DC Asks Appeals Court To Maintain Long-Gun Restriction: Attorneys for the District government told a federal appeals court yesterday that the city's requirement that shotguns and rifles be kept unloaded or outfitted with trigger locks should remain in effect until the Supreme Court decides whether it will consider the constitutionality of the gun law...Attorneys for the residents who challenged the law pointed out that the city's petition asked the court to consider whether "the District of Columbia's longstanding law banning handguns but authorizing private possession of rifles and shotguns violates the Second Amendment." The residents' attorney said the city was, in effect, conceding the unconstitutionality of what they called the "functional firearms ban." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/24/AR2007092401590.html --- Prohibitionists Lie About Officer Deaths: Once again the anti-gun lobby is trying to convince Congress and the American public that so-called "assault weapons" should be banned because so many police officers are dying in the line of duty. And predictably, the effort is founded on falsehood and hysteria, designed to fool and alarm people into supporting a political agenda that ultimately would legislate gun ownership out of existence. http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Dave+Workman%3A+The+anti-gun+lobby+misleads+us+with+false+data+on+officer+deaths&articleId=587d027a-0e36-456a-b39e-fbd5e19afae6 --- Police Chief Apologizes For Open-Carry Incident: ... Knoxville police officers will get a refresher course on Tennessee's gun permit laws after an officer who didn't know the law stopped, frisked and threatened to arrest Putnam for legally carrying a gun inside a Wal-Mart this summer. Officer Glenn Todd Greene's actions June 21 at the store on Walbrook Drive in West Knoxville earned him a written reprimand and remedial training for rudeness and not knowing the law, Internal Affairs records show. He's worked for the Knoxville Police Department for about seven years. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/sep/22/gun-owner-receives-apology/ --- Utah Ends CFP's For Non-Resident Foreigners: ... Wyss said most U.S. states simply deny nonresident foreigners concealed weapon permits. "Utah is one of three states that allows it." ...Tuesday, the Administrative Rules Review Committee agreed with denying permits to nonresident foreign nationals whose countries did not allow BCI access to crime information. In effect, the rule will block all foreign applications because no nation allows adequate access. http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_7001458 --- Child's Toy Gun Leads To Armed Raid In New York: ...A late-night banging at the door, handcuffs and bright lights flooding the house - all because five hours earlier, Keahon's stepgrandson was playing with a toy gun in the back of his family's car. When they left Wild West City amusement park in New Jersey, 12-year-old Aleksey Derevyankin sat in the family's gray Ford Focus, a black cowboy hat on his head, a gold "Deputy Marshal" star with him, pretending to shoot a toy gun - a Western-style revolver with a bright orange tip. A passing motorist saw the Focus and reported it to police as a road-rage incident with someone in the backseat pointing a gun. Police ran the license plate, which came back to Keahon's Oak Street home. (Sounds like a good reason to teach kids to observe the basic safety rules even with toy guns.) http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070924/NEWS/709240321 --- Oops, Wrong House In Paradise: A Huelo resident shot an intruder who broke into his home with two boys on Monday night, according to Maui police...The resident shot the man in the stomach, police said. The injured man struck the resident in the face with an object from inside the home, authorities said...A man with a gunshot wound to the abdomen was taken to Maui Memorial Center by a private vehicle and then an ambulance. The man went into surgery in critical condition, officials said. An ambulance took the resident who was hit in the face to Maui Memorial Center as well. He suffered multiple facial fractures. He went into surgery in satisfactory condition. (It sounds as though the resident may have mistakenly relied on the effects of a single shot.) http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/14202744/detail.html --- Oops, Wrong Store: A grocery store clerk in Framingham MA had a surprise Monday night for a would-be robber who flashed a .22-caliber Ruger and demand cash, police said...After looking at the .22, the clerk at A & J grocery on Kendall Street grabbed a .45-caliber semi-automatic gun and loaded a bullet into the chamber, police said. As the failed robber fled, the clerk pulled the trigger, shooting a bullet that missed the man but hit an ATM machine and a door inside the store, police said. (Why wasn't there already a round in the chamber of the clerk's .45? In this case, the delay may have saved him a conviction for shooting the fleeing robber but, had the robber decided to stand his ground, the delay could have been deadly for the clerk.) http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/09/framingham_stor.html --- Another Head-Shot Failure: ...After striking him in the head with the gun, Glover told Scott his wallet was in a drawer in his bedroom. Once in the bedroom, Glover instead pulled a gun from the drawer and Scott fired before he could turn around, according to the report. Glover told officers he then shot Scott in the eye and Scott ran out of the house, leaving his gun behind, according to the report. (Of course, Glover should never have let Scott into the house in the first place - he should have offered to make the call for him.) http://www.macon.com/149/story/145359.html --- With Friends Like These...: Though I hold conservative beliefs, I believe that gun ownership is one of the few entities of our culture that should be closely regulated by the government, thus making it easier for authorities to separate the good guys from the bad guys. A licensing program provides compromise to a bitter issue by allowing gun ownership to the segment of the population that feels it is necessary (sometimes even a civil duty) to own a gun for protection, while gun opposition takes steps to reduce the gun-crime problems plaguing America. After all, whether you're for guns or against them, the worst fear of both sides is guns that have fallen into the wrong hands. http://media.www.thenortherner.com/media/storage/paper527/news/2007/09/26/Viewpoints/Guns-License.To.Skill-2990981.shtml --- From SAF: Milwaukee County, WI Circuit Judge Daniel A. Noonan understands the Wisconsin Constitution far better than Gov. Jim Doyle and the Legislature's Democrat majority, the Second Amendment Foundation said today. Judge Noonan nullified charges Monday against a Milwaukee pizza delivery man who had been accused of shooting two would-be robbers, ruling that a state law prohibiting concealed carry - at least as it applies to the case against Andres Vegas - is unconstitutional. Article 1, Section 25 of the Wisconsin State Constitution affirms that "The people have the right to keep and bear arms for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any other lawful purpose." http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-25-2007/0004669821&EDATE= NRA Version: http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=3242 --- More From SAF: A federal district court in Georgia has denied a request by attorneys for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to transfer a lawsuit filed against the mayor and others by Adventure Outdoors, a Georgia retailer, to a federal court in New York State. That lawsuit, supported by the Second Amendment Foundation, names as defendants Mayor Bloomberg, the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, the city's Criminal Justice Coordinator and police superintendent, and a private investigation company that was hired to conduct so-called "sting" operations against Adventure Outdoors and several other gun shops in at least five states. The lawsuit was filed in 2006 in federal court in Georgia, with former Congressman Bob Barr and Jasper, GA attorney Ed Marger representing Adventure Outdoors. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,185649.shtml --- Canadian Border Guards Fail Handgun Training: The union representing Canada's border guards says it is concerned about the relatively high number of officers who are flunking the firearms training program... "As it stands now, a little more than one in five don't pass," Moran said in an interview. "It's a huge concern for those who are next in line for those classes and basically see their employment hanging in the balance." (I see a variety of factors here, including female officers who may lack the deltoid strength for the shooting position being taught and a general lack of familiarity with handguns in a country where they are virtually banned.) http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/260186 -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .