INTERNATIONAL

** International Action Network on Small Arms posts story about the emergence among Croatian criminals of firearms disguised like cell phones. Instead of wires inside the phone casing, there are spring wound-percussion mechanisms which enable the firing of four .22 caliber bullets from four different barrels. The connect button is the trigger, while keys 5 to 8 determine which barrel is activated. [Sean's commentary: This is further evidence that black-marketers are ingenious – U.S. gun bans would do nothing but cause such a technology race to meet demand.]
http://www.iansa.org/news/2000/nov_00/phone_guns.htm  

** Canadian Firearm Centre posts numerous public info statements about registration and licensing scheme that goes into full effect next month, including one titled "Firearm Program is Making Canada Safer." [Sean's commentary: This PSA contains no statistics to that regard, simply a description of the program. Hey, guys, just because you say so doesn't make it so.] 
http://www.cfc-ccaf.gc.ca/general_public/news_features/nc4-en.html  

** Demanding a "minimum of two hours of written tests" following the 20 hours of training to get a Shooter’s License, Gun Control Australia states, "The Federal Government has done little to ensure that the States and Territories develop a proper training and testing regime which will make would-be gun owners fit and proper people to legally own guns." [Sean's commentary: Talk about undying faith in government – since when could bureaucrats make people fit and proper, no matter how much testing?] 
http://www.guncontrol.org.au/ 


NATIONAL

** Americans for Gun Safety places this statement atop its homepage: "There are more safety standards for toy guns than there are for American-made handguns.” [Sean's commentary: Hmm. You guys imply you are impartial, yet you follow the recent lead of pro-ban Violence Policy Center in comparing firearms to toys. You can call yourself “nonpartisan and centrist” all you want. When you speak from the same talking points as VPC, you reveal your stripes.] 
http://ww2.americansforgunsafety.com/  

** Coalition to Stop Gun Violence to host 7th annual Citizens' Conference to Stop Gun Violence, Feb. 23-24, Key Bridge Marriott, Arlington VA (just outside D.C.). [Sean's commentary: “Stop Gun Violence” is a euphemism for “Gun Control” – you can call a skunk a cat all you want; it's still a skunk. Too bad this conference likely will ignore the causes of violence, while scheming to attack a mechanism.] 
http://www.csgv.org/content/edfund/ed_confer.html  

** Common Sense About Kids and Guns posts a link to a recent study about teen risk behaviors. Organization claims that this study "concluded that a strong predictor of gun-related violence is ‘easy access to guns at home.'" [Sean's commentary: Always – ALWAYS – check the grabbers' sources. From page 28 of the study (my emphasis): "Surprisingly, easy access to a gun at home was NOT consistently related to the degree of involvement in weapon-related violence." Send complaints about this, ahem, "error" to info@kidsandguns.org.)  [KABA NOTE: Good eyes, Sean!]
"Common Sense" statement: http://www.kidsandguns.org/study/web_resources.asp?ID=201  
The study: http://www.peds.umn.edu/peds-adol/PDFs/10764%20Ethnicity.pdf  

** Entertainment Industries Council, the group which encourages TV and movie writers to incorporate gun control propaganda into scripts, adds dedication page, listing entertainers "who the industry has lost to guns." [Sean's commentary: Um, actually, you lost them to violence and depression. Why do all the stars who died violently – by other’s hands and by their own – but without guns involved not get a dedication page? It's because your group is dedicated to attacking the mechanism rather than the cause.]
http://eiconline.org/violence/inremebrance.html  

** Handgun Control Inc. issues another release claiming again that the fact some political races went the way it wanted is proof of "gun control as a winning issue." [Sean's commentary: Most of the races HCI cites are in left wing states, and we know that control is popular among leftists. You cannot conclude an absolute – the country’s regions are divided, so what else is new? HCI is employing a classic propaganda technique. In the month since the election, it has issued numerous releases repeating this “across the nation” lie.]  [KABA NOTE: HCI Statists, please look at this map and tell us where your heroes won.]
http://www.handguncontrol.org/press/release.asp?Record=39 

** Physicians for Social Responsibility posts its legislative priorities for 2001, including passing a firearm “product safety” law to address accidents, homicide and injury, including the power to ban classes of firearms, institution of a national firearms injury reporting system to support the first priority, and “closing the gun show loophole.” PSR is teaming up with Violence Policy Center and Consumer Federation of America. [Sean’s commentary: This “product safety” Trojan Horse is coming folks; we’ve got to be ready.]
http://www.psr.org/vlegagenda.html  

** To coincide with Sen. Jack Reed’s (D-R.I.) promise to “close the gun show loophole” in the 107th congress, Violence Policy Center re-re-releases its “study” Gun Shows in America - Tupperware for Criminals, including wish list of recommendations like forbidding sale of handguns at shows and extra paperwork to facilitate later tracing. [Sean’s commentary: This attack on gun shows in coming too. Go read VPC’s study – the grabbers are showing they want to go far beyond the private transfer background checks referred to by the “loophole.” Get ready.]
http://www.vpc.org/studies/tupcont.htm 

** Violence Policy Center provides data showing the numbers of guns made in each state from 1975 to 1978, showing that the four top producing states are the anti gun rights states Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and California [Sean’s commentary: I predict that the grabbers will run to these sympathetic states to try to get further restrictions on manufacture in an attempt to curtail supply.] [KABA NOTE: We concur, and we also predict that within a couple of years, we will see gun manufacturers moving out of socialist-controlled states into those still under American control.]
http://www.vpc.org/press/0012stat.htm 


STATES: 

** Firearms Litigation Clearinghouse posts Dec. 5 dismissal of lawsuit – "for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted" – that Camden County, N.J. brought against Beretta. [Sean's commentary: Woohoo!!] 
http://www.firearmslitigation.org/camden_dismiss_12500.pdf  

** Join Together posts link to Detroit News column by Pete Waldmeir, who claims that this year’s hunting accidents in the state are evidence that the Michigan CCW law should not pass. He writes, “What I have difficulty understanding is, given the number of irresponsible screwballs there are roaming the highways and byways as well as the woods, pastures and cornfields of this land, why do you blindly insist on supporting legislation like the proposed "shall issue" concealed weapons law which is headed for Gov. John Engler's desk before year-end?” [Sean’s commentary: Wow, two logical fallacies in one sentence, both an ad hominem attack – gun users are accident prone fools – and a non sequitur conclusion – hunting accidents proving something about ccw permits. Really mad? Email him at pwaldmeir@aol.com.] 
http://detnews.com/2000/metro/0012/04/c01-157154.htm 

Sean Oberle is a featured writer with KeepAndBearArms.com whose archive is kept here: http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/Oberle.  Distribution permitted and encouraged. Please say you saw it first on KeepAndBearArms.com.