Protest Targets Maryland Gun Shop: Advocates of tougher gun laws rallied outside a gun shop in District Heights yesterday, a shop local officials say provides a disproportionate number of guns that are later recovered in the District, where private handgun ownership has been banned for more than 30 years...Of the weapons that were traced, 76 came from Realco Guns. A distant second was another Maryland gun shop that sold 20 firearms traced to the District. There was no indication the guns were sold illegally -- only that they were in the city illegally. (Yet it is "lax" laws in Virginia that are frequently blamed for the failure of DC's ban on privately owned firearms.) http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070829/METRO/108290041/1004 Violence Rooted In Culture, Not Gun Store: ... Excuse me, but I just don't see why any black person would expect gun manufacturers and dealers to help us stop killing ourselves. At Realco, guys pull into the parking lot in big SUVs with tinted glass and spinning rims. They look like gangbangers from a rap music video. If some gun-control advocates had their way, Realco would reject those young black men as customers because they fit a racial profile. And Realco would be sued for not selling guns as surely as it was denounced yesterday for selling them. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/28/AR2007082801701.html --- Pennsylvania May Delay Computer Upgrade: Pennsylvania's top trooper said yesterday that a controversial computer upgrade that would shut down firearm purchases for several days next week may be pushed back weeks or even months amid criticism from hunters and others. Col. Jeffrey B. Miller said he plans to recommend to Gov. Rendell three alternative dates to upgrade the state's criminal-history background database: the end of September, the week after Christmas, or early January. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_region/20070828_State_police__Gun_data_upgrade_may_be_delayed.html --- Missouri Handgun Purchasers Deferred Taking Delivery: Gun dealers around the Ozarks are expecting a busy day today thanks to a change in state law that makes buying a handgun less of a hassle. "I've got 40 guns set back by customers waiting for August 28 to pick them up," said Brent Ball, owner of 417 Guns in Springfield. "Why pay 10 bucks if you don't have to? I think it's a good idea. It's been a needlessly repetitive process, where the sheriff does a background check and I do, too." The new law eliminates the need to get a $10 sheriff's permit to buy a handgun in Missouri. http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070828/NEWS01/708280363/1007 --- California Nears Partial Lead-Bullet Ban: California Fish and Game commissioners signaled Monday they are leaning toward enacting a ban on lead ammunition in deer-hunting zones within the range of the 70 condors now flying free in the state. At the close of a daylong hearing, commissioners asked that the formal public comment period on the proposed ban be opened quickly so they can consider enacting the ban at their Nov. 1 meeting. http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/aug/28/commissioners-near-bullet-ban/ --- Firearm Seizure In New Jersey Results In Lifelong Ban: A person who has had guns seized by the police because of domestic violence cannot buy guns later - even if the event was long ago and a restraining order has since been dropped, a state appeals court ruled yesterday. The three-judge Appellate Division panel said a Millburn man and his wife, who had a nasty divorce that led to domestic violence charges and restraining orders against both of them, could not have a firearms purchaser identification card. http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1188367183220300.xml&coll=1 --- John Lott On Virginia Tech Report: ... All these attacks shared something in common: citizens were already banned from having guns in those areas. Indeed, every multiple-victim public shooting of any significant size in the United States has occurred in one of these gun-free zones. The problem with gun-control laws is not that there isn't enough regulation, rather that it is primarily the law-abiding, not the criminals, who obey these laws. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294954,00.html --- US Has Most Armed Civilians: The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world, a report released on Tuesday said. U.S. citizens own 270 million of the world's 875 million known firearms, according to the Small Arms Survey 2007 by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies..."Civilian holdings of weapons worldwide are much larger than we previously believed," Krause said, attributing the increase largely to better research and more data on weapon distribution networks. Only about 12 percent of civilian weapons are thought to be registered with authorities. http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/america_armed/2007/08/28/28065.html Related Commentary: http://www.bloggernews.net/19749 Switzerland Only In Fourth Place: Civilians in Switzerland own an estimated 3.4 million guns - putting the country in fourth place for weapons possession per capita, according to a report. The latest Small Arms Survey, published by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies (GIIS), criticises Switzerland's lack of transparency over reliable statistics on firearms. http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/Swiss_rapped_over_poor_data_on_gun_ownership.html?siteSect=105&sid=8148895&cKey=1188328994000&ty=st --- Thompson, Giuliani And That NYC Lawsuit: Last week, former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson -- who seems very likely to enter the race for the Republican Presidential nomination -- took advantage of a recent ruling by a maverick federal judge in Brooklyn to attack Rudolph Giuliani's views on gun ownership. As I will show, Thompson's critique of Giuliani on guns is pretty silly. But the issue Thompson raises is not silly at all: How much liberty should we curtail in the war on gun violence? http://writ.news.findlaw.com/sebok/20070828.html --- NRA Lobbying Fees: The National Rifle Association paid Ogilvy Government Relations $180,000 to lobby the federal government in the first half of 2007, according to a disclosure form. The firm lobbied Congress and the White House on appropriations for various federal agencies and firearms' regulations including a law in the District of Columbia that bars residents from keeping handguns in their homes, according to the form posted online Aug. 7 by the Senate's public records office. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/28/ap4060242.html --- Romney Played Fee Game As Governor: When Mitt Romney wanted to balance the Massachusetts budget, the blind, mentally retarded and gun owners were asked to help pay... Under Romney's plan for Massachusetts, the cost of registering firearms would have jumped from $25 to $75. He also called for increases in the cost of firearm identification cards, application fees for a license to carry firearms, and gun dealer fees. Gun owners said they felt unfairly targeted by Romney's proposed increases. Democratic lawmakers applauded Romney's proposal - ultimately raising the cost of gun licenses to $100. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-6881526,00.html --- Oops, Wrong Pharmacy, Part 3: One of Salyer's owners says a man in his 20's walked in using a fake name and asked if his prescription was ready. That's when he pulled out a handgun, pointed it at the owner, and demanded Loritabs (sic) and other drugs. At that point, he says his business partner ran to the back of the store, grabbed a shotgun, and yelled at the thief to drop his gun. The suspect turned his gun on the armed owner, and that's when the owner shot him in the head. http://www.kbsd6.com/Global/story.asp?S=6982664&nav=menu486_1 --- More On S&W Integral Locks: ,,, I went out today to shot some .44 Magnums through several guns, including my ultralight-weight 329PD overhauled by Jim Stroh at Alpha Precision. I've put a bunch of .44 Specials through the gun already, and in truth I took it along as a "control" to compare the newer guns to...In the meanwhile, I STRONGLY caution all of you about trusting your precious butts to an S&W revolver with the integral lock using HEAVY BULLETS! Especially the ultralight Scadium-framed revolvers like the 329, 325, 340, 357, etc. http://michaelbane.blogspot.com/2007/08/s-revolver-safety-failure.html --- From JPFO: ...Jackson said the nationwide rallies would represent a grassroots effort to press state and federal legislators into passing "common sense" legislation to stem the flow of handguns and military-style automatic weapons. Apparently Jackson is unfamiliar with the old saying, "Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it." Since 1792, "gun control" laws were designed to keep black people disarmed and helpless. Black persons, whether slave or free, had to have a license or a judge's permission before they could carry a firearm in Florida and Delaware. For black people, guns were banned entirely in several states. Florida laws empowered white "citizen patrols" to invade and search blacks' homes for guns or other weapons. None of these policies applied, of course, to white people. http://www.jpfo.org/alert20070828.htm -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .