Poor Misunderstood Bloomberg: The New York Times pretends not to understand why its mayor is being cast as "the face of gun control." "Mr. Bloomberg does not see his cause as such, but rather as a pragmatic response to crime. He declined to be interviewed for this article, but he has consistently said that he supports the right to own a gun and is simply looking to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals." http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/04/nyregion/04guns.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=nyregion&pagewanted=all Minnesota Cop To Be Bloomberg Poster Boy: Mayors Against Illegal Guns is led by the mayors of New York and Boston, but when the group wanted a spokesman for an ad campaign to change gun laws in Congress it turned Scott Knight, chief of police in small town Chaska, Minn...The mayors group is working to drum up opposition to the Tiahrt amendment, which [allegedly] prevents the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from sharing certain information about gun sales with local police departments... http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070603/APN/706031702 --- The New York Times Discovers Black Rifles: The New York Times takes a look at the popularity of the AR-15, typically getting some things right and some things wrong. (Vertical foregrips with storage space for flashlight buttons? Mine holds spare batteries.) For those who may not be aware of it, the sobriquet "black rifle" was reportedly given to the M16 by the Vietnamese, when it was introduced to that theater of combat, about 40 years ago. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/business/yourmoney/03rifle.html?_r=1&th=&oref=slogin&emc=th&pagewanted=all http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070603/ZNYT01/706030398/1010/NEWS05 --- New York County May Expedite Pistol-License Process: Would-be Westchester pistol packers could apply directly to a judge for handgun permits under a plan being considered by the 9th Judicial District to establish a special pistol-licensing court in the county...Pistol permit applications currently are made to the County Clerk's Office and are forwarded to county police for a background check before being referred to a judge for a final decision. The process can take several months. http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070604/NEWS02/706040334/1018 --- Road-Rage Incident Ends In Shooting: A young father in Michigan is facing felony charges after shooting another driver who followed him home after the second man was inadvertently forced off the road. (Note the shot to the leg, most likely the result of a shot that was jerked or pushed low and to the non-dominant side.) http://www.mlive.com/grandrapids/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-36/118070560493600.xml&coll=6 --- In An Earlier Road-Rage Incident...: It took Macomb County (MI) Circuit Court jurors only 15 minutes Friday to convict Bernadette Headd, 40, of Macomb Township of shooting her gun toward a truck that had been tailgating her on I-94. t's an incident prosecutors have called a case of extreme road rage, though Headd has maintained that the driver of the Dodge Ram was putting her life in danger during their scuffle on the highway. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007706020330 --- Self-Defense Claim In Shooting Of Yearling Black Bear: A Colorado man may have difficulty with his claim of self-defense in the fatal shooting of a young black bear that had entered his mobile home because it was not shot until after it had already been chased outside. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/13434256/detail.html --- Freedom Arms Loses Safety Lawsuit: An Ohio jury awarded $600,000 to a man who had his lower leg amputated after he inadvertently caught the hammer of his Freedom Arms .454 revolver on a coat he was removing, firing a round. The jury appears to have accepted the plaintiff's argument that the revolver should have been equipped with a transfer-bar safety, such as that used by Ruger. (Revolvers lacking hammer-drop or transfer-bar safeties should be carried with the chamber under the hammer empty.) http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2007/06/02/news/wyoming/9590f74f4d2ce532872572ed0081ff36.txt --- Kevin Costner, Another Hollywood Hypocrite: NRA's Wayne LaPierre takes gun-owning Kevin Costner to task for his call for more regulation of firearm ownership. "The truth is, people like Kevin Costner will always find a way to have any gun they want. I have no doubt that Costner could even get the rare California concealed-carry license without too much trouble. But what about the single mother in Washington, D.C., or the father of five in Chicago? " http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=241 --- Firearm Bans Haven't Worked: (From Canada)...The Republic of Ireland and Jamaica both banned all firearms (not just handguns) in the 1970s; both homicides and gun homicides doubled and then doubled again. In 1997, the United Kingdom banned handguns, but homicides and gun homicides continued to increase... http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/221104 -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .