Nominee Reveals Pragmatic Approach To Constitution: Buried deeply in The New York Times "analysis" of the John Roberts confirmation hearings is the observation the the Second Amendment was one of the areas where "he was masterful at saying a lot but avoiding answering the key questions." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/politics/politicsspecial1/16roberts.html?pagewanted=all The Feinstein-Roberts Waltz: Judge Roberts appears to have avoided taking a stand on the Second Amendment by showing the likelihood that the issue could come up before the Supreme Court. http://www.gunnewsdaily.com/rw727.html --- Colorado Castle Law May Be Tested: A Weld County homeowner shot a 19-year-old intruder as he climbed through a window into the man's home. The district attorney is deciding whether the shooting falls under the provisions of the state's "castle law," referred to in the article as the "Make My Day" law. http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20050915/NEWS/10915007 Intruder May Have Entered Home In Error: http://www.lovelandfyi.com/region-story.asp?ID=2107 --- "Blood Will Run In The Streets": A columnist for The Detroit News repeats the usual bromides about pending legislation that would protect people who must resort to deadly force in self-defense. An e-mail address is available at the end of the commentary. http://www.detnews.com/2005/lifestyle/0509/15/E01-315249.htm --- Killer Of Hunters Claims Self-Defense: The trial of the Hmong refugee accused of murdering six Wisconsin hunters appears to be winding down as the defendant takes the stand to explain why he was in fear for his life. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/national/16hunter.html http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0916hunters16.html --- Police Commander Sanctioned In Theft: A police SWAT commander in Tempe AZ has been suspended for two weeks and barred from ever using a take-home car again after his vehicle, containing equipment including his pistol, was stolen during unauthorized off-duty use. (Rule Five - Maintain control of your firearm [and your automobile].) http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=48156 --- Iraq Vet Accidentally Shot By Wife: A Utah National Guardsman, home on leave from service in Iraq, was fatally shot by his wife as they secured their firearms after an informal shooting session. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,605154435,00.html --- Easton SWAT Officer's Shooting Crawls Toward Resolution: The investigation of the accidental shooting of a SWAT officer, by a teammate, in this small Pennsylvania city has been slowed by the grand-jury process. The coroner has finally ruled the death a homicide, a term which the reporter seems to confuse with "murder" at one point. http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=2&id=25904 --- S&W Claims Increased Sales: Smith & Wesson announces a profit, citing increased handgun sales in the first quarter of its fiscal year. However, the company is going back from seven-day-a-week production schedule to a five-day-a-week schedule. http://www.masslive.com/business/republican/index.ssf?/base/business-0/1126770553299190.xml&coll=1 --- Louisiana Pharmacist, Wife Pack Pistols: Article about a pharmacist in a New Orleans suburb, whose parking lot became a medical triage area, makes a point to mention that he and his wife work armed. http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2005/092005/09152005/130036 --- CHP vs. Elderly Woman: A couple of days ago a list member asked for a link to the video clip of California Highway Patrol officers taking down an elderly New Orleans woman who verbally resisted evacuation of her home while holding an antique revolver. http://www.ktvu.com/video/4946889/detail.html --- From GOA: Media, Politicians Keeping Gun Confiscation Quiet -- Your help needed to "rattle cages" on Capitol Hill 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 Thursday, September 15, 2005 Last week, GOA alerted you to the fact that officials were illegally confiscating firearms from law-abiding citizens in New Orleans. National Guard troops and police were going door-to-door and seizing guns from honest residents, without any constitutional or legal power to do so. Despite a few initial reports in the New York Times, the Associated Press and ABC News, there has been nothing said in the mainstream news since then. Not surprisingly, GOA has found that many offices on Capitol Hill are completely unaware that gun confiscations were occurring!To help overcome this appalling lack of information, GOA has constructed a special section at http://www.gunowners.org/notb.htm on the GOA website, so that gun owners, media pundits and congressmen can see for themselves what has been happening in New Orleans. Viewers can read articles and see actual video of the gun confiscations and forced evacuations occurring. Gun owners are strongly encouraged to visit this web link and to encourage other freedom lovers to go there as well. GOA has aggressively pursued the media and has been able to place opeds in many news outlets. GOA spokesman have also hit the airwaves to alert Americans on many, many talk shows across the nation. What Else Is GOA Doing? In addition to the educational efforts mentioned above, GOA will be pursuing any and all legal and judicial avenues that are available. GOA does not have standing to sue in the courts. However, we can help a member who has had his or her guns illegally confiscated. We already know of one person in Louisiana who is planning to bring a suit, and we will be prepared to spend money to advance cases like this one. GOA has also drafted model legislation to hold these sleazy public officials accountable. GOA extends kudos to gun author Alan Korwin who has correctly noted that federal law already provides sanctions for "conspiracy against rights" in 18 USC § 241. This is one avenue that needs to be pursued. And the President should be asking Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez to bring charges against New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and the Police Commissioner Edwin Compass III. (But don't hold your breath. After all, The Washington Post reported on September 9 that U.S. Marshals, who work for Gonzalez, were also participating in the confiscation of firearms.) GOA's model legislation would hit gun grabbing politicians from another angle, in that the bill will provide sanctions if those officials -- either now or in the future -- try to use "martial law" or "emergency powers" to confiscate firearms. Namely, the legislation will force them to lose every dollar of the precious relief funds that they so greatly covet. The legislation states in part that "no funds appropriated pursuant to any provision of law may be used (1) to involuntarily force any person out of that person's home if the person is not in imminent danger, or (2) to disarm law-abiding citizens exercising their Second Amendment rights." Why New Legislation? Some have asked, "Why is new legislation needed? Don't we have a constitutional amendment that already protects the right to keep and bear arms?" Yes, we do. And hence, the same question could be asked about concealed carry laws. Why enact CCW laws when the Second Amendment already protects the rights of citizens to "bear" arms? The reason is quite simple: Because of concealed carry laws around the country, there are now hundreds of thousands of Americans who can carry firearms legally WITHOUT being thrown into jail. Concealed carry laws represent a first step toward true freedom to carry without permits and have helped to protect and guarantee the rights of American citizens. Likewise, this model legislation will provide a practical means for punishing officials who would violate the rights of law-abiding American citizens. If there is one down-side, the model draft is almost too good. GOA has found congressmen that may be willing to introduce this legislation, but generally speaking, they are scared to introduce anything that might jeopardize the billions of dollars of financial aid that will be going to New Orleans. That's where you guys come in. ACTION: Please use the pre-written letter below to help direct your thoughts to your congressman. Urge him or her to introduce legislation that will deny funds to ANY group of officials that would violate the Second Amendment. Look, it's your money that is being sent to New Orleans. You should have a right to require that those politicians receiving your money will not use it to disarm fellow American citizens. So again: 1. Please write your congressman today. You can visit the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your Representative a pre-written e-mail message such as the one below. 2. Urge other lovers of freedom to visit http://www.gunowners.org/notb.htm on the GOA website. We need to sound the alarm and let as many people as possible know what has happened to our fellow Americans! --- Pre-written letter --- Dear Representative: Did you know that officials have been confiscating the firearms of law-abiding citizens in New Orleans? Did you know this has even occurred in the dry sections of New Orleans where, arguably, there is no need for forced evacuations? This is an outrage! You can see all this for yourself at http://www.gunowners.org/notb.htm on the website of Gun Owners of America. I would encourage you to introduce legislation that will put a stop to this. There should be sanctions against any official -- either now or in the future -- who tries to use "martial law" or "emergency powers" to confiscate firearms. If corrupt politicians are going to suspend the rights of decent Americans, then those officials should lose every dollar of the precious relief funds that they so greatly covet. GOA has drafted model legislation which states, in part, that "no funds appropriated pursuant to any provision of law may be used (1) to involuntarily force any person out of that person's home if the person is not in imminent danger, or (2) to disarm law-abiding citizens exercising their Second Amendment rights." Will you introduce this legislation as an amendment to the next supplemental appropriations bill? This is incredibly important to me and millions of other law-abiding Americans. Please let me know what you intend to do. Sincerely, **************************** GOA will also be looking to "beef up" the emergency procedures statutes of the several states. Many such laws grant extraordinary powers to bureaucrats during an emergency. We are looking to SPECIFICALLY deny the power to confiscate guns when such procedures are implemented. These actions, as well as the ones at the federal and judicial levels mentioned above, are going to be costly. Please, if you have not already done so, stop by http://www.gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm and become a member of GOA. Your membership dues are our war chest in this and other endeavors. **************************** --- From JPFO: ALERT FROM JEWS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FIREARMS OWNERSHIP America's Aggressive Civil Rights Organization September 15, 2005 JPFO ALERT: Will You Take Responsibility For Tyranny? President Bush is expected to deliver a speech tonight to "take responsibility" for some of the government blunders in dealing with Hurricane Katrina and the devastation of New Orleans. What we want to know is, will he even acknowledge the gross violations of the Second Amendment perpetrated in the storm's aftermath? Will Mr. Bush - whose slim majority in the 2004 election is often attributed to the votes of gun owners - take responsibility for supporting the New Orleans police chief's decree that civilians would not be allowed to possess any weapons? Will he take responsibility for having federal agents like the US Marshals confiscate guns from law-abiding citizens, such as bar-owner JoAnn Guidos and her friends? http://tinyurl.com/c2awe Will he take responsibility for the treatment of Patricia Konie, one elderly woman who was wrestled to the ground -- live on CNN -- by jackbooted California Highway Patrol officers because she dared to tell them that she had a gun and could take care of herself? Will he take take responsibility for the helplessness of everyone who couldn't afford to hire professional mercenaries to protect their property? Those mercenaries were allowed to keep their weapons (http://tinyurl.com/9ot44) - are we to believe that this administration has taken a play from the liberals' book, and only the wealthy have the right to self-defense? Will he take responsibility for the forcible disarming - to TSA standards no less - of the thousands of people who were imprisoned in the Superdome? How many of the people brutally assaulted there could have protected themselves had the National Guard not taken away their every potential self-defense tool? Will he take responsibility for ensuring that the guns confiscated by the soldiers and police officers are returned to their rightful owners? Or will the guns disappear into the private collections of these enforcers, as frequently happens? But most importantly, will he take responsibility for the attempts at all levels of his administration to use this tragedy as an experiment in stripping away the civil rights that are the definition of freedom? Will you take responsibility for that, Mr. Bush? Millions of gun owners will be listening for your answer tonight. - The Liberty Crew ============================================================ JPFO mirror site: http://www.jpfo.net ============================================================ LET JPFO KEEP YOU INFORMED -- Sign up today for JPFO Alerts! Just send a blank e-mail to jpfoalerts-subscribe@jpfo.org ============================================================= Regain your freedom - download the song "Justice Day" today! http://www.rebelfirerock.com/downloadjd.html ============================================================= Original Material in JPFO ALERTS is Copyright 2005 JPFO, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce this alert in full, so long as the following JPFO contact information is included: Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership PO Box 270143 Hartford, Wisconsin 53027 Phone: 1-262-673-9745 Order line: 1-800-869-1884 (toll-free!) Fax: 1-262-673-9746 Web: http://www.jpfo.org/ ============================================================= --- From Alan Korwin: > Alan: > > I'm a news reporter here in D.C., and I bounced your release off > Feinstein's office. > > Her contention is that as long as a gun is unloaded, or in a locked > container, it can be carried within 1,000 feet of school grounds. > > Can you speak to her remark? Presumably, if she is correct, it seems > unlikely that most gunowners have run afoul of the Gun-Free School > Zones law. Or, if they have, it seems it would have been simple for > them to have avoided breaking the law, simply by unloading their gun > or putting it in a locked container. > > An emailed reply, either from you or your principals, is preferable. > > Thanks ahead for your help. > > Best -- > Dana Wilkie Dana, Thanks for your note. There are narrow exceptions, as I pointed out, and the law itself is posted on my site and linked from the news release. A proper CCW license is an exemption, leaving only 99% of the public (on national average) at risk. The idea that a government permit exempts you from arrest for exercise of a right is, well, you pick an adjective. Can you imagine a similar license requirement for, say, writing editorials? Why would an honest reporter object? An unloaded gun in a locked container cannot be considered "bearing arms" in any normal sense, and it too is one of the very narrow exceptions. If you locked up your unloaded gun on the way home from a purchase you would be exempt. Hunters "enjoy" the same exemption. The anti-rights advocates like Sen. Feinstein see this as the "decommissioning" exemption. If a gun is locked, or unloaded, disassembled (as in D.C. or National Parks), or otherwise inaccessible or unusable, it is legal. Any effort that makes the gun usable subjects you to immediate arrest. That is the "fair" allowance Feinstein's office is comfortable with. It represents a nearly total abrogation of rights. Transporting a firearm and bearing arms are substantly different things. Carry or even possession for personal safety without a license is forbidden under current law. Any sort of unlocked carry is a violation. Loaded carry is a violation. I don't see an exception even for possession at a shooting range within the ban zone. Mens rea is not an issue. Col. Jeff Cooper makes a telling point that sheds light, saying, "A gun that's 'safe' isn't worth anything." This is what, under the onion's layers, Feinstein supports. Any act of legal self defense against a mortal or other felony assault is a five-year federal crime under the law, if you're within the ubiquitous gun-free zones. It's actually a pretty clever way to achieve a ban, without having to clearly label it as such. Apologies if I wasn't more clear. This law's contempt for 2A rights violates the oath of office and ought to be grounds for removal IMHO, but then, I'm a moderate. Please forward these remarks to your contact, and I would appreciate seeing any reply you get. I will be out of town for the next five days, and will reply to any further inquiries then. Alan. -- Contact: Alan Korwin BLOOMFIELD PRESS "We publish the gun laws." 4718 E. Cactus #440 Phoenix, AZ 85032 602-996-4020 Phone 602-494-0679 FAX 1-800-707-4020 Orders http://www.gunlaws.com alan@gunlaws.com Call, write, fax or click for a free catalog. Encourage politicians to pass more laws... with expiration dates. --- Attention Arizonans: Friends, Arizona Representative Pamela Gorman is having a fundraising event at the Scottsdale Gun Club Saturday, September 17 from 7 - 9 p.m. All of the details are in her attached message. As an NRA-ILA "A" rated legislator, she has been a good friend to Arizona's gun owners and sportsmen during her first year in the Legislature. We hope to see her there working for us for years to come. One way to ensure that this happens is to support her financially, in any amount you deem appropriate, understanding that she is incurring a cost associated with each shooter who attends. If you cannot attend, it would be great if you could still make a small contribution. Make sure to let her know that you appreciate her support of your firearms freedoms. I've been around the Legislature for more than 12 years now and do not remember another fundraiser held at a gun range. For this reason alone, I would hope that you take the opportunity to support her campaign for re-election. There's no doubt that she's the real deal. Finally, if you have never been to the Scottsdale Gun Club, owned by my friend Terry Schmidt, you'll be in for a treat. It is one of the best indoor shooting facilities anywhere in the country. To RSVP, please call Rep. Gorman at 623.551.0201 or email her at pamelagorman@qwest.net. Thank you for your time and consideration. We need to do everything in our power to support those legislators in Arizona who support us. Times are changing... and not always for the better. Yours in Freedom, Darren P.S. Please send this along to anyone you think might be interested! You can learn more about Rep. Gorman at http://www.azleg.state.az.us/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=20 -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .