Officer Fired For Unsecured Handgun: A Florida police officer was fired and cited for unsafe storage of a firearm after her oldest daughter had armed herself with the absent officer's service pistol in response to a possible prowler. Of note, the federal restrictions on juvenile possession of handguns provide an exemption for self-defense at the juvenile's residence. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/orl-lklofficer29072905jul29,0,4464672.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-lake http://www.local6.com/news/4784474/detail.html --- Arizona Trail Shooter Loses Round In Court: A judge denied a defense request to take prosecution of the case against a retired teacher who shot a man who threatened him on a hiking trail away from the Coconino County Attorney's Office. http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=112718 --- Is Your Fanny Pack Breeding Terrorists?: Interesting commentary on warantless searches touches on the issue of illegally carried firearms. http://www.reason.com/sullum/072905.shtml --- Of Guns And Men: Meandering essay includes discussion of freedom, firearms and crime in Switzerland and how American trial lawyers have sought the destruction of the firearm industry. http://www.mensnewsdaily.com/archive/r/ross-eric/2005/ross072905.htm --- Smith & Wesson Hires 2 Glock Executives: Smith & Wesson has hired two of Glock's sales executives in an apparent bid to challenge Glock's share of the law enforcement market. S&W will be resurrecting the the Military and Police model name with a forthcoming pistol in .40 caliber. http://www.masslive.com/business/republican/index.ssf?/base/living-0/1122651765315980.xml&coll=1 --- Beware Of Phony Organization: There appears to be a new prohibitionist organization masquerading as the American Hunters and Shooters Association. http://www.nraila.org/HuntingAndConservation/Diggerscorner/?ID=23 --- More Infringements In Illinois: Governor Blagojevich has signed a measure mandating background checks for private-party transfers at gun shows and has vetoed one that would have required the state police to destroy records of those background checks after 90 days. (My recollection is that the state NRA-affiliate supported the former in exchange for the latter.) http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0507290247jul29,1,6045153.story?coll=chi-news-hed --- New York County Bans Weapons In Buildings: Chautauqua County has passed an ordinance to post "no weapons" at all county buildings. http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050729/1061999.asp --- Senate Passes Lawsuit-Protection Bill: The Senate has passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Bill with one significant amendment. The New York Times appears to be the first source to emphasize that failure of a manufacturer to provide "child-safety locks" would invalidate the protection from lawsuits. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/30/politics/30cong.html?ei=5094&en=83d2b13b76ada43a&hp=&ex=1122782400&partner=homepage&pagewanted=all From The Firearms Coalition: As I write this, the Senate has voted 65-31 in favor of S. 397, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. The bill sailed through today on rails that have been admirably greased by Larry Craig. Except for a requirement that dealer sales of handguns include a trigger lock, the bill that passed is clean. Absent are truly harmful amendments such as the McCain gun show language, a reinstatement of the bogus "assault weapons" ban, or expansions of gun laws such as bans of the Herstal-FN Five-seveN and of .50 BMG rifles. The bill is not completely without controversy. I had a friendly discussion with one reader who sent a link to an article on the Cato Institute (http://www.cato.org/dailys/05-27-02.html) web site by Constitutional scholar Robert A. Levy. Levy correctly points out that not every problem is a federal problem. The fundamental principle is this: No matter how worthwhile an end may be, if there is no constitutional authority to pursue it, then the federal government must step aside and leave the matter to the states or to private parties. The president and Congress can proceed only from constitutional authority, not from good intentions alone. I have to confess that I agree, but the fact of the matter is that the principle has already been violated in spades. It's all well and good to operate in a mode of Constitutional and ideological purity but it's also a good way to get steam-rolled. A court system that appropriatly enforces the Ninth and Tenth Amendments will likely also enforce the Second. Until then, we have to fight with the tools and tactics at hand. Congratulations to Senator Larry Craig of Idaho for spearheading this effort and to NRA-ILA staff as well as to NSSF for all their hard work. Finally, I commend to you a useful web site, http://www.gunlawnews.org/. We have no connection with gunlawnews.org, however I've found it to be useful and reliable. Check in on it as the Protection in Lawful Commerce in Arms Act moves on to the House. Chris Knox --- From GOA: Senate Passes Gun Control Amidst Protection For Gun Makers -- Now the House has to clean up the Senate's mess Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151 Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408 http://www.gunowners.org Friday evening, July 29, 2005 The U.S. Senate passed legislation (S. 397) protecting the gun industry from frivolous lawsuits by a vote of 65-31 this afternoon. It should have been a joyous occasion for the entire gun community. But just when it seemed that the majority party was about to deal a knockout blow, the Republican leadership dropped their gloves and allowed anti-gun Democrats to land a hard uppercut on the chin. As a result of that lack of resolve, America will be saddled with mandatory trigger locks unless the House of Representatives acts in a more responsible manner. True, the underlying bill is significant legislation, supported by GOA, which will help the firearms industry defend itself from the slew of frivolous lawsuits you've been hearing about for years. It's not great protection, but it's a nice first step. However, "nice first step" should never be an excuse for the passage of more gun control. By the way, you will no doubt be reading news reports touting the bill as a great victory for gun owners, while dismissing the trigger lock amendment as "minor." Wrong, and more on that later. But first: how did this thing blow up in our faces? IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GOOD, THEN IT WENT BAD Remember that Gun Owners of America had asked its members and activists to lobby Majority Leader Bill Frist to use whatever means possible to block anti-gun amendments? At first, his office had been telling us this couldn't be done. Frist's office told us there was no Senate rule allowing the majority party to block bad amendments. But after GOA members and activists applied the heat, Frist took another look. He then used parliamentary rules to "fill the amendment tree," which is exactly what we asked him to do. "Filling the amendment tree" is a technical term which explains how the majority party can offer amendments in such a way as to block the minority party from offering other amendments. So far so good. But then... Frist blinked. You see, there were a handful of "moderate" Democrats, mainly from pro-gun states, who had cosponsored the original bill -- enough to make the measure filibuster-proof. Fearing that the other side would get those guys to bolt from the bill, Frist caved and allowed people like decidedly anti-gun Senator Herb Kohl to offer amendments. Frist should have stood firm and let any rats jumping ship go home and explain to their constituents why they didn't support needed tort reform. But he did not, and the trigger lock amendment passed. Those who think it's no big deal will tell you that even though the provision requires gun dealers to include the sale of a "lock-up-your-safety" device with every handgun sold, there are no penalties for the gun owner if he or she does not use the trigger lock. Right. NOT YET. Remember seat belts? First they had to be installed in every new car sold. Then, it became mandatory that you wear them. You can almost hear the debate in the next Congress: "It does no good to provide trigger locking devices if gun owners aren't required to use them. We need to punish any gun owner who fails to lock up his or her handgun!" Remember also that some us don't like a "tax" on the price of our next gun, which we have to pay to get a piece of equipment we know can endanger our lives should we install it. IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE At least your hard work convinced Frist to fill the tree in the first place. Otherwise, any anti-gun Senator could have added anything including the word "firearm" and who knows what we would have ended up with. It's an utter shame that Frist lost his nerve right when total victory was in our grasp. Even worse, perhaps, 70 Senators went along with the trigger lock amendment when they could just as easily have voted "No" and passed a clean bill thereafter. Were your Senators among those who need to be spanked for toying with your rights? Go to http://www.gunowners.org/cgv.htm for a complete run-down of the trigger locks vote. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT The bill now moves to the House. Some pro-gun spokesmen have been promising that the trigger lock amendment can be stripped out in a conference committee. As mentioned in a previous alert, this is a dangerous strategy which frequently does NOT work -- such as when we got stuck with the Feinstein semi-auto ban in 1993-94 and the Incumbent Protection Act in 2002. Actually, a clean bill already exists in the House. Why not pass that one? Congress is in recess during August. But the back-room deals are certain to continue inside the Beltway. To counter those expected compromises, GOA will need your help at specific times over the remainder of the summer. Please stay tuned... gun owners will need to pressure their Representatives with one simple message: a vote for ANY bill, should it contain new gun control, is NOT something we're prepared to swallow without a fight. --- From The NRA-ILA: NRA-ILA Grassroots Alert Vol. 12, No. 30 7/29/05 S. 397 PASSES U.S. SENATE!!! Thanks to your efforts, today, the U.S. Senate passed S. 397 by a strong bipartisan vote of 65-31! While this doesn't assure the bill will be enacted into law, it represents a MAJOR first step toward ending the anti-gun lobby's reign of extortion through reckless lawsuits against the firearm industry. The fight now moves to the U.S. House of Representatives, so it is critical that you once again contact your U.S. Representative and urge him/her to pass S. 397--"The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act." As reported yesterday, an amendment by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) passed, which requires federally licensed dealers to provide a "secure gun storage or safety device" with the sale/transfer of every handgun (does not apply to long guns). It does not require gun owners to use the device, does not apply to private transfers, and does not create any new civil liability for gun owners who choose not to use these storage devices. Virtually all new handguns today are sold with some type of secure storage or safety device. The amendment has no significant impact on current law or S. 397 itself. The U.S. Senate rejected a slew of anti-gun amendments to S. 397 including: * Special "carve out" amendments by Sens. Corzine (D-N.J.) and Lautenberg (D-N.J.) that would have permitted reckless lawsuits by law enforcement and juveniles to continue unabated. Both were soundly defeated; * A ban on "armor piercing" ammunition (Kennedy-D-Mass.) (by a vote of 31-64) that would have banned virtually all hunting ammunition. Similar efforts have been continuously defeated by Congress, and Sen. Kennedy's most recent attempt was nothing more than anti-gun political posturing. (The Senate did adopt an amendment by Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) calling for increased penalties if "armor piercing" handgun ammunition is used in the commission of a crime.), and; * A "gutting" amendment by Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) that sought to continue to allow the very types of suits S. 397 prohibits (by a vote of 33-63). This long overdue victory marks the culmination of your tireless efforts--your phone calls, faxes, letters, e-mails, and personal meetings--over the past few days, and over the past many years. As critical as these efforts were, this victory also highlights your importance in volunteering and voting for pro-gun candidates running for office. Without your steadfast work in past election years to elect more pro-gun U.S. Senators, we simply would not have had enough votes to pass this bill in the Senate. Defeating former Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) in the 2004 elections (Daschle, as you'll recall was the architect who last year allowed the bill to be loaded up with anti-gun amendments), and thus elevating Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), a consistent and longstanding supporter of S. 397, to that leadership position represented a major step toward guaranteeing we finally received a fair procedure to bring this measure up for a final vote, and carried out the will of a majority of the U.S. Senate. And of course, members should express their gratitude to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), Senator Minority Leader Harry Reid, and bill sponsors Sens. Larry Craig and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) for their leadership and stewardship on S. 397. While this fight is far from over, the Senate's action today enabled us to overcome a major hurdle in enacting this legislation into law. All of us at NRA-ILA thank you from the bottoms of our hearts for your continued vigilance in seeing this bill through the U.S. Senate. You deserve a lion's share of the credit, and we know you will help us finish the job once and for all by now contacting your U.S. Representative and urging him/her to support "The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act." (For a list of roll call votes on these amendments and final passage of S. 397, go to www.NRAILA.org . Take note of how your Senators voted, and please thank those who voted in support of gun owners and let those who voted against our rights know that you will keep their votes in mind when they are up for re-election. BE SURE TO ALSO ATTEND ANY OF YOUR U.S. REPRESENTATIVE'S TOWN HALL MEETINGS DURING THE "SUMMER DISTRICT WORK PERIOD" [Aug. 1-Sept. 5] and encourage him/her to bring up and pass S. 397 as soon as possible.) -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .