RESTRICTIONS ON TARGET SHOOTING PROPOSED

The issue is gun control, which is currently lacking clear parameters in Culpeper County's ordinances. At its April 12 meeting, the Rules Committee, which addresses a wide range of issues related to county law and policy, took up the topic, discussing ways to limit where people could shoot guns.

The result was electric. "We do not need to enact more ordinances because of a few whiners, and we sure don't need elected officials who want to Fairfax us." "The county's proposed gun ordinance is an infringement on our rights." "If you don't like to hear the guns going off, maybe you should go back to the city."

Much of the backlash has centered on a draft proposal put before the committee. Modeled on Fairfax County, the document would, among other things, make it illegal to fire a gun on any piece of property smaller than 20 acres. The committee ultimately requested further study. Officials say it's not unusual for the Sheriff's Office to receive complaints about neighbors firing guns, part of the reason the Rules Committee started discussing the situation. Currently, the county code places no limits on where a gun can be fired. One woman, a Quail Ridge resident who did not want to be named, said her neighbor's habit of shooting in his backyard on the weekend has "shattered" her neighborhood's peaceful atmosphere. "It just makes us prisoners in our home," she said. "I have nothing against guns," she added, "but I don't like it that close to me."

But Stephens and others say there's no reason why backyard target practice can't be a safe activity. "The mere act of shooting a gun is not dangerous," Stephens said. "My father taught me how to shoot safely when I was about 10, and bought me my first gun at 12 . One of the reasons I moved out this way was because I could buy a piece of land where, in my opinion, I could safely shoot."

The Rev. Mark Jarvis, who's challenging state representative Ed Scott for his seat in the House of Delegates, issued a statement on Friday that read, "The size of a piece of property is not a factor in whether or not a firearm is discharged safely. The discharge of a firearm is done safely only when the individual has had the proper training in its use . The proposed (Culpeper County) ordinance on its face is arbitrary and capricious."

The supervisors who make up the Rules Committee, however, say the situation is getting blown out of proportion. "Everyone who calls me thinks we're going to pass the legislation," said Steve Nixon, of the West Fairfax District, "which is not the case at all." "This process doesn't just happen overnight," said Steve Walker, the East Fairfax representative and chair of the Rules Committee. "It's a long-term process, and that was just an exploratory meeting."

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ILLINOIS TRYING TO PROMOTE CRIME

Liberals and criminals alike are anxiously awaiting the verdict on Illinois' newest gun ban, HB 2414. Honestly, it's hard to tell who's more excited. I guess liberals figure if they can't keep Americans from buying guns, they'll try putting people in prison for owning them. Meanwhile, thousands of law-abiding citizens in Illinois are forced to imagine being incarcerated for legally purchasing and owning a gun. That's the idea behind The People's Republic of Illinois House Bill 2414, in which gun owners would have 90 days to surrender their legally purchased semi-automatic firearms to the police, or face felony prosecution and stiff jail sentences. Illinois State Rifle Association Executive Director Richard Pearson called the bill a "public policy nightmare."

Apparently, Pearson still thinks the Second Amendment to the Constitution (for you liberals, that's the one that says Congress can't make laws infringing on your right to keep and bear arms) actually means that Congress can't make a law infringing on your right to keep and bear arms. You'll have to forgive conservatives, who haven't grasped the concept of a living, breathing Constitution, where "keep and bear arms" actually means "sodomy and abortion on demand."

"Overnight, the bill would create an entirely new class of criminals," Pearson continued. "I think it would be conservative to say that at least half of the gun owners in Illinois own firearms that would be banned under this bill. The result would be that more than 750,000 citizens, few of whom ever even contemplated committing a crime, would be instantly branded as `criminals' by the mere stroke of the Governor's pen." In that case, Hillary Clinton might want to rethink her strategy of advocating giving convicted felons the right to vote.

Meanwhile, violent criminals everywhere anxiously await the vote on the ban, hoping to relocate from red states (where they currently risk getting shot) to blue state utopias where they would hold all the bullets. While I doubt the Illinois legislature would hail the bill's passage as "a victory for criminals," that is precisely the segment of the electorate that will benefit from such a brilliant proposal. Now, if only liberals could get street gangs to fill out their voter registration cards, they might stand a chance in 2008.....

If U.S. history holds true, Illinois will soon join Washington D.C., Georgia, and fellow socialist republic Massachusetts with the distinction of having both the nation's "toughest" gun restrictions and highest murder rates. Burglars will be free to burgle and muggers will mug to their little heart's content.

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PEACEFUL OLD "GUN-FREE" LONDON

Sounds like it was a fun Sunday

A man was killed when police fired six shots at him in a car in Edgware, North London, before dragging him out and trying to resuscitate him, witnesses said yesterday. An officer has been removed from firearms duty. Police stopped a car containing three men in an operation by the Specialist Crime Directorate and SO19, the firearms unit, on Saturday night. Officers saw that one of the men was armed and shot him. It is not known if they shouted a warning to drop the weapon.... The IPCC said that three firearms had been recovered from the car.

Elsewhere in London, police were called to a shooting in Wood Green on Saturday night. The victim, 22, was taken to hospital but died. It is thought that five or six youths surrounded a silver car that he was in and shot him. A third man was shot in a Wimbledon nightclub early yesterday. Police arrested two men, aged 28 and 19. The victim, 21, was in a serious condition in hospital.

Near Leicester Square a man in his twenties was savagely attacked by a gang early yesterday. He was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. A number of people were arrested.

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