Moreover, the police were not quite sure about how to respond." ...

ID: Idaho gun shop, ATF close to settlement
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"An Idaho gun shop that went to federal court to keep the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from stripping it of its gun license has reached a tentative settlement with the government."

"Attorneys on both sides told U.S. District Court Judge Mikel H. Williams on Wednesday that they had likely agreed on how to end the case."

"Mark Geston, an attorney representing Terry and Ryan Horsley of Red's Trading Post, said he could not yet release details, but said the proposal would allow the Twin Falls gun shop to continue operating." ...
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H/t to David Codrea.

JAPAN: Dozens sickened after suicide
Submitted by: Anonymous

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"A Japanese farmer who committed suicide by drinking pesticide vomited the poison at a hospital before he died, releasing toxic fumes that sickened more than 50 people ..."

"Doctors were trying to pump the 34-year-old man's stomach when he threw up, spraying his rescuers with chloropicrin, causing 54 doctors, nurses and patients to develop breathing problems and eye sores."

"Ten of them were hospitalized themselves, and 90 hospital personnel had to be called in to help with the emergency Wednesday night ..." ...
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Submitter's Note: If he had used a gun, it would not have harmed the hospital staff or patients.