SPECIAL NOTICE: I will be off line for approximately ten days, after tomorrow morning's mailing, to attend the Annual Training Conference of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors. Please hold all non-essential e-mail - this includes virtually all of the material that has no direct bearing on firearms that some of you forward to me. If this means having to revise your mailing list, please do so. I will have quite a bit of accumulated e-mail to clear out when I get back online and the sooner that I can do it, the sooner I will be able to resume the daily mailings. --- Who Would Have Thought...: From The New York Times, 06-15-05 Few senators reported gifts in 2004, but some were unusual. Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, received a 10-inch .50-caliber handgun made by Smith & Wesson worth about $950, enough to require a special waiver from the Senate Ethics Committee, records show. The gun was a gift from a college friend. Mr. Leahy was an award-winning marksman in college, and, though he is mostly blind in one eye, continues to count target shooting as one of two primary hobbies, said his spokesman, David Carle. "The other is photography," Mr. Carle said. --- Now Where Did I Leave It?: A Broome County (NY) deputy sheriff has been reassigned from courthouse duty after she left her Glock pistol in a courthouse restroom. (I know that I am not the only instructor who covers this aspect of carrying firearms in my CWP course because it was covered in my Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor Development School.) http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BATHROOM_GUN?SITE=PAPHQ&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-06-14-15-57-45 --- Intriguing Poll Results: Prohibitionists in Wisconsin are touting a Gallup poll that purports to show that only one in four Americans believe that private citizens should be allowed to carry concealed weapons and that nearly two out three would feel less safe if they knew that they were in a public place where concealed weapons were allowed. No details are cited as to the wording of the questions nor the demography of the respondents. (I wonder how many people of this alleged majority inquire about CCW laws prior to moving to a new state.) http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=48820 --- The New McCarthyism: David Kopel takes on the proposal by Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy to ban firearm purchase by individuals whose names appear on no-fly lists. http://www.davekopel.com/2A/IB/New-McCarthyism.pdf --- California DOJ Demands Recall Of Walther P22: After two years on the department's approved handgun list, the California Department of Justice has discovered that the barrel of the Walther P22 is actually threaded, making it an "assault weapon" under California law. (Years ago the California attorney general issued an opinion that SKS rifles modified to accept detachable magazines were not "assault weapons." When that opinion was reversed, people who had purchase those rifles suddenly found themselves in possession of unregistered "assault weapons.") http://www.crpa.org/showpages.asp?pid=1139 --- "Not My Son": A 14-year-old Richmond VA boy was fatally shot when he attempted to rob a man he threatened with a gun. The young robber's family can't understand why someone would shoot him. http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031783270727 --- Retired Detective Gets One To Three Years For Killing: A retired NYPD detective, who unintentionally killed a young store employee while pretending to threaten him with his pistol, has been sentenced to one to three years incarceration on his guilty plea to manslaughter. http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=6&aid=51514 --- Black Gun Owners To March In South Africa: A protest march is slated in Johannesburg by the Black Gun Owners Association, protesting the current license, law which would disarm them. http://iafrica.com/news/sa/450140.htm --- British Legislator Reverses Stance On Replica Guns: A British Member of Parliament who had previously opposed bans on toy guns seems to have reversed his position. "There is a strong argument that replica weapons are extremely dangerous. They cannot be distinguished from the real thing and give the police a very hard time." http://icsouthlondon.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0300southwark/tm_objectid=15629777&method=full&siteid=50100&headline=mp-hughes-in-u-turn-on-guns-name_page.html -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .