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CO: Denver Considering Challenge to New CCW/Preemption Laws
Submitted by: Dave Wilson

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Two new gun laws passed by the state legislature earlier this year will be under discussion next week in the Denver City Council's safety committee.

Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth said the committee will discuss how the legislation affects home-rule cities such as Denver and what legal action the city might take if it decides to challenge the laws. "I personally believe that as a home-rule city, we have a responsibility to our citizens and our residents to say, 'Hey, I'm not a gun advocate, and we don't want weapons in our city,"' Wedgeworth said.

One law requires sheriffs to issue concealed-weapons permits to qualified applicants. The other pre-empts local gun ordinances.

The committee meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday at the City and County Building. Some of the discussion reportedly will be held in a closed executive session.

CT: Owners file suit to void gun ban
Submitted by: Douglas Sharafanowich

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"Gun owners and dealers have filed a lawsuit in state Superior Court in an attempt to overturn part of the state's landmark 1993 legislation banning assault-type weapons." ...

"The suit charges two other plaintiffs purchased identical weapons, but when they attempted to register them on successive days with State Police in Canaan last summer, one rifle was seized, while the other owner was allowed to keep his." ...

"Ralph D. Sherman, a West Hartford lawyer, said Friday that the suit asks the court to declare the regulations void and order DPS Commissioner Arthur L. Spada to neither enforce them nor arrest anyone for possessing weapons previously deemed illegal."

"The suit also requests the termination of a DPS database on such weaponry." ...

AR: Convicted burglar sues woman who shot him during crime (follow-up) Submitted by: Blacksnake	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
BENTONVILLE � "Don�t tell Kenneth J. Lewis II that crime does not pay." "Lewis, who is an inmate in the Benton County Jail, is seeking $139,913.32 in damages for being shot after he attempted to burglarize a business." "Fayetteville attorney Michael C. Lea filed the suit on behalf of Lewis on Friday in Benton County Circuit Court against Nina Baugh." ...

NV: Concerns Expressed: Senate passes anti-terrorism bill
Submitted by: G. Hughes

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"The country's founding fathers would have been arrested and imprisoned for life if a Nevada anti-terrorism bill had been in effect 227 years ago, Sen. Joe Neal said Friday."

"In the Declaration of Independence, the founders of the United States said citizens have the right to overthrow their government, Neal said in a lengthy floor speech in opposition to Senate Bill 38."

"Despite his comments that the legislation is an unnecessary duplication of the federal Patriot Act and an infringement on a person's constitutional rights, the Senate voted 17-3 to approve the measure."

"The vote sent the measure to the Assembly, where a similar terrorism bill was passed unanimously Wednesday." ...

NY: Gun club members seek deal
Submitted by: New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
Website: http://www.nysrpa.org

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RHINEBECK - "A cease-and-desist order could be lifted soon if Northern Dutchess Rod and Gun Club members can agree with neighbors on issues involving use changes at the facility."

"Questions about additional booths and changes to lighting at the Enterprise Road site are scheduled to be reviewed at 7:30 p.m. Monday during a town Planning Board meeting in the Town Hall on East Market Street."

"Club members have filed an application with the town Zoning Board of Appeals to overturn the recent order to stop using a five-stand trap." ...

Gun Crazy: There are gun nuts�and gun nuts.
Submitted by: Tom Allison
Website: http://eternalvigilance.blogspot.com

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"One type of gun nut has become all too familiar: the folks who claim the right to own and operate automatic rifles, Uzis, Thompson submachine guns�anything with firepower, no matter how overstated. In their lucid moments, they admit that it might be unsporting to bring down a jackrabbit with bullets designed for a rogue elephant. But, they argue, if the right to own an anti-tank weapon is denied them today, who knows? Tomorrow the government may take away their .22s and make it impossible to have a friendly round of target shooting with the kids."

"But there�s another kind of gun nut too�the anti-gun extremist. The latest instance of anti-gun lunacy calls to mind the federal agent played by Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive. During a confrontation, the innocent Harrison Ford appeals to his federal pursuer: 'I didn�t kill my wife!' Returns Jones: 'I don�t care.' "

"Consider a high-profile controversy in Brooklyn." ...

Radio Host Alex Jones Listener Incarcerated For Believing Alex Jones
Submitted by: P. Jones

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This is Part One of a two-part report. If this matter is of interest to you, be aware that there is a Part Two.
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"A friend of ours Robert J. More has been involuntarily taken into custody by the Chicago police on a petition signed by a sibling with whom he is having a legal contention."

"According to Illinois law anyone can swear out under oath that an involuntary emergency commitment to a mental health facility needs to be done in the interest of protecting that person from harming himself or others."

"The sibling cited that Robert's belief in what radio host Alex Jones Alex Jones - http://www.infowars.com promulgates is EVIDENCE that he is PARANOID, DELUSIONAL AND A DANGER TO HIMSELF AND/OR OTHERS."

"She has used Robert's essay (included below) as evidence of his 'mental illness.' " ...

OH: Doughnut lineup: Police officers assess 16 suspects in a different light
Submitted by: Larry E. Bigham

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CANTON -- "Few things are as charming and likable as a man who doesn�t take himself too seriously. I recently met five such men."

"Five police officers earned our 'good sport' award for agreeing to serve as doughnut taste-testers. And this was no easy task. They had to taste 16 different doughnuts, which, trust me, isn�t as fun as it sounds."

" 'I�m really glad there isn�t a No. 17,' said Perry Township patrolman Jon C. Roethlisberger at the end of the test."

" 'When I�m done with this I�ll be suffering from post-traumatic doughnut syndrome,' quipped Larry Dordea, Alliance police chief. 'If we leave here and do something totally out of character, can we blame the sugar high?' " ...

TN: Man Arrested for Saving His Own Dog from a Raging Fire
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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"Jarrod Martin was repeatedly told to back away from a roaring fire in his apartment building, but the sight of his dog jumping up and down against a glass door in a room filled with smoke was too much, he said."

"The other side of the building was engulfed in flames and the fire was moving toward Bishop, his year-old pit bull."

" 'He was pressed up against the glass as it was,' Martin said last night. 'The fire was coming right toward him.' "

"He said he had waited 30 minutes for firefighters to rescue his dog and decided he must either get the pet himself or Bishop would never make it out of the apartment alive."

"Martin saved the dog from Wednesday's fire but found himself at odds with the police." ...

New era in travel: pilots with guns Submitted by: Newslinks Admin	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"Beginning today, there is a minuscule chance that a pilot on any commercial flight might be carrying a gun." "But some air travelers are not happy even with those odds, which will increase dramatically in the coming years. Other fliers say they will feel safer." ...

"Pilots must carry the gun in a lock box"
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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"The first of 46 pilots who volunteered for a training program, will take guns to the cockpit, starting on Monday."

"Pilots with guns is part of the Federal Flight Deck Officer program. It authorizes commercial pilots who have completed the training course, to carry guns on airplanes."

"Pilots must carry the gun in a lock box, and can only take the gun out, inside the cockpit. Some passengers believe the program will work." ...

UK: 260 more "guns" handed in by British sheeple
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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More than 260 firearms have been handed into Notts police since the gun amnesty started three weeks ago.

Officers say they include rifles, handguns and shotguns, as well as imitation weapons and 24 banned guns. Almost 10,000 rounds of ammunition have also been surrendered.

It is the first national gun amnesty since the Dunblane tragedy in June, 1996.

Superintendent Richard Johnson, of Notts police, said: "You may never get the hardened criminal element to hand over their weapons in the city but these guns are now out of circulation."

IN OTHER WORDS...

They are proud of disarming the law-abiding, thus making them that much easier to victimize. And the sheep are lining up to comply.

NJ: Cops attack gun availability, yet recycle own weapons
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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Several traded-in N.J. police guns have been connected to crimes

"Few props carry the impact of a semiautomatic assault rifle. So on June 9, 1999, when Mayor Sharpe James announced that Newark would sue gun manufacturers to recover the costs of gun violence, the mayor picked up an AK-47 rifle."

" 'It's immoral and unconscionable that you can purchase a weapon of destruction over the counter like popcorn and ice cream,' James said as he gripped the rifle."

"With less fanfare 10 months earlier, authorities in Baltimore had made a drug arrest and seized a sub-machine gun. That weapon was allowed to go on the market by the city of Newark, according to records from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, or ATF."

"In fact, Newark has provided more than 1,500 firearms to gun dealers who in turn sell the used weapons over the counter. Like most New Jersey cities, Newark trades in used police weapons to dealers who provide a large discount when the city buys new police guns. It's as legal as selling popcorn." ...

"Camden City and Camden County governments both sued gun manufacturers over the carnage caused by gun violence, yet combined they have traded in more than 250 guns. Dozens of cities, including Atlantic City, Pleasantville and Vineland, have run gun buy-back programs to take guns off the street, yet have provided hundreds of guns to dealers for resale." ...

Drawing a bead on gun suits
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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"The gun-control movement, which pushes national restrictions on firearms at every opportunity, has discovered the virtues of federalism. Testifying before a House subcommittee last year, Michael Barnes, president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, averred, 'The notion that the common law of every state can be radically altered by a special-interest bill in Washington should disturb even those members who support the gun lobby, but profess to a belief in federalism.' "

"Mr. Barnes was talking about the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which the House recently passed by a bipartisan vote of 285-to-140. The bill, now being considered by the Senate, would protect gun manufacturers and distributors from lawsuits that seek to hold them responsible for the misuse of their products. Gun-makers would still be liable for defective products, and gun dealers could still be sued if they broke the law or negligently sold a weapon when they knew or should have known it was apt to be used in a crime."

"Mr. Barnes clearly is one of those people who only 'profess to a belief in federalism' when it is convenient." ...

Australia: Concerns over impact of new laws banning pre-20th Century firearms
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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"There are concerns overseas antique collectors will be the only winners from new laws banning pre-20th Century firearms."

"The Tasmanian Government's Firearms Amendment Bill passed the state's lower house last week as part of a national scheme to tighten gun laws."

"But the State Opposition says pre-1900 guns are also included, meaning many Tasmanian colonial pieces will have to be handed in or sold."

"The Shadow Minister for Police and Public Safety Sue Napier says there is no commercially available ammunition for the old-style guns."

"Mrs Napier says the firearms should be exempt to protect them from disappearing from heritage collections." ...

IL: Cops wake sleeping men in car and shoot them when they try to defend themselves
Submitted by: Anonymous

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Two men who were sleeping in a car on Chicago's South Side early Saturday morning were shot by police after one of the men awoke and pointed a gun at a police officer, authorities said.
The officer approached the car parked at 5331 S. Laflin Ave. at 5:30 a.m. and noticed a handgun sitting on the lap of the driver, Chicago Police Department spokesman Patrick Camden said. The officer then called for help and waited for another officer to assist him.

Officers then approached the car again, surrounded it, and woke the driver and another man sleeping in the back seat.

When the man in the driver's seat awoke, he immediately picked up the gun despite the officers' warning shouts.

"The driver grabbed the handgun and pointed it out the window at the officer," Camden said.

The officer, fearing for his safety, fired inside the car, he said.

The other officers assisting on the call also fired into the car, police said.

The driver put the car in gear and tried to flee, driving on the sidewalk and parkway before hitting a tree and coming to a stop. The two men in the car both suffered gunshot wounds and were being treated at Stroger Hospital, Camden said.

Hospital officials said the two men were in critical condition at the hospital Saturday night.

Charges are pending against the men, police said.

Police administrators said they were reviewing the officers' actions to determine if they were justified.

CONSIDER...

1) In Chicago, anyone with a firearm is considered a violent criminal first. That isn't true in many other areas of America.

2) When you are startled awake in a crime-ridden place like some areas of Chicago -- if you're sleeping in a car -- chances are good you'd be thinking about self-defense first, especially if unknown people are screaming at you.

3) Even if these men were ex-convicts -- the story doesn't say anything about their backgrounds -- chances are great that they could have been handled without actually perforating their bodies. For example, shooting out a couple of tires would have prevented a drive-away escape. And flashing lights and sirens from a distance could have made it very clear that the loud men waking them up were in fact police officers.

etc.

In other words, from this story, it sounds like these cops wanted to shoot some people because they had a gun. Perhaps a follow-up report will have more details that lead one to think otherwise. Let's hope so.

ND: Boy shot with potato gun
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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A 14-year-old boy is in stable condition after accidentally being shot in the chest with a screw driver from a homemade potato gun Saturday.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office and Fertile, Minn., emergency medical service responded to the incident around 9 p.m. Friday in Garden Township.

The victim was transported to Altru Hospital and is in stable condition, the Polk County Sheriff's office reported. The shooter, 15, is also hospitalized for shock.

The incident is under investigation.

A potato gun normally is made of different sized plastic pipe with a combustion chamber filled with a propane-like propellant, then ignited by a barbecue lighter. The gun can launch a potato to a distance of 300 feet.

"Feds target domestic-born terrorists of April 19 ilk"
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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... " 'The federal government has had remarkable success in (the past year) getting rid of many of the most vocal leadership' of homegrown extremist groups, said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism in San Bernardino, Calif." ...

" 'The idea is that any time we can nail someone who is potentially dangerous, we do it,' he said. 'It's now a prevention, however you can do it. The heightened response to international terrorism has ensnared domestic terrorists in their net. It's one of the byproducts of 9/11.' "

"Rick Schwein, FBI supervisor in Asheville, N.C., agrees." ...

MD: Frostburg rifle range open for public use
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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FROSTBURG � The Frostburg Rifle Range is now open the first and third weekends of each month for public use, according to Tom Reed, city councilman.

Public shooting on these open days takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For additional information contact the Frostburg Parks and Recreation Department at (301) 689-6000 Ext. 18.

The range is reached by traveling westerly out of Frostburg on U.S. Route 40 and taking the first left past Kemp Drive.

Canada: 382 Rifles stolen from parking lot
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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MONTREAL (CP) -- "Police were requesting the public's help Friday after 382 hunting rifles were stolen earlier this week from a truck's trailer in a parking lot."

"The theft of the Winchester and Browning rifles happened early on Tuesday, police said."

"The trailer holding the rifles was in a transport company's parking lot, which had a guard and security cameras."

"Montreal police Cmdr. Leonard Lechman said the company will be lectured about security."

"Lechman said he expects the firearms will be sold to hunters and not to criminals."

" 'People who might be found in possession of this type of weapon could be accused of possession of stolen goods,' Lechman said." ...

Litigious sniper widow, brainwashed by anti-gunners, turns lobbyist
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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WASHINGTON -- "Conrad Johnson, a bus driver in Montgomery County, Md., was standing on the top step of his bus Oct. 22, getting ready for his morning route, when he was shot once in the back and killed."

"For Johnson's wife, Denise, it was an incomprehensible act. Now she is confronting another action that she says is nearly as baffling."

"Johnson has filed a lawsuit against the gun shop, Bull's Eye Shooter Supply in Tacoma, that supplied the murder weapon, a Bushmaster rifle, to one of two men charged in the sniper attacks that killed her husband and nine others last fall. She has also sued the rifle's manufacturer."

"But last week the House, at the urging of the National Rifle Association, passed a bill granting the gun industry federal immunity from virtually all lawsuits. The Senate is expected to take up the bill after the Easter recess."

"So Johnson is hurriedly making herself into an amateur lobbyist, attending news conferences and working Senate offices to tell her story." ...

Australia: Police conduct "heavily-armed" raid over camera tripod
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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"Police in South Australia have defended their raid on a protest campsite near the Baxter Immigration Detention Centre."

"The campsite was set up as part of a three-day protest by 500 people, campaigning for the release of asylum seekers from mandatory detention in Australia."

"The raid was conducted by heavily-armed, specially-trained police who were looking for a rifle."

"However, it turned out to be a camera tripod." ...

MA: Metallic silhouette shooting catching on
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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"The piercing intensity of concentration is evident in the rifleman's eye as he centers the target in his crosshairs. He holds steady and squeezes the trigger. There's the crack of the rifle and a loud 'clink' as the bullet strikes steel and the small, black animal figure is knocked off the stand and cartwheels to the ground."

"It's called metallic silhouettes, or silhuettas metallicas as this shooting sport was originally named when it was first developed in Mexico. The idea is to shoot at -- and hit -- steel cut-outs (silhouettes) in four different animal shapes -- galinnas (chickens), javelinas (pigs), gualotes (turkeys) and borregos (sheep, ram)." ...

OH: Boy gets shot in the back when cat pulls trigger
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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TUSCARAWAS TWP. � "A teenage boy was shot in the back with his own pellet gun � by his cat."

"Josiah V. Boughman, 15, of Carmont Avenue SW was admitted to Doctors Hospital, but a hospital spokesman would not release his condition Friday, citing new hospital regulations."

"Reports filed by Stark County sheriff�s deputies said the boy was shot with a Powerline Air Rifle with a 1.77 mm pellet shot. The pellet from the gun entered his right side from the back and exited his front, 'just grazing his right side down to his rib cage.' " ...

GET A DAISY AIRGUN...

Given the attacks on Daisy not so long ago, conducted by the "Consumer Product Safety Commission", this is not helpful. Fortunately, the boy's mother is aware of what a "safety" is. But that won't keep fanatical gun prohibitionists from using this situation against them -- or at least using the event as "proof". Daisy makes a fine product -- the safeties work, when you have the sense to use them. Their user manuals also say not to leave a pneumatic airgun loaded and pumped -- it's not good for the air chamber, over time, and there are apparently some very aggressive cats on the loose. :-)

If you've considered an inexpensive airgun for plinking, consider a Daisy. They are a great first step for any youngster, of course -- but they are fun for anyone, the ammo is cheap, and an airgun is another way to keep your rifleman's eye in focus.

CA: Fullerton suspends four police officers: "humiliated a woman they had been called to help"
Submitted by: Larry E. Bigham

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"Four Fullerton police officers have received suspensions in a case in which two of them were reputed to have humiliated a woman they had been called to help and who they thought was unconscious, Chief Pat McKinley said Friday." ...

"The incident occurred about 5:30 a.m. Feb. 1 when the four officers were called to the home of a woman who was suspected of having attempted suicide. The officers had been to the location before and found the woman in her bed, apparently unconscious."

"One officer squatted near her face and passed wind and said, 'This ought to wake her up,' according to a portion of the memo made public."

"A second officer climbed on the bed and pretended to lick her, without touching her but acting like a cat licking milk, the memo also said." ...

AZ: "Possible" gun violation fueled raid on Muslims
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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The leader of an ASU Muslim group said Friday that he and other students were rousted by federal agents this week because some of them may have violated immigration law by taking target practice at a shooting range.

Hassan Alrefae, president of the campus Muslim Students Association, said agents entered his unlocked Tempe apartment at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.

"They started screaming, 'FBI! Search warrant! Hands up!' " Alrefae said. "They had shotguns. They handcuffed us."

The FBI confirmed that warrants were served but declined further comment.

Alrefae, a U.S. citizen of Saudi descent, said investigators found nothing and left after explaining that they had come in search of firearms.

Deedra Abboud, executive director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the counterterrorism task force searched three East Valley homes occupied by four Saudis, one Tunisian and Alrefae. Agents found no weapons, but seized some computer equipment. ...

PA: Serious crime in Phila. drops under Safe Streets
Submitted by: P. Jones

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"Serious crimes have dropped 13.6 percent since Mayor Street launched his controversial - and expensive - Operation Safe Streets crackdown in May, according to police data."

"Though crime in Philadelphia has been declining in recent years, the drop has accelerated since police began flooding selected neighborhoods to disrupt open-air drug markets."

"While criminologists caution that many factors - such as the economy and longer prison sentences - affect crime rates, the statistics seem to bolster the mayor's contention that his initiative is working."

"Operation Safe Streets is a cornerstone of Street's reelection effort and has drawn criticism because of its cost - $35 million over the first year and $100 million over five years. Still, in an interview last week, Street said the program 'by all objective measures' has been a success." ...

UK: Gun crime up despite amnesty
Submitted by: Newslinks Admin

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NOTE: The website address for this report is too long for our Newslinks system. Click Here for the full story.
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"GUN crime in Norfolk has risen over the past year, according to new figures out today."

"The number of call-outs for the police's Armed Response Vehicles has risen by 18 per cent."

"The news comes just over halfway through a national firearms amnesty aimed at getting lethal weapons off our streets."

"Between April last year and the start of this month, armed rapid response officers were called out 186 times, compared to 158 for 2001-02."

"No handguns were seized by police during the past year, but officers have recovered 33 imitation weapons, 11 airguns 14 shotguns, 14 blades � including Samurai swords � and seven other weapons, such as iron bars and baseball bats." ...