Nearly 260,000 Texans Licensed To Carry: At the end of last year, 258,162 people had permits, up about 4 percent from the year before and more than double the number in 1996, when Texas law first allowed people to carry concealed weapons...Although those 55 and older represent just 28 percent of the state's population over the age of 21, they carry 46 percent of the permits. And one-third of the permit holders are 60 and older. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4503603.html --- Lies, Damned Lies And Statistics: John Lott corrects The Washington Times for repeating a "statistic" cited by the Virginia legislator who was recently rebuffed in her attempt to "close the gun-show loophole" in that state. http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20070127-092608-3686r.htm --- If You Repeat A Lie Often Enough...: Police in Murfreesboro TN are looking for a man of Middle Eastern appearance who allegedly tried to gain access to the Barrett Firearms plant, a manufacturer of .50-caliber rifles. (It sounds as though the prohibitionists may have finally convinced a potential terrorist that a .50-caliber rifle is just what he needs.) http://www.wsmv.com/news/10854547/detail.html --- No Cookies, Thank You: An eight-year-old Girl Scout and her father were surprised when their second ringing of a St. Louis doorbell was answered by a 78-year-old woman armed with a shotgun. The woman reportedly has been the object of harassment and was not charged with any offense. (This case points out one advantage to a concealed handgun but Missouri still requires a permit from the sheriff to buy a handgun.) http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/laworder/story/CACB24D315D16D8C8625726F0041EC85?OpenDocument --- More Details In Glove-Box-Gun Shooting: The mother of the six-year-old Chicago boy who fatally shot himself after taking his grandmother's gun from the glove box of her car says that the grandmother was not at fault. "The glove box was always locked," Parker said. "She was rushing." (It sounds as though teaching the youngster to handle a firearm safely might have contributed to "demystification" and kept him from going for the gun when he saw the chance.) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16681212/ --- Rule Three Reminder: A police officer in Oregon was shot in the foot by a colleague as SWAT officers assisted vice detectives in serving a warrant. (Rule Three: Keep your finger out of the trigger guard, up on the frame, until your sights are on the target and you're prepared to fire.) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/01/24/f1.cr.shotcop.0124.p1.php?section=cityregion --- From AzCDL: AzCDL's volunteers at the legislature have been meeting and working with legislators before the current legislative session began, and are still going at it non-stop. Their hard work is paying off. The following are bills that have been filed in the Senate that AzCDL supports: SB 1250 - http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=SB1250 (16 co-sponsors) Eliminates the fingerprint requirement for renewing concealed carry permits. SB 1251 - http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=SB1251 (15 co-sponsors) Strengthens the "public establishment or event" storage requirements: · Defines "secure storage" and "readily accessible." · Prohibits recording information about the weapon or individual. · If "operator" doesn't comply, they can't prohibit weapons. · Exempts CCW permit holders from carry prohibitions except in court houses, etc. SB 1301 - http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=SB1301 (16 co-sponsors) Redefines "open carry." The current law has two problems. First, open carry is limited in statute to a belt holster, and the holster, NOT the weapon, must be "wholly or partially visible." Shoulder holsters, stuffing a gun in your pants, or even an in-the-waist-band (IWB) holster, if the holster can't be seen, are not covered under the current wording of the law. SB 1301 specifies that either the weapon or holster can be visible, and removes the "belt holster" restriction. The second problem is the interpretation of "wholly or partially visible" language in ARS 13-3102.F by a 1994 Appellate court decision that held it has to be obvious to a casual observer that you're carrying a weapon. Short of walking around with an "I have a gun" sign with an arrow pointing to the gun, if your weapon is not visible to everyone who sees you, it could be argued that you are carrying concealed. SB 1301 replaces the "wholly or partially visible" language and refers to "any portion" of a weapon or holster being visible. SB 1302 - http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=SB1302 Clarifies that the intent of the Castle Doctrine bill that restored "innocent until proven guilty" applied to all court cases pending on April 26, 2006 when the bill was signed. Sadly, there was a high-profile case pending at the time against a hiker who used a gun to defend himself against an attack. The judge in the case did not allow the case to be heard under the new law. The hiker was convicted of murder under the old law where he had to first admit to shooting someone, then try to prove his innocence to a jury with the prosecuting attorney controlling all the evidence. Now comes YOUR part - Take the time to thank the co-sponsors with a little note. Below are cut-and-paste letters along with email address lists in both semi-colon and comma separations (depending on your email software). It's important that ALL the co-sponsors hear from YOU. It affects their support for these bills and others they might be asked to support in the future. Please take the time to send each of the following messages. MESSAGE #1 - For those who co-sponsored all 4 bills: To: (semi-colon separations) lgray@azleg.gov; cgray@azleg.gov; kjohnson@azleg.gov To: (comma separations) lgray@azleg.gov, cgray@azleg.gov, kjohnson@azleg.gov Subject: SB 1250, 1251, 1301, 1302 Senator: The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) has informed me that you are a co-sponsor of SB 1250, 1251, 1301 and 1302. These bills are very important to me and I look forward to their passage. Thank you for supporting them. Sincerely, Your Name Street Address City, State & zip-code Telephone Number MESSAGE #2 - For those who co-sponsored SB 1250, 1251 and 1301 To: (semi-colon separation) rpearce@azleg.gov; jburges@azleg.gov; jpweiers@azleg.gov; rgould@azleg.gov; dclark@azleg.gov; jharper@azleg.gov; tverschoor@azleg.gov; tgroe@azleg.gov; jkavanagh@azleg.gov; rmurphy@azleg.gov; rbarnes@azleg.gov To: (comma separations) rpearce@azleg.gov, jburges@azleg.gov, jpweiers@azleg.gov, rgould@azleg.gov, dclark@azleg.gov, jharper@azleg.gov, tverschoor@azleg.gov, tgroe@azleg.gov, jkavanagh@azleg.gov, rmurphy@azleg.gov, rbarnes@azleg.gov Subject: SB 1250, 1251, 1301 The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) has informed me that you are a co-sponsor of SB 1250, 1251 and 1301. These bills are very important to me and I look forward to their passage. Thank you for supporting them. Sincerely, Your Name Street Address City, State & zip-code Telephone Number MESSAGE #3 - For Rep. Adams who is co-sponsoring SB 1250 and 1251 To: kadams@azleg.gov Subject: SB 1250 and 1251 Representative Adams: The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) has informed me that you are a co-sponsor of SB 1250 and 1251. These bills are very important to me and I look forward to their passage. Thank you for supporting them. Sincerely, Your Name Street Address City, State & zip-code Telephone Number MESSAGE #4 - For Rep. Pete Rios who is co-sponsoring SB 1250 and 1301 To: prios@azleg.gov Subject: SB 1250 and 1301 Representative Rios: The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) has informed me that you are a co-sponsor of SB 1250 and 1301. These bills are very important to me and I look forward to their passage. Thank you for supporting them. Sincerely, Your Name Street Address City, State & zip-code Telephone Number MESSAGE #5 - For Senator Pamela Gorman who is co-sponsoring SB 1301 and 1302 To: pgorman@azleg.gov Subject: SB 1301 and 1302 Senator Gorman: The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) has informed me that you are a co-sponsor of SB 1301 and 1302. These bills are very important to me and I look forward to their passage. Thank you for supporting them. Sincerely, Your Name Street Address City, State & zip-code Telephone Number As more relevant legislation is introduced, we will keep you up to date via these Alerts: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AZCDL_Alerts/ These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. Join today! AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html Copyright © 2007 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved. --- From NRA: New NRA Gateway Launches Monday! After many exciting months in the making ... on Monday, January 29, we're launching the most functional, interactive, informative and powerful live news experience in the history of both the NRA and the Internet. Beginning Monday, NRANews.com is the gateway to all things NRA. You can get: * One-click access to all NRA web domains, from safety and marksmanship to gun laws and shooting range locations * On-demand access to a bigger-than-ever archive of NRA videos, speeches, newsmagazines, commercials and newsmakers * "Cam & Company" from 9 p.m. to midnight Eastern--three hours of live news coverage from D.C., or wherever news is happening, also simulcast on Sirius Satellite Radio, Patriot channel 144 * "The Daily News with Ginny Simone" at 5 p.m. Eastern--a 15-minute roundup of the day's news, with a veteran TV journalist who's covered the Second Amendment longer than anyone in the world * My personal daily blog, "What They Didn't Tell You Today" * Constantly updated news tickers, alerts and programming notes And there's so much more. Whether you're visiting for the first time ... or you've relied on NRA communications for years ... our new NRA gateway gives you much more, in one place, than was ever available before. NRANews.com is whatever you want, whenever you want, all at one bookmark. If it's about the NRA and your Right to Keep and Bear Arms, you'll find it at NRANews.com. Forward this to your friends and family ... put "Visit NRANews.com!" on your email signature ... and invite everyone to join our movement to preserve our freedoms and reclaim our right to free speech. See you there Monday--and thank you for your enduring courage and support. Wayne LaPierre Executive Vice President National Rifle Association of America -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .