Keep and Bear Arms - Gun Owners Home Page

Will Luby's end Fuddruckers' 'no guns' policy? Submitted by: David Codrea Website: http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
... "Based on the all-too-evident results, Luby's is utterly incapable of protecting its customers..." ...

Let's Face It, Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley Wants to Ban Guns, All Guns
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"As always, gun control proponents say they merely want 'reasonable' gun control laws. Yet, when listing the actual laws they favor, they go well beyond what most people would possibly consider 'reasonable.' Just look at the gun bans in Chicago and Washington, D.C. that local politicians and gun control organizations ... have fought to protect."

"Last Friday ... Chicago enacted strict new gun control laws. These new restrictions surely do not seem 'reasonable' but rather intended to make life as difficult as possible for those who legally want to own a gun. ..." ...

New Federally Mandated Literacy Tests to Buy Newspapers, Religion Classes to Attend Churches, Others
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Democrats might be right. It's obvious that Americans have become a stupid people. ... We need help and what better entity than government to rescue us? So, we need some new rules so that Americans can be better controlled."

"I've gotten this great idea from Richard 'King' Daley, Mayor of Chicago ..." ...

"Sensible new media control laws would mandate that newspapermen must take literacy and writing classes in order to work at a newspaper. Not only that, but newspaper buyers should be held to one paper a month ..."

"As to religion, heck what other 'idea' has been as dangerous as that? Therefore, we need government classes to train anyone that wants to go to church. We also need to thoroughly license ministers and pastors ..." ...

The First Amendment Right to Carry a Gun
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Iowa is one of the relatively few states where local police still have wide discretion to decide who is allowed to carry a concealed weapon in public. In a vivid demonstration that such policies can have First as well as Second Amendment implications, a federal judge this week ruled that Osceola County Sheriff Douglas Weber violated a man's right to freedom of speech by denying him a carry permit based on his political activism. Paul Dorr, well known locally for demonstrating at abortion clinics and agitating against government spending, applied for a permit because he carries large amounts of cash as part of a balloon-selling business. Weber decided Dorr was too 'weird' to carry a gun ..." ...

Gun battle lines drawn with ammunition aplenty
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"LAWSUITS and guns go hand in hand in America, as neatly as a Glock 9mm slides into a holster. Seemingly forever have Americans wrestled with the Second Amendment ..."

"Was its intent to grant individuals an inviolable right to possess a gun? Or was it simply a get-out for states to create 'a well-regulated militia' during those tentative early years of federalism?"

"Those battle lines have long been drawn, and the courts continue to mediate ... though recently those restrictions have been eased more often than they have been tightened. Last year, US states passed 47 laws easing firearms restrictions, more than three times the number of new laws that tightened them." ...

Seattle Times columnist uses vet's suicide to push anti-gun bigotry
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"The other day Seattle Times columnist Jerry Large � who did not respond to my e-mail, and he should have out of professional courtesy � unleashed a rant against firearms by camouflaging it as a lament for an Afghanistan war vet who committed suicide with a pistol."

"Large uses suicide as a reason to demand that something be done about 'easily accessible guns.'"

"'It makes news,' he wrote, 'when people use a gun to protect their home, but that doesn't happen often. It's more likely someone in the home will die when a gun is present��

"Actually, lots of people use firearms to successfully defend their homes. Research conducted by experts in the field ... has also found a correlation between gun ownership and lower crime rates." ...

Daley Obstinacy Necessitates Election Wins, says Gun Law Expert
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"'The obstinate reaction of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and others to the Supreme Court's McDonald decision shows that American gun owners must commit themselves to a long-range strategy of political struggle against the gun grabbers until they are thoroughly defeated,' gun rights expert John M. Snyder said here today."

"'That means anti-gun politicians at the national, state and local level must be run out of office and kept out,' he added. 'Definitive political action for the gun rights movement is the name of the game.'" ...

Gun control legislation needs to find middle ground
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"When it comes to hot button issues, few bring about as heated of arguments as those that deal with the second amendment. ..."

"In cities with high levels of gun violence, proper gun control is absolutely crucial. But to deny a citizen's right to own a gun at all is blatantly unconstitutional, as well irrelevant to the actual heart of the problem. ... The large majority of gun related violence comes from those who never purchased the gun legally. Handgun bans such as Chicago's only take guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens hoping to protect themselves. In a study by the National Center for Policy Analysis, Evanston, Illinois experienced no decline in gun violence, even two years into its gun ban." ...
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Submitter's Note: How's this for "middle ground": You don't interfere with my right to keeps and bear any man-portable weapon of my choice, and I won't kill you or anyone who is not trying to do me or mine harm.

McDonald typifies need for consensus
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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... "With separate majorities rejecting each of McDonald's arguments for applying the Second Amendment to Chicago, it would seem that McDonald should have lost. However, the Court does not make its decisions based upon the preceding logic. Although the justices' written opinions explain the rationale of the authors, or those who join them, the Court as a whole decides the case based instead on the votes of individual justices on the ultimate choice of whether to affirm or reverse. In McDonald, five justices voted to apply the Second Amendment to Chicago, but those justices divided over two opposite � and inconsistent � rationales." ...

Court vote is an ominous one
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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... "Supporters of the Second Amendment, including this writer, applaud the recent [McDonald] decision. But we are alarmed that, like the Heller case, the voting was a narrow 5-4 instead of 9-0. The 5-4 vote clearly reveals that the four liberal judges on the Court ... do not recognize the Second Amendment as a right granted by the Bill of Rights. ..." ...

"The City of Chicago, by the way, is already working to circumvent the Supreme Court decision, passing a law that makes it illegal to walk outside one�s residence with a handgun. Residents of Chicago cannot even carry a gun onto their own porches or into their own garages!" ...

Civil Rights and Armed Self-Defense
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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... "... In his dissent a few months later, Thomas dug even further into American history ... to make the case that cross burning was an act of thuggish intimidation that deserved no protection under the First Amendment."

"It wasn't the first time Clarence Thomas weighed in on America's long and bloody history of racism�and it wouldn't be the last. In his concurring opinion last month in the landmark gun rights case McDonald v. Chicago, Thomas held that the right to keep and bear arms is fully applicable against state and local governments via the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the 14th Amendment. In the process, Thomas provided a sweeping history of the 14th Amendment's roots in the anti-slavery movement ..." ...

Sharpen your skills at The Gunsite Academy
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Editor's Note: Longtime 'Becker County Sportsman' columnist Bernie Revering passed away suddenly Tuesday, July 6, after submitting this article ... Bernie was a staunch gun advocate and loved the outdoors, whether he was hunting, fishing or just walking his favorite dog. He was always happy to spin stories of past hunting and fishing trips or help out with a gun question or problem."

"The Gunsite Academy was founded in 1976 by Jeff Cooper, a retired marine who is a National Rifle Association board member and the author of a number of books. It is a shooting school. It involves theory and the act of shooting at a stationary target and at a moving one, such as a fleeing head of game, an antelope, for instance." ...

Common sense, reason must guide gun laws
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Anyone who thinks the Supreme Court's decision on gun rights last week was an exercise for constitutional scholars � and nothing more � didn't catch what happened with the stock of gun manufacturers Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger. Like a trigger had been squeezed, their stock went up on a day other stocks went down."

"The justices' 5-4 decision was a landmark one ... But gun control is not a dead issue."

"While the city of Chicago's ban on handguns was struck down, justices did not strike down all reasonable limits on gun use and ownership."

"It certainly did not create any new barriers for Gov. Deval Patrick's bill limiting the bulk sale of firearms to prevent weapons from being diverted to the illegal market." ...

Gun Control Is a Completely Pointless Battle
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Any regular reader of this blog will not be surprised that I think firearms in general are stupid, purposeless death traps and that I rolled my eyes when the Supreme(ly Activist) Court struck down Chicago's handgun ban."

"But I will also say that I don't really care."

"Gun safety and regulation is a battle so lost, it's barely worth flipping a hand at and saying 'bah.' One might have thought following clear demonstrations of why a society awash in cheap, easily purchased handguns is a pretty f***ing stupid idea. Columbine, Virginia Tech, the South Side of Chicago¹--meh, who cares? ..." ...
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Submitter's Note: ¹Hmmm, and what do all these places have in common? Oh, yeah, gun bans!.

Out On A Limb: Guns
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"The recent Supreme Court decision overturning Chicago's ban on handguns was like poking a stick into a hornet's nest. The furor was immediate, with proponents and opponents buzzing madly, and the sting may soon follow." ...

"In Chicago, a city riven by violence, Mayor Richard Daley and his City Council have already come up with a new ordinance ... The court's ruling allowed local governments to impose 'reasonable' restrictions on gun ownership, and gun advocates immediately filed a lawsuit to test whether Mr. Daley�s limits are reasonable."

"The lawsuit challenging these limited restrictions seems unnecessary in a town that completely ignored the former ban on handguns, anyway ..." ...

Court ruling does not prevent sensible gun laws
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"In its McDonald v. Chicago decision, the Supreme Court again affirmed that the Second Amendment individual right to possess guns in the home does not prevent legislators from enacting common-sense gun laws. ..."

"Nothing in the new decision prevents legislatures from passing � and our courts from defending � strong, sensible gun laws. Any talk of banning guns is off the table. That being the case, it�s time to get serious about banning gun violence. The majority of Minnesotans and Americans want reasonable gun laws to stop felons, domestic abusers, terrorists and dangerously mentally ill people from getting guns. It's now time to act on the wishes of the majority." ...

Congress Looking at Gun Show Loophole Legislation
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"The House Judiciary Committee will host a forum next Wednesday on legislation to close the loophole that allows private sellers of firearms to bypass Brady background checks at gun shows. Such private sales without checks are a way for convicted felons or dangerously mentally ill persons to arm themselves."

"A bill to close the gun show loophole, introduced by Representatives Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and Michael Castle (R-DE), has more than 100 cosponsors." ...
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Submitter's Note: You can read the bill here[.pdf]. Among other things, once a "gun show operator" registers with the AG (registration requirements TBD), pays a registration fee (TBD), and generally jumps through all the hoops, if a single person that has not been listed as a 'vendor' 30 days ahead of time, "exhibits, sells, offers for sale, transfers, or
exchanges" a single firearm, the gun show operator (not the offending 'vendor') can go to prison for two years and be fined not more than $10,000.

GA: Armed robbery suspect in critical condition after gun battle at Macon store
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A suspected armed robber is in critical condition after a gun battle erupted when the gunman started shooting at a Macon store clerk Monday night."

"Rashan Lateel Jordan, 29, is undergoing treatment for a chest wound at The Medical Center of Central Georgia, according to hospital sources."

"The gunman started shooting at a female employee at Expert Wireless ... The 26-year-old worker fired back and wounded Jordan, who ran out of the store and tried to flee in a 2000 black Infiniti Q45. Jordan hit a curb and was taken to the hospital for treatment of his injuries ..." ...

TX: Domestic Violence Victim Shoots Attacker in South Dallas
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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FULL TEXT BELOW:

A woman fatally shot her male companion after, witnesses said, the man assaulted her outside a pool hall Wednesday night, police said.

The man, thought to be 39, was seen assaulting the woman about 7:30 p.m. in the 4700 block of Malcolm X Boulevard near Hatcher Street.

Witnesses told police the woman got a gun from the couple's vehicle and shot the man in the chest.

He died at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas.

"We are in the early stages of the investigation, and the indications are that it's self-defense," Dallas police homicide Sgt. Eddie Douglas said.

CA: Man shoots neighbor's dog after it lunges at delivery man in Lompico
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A man shot and killed one of his neighbor's loose Rottweilers after the dog tried to attack a delivery man ..."

"The propane truck driver ... stopped at the man's house to check the meter. As he walked back to his truck, the two dogs came at him. He jumped into the cab of his truck ..."

"The commotion caught the attention of the man who lives in the house. He ran outside with his pistol to help the propane truck driver but the dogs rushed at him ..."

"'The owner (of the home) came out thinking something was wrong,' Miller said. 'He didn't have an opportunity to get back in the house.'"

"He fired two shots from a pistol at the dogs ... An unaltered female was hit and died; the second dog ran home ..." ...

NC: Clerk kills robber at Monroe convenience store
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Police are investigating a shooting inside of a convenience store on Thursday. A clerk shot and killed a man who tried to rob the Sunny Food Mart on Walkup Avenue in Monroe." ...

"According to police, 23-year-old Robert Christopher Young entered the convenience store, brandished a handgun and demanded money from the two clerks, brothers Sophia and Sopea Pich. Gunfire was exchanged between Young and Sopea Pich."

"'He was yelling give me the money, give me the money,' said Sopea Pich. 'I didn't have time to think, and I shot him.'"

"Young ran out of the store and was found a couple of blocks away. He later died ... The two store clerks who were there at the time were not injured during the shootout." ...

CA: Elderly man shoots, kills burglar in Colton home
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A 79-year-old man has shot and killed a burglar climbing into his Southern California home."

"Colton police Detective Jack Morenberg said Saturday that Richard Contreras shot and killed 37-year-old Fidel Escanuelas Thursday."

"A police news release says Contreras saw a car back into the driveway of his Colton home, heard a noise in a bedroom, found Escanuelas climbing through a window and shot him once in the shoulder with a handgun. Escanuelas died at the scene."

"Police say two other men, 24-year-old Trinidad Amador and 25-year-old Albaro Amaya, fled on foot. Amador was quickly caught and arrested on suspicion of burglary and conspiracy, and Amaya was arrested Friday." ...

OH: Man Tries To Rob Military Member, Is Shot
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Police say a military member who just returned from a tour of duty overseas was involved in a gun battle that led to the shooting of an alleged robber late Thursday night."

"Officers say a man on the street approached two men in a car in Mount Auburn around 11:30 p.m. The man on the street tried to rob the men in the car. But one of his alleged victims had a concealed carry permit and fired back." [emphasis added]

"The gun battle left the alleged robber with a gunshot wound to the abdomen and a man in the car with a gunshot wound to the arm. The alleged robber was taken to University Hospital. Police say he has since been released but they haven't released his name or said whether he faces charges." ...

I have a right to carry something to defend myself or my property
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Mr. Maloney, I agree with your opinion, but a concealed carry permit is not needed by law-abiding citizens."

"The Second Amendment states: 'A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.'"

"Any law (that would restrict my rights to defend myself and my property) regarding my rights to bear arms, is unconstitutional."

"My 'rights' (which come from God) to defend myself, my family and my property can not be infringed by any law. It is guaranteed by the Constitution." ...

Chicago gun law may not be bulletproof
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"As Chicago prepares to implement its new firearms ordinance Monday, gun advocates have begun a legal assault, filing two lawsuits that constitutional law experts said could be the next round of challenges to how cities can regulate personal gun ownership."

"Less than two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for citizens to have handguns at home, Chicago was hit with the lawsuits that target, among other things, the city's ban on gun shops, a controversial and untested regulation that lawyers said could be the next frontier in the battle over firearm rights." ...

New gun ban prompts new lawsuit
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Mayor Richard Daley's newly minted ban on gun stores in Chicago is being challenged in federal court by a man who hopes to sell firearms from a Lincoln Park storefront."

"Joe Franzese ... believes the gun regulation the Chicago City Council passed last week is unconstitutional. While the ordinance allows residents to own handguns, it outlaws their sale within the city ..."

"'That would be like allowing people to read books, then outlawing libraries and bookstores,' said Maksym, who filed a federal lawsuit Friday on Franzese's behalf."

"The suit also calls on the city to repay the owners of firearms confiscated under Chicago's 1982 handgun ban, which the U.S. Supreme Court late last month indicated is not constitutional." ...

Man hoping to open gun stores in Loop, Lincoln Park sues city
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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... "Franzese wants to open 'boutique' type gun stores in Lincoln Park and on Michigan Avenue downtown, according to his lawyer Walter Maksym ..."

"'It's not going to have firearms [on display] or bullets [for sale], and you'll have to have an FOID card to get in,' Maksym said. 'There would be a secure area and after you look at some videos, you can pick out a gun you are interested in and a security guard will bring it in to view.'"

"Maksym noted you would need an FOID card to see and handle and guns. You would then order the gun and come back to get it later after a background check is conducted." ...

Alan Gura and Robert McNamara on McDonald and More (podcast)
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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FULL TEXT BELOW:

Last week in McDonald vs the City of Chicago, the US Supreme Court held that the right of an individual to possess firearms is protected by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, is incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and therefore applies to the states. But this historic case was about more than gun rights.

To learn more about this case, its historical implications, and how it affects all Americans, not just gun-owners, listen to this Heritage in Focus podcast featuring

An open letter to our partners in Second Amendment victory
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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... "Recently the Supreme Court of the United States, in McDonald v Chicago, ruled that the Second Amendment applies to the states and cities."

"For the first time, our highest court has 'incorporated' the Second Amendment through the 14th Amendment. No matter what anyone may tell you, understand that this was a HUGE win for gun owners, and those who believe in the rule of law, our Constitution, and the Bill of Rights."

"On page two of that brief is a footnote that reads, 'Brief for Buckeye Firearms Foundation, Inc., et al. as Amici Curiae 8�9...' In other words, Buckeye Firearms Foundation was cited by the U.S. Supreme Court in one of the most important decisions of our lifetime! That is something to be proud of." ...

GA: Ga. minister to challenge guns in churches ban
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A state law prohibiting guns in churches violates the Constitutional rights to free religion and the right to bear arms, according to a central Georgia minister and a group of gun rights advocates filing a lawsuit against the state." ...

"'The ban on carrying firearms in churches � we're seeking to have it declared unconstitutional on both First and Second Amendment grounds,' attorney John Monroe said Friday."

"He is filing the suit on behalf of the Rev. Jonathan Wilkins, of The Baptist Tabernacle of Thomaston, gun rights advocate Edward Stone and the advocacy group GeorgiaCarry.Org. The lawsuit also names Upson County as a defendant." ...

GA: Georgia minister sues to take guns to church
Submitted by: Mark
Website: http://www.georgiacarry.org

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"A Thomaston minister and a gun rights advocacy group is filing lawsuit challenging Georgia�s prohibition against guns in church ..." ...

"The suit cites the First Amendment freedom of religion and the Second Amendment right to bear arms as grounds for bringing the case."

"According to the suit, Ed Stone, president of GeorgiaCarry.org, and others want to be able to arm themselves while worshiping 'for the protection of their families and themselves' without fear of arrest and prosecution." ...

"John Monroe, the attorney for GeorgiqCarry.org, said this suit was stronger than other cases the group had brought because it also has the First Amendment component."

"'The question is why do you want to disarm people in church?' Monroe said. 'Things happen in church�. What we really want is the state not to say what can happen in church.'"

Is endorsing Reid on the NRA's calendar?
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"The National Rifle Association today stood on its publicly posted announcement that it has not yet endorsed any candidate in the Nevada Senate race ..."

"That's as rumors are flooding the Web that the organization ... was ready to adopt a pro-Harry stance amid concerns that a loss by the Senate leader would move an even more anti-gun candidate into the leadership post."

"'The list of the NRA's transgressions against its membership and the Constitution is long. ... When I saw hints out there that the NRA, in its misplaced zeal for covering its own pathetic rear end, were turning their backs on a solid Reagan conservative in favor of that slimy, walking wart Harry Reid, I went ballistic,' wrote a blogger at RedState.com." ...

OH: Gov. Strickland to appear at shooting event - Buckeye Firearms Association to make major announcement
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Buckeye Firearms Association has announced that Governor Ted Strickland (D) will appear at a fundraising / shooting event this Sunday in Circleville, Ohio."

"At that time, Buckeye Firearms Association will make a major announcement concerning the Governor and the upcoming elections in Ohio. The media is invited to attend."

"Date: Sunday, July 11, 2010

"Time: approximately 12 noon

"Location: Pickaway County Sportsman's Club
8100 US Route 22 East, Circleville, OH 43113" ...

PA: Judiciary Committee delays license-to-carry bill until fall
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A vote on a bill that would eliminate a loophole in the state�s license-to-carry laws has been postponed until the fall."

"State Rep. Bryan Lentz, D-161, of Swarthmore, the Democratic candidate for the 7th Congressional District seat, introduced the legislation in late May." ...

"House Bill 2536 would amend the current law that allows residents to carry a firearm through a license or permit issued by another state, regardless of whether Pennsylvania recognizes the right of those residents to carry a gun in the commonwealth. Lentz is running against Pat Meehan, a former Delaware County district attorney and U.S. attorney, for the 7th Congressional District seat." ...

Addicted to the Warfare State
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Which is the more serious threat to life, liberty and property: The illicit violence practiced by a handful of furtive armed drug smugglers in the Arizona desert, or the increasingly brazen militarization of U.S. law enforcement in the 'war on drugs'?"

"According to some hyperventilating commentators, drug smugglers -- with the guilty acquiescence of Barack Obama -- have seized control of a huge swath of Arizona, thereby asserting alien sovereignty over what was once American soil. If this were true, points out libertarian journalist (and Arizona resident) J.D. Tuccille, the Narcotics lords would preside over a kingdom 'populated by rattlesnakes and cholla.'" ...

CA: Mehserle apologizes; Grant family unimpressed
Submitted by: Anonymous

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"While the jury was deliberating his fate, former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle crafted a handwritten statement in which he apologized for the first time for shooting Oscar Grant ..."

"'For now, and forever I will live, breathe, sleep and not sleep with the memory of Mr. Grant screaming 'You shot me' and me putting my hands on the bullet wound, thinking the pressure would help while I kept telling him 'You'll be okay,' Mehserle wrote in the letter ..."

"Mehserle gave the letter to his attorney, Michael Rains, and asked him to release it to the public. ..." ...

"Grant's uncle and an attorney for his family said Friday they were unmoved by the apology. If Mehserle were genuinely sorry, they said, he should have said so long before now." ...

MA: Police, officials canvass troubled street
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"The bullets that sprayed across Hendry Street in Dorchester on Sunday night struck two innocent women, but also found two of their intended targets, who are gang members, Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said yesterday." ...

"But Pamela Drayton, who owns 18 Hendry St., where bullets flew outside on Sunday, was not impressed with the police and media swarming her street."

"'When I ask for help, nothing happens until somebody gets shot,' she said. 'And now they want to come out?'" ...
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H/t to David Codrea who responds "Well...uh...yeah.

They want to find out if you have a gun."

TN: College student-turned-superhero shunned by police (video) Submitted by: none	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
FULL TEXT BELOW: But a college student donning a tight costume and patrolling the streets of Columbia, Tennessee is causing quite a stir. The man-- who calls himself Viper-- says he's out to stop crime, by reporting to police when he sees it happening.

WA: ACLU says UW police spied on activists
Submitted by: none

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"The University of Washington says it's adding training for its police after the American Civil Liberties Union came forward with further evidence that an officer spied on a student activist group that wasn't breaking any laws."

"The ACLU of Washington held a news conference Thursday to reveal information obtained through public disclosure requests. The documents show that an undercover officer monitored two meetings of a group that was planning demonstrations in support of custodial workers at the school."

"The officer's superiors praised her work."

"'I was shocked, and couldn't believe the UW had sent an undercover police officer to a student organizational meeting,' said Salmun Kazerounian." ...
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KABA Note: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - Santayana

ACLU accused UW police of spying on action group
Submitted by: none

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"The [ACLU] alleges the University of Washington Police Department authorized an undercover officer to attend, participate in and collect information about meetings of the UW Student Worker Coalition -- a group they say was being improperly monitored."

"UW spokesman Norm Arkans said the incident was dealt with months ago and after discussions with UW police it's clear such actions aren't acceptable."

"... recent UW Law School graduates Salmun Kazerounian, 25, and Sarah White, 27, explained that an April 1 meeting at Suzzallo Cafe was not an open meeting so the officer sat at a neighboring table and took notes."

"On April 8, the undercover officer participated in the SWC meeting to plan a May 3 campus demonstration." ...

NM: New Mexico journalist asserts his right to videotape on public property (video available)
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Jeremy Jojola, an investigative reporter for KOB-TV in New Mexico and a regular reader of Photography is Not a Crime, was working on a story in front of the emergency room of an Albuquerque hospital when a security guard told him he was not allowed to film there."

"Jojola, who was standing on the sidewalk, told the security guard he was standing on public property."

"The guard called the local sheriff's department and deputy ended up telling Jojola to move across the street because he was 'jeopardizing the investigation.'" ...

"But Jojola held his ground and the deputy ended up backing down" ...

Canada: Canadian photojournalist assaulted and arrested for taking photos
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Calgary police were unable to make an arrest in a home invasion that left an elderly couple hospitalized."

"So they arrested a Calgary Sun news photographer instead."

"Veteran photojournalist Jim Wells was arrested after getting into a verbal altercation with a police officer who told him he was not allowed to photograph the crime victims."

"Wells was standing on a public sidewalk and continued taking photos."

"Witness said the cop shoved Wells, according to the newspaper." ...

"While the Calgary Sun states that Wells was charged with obstruction, it also states that police were unable to say what he was being charged with." ...

MT: Uncomfortable fence
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Both Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester voted for Sonia Sotomayor's U.S. Supreme Court nomination last year, citing Sotomayor's 'respect for the Constitution and respect for previous rulings.'"

"More recently, both Baucus and Tester officially joined with the pro-gun rights plaintiffs in McDonald v. Chicago, asserting that the Second Amendment prohibits certain gun control by state and local governments. ..."

"Sotomayor voted against the position taken by Baucus and Tester in McDonald v. Chicago and against 'previous rulings,' despite our Senators' assurances ..."

"This puts both Baucus and Tester with one foot on each side of a very uncomfortable and unforgiving fence ..." ...

MT: Constitutional right, Montana tradition
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"I just purchased my very first gun, a lovely 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. This may concern some of you. There is nothing worse than a eeeevil right-wing extremist who is armed."

"I'm not a gun-type person, never even fired one. I held one once as a kid; my uncle had a pistol that my mom hated. That moment was seminal. I never forgot what it felt like, cold and heavy. It was a dull gray color, and smelled of oil and gunpowder. He had a peculiar smirk as he handed it to me, a smile that seemed to say, 'Here, take it kid, be a man.'"

"Now I am 51 years old. I have lived in Montana nearly 30 years. ... somehow it took me this long to embrace this rite of passage toward becoming a real Montanan, dare I say, a real man." ...