Gun rights fight continues: "Despite a recent article on National Review Online by John J. Miller, the fight to protect and preserve our Second Amendment rights continues. And with that so does the effort of numerous pro-Second Amendment organizations like Liberty Belles, Keep and Bear Arms, Second Amendment Foundation, Gun Owners of America, Armed Females of America, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, and a whole host of others. In addition to organizations that focus specifically on the Second Amendment, there are many other types of non-profits who also support the individual right to keep and bear arms."
Packed, stacked and ready to whack: "One of the basic human rights that constantly has to be defended is the right to keep and bear arms. Why did the original founders of this great American experiment toss this given, no-duh, entitlement into the Constitution? Well, it wasn't so that we would be guaranteed that we could hunt squirrels and woodchucks without serving time, as great as that is. It was for the purpose of defending ourselves against perps when the cops are running a little late, and for the purpose of protecting ourselves against the government should the system go south."
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
THE ULTIMATE CONCEALED CARRY?
A police spokeswoman called it "unusual" that a 19-year-old almost smuggled a loaded pistol tucked between his buttocks into a county jail this week. Clifton Alexander Carter was transported to the Gwinnett County Jail on Tuesday after a school resource office at Central Gwinnett High School recognized him as a suspect wanted in Barrow County. Upon searching him, officers found a loaded .25-caliber handgun hidden in the man's buttocks. There was a bullet in the chamber, sheriff's spokeswoman Stacey Kelley said. "I don't now how he was able to conceal the weapon in that area. It is very unusual," she said.
The resource officer called Lawrenceville police and Carter was arrested near the campus. He is not a student at the school. Deputies felt something was amiss during their routine search and performed a strip search, Kelley said. "We are proud that our deputy was diligent in his job and was able to locate the weapon," she said. Carter was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, carrying a weapon on a school campus and possession of a weapon by a jail inmate, among other charges. He is being held without bond.
Source
Gun gets the right guy: "A man authorities allege participated in a home invasion was shot in the upper torso early this morning by one of the residents he was trying to rob, police report. About 1:30 a.m., Burlington police responded to a reported burglary in progress at 1109 Rosenwald St. Officers found a man later identified as Tele Richmond, 22, of 231 Kerr Chapel Road in Burlington, lying in the front yard suffering a gunshot wound to his torso. Richmond was one of four men who entered the Rosenwald Street home and tried to rob the residents at gunpoint, police said. One of the residents, apparently acting in self defense, fired at the suspects with a handgun, striking Richmond, police said. The other suspects were last seen running north toward Sharpe Road. None of the residents was injured, police said."
8 February, 2005
Study raises alarm on 1st Amendment, but what about 2nd?: "Schools don't do enough to teach the Second Amendment. In many cases, they don't do anything at all. That's a problem the Second Amendment Foundation has been addressing for more than three decades, and it has been an uphill battle. In today's politically correct classroom environment, it's virtually taboo to talk about firearms, and showing an interest in guns can get your photo banned from the high school yearbook, as happened this year to a New Hampshire student who wanted to appear with his skeet gun and shooting vest in his official senior class portrait."
The last refuge of hate: "People who are terrified of and hate guns -- hoplophobes -- don't care about anything rational, and we waste our time on such arguments. They want guns to go away. They don't trust guns. They don't trust people who have guns, and especially people who like guns. The only exception is 'official' people with guns, meaning, they're from the government, a source of relief. I know, I know, that's irrational. But that's the nature of the disease, and it will not be fixed by DOJ reports. The more intelligent of the hoplophobes may give up their you-have-no-rights argument due to the DOJ report, but it won't stop them one bit."
A police spokeswoman called it "unusual" that a 19-year-old almost smuggled a loaded pistol tucked between his buttocks into a county jail this week. Clifton Alexander Carter was transported to the Gwinnett County Jail on Tuesday after a school resource office at Central Gwinnett High School recognized him as a suspect wanted in Barrow County. Upon searching him, officers found a loaded .25-caliber handgun hidden in the man's buttocks. There was a bullet in the chamber, sheriff's spokeswoman Stacey Kelley said. "I don't now how he was able to conceal the weapon in that area. It is very unusual," she said.
The resource officer called Lawrenceville police and Carter was arrested near the campus. He is not a student at the school. Deputies felt something was amiss during their routine search and performed a strip search, Kelley said. "We are proud that our deputy was diligent in his job and was able to locate the weapon," she said. Carter was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, carrying a weapon on a school campus and possession of a weapon by a jail inmate, among other charges. He is being held without bond.
Source
Gun gets the right guy: "A man authorities allege participated in a home invasion was shot in the upper torso early this morning by one of the residents he was trying to rob, police report. About 1:30 a.m., Burlington police responded to a reported burglary in progress at 1109 Rosenwald St. Officers found a man later identified as Tele Richmond, 22, of 231 Kerr Chapel Road in Burlington, lying in the front yard suffering a gunshot wound to his torso. Richmond was one of four men who entered the Rosenwald Street home and tried to rob the residents at gunpoint, police said. One of the residents, apparently acting in self defense, fired at the suspects with a handgun, striking Richmond, police said. The other suspects were last seen running north toward Sharpe Road. None of the residents was injured, police said."
8 February, 2005
Study raises alarm on 1st Amendment, but what about 2nd?: "Schools don't do enough to teach the Second Amendment. In many cases, they don't do anything at all. That's a problem the Second Amendment Foundation has been addressing for more than three decades, and it has been an uphill battle. In today's politically correct classroom environment, it's virtually taboo to talk about firearms, and showing an interest in guns can get your photo banned from the high school yearbook, as happened this year to a New Hampshire student who wanted to appear with his skeet gun and shooting vest in his official senior class portrait."
The last refuge of hate: "People who are terrified of and hate guns -- hoplophobes -- don't care about anything rational, and we waste our time on such arguments. They want guns to go away. They don't trust guns. They don't trust people who have guns, and especially people who like guns. The only exception is 'official' people with guns, meaning, they're from the government, a source of relief. I know, I know, that's irrational. But that's the nature of the disease, and it will not be fixed by DOJ reports. The more intelligent of the hoplophobes may give up their you-have-no-rights argument due to the DOJ report, but it won't stop them one bit."
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Study raises alarm on 1st Amendment, but what about 2nd?: "Schools don't do enough to teach the Second Amendment. In many cases, they don't do anything at all. That's a problem the Second Amendment Foundation has been addressing for more than three decades, and it has been an uphill battle. In today's politically correct classroom environment, it's virtually taboo to talk about firearms, and showing an interest in guns can get your photo banned from the high school yearbook, as happened this year to a New Hampshire student who wanted to appear with his skeet gun and shooting vest in his official senior class portrait."
The last refuge of hate: "People who are terrified of and hate guns -- hoplophobes -- don't care about anything rational, and we waste our time on such arguments. They want guns to go away. They don't trust guns. They don't trust people who have guns, and especially people who like guns. The only exception is 'official' people with guns, meaning, they're from the government, a source of relief. I know, I know, that's irrational. But that's the nature of the disease, and it will not be fixed by DOJ reports. The more intelligent of the hoplophobes may give up their you-have-no-rights argument due to the DOJ report, but it won't stop them one bit."
The last refuge of hate: "People who are terrified of and hate guns -- hoplophobes -- don't care about anything rational, and we waste our time on such arguments. They want guns to go away. They don't trust guns. They don't trust people who have guns, and especially people who like guns. The only exception is 'official' people with guns, meaning, they're from the government, a source of relief. I know, I know, that's irrational. But that's the nature of the disease, and it will not be fixed by DOJ reports. The more intelligent of the hoplophobes may give up their you-have-no-rights argument due to the DOJ report, but it won't stop them one bit."
Monday, February 07, 2005
THE "PINK PISTOLS" OPPOSE THE PROPOSED SF GUN BAN
Don't be fooled by the stereotype, said Aaron Thomas, a 30-year-old gay man with ruddy cheeks, an open manner and a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. Gay, gun-loving San Franciscans exist, he said shortly before hunching his back, steadying himself and firing at a target. Not only do they exist, they are steamed up about the proposed law -- supported by five San Francisco supervisors and set to go before voters next fall -- that would ban the ownership of handguns.
The right to own guns may be even more important than the right to marry, Thomas said during the monthly shooting practice organized by the gay gun group the Pink Pistols. "I want to be liberated as a gay man, but I'm not willing to give up the rights I have," he said. "If they can take that away from you, what more can they do?" ....
Gay men and lesbians are at risk of becoming hate crime victims, the group's philosophy goes, and therefore community members should learn how to protect themselves -- with firearms.
More here
One more innocent American entrapped by BATFE : "Danny Peterson is a lot like you and me. Father. Young grandfather. American. Never in trouble with the law. But Danny Peterson holds a federal license to sell guns and in January 2004 he made the 'mistake' of exhibiting at the Las Vegas Gun Show. Eight BATFE agents roamed the aisles at that show that weekend, itching to find somebody to bust. They picked Danny, who had done absolutely nothing wrong. They decided he was their target for the weekend -- even after he refused to go along with their repeated attempts to talk him into breaking the law! Thus one more innocent American gun owner ended up fighting for his very life against corrupt, lying BATFE agents."
Don't be fooled by the stereotype, said Aaron Thomas, a 30-year-old gay man with ruddy cheeks, an open manner and a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. Gay, gun-loving San Franciscans exist, he said shortly before hunching his back, steadying himself and firing at a target. Not only do they exist, they are steamed up about the proposed law -- supported by five San Francisco supervisors and set to go before voters next fall -- that would ban the ownership of handguns.
The right to own guns may be even more important than the right to marry, Thomas said during the monthly shooting practice organized by the gay gun group the Pink Pistols. "I want to be liberated as a gay man, but I'm not willing to give up the rights I have," he said. "If they can take that away from you, what more can they do?" ....
Gay men and lesbians are at risk of becoming hate crime victims, the group's philosophy goes, and therefore community members should learn how to protect themselves -- with firearms.
More here
One more innocent American entrapped by BATFE : "Danny Peterson is a lot like you and me. Father. Young grandfather. American. Never in trouble with the law. But Danny Peterson holds a federal license to sell guns and in January 2004 he made the 'mistake' of exhibiting at the Las Vegas Gun Show. Eight BATFE agents roamed the aisles at that show that weekend, itching to find somebody to bust. They picked Danny, who had done absolutely nothing wrong. They decided he was their target for the weekend -- even after he refused to go along with their repeated attempts to talk him into breaking the law! Thus one more innocent American gun owner ended up fighting for his very life against corrupt, lying BATFE agents."
Sunday, February 06, 2005
THE BALLISTIC FINGERPRINTING IDIOCY
Ballistic fingerprinting was all the rage just a couple of years ago. Maryland and New York were leading the way where a computer database would record the markings made on the bullets from all new guns. The days of criminals using guns were numbered. Yet, a recent report by the Maryland State Police's forensic-sciences division shows that the systems in both states have been expensive failures. New York is spending $4 million per year. Maryland has spent a total of $2.6 million, about $60 per gun sold. But in the over four years that the systems have been in effect neither has solved a single crime. To put it bluntly, the program "does not aid in the mission statement of the Department of State Police."
The systems have drained so many resources from other police activities that ballistic fingerprinting could end up actually increasing crime. In New York, how many crimes could 50 additional police officers help solve? ....
Precisely because friction causes wear, a gun's ballistic fingerprint changes over time � making it drastically different from such forensic evidence as human fingerprints or DNA. The recording of a child's fingerprints or DNA still allows for identification much later in life; the same is not true of the bullet markings. A ballistic fingerprint is less like a human fingerprint than it is like the tread on a car tire.
Brand-new tires are essentially identical, so new-tire tracks at crime scenes leave investigators with pretty limited information. Unless there happens to be a particular imperfection, only the brand and model of the tire can be identified. Imprints on bullets are similar. When a bullet is fired from a new gun, investigators can typically identify only the type of ammunition and the type of gun. Over time, though, friction causes the tread on tires to wear. It would be easy to take the tire tracks left at a crime scene and match them with a suspected criminal's car; but the more the car is driven after the crime, the harder it is to match the tire tracks left at the scene to the tires when they are eventually found. Similarly, the greatest friction on a gun occurs when the gun is first fired � and that dramatically reduces the usefulness of recording the gun's ballistic fingerprint when it is purchased.
Moreover, ballistic fingerprinting can be thwarted by replacing the gun's barrel � just as criminals can foil tire matching by simply replacing their tires. In general, the markings on bullets can be altered even more quickly and easily than the tread marks on tires: Scratching part of the inside of a barrel with a nail file would alter the bullet's path down the barrel and thus change the markings. So would putting toothpaste on a bullet before firing it.....
While registering guns by their ballistic fingerprints is a relatively new concept, we have had plenty of experience using gun registration in general, and it has come up woefully short. A few years ago, I testified before the Hawaii state legislature on a bill to change registration requirements. Hawaii has had both registration and licensing of guns for several decades.
In theory, if a gun is left at the crime scene, licensing and registration will allow the gun to be traced back to its owner. Police have probably spent hundreds of thousands of man-hours administering these laws in Hawaii. But despite this massive effort, there has not been a single case in which police claimed that licensing and registration have been instrumental in identifying a criminal.
From John Lott
Utah: Bill to "allow" loaded guns in cars: "Gun owners -- even those without a concealed weapons permit -- would be allowed to carry their loaded weapons in cars under a bill being prepared for the Utah Senate. Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Lehi, said he is drafting a bill, SB175, that would give gun owners the same access to weapons in their cars that they have in their homes. 'It's called the 'home-castle' principle,' Madsen said. 'If you're in your car, the same right you have in your home extends to your car. It's pretty simple.'"
Ballistic fingerprinting was all the rage just a couple of years ago. Maryland and New York were leading the way where a computer database would record the markings made on the bullets from all new guns. The days of criminals using guns were numbered. Yet, a recent report by the Maryland State Police's forensic-sciences division shows that the systems in both states have been expensive failures. New York is spending $4 million per year. Maryland has spent a total of $2.6 million, about $60 per gun sold. But in the over four years that the systems have been in effect neither has solved a single crime. To put it bluntly, the program "does not aid in the mission statement of the Department of State Police."
The systems have drained so many resources from other police activities that ballistic fingerprinting could end up actually increasing crime. In New York, how many crimes could 50 additional police officers help solve? ....
Precisely because friction causes wear, a gun's ballistic fingerprint changes over time � making it drastically different from such forensic evidence as human fingerprints or DNA. The recording of a child's fingerprints or DNA still allows for identification much later in life; the same is not true of the bullet markings. A ballistic fingerprint is less like a human fingerprint than it is like the tread on a car tire.
Brand-new tires are essentially identical, so new-tire tracks at crime scenes leave investigators with pretty limited information. Unless there happens to be a particular imperfection, only the brand and model of the tire can be identified. Imprints on bullets are similar. When a bullet is fired from a new gun, investigators can typically identify only the type of ammunition and the type of gun. Over time, though, friction causes the tread on tires to wear. It would be easy to take the tire tracks left at a crime scene and match them with a suspected criminal's car; but the more the car is driven after the crime, the harder it is to match the tire tracks left at the scene to the tires when they are eventually found. Similarly, the greatest friction on a gun occurs when the gun is first fired � and that dramatically reduces the usefulness of recording the gun's ballistic fingerprint when it is purchased.
Moreover, ballistic fingerprinting can be thwarted by replacing the gun's barrel � just as criminals can foil tire matching by simply replacing their tires. In general, the markings on bullets can be altered even more quickly and easily than the tread marks on tires: Scratching part of the inside of a barrel with a nail file would alter the bullet's path down the barrel and thus change the markings. So would putting toothpaste on a bullet before firing it.....
While registering guns by their ballistic fingerprints is a relatively new concept, we have had plenty of experience using gun registration in general, and it has come up woefully short. A few years ago, I testified before the Hawaii state legislature on a bill to change registration requirements. Hawaii has had both registration and licensing of guns for several decades.
In theory, if a gun is left at the crime scene, licensing and registration will allow the gun to be traced back to its owner. Police have probably spent hundreds of thousands of man-hours administering these laws in Hawaii. But despite this massive effort, there has not been a single case in which police claimed that licensing and registration have been instrumental in identifying a criminal.
From John Lott
Utah: Bill to "allow" loaded guns in cars: "Gun owners -- even those without a concealed weapons permit -- would be allowed to carry their loaded weapons in cars under a bill being prepared for the Utah Senate. Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Lehi, said he is drafting a bill, SB175, that would give gun owners the same access to weapons in their cars that they have in their homes. 'It's called the 'home-castle' principle,' Madsen said. 'If you're in your car, the same right you have in your home extends to your car. It's pretty simple.'"
Saturday, February 05, 2005
PROGRESS IN ILLINOIS
Fresh off its success at poking holes in a Wilmette handgun ban, the National Rifle Association has launched a new legislative drive to dismantle strong gun prohibitions in Chicago and test Gov. Rod Blagojevich's wavering commitment to broader gun control. Taking direct aim at Mayor Richard Daley's hard-line stance against the proliferation of guns, the NRA package of state legislation would allow residents of Chicago and other communities that ban handgun ownership to legally keep the weapons in their homes for self-defense purposes. It also would hold Chicago and other places with bans liable for injuries that residents claimed could have been avoided had they been allowed to carry handguns....
The gun-rights group was emboldened by last year's passage in the Democrat-controlled legislature of the so-called Wilmette bill, inspired by the case of a resident of the North Shore suburb who shot an intruder in his home and was then charged with violating a local handgun ban. The legislation created a loophole in handgun bans by allowing someone like the Wilmette man to claim self-defense as they fight such charges in court. Blagojevich vetoed the bill, but lawmakers overrode that action this year and the measure became law "With the situation in Wilmette last year, there was a change in the tone of the debate," said Todd Vandermyde, an NRA lobbyist. "Look at the votes we put on those bills. There were huge majorities."
This year's NRA package would punch a big hole in local handgun bans by creating an exception for residents who say they are keeping the weapons in their homes for self-defense. It would also allow people to sue municipalities with gun bans for injuries suffered as a result of a crime that they say could have been prevented had they been allowed to carry a gun. Another NRA measure would strip Chicago aldermen of the right to carry guns as long as the city continues to ban gun ownership by everyone else.
More here
Wyoming the land of the free: "A House committee on Wednesday recommended a bill that would liberalize Wyoming's concealed weapons law. The measure, sent to the House floor 7-2 by the House Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee, would essentially allow any non-felon to carry a concealed gun without a permit. "You can carry -- simple as that," said the sponsor, Rep. Becket Hinckley, R-Cheyenne. Wyoming would join Alaska and Vermont in not requiring permits for concealed weapons, he said. Hinckley, a deputy prosecuting attorney, was joined in support by Richard Bohling, Albany County's prosecutor, who said law-abiding citizens sometimes have been convicted of illegally carrying a concealed weapon when they had no intent of breaking the law. Bohling, holding a notebook bearing a sticker reading, "I'm the NRA and I vote," cited the case of an elderly Missouri man who was found to have had a loaded pistol in his glove box after a rollover. Bohling said he was forced to prosecute the individual, who was later convicted. The bill would prevent prosecution of people in similar situations who have no ill intent, he said".
Fresh off its success at poking holes in a Wilmette handgun ban, the National Rifle Association has launched a new legislative drive to dismantle strong gun prohibitions in Chicago and test Gov. Rod Blagojevich's wavering commitment to broader gun control. Taking direct aim at Mayor Richard Daley's hard-line stance against the proliferation of guns, the NRA package of state legislation would allow residents of Chicago and other communities that ban handgun ownership to legally keep the weapons in their homes for self-defense purposes. It also would hold Chicago and other places with bans liable for injuries that residents claimed could have been avoided had they been allowed to carry handguns....
The gun-rights group was emboldened by last year's passage in the Democrat-controlled legislature of the so-called Wilmette bill, inspired by the case of a resident of the North Shore suburb who shot an intruder in his home and was then charged with violating a local handgun ban. The legislation created a loophole in handgun bans by allowing someone like the Wilmette man to claim self-defense as they fight such charges in court. Blagojevich vetoed the bill, but lawmakers overrode that action this year and the measure became law "With the situation in Wilmette last year, there was a change in the tone of the debate," said Todd Vandermyde, an NRA lobbyist. "Look at the votes we put on those bills. There were huge majorities."
This year's NRA package would punch a big hole in local handgun bans by creating an exception for residents who say they are keeping the weapons in their homes for self-defense. It would also allow people to sue municipalities with gun bans for injuries suffered as a result of a crime that they say could have been prevented had they been allowed to carry a gun. Another NRA measure would strip Chicago aldermen of the right to carry guns as long as the city continues to ban gun ownership by everyone else.
More here
Wyoming the land of the free: "A House committee on Wednesday recommended a bill that would liberalize Wyoming's concealed weapons law. The measure, sent to the House floor 7-2 by the House Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee, would essentially allow any non-felon to carry a concealed gun without a permit. "You can carry -- simple as that," said the sponsor, Rep. Becket Hinckley, R-Cheyenne. Wyoming would join Alaska and Vermont in not requiring permits for concealed weapons, he said. Hinckley, a deputy prosecuting attorney, was joined in support by Richard Bohling, Albany County's prosecutor, who said law-abiding citizens sometimes have been convicted of illegally carrying a concealed weapon when they had no intent of breaking the law. Bohling, holding a notebook bearing a sticker reading, "I'm the NRA and I vote," cited the case of an elderly Missouri man who was found to have had a loaded pistol in his glove box after a rollover. Bohling said he was forced to prosecute the individual, who was later convicted. The bill would prevent prosecution of people in similar situations who have no ill intent, he said".
Friday, February 04, 2005
VIRGINIA: GUN SHOW RESTRICTIONS
Along with abortion and a few other issues, guns galvanize public passion to an unusual degree. Outside the armed camps of gun-control advocates and gun-rights groups, a largely sensible center supports the right to keep and bear arms within reason. The constant question is just what right reason requires. This newspaper supports gun rights within limits, such as Virginia's one-gun-a-month restriction, which has helped reduce "straw purchases" and gun-running along the East Coast. It also supports laws limiting true assault weapons to police and military forces.
The General Assembly has been considering a proposal to close the "gun-show loophole." The other day the Senate shot the measure down, but count on its reappearance -- either during this session or a future one.
The proposal would require private sellers of firearms -- gun hobbyists, collectors, and so on -- to conduct background checks on potential buyers, as existing licensed gun dealers must do. As in any question involving the infringement of individual liberties, the burden of proof lies on those supporting greater restrictions. Do they meet it? Herewith, some pertinent points to consider:
* The National Shooting Sports Foundation reports that total sales of all guns exceed $2 billion a year. Of all guns sold, only a fraction are purchased at gun shows.
* Of the fraction of weapons bought at gun shows, most are purchased through licensed dealers who must perform background checks.
* Thus individual firearm sales at gun shows account for only a minuscule percentage of all weapons purchases.
The question, of course, is whether that minuscule fraction of weapons purchases accounts for an inordinate percentage of weapons used in crimes. The answer appears to be a resounding no.
* A report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics based on interviews with 18,000 prison inmates shows less than 1 percent of criminals obtain weapons from gun shows. Similar studies -- such as one from the National Institute of Justice -- show similar results.
* Indeed, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence does not stress individual sales at gun shows as a significant source of guns used in crime. Asked about the statistics cited above, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign noted a report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives claiming gun shows are "a major trafficking channel" but said 60 percent of guns used in crimes come from just 1 percent of licensed dealers -- i.e., those dealers already expected to abide by background-check requirements. "The federal government is not going after the crooked dealers upstream," the spokesman said. "In fact, [it is] working to protect them." He noted that Congress rejected a request by the Bush administration to fund a system tracking the source of illegal guns.
* The Brady Campaign does cite other data, such as the fact that "only 50 to 75 percent of the vendors at most gun shows" are licensed firearms dealers. It does not mention that many of the other vendors do not sell guns at all -- but rather books, pepper sprays, swords and knives, storage safes, bumper stickers, clothing, hand-made leather goods, and vintage military paraphernalia such as WWII uniforms and (empty) ammunition boxes.
* The Brady Campaign cites another BATFE report to the effect that 10 percent of the guns used in crimes committed by juveniles were sold "at gun shows and flea markets." Roughly 9 percent of all gun crimes are committed by juveniles. Thus gun shows -- and flea markets -- account for about 1 percent of all gun crimes involving juveniles.
* But -- again -- the "gun-show loophole" applies only to those hobbyists and collectors who might be interested in selling granddad's WWII service sidearm, not to the majority of licensed dealers who, according to the Brady Campaign, constitute the bulk of the gun-crime problem. In short, private sellers of firearms constitute a vanishingly small share of the gun-crime problem in contrast to corrupt gun dealers, theft, and the black market.
Advocates of gun rights still must admit closing the "gun-show loophole" might produce a marginal reduction in the criminal use of guns though such a reduction could be wiped out by one large-scale theft such as the recent incident in Chesterfield. The Assembly must weigh this marginal reduction against the infringement of the right of law-abiding citizens -- what the Brady Campaign disdainfully calls "so-called private sellers" peacefully to exercise their right to keep and bear, and trade in, firearms.
Let's be clear: Most gun-show sales in Virginia occur through licensed dealers who already conduct background checks. Closing the gun-show loophole would place a serious encumbrance on individual rights, with little or no benefit to public safety. The Assembly is welcome to pass a bill anyway, if it is interested in making an empty gesture. If it is interested in reducing violence, it should turn its attention elsewhere.
Source
California: Home intruder shot by occupant: "Greg Collins kept watch in his garage Wednesday night, two loaded shotguns by his side. He was on guard for thieves who had burglarized his Modesto home on Hackberry Avenue six times in three weeks. Collins fell asleep but was awakened about 5:26 a.m. by a loud crash when someone opened the garage door and a large box he had laid against it scraped across the floor. The intruder turned on the lights and walked into the garage, toward a large piece of plywood that covered tools. Still groggy from sleep, Collins grabbed a shotgun and told the intruder to freeze. 'He lunged at me,' explained Collins. 'I was very scared and I was panicky. He took about one step. I aimed low and shot him.'"
Along with abortion and a few other issues, guns galvanize public passion to an unusual degree. Outside the armed camps of gun-control advocates and gun-rights groups, a largely sensible center supports the right to keep and bear arms within reason. The constant question is just what right reason requires. This newspaper supports gun rights within limits, such as Virginia's one-gun-a-month restriction, which has helped reduce "straw purchases" and gun-running along the East Coast. It also supports laws limiting true assault weapons to police and military forces.
The General Assembly has been considering a proposal to close the "gun-show loophole." The other day the Senate shot the measure down, but count on its reappearance -- either during this session or a future one.
The proposal would require private sellers of firearms -- gun hobbyists, collectors, and so on -- to conduct background checks on potential buyers, as existing licensed gun dealers must do. As in any question involving the infringement of individual liberties, the burden of proof lies on those supporting greater restrictions. Do they meet it? Herewith, some pertinent points to consider:
* The National Shooting Sports Foundation reports that total sales of all guns exceed $2 billion a year. Of all guns sold, only a fraction are purchased at gun shows.
* Of the fraction of weapons bought at gun shows, most are purchased through licensed dealers who must perform background checks.
* Thus individual firearm sales at gun shows account for only a minuscule percentage of all weapons purchases.
The question, of course, is whether that minuscule fraction of weapons purchases accounts for an inordinate percentage of weapons used in crimes. The answer appears to be a resounding no.
* A report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics based on interviews with 18,000 prison inmates shows less than 1 percent of criminals obtain weapons from gun shows. Similar studies -- such as one from the National Institute of Justice -- show similar results.
* Indeed, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence does not stress individual sales at gun shows as a significant source of guns used in crime. Asked about the statistics cited above, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign noted a report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives claiming gun shows are "a major trafficking channel" but said 60 percent of guns used in crimes come from just 1 percent of licensed dealers -- i.e., those dealers already expected to abide by background-check requirements. "The federal government is not going after the crooked dealers upstream," the spokesman said. "In fact, [it is] working to protect them." He noted that Congress rejected a request by the Bush administration to fund a system tracking the source of illegal guns.
* The Brady Campaign does cite other data, such as the fact that "only 50 to 75 percent of the vendors at most gun shows" are licensed firearms dealers. It does not mention that many of the other vendors do not sell guns at all -- but rather books, pepper sprays, swords and knives, storage safes, bumper stickers, clothing, hand-made leather goods, and vintage military paraphernalia such as WWII uniforms and (empty) ammunition boxes.
* The Brady Campaign cites another BATFE report to the effect that 10 percent of the guns used in crimes committed by juveniles were sold "at gun shows and flea markets." Roughly 9 percent of all gun crimes are committed by juveniles. Thus gun shows -- and flea markets -- account for about 1 percent of all gun crimes involving juveniles.
* But -- again -- the "gun-show loophole" applies only to those hobbyists and collectors who might be interested in selling granddad's WWII service sidearm, not to the majority of licensed dealers who, according to the Brady Campaign, constitute the bulk of the gun-crime problem. In short, private sellers of firearms constitute a vanishingly small share of the gun-crime problem in contrast to corrupt gun dealers, theft, and the black market.
Advocates of gun rights still must admit closing the "gun-show loophole" might produce a marginal reduction in the criminal use of guns though such a reduction could be wiped out by one large-scale theft such as the recent incident in Chesterfield. The Assembly must weigh this marginal reduction against the infringement of the right of law-abiding citizens -- what the Brady Campaign disdainfully calls "so-called private sellers" peacefully to exercise their right to keep and bear, and trade in, firearms.
Let's be clear: Most gun-show sales in Virginia occur through licensed dealers who already conduct background checks. Closing the gun-show loophole would place a serious encumbrance on individual rights, with little or no benefit to public safety. The Assembly is welcome to pass a bill anyway, if it is interested in making an empty gesture. If it is interested in reducing violence, it should turn its attention elsewhere.
Source
California: Home intruder shot by occupant: "Greg Collins kept watch in his garage Wednesday night, two loaded shotguns by his side. He was on guard for thieves who had burglarized his Modesto home on Hackberry Avenue six times in three weeks. Collins fell asleep but was awakened about 5:26 a.m. by a loud crash when someone opened the garage door and a large box he had laid against it scraped across the floor. The intruder turned on the lights and walked into the garage, toward a large piece of plywood that covered tools. Still groggy from sleep, Collins grabbed a shotgun and told the intruder to freeze. 'He lunged at me,' explained Collins. 'I was very scared and I was panicky. He took about one step. I aimed low and shot him.'"
Thursday, February 03, 2005
GUN HATERS ARE LOVERS OF GOVERNMENT
Which is pretty weird in the light of its vast incompetence
Talk of arming pilots can't help but lead to thoughts of 9/11, an evocative anecdote of its own. And that can't help but remind us that, in a cold, dangerous, and often horrifically cruel world, government is not an efficient, or sufficient, protector, the occasional on-the-ball heroic Columbus cop notwithstanding.
In an America where most of the big minds on the progressive end of the Democratic Party are arguing passionately that the only way for the party to revive its seemingly waning fortunes is to vow even more ferociously and tenaciously that they shall be the covering blanket, the succor, the provider, for all Americans' needs great and small�from prenatal care at the start to education and health care throughout to pension provision in our dying days�it is dangerous to acknowledge the inherent limits of government's ability to make everything OK. This doubtless has something to do with Democrats' fervent belief in gun control (even as some of them argue the Republicans are actively creating a theocratic dictatorship, in which guns in citizens hands could be quite helpful, as those who gave us the Second Amendment in the first place understood so well).
It's undeniable down the line: Guns add enormous tragedy and regret to the world�as well as a fair amount of protection from the tragedies and regrets others might impose. They also provide, for many, opportunities to try out an interesting and rewarding skill�and for many others an opportunity for political posturing and sociological pigeonholing and rhetorical policy warfare.
The debate over how and to what extent, and based on what arguments, the state may interfere with its citizens' rights to self-defense�or to hunt for food with efficient tools, or even just to pursue sheer fun and games with explosive projectiles�will never end until we come to a settled decision on whether, and to what extent, our lives are our own property and our own responsibility. The empirical case as to whether in fact the police power of the state can efficiently protect our lives and property is settled pretty much every day in the favor of gun rights...for individuals, regardless of the overall result of studies like the National Research Council's. It's to individuals that guns are often necessary sources of protection and pleasure. Thus, the Justice Department was right, both historically and politically, to note publicly that the right to own guns�and the responsibilities that naturally arise therefrom�belong to individuals, not collectives, and are not to be blithely abridged.
More here:
Which is pretty weird in the light of its vast incompetence
Talk of arming pilots can't help but lead to thoughts of 9/11, an evocative anecdote of its own. And that can't help but remind us that, in a cold, dangerous, and often horrifically cruel world, government is not an efficient, or sufficient, protector, the occasional on-the-ball heroic Columbus cop notwithstanding.
In an America where most of the big minds on the progressive end of the Democratic Party are arguing passionately that the only way for the party to revive its seemingly waning fortunes is to vow even more ferociously and tenaciously that they shall be the covering blanket, the succor, the provider, for all Americans' needs great and small�from prenatal care at the start to education and health care throughout to pension provision in our dying days�it is dangerous to acknowledge the inherent limits of government's ability to make everything OK. This doubtless has something to do with Democrats' fervent belief in gun control (even as some of them argue the Republicans are actively creating a theocratic dictatorship, in which guns in citizens hands could be quite helpful, as those who gave us the Second Amendment in the first place understood so well).
It's undeniable down the line: Guns add enormous tragedy and regret to the world�as well as a fair amount of protection from the tragedies and regrets others might impose. They also provide, for many, opportunities to try out an interesting and rewarding skill�and for many others an opportunity for political posturing and sociological pigeonholing and rhetorical policy warfare.
The debate over how and to what extent, and based on what arguments, the state may interfere with its citizens' rights to self-defense�or to hunt for food with efficient tools, or even just to pursue sheer fun and games with explosive projectiles�will never end until we come to a settled decision on whether, and to what extent, our lives are our own property and our own responsibility. The empirical case as to whether in fact the police power of the state can efficiently protect our lives and property is settled pretty much every day in the favor of gun rights...for individuals, regardless of the overall result of studies like the National Research Council's. It's to individuals that guns are often necessary sources of protection and pleasure. Thus, the Justice Department was right, both historically and politically, to note publicly that the right to own guns�and the responsibilities that naturally arise therefrom�belong to individuals, not collectives, and are not to be blithely abridged.
More here:
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Gun rights are important to have a free and safe society: "It's sad to think that there are those in the United States who regard this basic right to self-defense with suspicion or outright contempt. Ironically, it is very often in the most crime-ridden areas that the average citizen is legally banned from carrying a handgun for self-defense ... I could, of course, make a long argument in favor of an armed citizenry from the standpoint of pushing off oppressive government, but we've long since been conditioned by public schools and the corporate media to shut up and do as we're told."
Complex issue requires complex solutions: "The ideal is to control your own self-defense, which often devolves into an issue of skill. In some circumstances, self-defense could mean a gun in the hands of a trained and conscientious owner. Of course, gun ownership may not be an appropriate solution for domestic violence, which may be better answered by assertiveness training or other forms of self-defense, including the act of leaving. Neverless, the point remains: a willingness to defend yourself and acquiring that ability is the responsibility of every individual."
Complex issue requires complex solutions: "The ideal is to control your own self-defense, which often devolves into an issue of skill. In some circumstances, self-defense could mean a gun in the hands of a trained and conscientious owner. Of course, gun ownership may not be an appropriate solution for domestic violence, which may be better answered by assertiveness training or other forms of self-defense, including the act of leaving. Neverless, the point remains: a willingness to defend yourself and acquiring that ability is the responsibility of every individual."
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
GUNS IN CANADA
Canadian readers of this blog will probably be interested in this site -- a site dedicated to repealing Canada's generally ludicrous gun laws. One excerpt from the current front page: "Dr. Hudson and Jack Wilson, from Saskatchewan attended a Gordon Hitchen Memorial Skeet Shoot at Rock Creek, B.C. on the 31st of October. Many others booked in from other localities in B.C. and Alberta. This shoot featured Conservative MP Jim Gouk, representing the Southern Interior Riding, who took an unregistered shotgun in hand and shot the first bird. The local police declined to attend and compete with us. The shoot was recorded by CHBC and shown on Global TV the next day. Twenty five persons attended and eighteen of them shot with unregistered shotguns.
13 REASONS WHY A HANDGUN IS BETTER THAN A WOMAN:
1) You can buy a silencer for a handgun.
2) You can trade a .44 for two .22's.
3) You can have a handgun at home and another for the road.
4) If you admire a friend's handgun and tell him so, he will be impressed and let you try a few rounds with it.
5) Your primary handgun doesn't mind if you have a backup.
6) Your handgun will stay with you even if you are out of ammo.
7) A handgun doesn't take up a lot of closet space.
8) Handguns function normally every day of the month.
9) A handgun won't ask, "Do these grips make me look fat?"
10) A handgun does not mind if you go to sleep after you're done using it.
11) You can have more than one handgun living in the same house without having problems.
12) A handgun doesn't care how big your trigger finger is.
13) A handgun won't tell all of its friends if you are a "little fast on the trigger".
Canadian readers of this blog will probably be interested in this site -- a site dedicated to repealing Canada's generally ludicrous gun laws. One excerpt from the current front page: "Dr. Hudson and Jack Wilson, from Saskatchewan attended a Gordon Hitchen Memorial Skeet Shoot at Rock Creek, B.C. on the 31st of October. Many others booked in from other localities in B.C. and Alberta. This shoot featured Conservative MP Jim Gouk, representing the Southern Interior Riding, who took an unregistered shotgun in hand and shot the first bird. The local police declined to attend and compete with us. The shoot was recorded by CHBC and shown on Global TV the next day. Twenty five persons attended and eighteen of them shot with unregistered shotguns.
13 REASONS WHY A HANDGUN IS BETTER THAN A WOMAN:
1) You can buy a silencer for a handgun.
2) You can trade a .44 for two .22's.
3) You can have a handgun at home and another for the road.
4) If you admire a friend's handgun and tell him so, he will be impressed and let you try a few rounds with it.
5) Your primary handgun doesn't mind if you have a backup.
6) Your handgun will stay with you even if you are out of ammo.
7) A handgun doesn't take up a lot of closet space.
8) Handguns function normally every day of the month.
9) A handgun won't ask, "Do these grips make me look fat?"
10) A handgun does not mind if you go to sleep after you're done using it.
11) You can have more than one handgun living in the same house without having problems.
12) A handgun doesn't care how big your trigger finger is.
13) A handgun won't tell all of its friends if you are a "little fast on the trigger".
Monday, January 31, 2005
Texas: Homebuilder shoots suspected burglar in head: "A homebuilder, who police believe was tired of thieves targeting a home under construction, shot a suspected burglar in the head early Tuesday morning. .... homebuilder Ricky W. Otis, 47, of New Caney, spent the night at the home after having fallen victim to several overnight thefts of construction materials from the house in the Northcrest Ranch subdivision off Texas 242. He decided to spend the night Monday in an upstairs bedroom of the partially finished home. .... Otis told investigators he was awakened by the sound of a downstairs door being forced open. He called the Sheriff's Department before going downstairs to investigate, Sheriff's Department spokesman Lt. Dan Norris said. When Otis went downstairs, he found two men loading building materials from inside the home into a van that had been backed into the driveway .... When confronted by Otis, one of the men reached into the vehicle, according to the Sheriff's Department. "Not knowing whether the man was reaching for a weapon inside the vehicle, the homebuilder used deadly force," Norris said. Otis fired a shotgun at the man at least once, striking him in the head and upper back."
Virginia: Senate panel defeats victim disarmament bill : "Virginians can continue to pack heat the real thing, not toys -- in child day-care centers. The Senate Courts of Justice Committee yesterday killed 8-7 a bill that would extend the gun ban that currently applies to schools to privately operated day-care centers. The sponsor, Sen. Yvonne B. Miller, D-Norfolk, did not cite any incidents in which a gun was used in a day-care center in Virginia but said she was worried about the potential."
Virginia: Senate panel defeats victim disarmament bill : "Virginians can continue to pack heat the real thing, not toys -- in child day-care centers. The Senate Courts of Justice Committee yesterday killed 8-7 a bill that would extend the gun ban that currently applies to schools to privately operated day-care centers. The sponsor, Sen. Yvonne B. Miller, D-Norfolk, did not cite any incidents in which a gun was used in a day-care center in Virginia but said she was worried about the potential."
Sunday, January 30, 2005
BB GUNS UNDER THREAT IN BRITAIN
MPs stepped up their bid to ban ball bearing guns after new figures showed an increase in gun crime. The latest statistics show violent crime is continuing to rise, with more youngsters and criminals using " alternative" weapons including replica guns, air pistols and the ball bearing firing guns. Wirral West MP Stephen Hesford has been leading the campaign for a BB gun ban since his constituent David Hazel was left paralysed from the waist down after a ball bearing ruptured his spine. He said: "Urgent action needs to be taken now to ban these dangerous weapons. "My constituent suffered horribly because these guns are too freely available."
In the 12 months to last April Merseyside police recorded 483 gun crimes, excluding air weapons and imitation firearms, up from 318 the previous year. Yesterday's July- September national figures showed a 15% fall in the use of handguns, but a 48% rise in the use of imitation firearms and a 41% increase in the use of weapons categorised as "other firearms" which include BB guns. General firearms offences rose by 5% in the year to September, while overall violent crime jumped by 6%.
West Derby MP Bob Wareing said: "I hope that these figures will push the Home Office into responding to pressure from MPs by banning BB guns." Riverside's Louise Ellman said: "There should be a clampdown on those who use firearms and efforts to take weapons, including BB guns and air pistols, out of circulation. "They are not toys, but weapons which can maim, cripple and kill." Birkenhead MP Frank Field said: "These disappointing figures show that we have to put even greater effort into countering violent crime. "They are linked to a fundamental change in how people's behaviour, a lack of respect for one another, escalates to violent misbehaviour and gun crime. "We have to hold the line better but we also need to tackle the root causes of anti-social behaviour amongst young people and the irresponsible behaviour of adults."
More here
Israel: Is this the nuttiest of all? "Last Thursday, the civilian head of Hebron's security apparatus, Yoni Bleichbard, who is employed by the Defense Ministry, received a phone call from an officer in the Hebron brigade. She notified Yoni that his weapon's license, permitting him to carry an M-16 rifle, had been voided and that he was now classified as 'weapons-negated.' The reason: unknown. The source of the decision: somewhere up there -- Central Command or higher. The result: yesterday, Yoni was forced to 'return' his rifle to the authorities that be. In other words, Hebron's security chief is forbidden to carry the primary tool of his trade, that tool which is used to offer protection and defense, should the need arise, to any of the Hebron community's hundreds of residents or thousands of visitors."
Fruitcake gets his reward: "Last Thursday, Travis ran into the Ayesh Food Market at 19th and Hampton with a knife over his head like the shower scene in 'Psycho' and yelled, 'Give me the money or I'll kill you.' Store workers chose neither option. The cashier grabbed a revolver and leaped over the counter. By then, another worker had run to the back of the store with Travis in pursuit. Travis then cornered the cashier, who emptied the gun into him. Too many of these corner-store robberies go the other way. The clerks, even those who cooperate and hand over money, are killed by the intruders. Travis fell victim to an occupational hazard. Gun trumped knife. Store owners can legally keep firearms behind the counter. Anyone in need of fast cash does well to remember that."
MPs stepped up their bid to ban ball bearing guns after new figures showed an increase in gun crime. The latest statistics show violent crime is continuing to rise, with more youngsters and criminals using " alternative" weapons including replica guns, air pistols and the ball bearing firing guns. Wirral West MP Stephen Hesford has been leading the campaign for a BB gun ban since his constituent David Hazel was left paralysed from the waist down after a ball bearing ruptured his spine. He said: "Urgent action needs to be taken now to ban these dangerous weapons. "My constituent suffered horribly because these guns are too freely available."
In the 12 months to last April Merseyside police recorded 483 gun crimes, excluding air weapons and imitation firearms, up from 318 the previous year. Yesterday's July- September national figures showed a 15% fall in the use of handguns, but a 48% rise in the use of imitation firearms and a 41% increase in the use of weapons categorised as "other firearms" which include BB guns. General firearms offences rose by 5% in the year to September, while overall violent crime jumped by 6%.
West Derby MP Bob Wareing said: "I hope that these figures will push the Home Office into responding to pressure from MPs by banning BB guns." Riverside's Louise Ellman said: "There should be a clampdown on those who use firearms and efforts to take weapons, including BB guns and air pistols, out of circulation. "They are not toys, but weapons which can maim, cripple and kill." Birkenhead MP Frank Field said: "These disappointing figures show that we have to put even greater effort into countering violent crime. "They are linked to a fundamental change in how people's behaviour, a lack of respect for one another, escalates to violent misbehaviour and gun crime. "We have to hold the line better but we also need to tackle the root causes of anti-social behaviour amongst young people and the irresponsible behaviour of adults."
More here
Israel: Is this the nuttiest of all? "Last Thursday, the civilian head of Hebron's security apparatus, Yoni Bleichbard, who is employed by the Defense Ministry, received a phone call from an officer in the Hebron brigade. She notified Yoni that his weapon's license, permitting him to carry an M-16 rifle, had been voided and that he was now classified as 'weapons-negated.' The reason: unknown. The source of the decision: somewhere up there -- Central Command or higher. The result: yesterday, Yoni was forced to 'return' his rifle to the authorities that be. In other words, Hebron's security chief is forbidden to carry the primary tool of his trade, that tool which is used to offer protection and defense, should the need arise, to any of the Hebron community's hundreds of residents or thousands of visitors."
Fruitcake gets his reward: "Last Thursday, Travis ran into the Ayesh Food Market at 19th and Hampton with a knife over his head like the shower scene in 'Psycho' and yelled, 'Give me the money or I'll kill you.' Store workers chose neither option. The cashier grabbed a revolver and leaped over the counter. By then, another worker had run to the back of the store with Travis in pursuit. Travis then cornered the cashier, who emptied the gun into him. Too many of these corner-store robberies go the other way. The clerks, even those who cooperate and hand over money, are killed by the intruders. Travis fell victim to an occupational hazard. Gun trumped knife. Store owners can legally keep firearms behind the counter. Anyone in need of fast cash does well to remember that."
Saturday, January 29, 2005
GUNS IN BRITAIN AND "THE TOTTENHAM OUTRAGE"
Today, 96 years ago, London was rocked by a terrorist outrage. Two Latvian anarchists, who had crossed the Channel after trying to blow up the president of France, attempted an armed wages robbery in Tottenham. Foiled at the outset when the intended victims fought back, the anarchists attempted to shoot their way out. A dramatic pursuit ensued involving horses and carts, bicycles, cars and a hijacked tram. The fleeing anarchists fired some 400 shots, leaving a policeman and a child dead, and some two dozen other casualties, before they were ultimately brought to bay. They had been chased by an extraordinary posse of policemen and local people, armed and unarmed. Along the way, the police (whose gun cupboard had been locked, and the key mislaid) had borrowed at least four pistols from passers-by in the street, while other armed citizens joined the chase in person.
Today, when we are inured to the idea of armed robbery and drive-by shootings, the aspect of the "Tottenham Outrage" that is most likely to shock is the fact that so many ordinary members of the public at that time should have been carrying guns in the street. Bombarded with headlines about an emergent "gun culture" in Britain now, we are apt to forget that the real novelty is the notion that the general populace in this country should be disarmed.
In a material sense, Britain today has much less of a "gun culture" than at any time in its recent history. A century ago, the possession and carrying of firearms was perfectly normal here. Firearms were sold without licence in gunshops and ironmongers in virtually every town in the country, and grand department stores such as Selfridge's even offered customers an in-house range. The market was not just for sporting guns: there was a thriving domestic industry producing pocket pistols and revolvers, and an extensive import trade in the cheap handguns that today would be called "Saturday Night Specials". Conan Doyle's Dr Watson, dropping a revolver in his pocket before going out about town, illustrates a real commonplace of that time. Beatrix Potter's journal records a discussion at a small country hotel in Yorkshire, where it turned out that only one of the eight or nine guests was not carrying a revolver.
We should not fool ourselves, however, that such things were possible then because society was more peaceful. Those years were ones of much more social and political turbulence than our own: with violent and incendiary suffrage protests, massive industrial strikes where the Army was called in and people were killed, where there was the menace of a revolutionary General Strike, and where the country was riven by the imminent prospect of a civil war in Ireland. It was in such a society that, as late as 1914, the right even of an Irishman to carry a loaded revolver in the streets was upheld in the courts (Rex v. Smith, KB 1914) as a manifestation simply of the guarantees provided by our Bill of Rights.
In such troubled times, why did the commonplace carrying of firearms not result in mayhem? How could it be that in the years before the First World War, armed crime in London amounted to less than 2 per cent of what we see today? One answer that might have been taken as self-evident then, but which has become political anathema now, is that the prevalence of firearms had a stabilising influence and a deterrent effect upon crime. Such deterrent potential was indeed acknowledged in part in Britain's first Firearms Act, which was introduced as an emergency measure in response to fears of a Bolshevik upheaval in 1920. Home Office guidance on the implementation of the Act recognised "good reason for having a revolver if a person lives in a solitary house, where protection from thieves and burglars is essential". The Home Office issued more restrictive guidance in 1937, but it was only in 1946 that the new Labour Home Secretary announced that self-defence would no longer generally be accepted as a good reason for acquiring a pistol (and as late as 1951 this reason was still being proffered in three-quarters of all applications for pistol licences, and upheld in the courts). Between 1946 and 1951, we might note, armed robbery, the most significant index of serious armed crime, averaged under two dozen incidents a year in London; today, that number is exceeded every week.
More here
Some progress in Houston: "A showdown about the right to carry concealed handguns on Metro trains and buses had a peaceful ending today. Metro's board unanimously approved the policy change this afternoon without discussion. It removes a section of a 1995 regulation that stated no exception to the authority's weapons ban was provided for concealed-handgun license holders. The new rule prohibits ``the possession of dangerous weapons'' and ``the unlawful carrying of a concealed handgun in or on Metro facilities or vehicles.'' According to Metro attorneys, the old policy was valid until the Legislature passed the 2003 law banning governmental bodies from prohibiting the lawful carrying of concealed weapons on government property unless those locations are specifically mentioned in the law. Transit vehicles and facilities are not among those locations exempted from the concealed-carry law. ``Metro's resolution must be amended so that there are no conflicts with existing law,'' said director George DeMontrond. ``This would bring us into compliance.'' "
Today, 96 years ago, London was rocked by a terrorist outrage. Two Latvian anarchists, who had crossed the Channel after trying to blow up the president of France, attempted an armed wages robbery in Tottenham. Foiled at the outset when the intended victims fought back, the anarchists attempted to shoot their way out. A dramatic pursuit ensued involving horses and carts, bicycles, cars and a hijacked tram. The fleeing anarchists fired some 400 shots, leaving a policeman and a child dead, and some two dozen other casualties, before they were ultimately brought to bay. They had been chased by an extraordinary posse of policemen and local people, armed and unarmed. Along the way, the police (whose gun cupboard had been locked, and the key mislaid) had borrowed at least four pistols from passers-by in the street, while other armed citizens joined the chase in person.
Today, when we are inured to the idea of armed robbery and drive-by shootings, the aspect of the "Tottenham Outrage" that is most likely to shock is the fact that so many ordinary members of the public at that time should have been carrying guns in the street. Bombarded with headlines about an emergent "gun culture" in Britain now, we are apt to forget that the real novelty is the notion that the general populace in this country should be disarmed.
In a material sense, Britain today has much less of a "gun culture" than at any time in its recent history. A century ago, the possession and carrying of firearms was perfectly normal here. Firearms were sold without licence in gunshops and ironmongers in virtually every town in the country, and grand department stores such as Selfridge's even offered customers an in-house range. The market was not just for sporting guns: there was a thriving domestic industry producing pocket pistols and revolvers, and an extensive import trade in the cheap handguns that today would be called "Saturday Night Specials". Conan Doyle's Dr Watson, dropping a revolver in his pocket before going out about town, illustrates a real commonplace of that time. Beatrix Potter's journal records a discussion at a small country hotel in Yorkshire, where it turned out that only one of the eight or nine guests was not carrying a revolver.
We should not fool ourselves, however, that such things were possible then because society was more peaceful. Those years were ones of much more social and political turbulence than our own: with violent and incendiary suffrage protests, massive industrial strikes where the Army was called in and people were killed, where there was the menace of a revolutionary General Strike, and where the country was riven by the imminent prospect of a civil war in Ireland. It was in such a society that, as late as 1914, the right even of an Irishman to carry a loaded revolver in the streets was upheld in the courts (Rex v. Smith, KB 1914) as a manifestation simply of the guarantees provided by our Bill of Rights.
In such troubled times, why did the commonplace carrying of firearms not result in mayhem? How could it be that in the years before the First World War, armed crime in London amounted to less than 2 per cent of what we see today? One answer that might have been taken as self-evident then, but which has become political anathema now, is that the prevalence of firearms had a stabilising influence and a deterrent effect upon crime. Such deterrent potential was indeed acknowledged in part in Britain's first Firearms Act, which was introduced as an emergency measure in response to fears of a Bolshevik upheaval in 1920. Home Office guidance on the implementation of the Act recognised "good reason for having a revolver if a person lives in a solitary house, where protection from thieves and burglars is essential". The Home Office issued more restrictive guidance in 1937, but it was only in 1946 that the new Labour Home Secretary announced that self-defence would no longer generally be accepted as a good reason for acquiring a pistol (and as late as 1951 this reason was still being proffered in three-quarters of all applications for pistol licences, and upheld in the courts). Between 1946 and 1951, we might note, armed robbery, the most significant index of serious armed crime, averaged under two dozen incidents a year in London; today, that number is exceeded every week.
More here
Some progress in Houston: "A showdown about the right to carry concealed handguns on Metro trains and buses had a peaceful ending today. Metro's board unanimously approved the policy change this afternoon without discussion. It removes a section of a 1995 regulation that stated no exception to the authority's weapons ban was provided for concealed-handgun license holders. The new rule prohibits ``the possession of dangerous weapons'' and ``the unlawful carrying of a concealed handgun in or on Metro facilities or vehicles.'' According to Metro attorneys, the old policy was valid until the Legislature passed the 2003 law banning governmental bodies from prohibiting the lawful carrying of concealed weapons on government property unless those locations are specifically mentioned in the law. Transit vehicles and facilities are not among those locations exempted from the concealed-carry law. ``Metro's resolution must be amended so that there are no conflicts with existing law,'' said director George DeMontrond. ``This would bring us into compliance.'' "
Friday, January 28, 2005
GUN OWNERS MORE LAW-ABIDING
There is a factual bias against states which trust their law-abiding citizens to actively provide for the common defense through the issuing of concealed carry permits. These citizens have been proven to be more law-abiding than average. For example, in Florida, 2,675 concealed carry licenses have been revoked due to crime after issuance between October 1987 and December 2004, out of 340,288 valid licenses. This is a crime rate of 786.1 per 100,000, while Florida�s overall crime rate (violent and property crimes) in 2003 was 5182.3. The average Floridian is 6.6 times more likely to be involved in crime than a concealed carry permit holder.
An analysis of the arrest rates for all Texans over age 21 found that they are about 7.5 times more likely to be arrested than concealed permit holders. Brady Campaign�s alleged concern about �gun violence prevention laws� amounts to nothing more than an unsubstantiated premise that concealed carry laws contribute to violence.
More here
How to ignore the evidence in one easy lesson: "Sherlock Holmes could teach deductive reasoning to the National Academy of Sciences. Holmes, the quintessential detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, knew that by eliminating all other factors, the remaining one must be the truth. An NAS panel created during the Clinton administration -- and infested with gun-grabbers -- issued a 328-page report on gun control. It studied hundreds of articles, books, government publications, gun-control laws and its own empirical work. But its exhaustive study -- analyzing the former ban on so-called assault weapons, the Brady Act, one-gun-a-month buying restrictions and gun locks -- could not identify any benefits of gun control. Crime was not reduced. Accidents were not lessened. But after studying each specific issue, the panel's inductive reasoning only concluded that more study was needed. Citizens in more than 30 states may carry concealed weapons legally. If they were injuring others or themselves, it surely would have produced front-page, above-the-fold stories with screaming, large-type headlines. Mr. Holmes also knew what silence could say. Because the guard dog did not bark in 'Silver Blaze,' Holmes easily deduced the truth about a horse thief. Since the panel's findings leave proponents speechless, deducing the truth about gun control is just as easy. Elementary, actually."
There is a factual bias against states which trust their law-abiding citizens to actively provide for the common defense through the issuing of concealed carry permits. These citizens have been proven to be more law-abiding than average. For example, in Florida, 2,675 concealed carry licenses have been revoked due to crime after issuance between October 1987 and December 2004, out of 340,288 valid licenses. This is a crime rate of 786.1 per 100,000, while Florida�s overall crime rate (violent and property crimes) in 2003 was 5182.3. The average Floridian is 6.6 times more likely to be involved in crime than a concealed carry permit holder.
An analysis of the arrest rates for all Texans over age 21 found that they are about 7.5 times more likely to be arrested than concealed permit holders. Brady Campaign�s alleged concern about �gun violence prevention laws� amounts to nothing more than an unsubstantiated premise that concealed carry laws contribute to violence.
More here
How to ignore the evidence in one easy lesson: "Sherlock Holmes could teach deductive reasoning to the National Academy of Sciences. Holmes, the quintessential detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, knew that by eliminating all other factors, the remaining one must be the truth. An NAS panel created during the Clinton administration -- and infested with gun-grabbers -- issued a 328-page report on gun control. It studied hundreds of articles, books, government publications, gun-control laws and its own empirical work. But its exhaustive study -- analyzing the former ban on so-called assault weapons, the Brady Act, one-gun-a-month buying restrictions and gun locks -- could not identify any benefits of gun control. Crime was not reduced. Accidents were not lessened. But after studying each specific issue, the panel's inductive reasoning only concluded that more study was needed. Citizens in more than 30 states may carry concealed weapons legally. If they were injuring others or themselves, it surely would have produced front-page, above-the-fold stories with screaming, large-type headlines. Mr. Holmes also knew what silence could say. Because the guard dog did not bark in 'Silver Blaze,' Holmes easily deduced the truth about a horse thief. Since the panel's findings leave proponents speechless, deducing the truth about gun control is just as easy. Elementary, actually."
Thursday, January 27, 2005
TOY GUNS DISAPPEARING
Call me a "gun nut" if you must. But I'm really not one. Still, I did give my sweet, innocent 5-year-old daughter a gun for Christmas. Not just any gun, mind you. It's commonly called a "street-sweeper." It's automatic or semi-automatic. Honestly, I don't really know much about guns. My wife is horrified. It's not that she is anti-gun; it's just that when you pull the trigger, it is awfully loud. Especially when the trigger is pulled in the house. Did I mention it's a toy gun?
Which certainly didn't make it any easier to find. Had I wanted a real gun, one would imagine from watching TV news that finding a gun is child's play. But a toy gun? None in the toy stores. Slim pickings even on the Internet (and I'd waited too long to have it shipped). It was as if toy guns had been banned. Not that superstar-shoppers like my wife wouldn't have uncovered one, somewhere, but this amateur was willing to admit failure.
Then, just days before Christmas, I went to Global Foods, a local grocery store that caters to Asians and Latinos. I like to go there because they have vegetables I've never seen or heard of before. It's very educational. And they also carry vegetables I actually recognize. Cheap, too. On this enchanted day, I bumped right into a display of junky toys. Laying there, telepathically calling to my macho-kid-Christmas-neurosis, was a shiny black submachine gun. The kind of gun that might not have worked so well for playing cowboys and Indians, but my goodness would it shine in any remake of the Untouchables or in an imaginary battle with the Nazis, with me as part of the underground resistance, or a member of an elite commando squad.
Just what my daughter would want! Right? Needless to say, I plopped down my eight dollars.... My 5-year-old makes a heckuva lot more sense than those who fear, without a shred of evidence, that playing with toy guns will somehow turn kids to crime. She makes more sense than the school in Indiana, where officials altered their school's mascot - a Minuteman - to remove the musket he carried. They feared the armed minuteman symbolized gun violence. I guess they hadn't yet gotten to American history. Her toy gun is just a toy. But it is a grand symbol of freedom, self-defense and a healthy disdain for political correctness.
More here
The impact of firearms on crime, business, and politics: "The other day a news item stated that for the last 10 years the crime rate in the United States has been dropping, but the "experts" don't seem to know why. Nothing in society is simple, and there are all kinds of factors operating at any one time, but one of the things the media and the so-called experts have apparently overlooked, consciously or unconsciously, is the plethora of new laws that allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons. Just a few decades ago, there were almost none, but today 37 states have "right-to-carry" laws on their lawbooks. Nine others, plus Washington, D.C., allow carrying with restrictions, and in the remaining four the right is denied."
Call me a "gun nut" if you must. But I'm really not one. Still, I did give my sweet, innocent 5-year-old daughter a gun for Christmas. Not just any gun, mind you. It's commonly called a "street-sweeper." It's automatic or semi-automatic. Honestly, I don't really know much about guns. My wife is horrified. It's not that she is anti-gun; it's just that when you pull the trigger, it is awfully loud. Especially when the trigger is pulled in the house. Did I mention it's a toy gun?
Which certainly didn't make it any easier to find. Had I wanted a real gun, one would imagine from watching TV news that finding a gun is child's play. But a toy gun? None in the toy stores. Slim pickings even on the Internet (and I'd waited too long to have it shipped). It was as if toy guns had been banned. Not that superstar-shoppers like my wife wouldn't have uncovered one, somewhere, but this amateur was willing to admit failure.
Then, just days before Christmas, I went to Global Foods, a local grocery store that caters to Asians and Latinos. I like to go there because they have vegetables I've never seen or heard of before. It's very educational. And they also carry vegetables I actually recognize. Cheap, too. On this enchanted day, I bumped right into a display of junky toys. Laying there, telepathically calling to my macho-kid-Christmas-neurosis, was a shiny black submachine gun. The kind of gun that might not have worked so well for playing cowboys and Indians, but my goodness would it shine in any remake of the Untouchables or in an imaginary battle with the Nazis, with me as part of the underground resistance, or a member of an elite commando squad.
Just what my daughter would want! Right? Needless to say, I plopped down my eight dollars.... My 5-year-old makes a heckuva lot more sense than those who fear, without a shred of evidence, that playing with toy guns will somehow turn kids to crime. She makes more sense than the school in Indiana, where officials altered their school's mascot - a Minuteman - to remove the musket he carried. They feared the armed minuteman symbolized gun violence. I guess they hadn't yet gotten to American history. Her toy gun is just a toy. But it is a grand symbol of freedom, self-defense and a healthy disdain for political correctness.
More here
The impact of firearms on crime, business, and politics: "The other day a news item stated that for the last 10 years the crime rate in the United States has been dropping, but the "experts" don't seem to know why. Nothing in society is simple, and there are all kinds of factors operating at any one time, but one of the things the media and the so-called experts have apparently overlooked, consciously or unconsciously, is the plethora of new laws that allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons. Just a few decades ago, there were almost none, but today 37 states have "right-to-carry" laws on their lawbooks. Nine others, plus Washington, D.C., allow carrying with restrictions, and in the remaining four the right is denied."
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
A SCUM-STOPPER
On Friday, 24-year-old Johnny Lee Williams scowled as he was led away in shackles. On Saturday, his mug shot from inside the Cochise County Jail shows the same angry demeanor. Williams is a former decorated Marine who served one tour in Operation Iraqi Freedom during 2003. The Pentagon says he received a bad conduct discharge for marijuana use last February.
Willams had recently been living in his hometown of Tyler, Texas, where he allegedly kidnapped 19-year-old Wal-Mart employee Megan Holden as she was leaving work Wednesday night. On Saturday... Holden's body was found in a ditch near Stanton, Texas.
An APB had been out on Holden's truck since the kidnapping. Early Friday morning, a Willcox police officer spotted the truck, and Williams outside a local hospital, ending the interstate manhunt.
So why was our black gentleman at the hospital? Because his next act was an attempted holdup of a gun-owner named Ritchie:
[Ritchie] says, "I just drew and fired." His one shot went thru 24-year-old Johnny Williams's shoulder and through the cinder block of the building.
Ritchie doesn't want his last name known. He says the suspect walked into the Mountain View RV Park in Bowie at 5:45 a.m. and told him this was a robbery and to give him all the money in the cash register. Ritchie says, "I saw his gun coming out. He reached inside his sweatshirt. I saw a gun and I said 'Oh well, time to react.' I reacted faster than he did." Ritchie told Eywitness News 4 that after he shot the suspect, he called 911, looked out the window, and saw the would-be robber running through the parking lot and getting into his parked truck.
Ritchie was the wrong man to mess with. His weapons instructor told Eyewitness News 4 that all the locals know he carries a sidearm. "We've never been robbed, seeing it changes a lot of people's attitude. It's an attitude-adjustment tool," Ritchie says. It's that tool, Ritchie says, that saved his life and probably the lives of others. "He put my life in danger by drawing his weapon. He brought on it himself."
See here and here
Super wacky! UN pressed to adopt treaty on global gun tracing: "Arms control activists urged U.N. treaty writers on Monday to approve a system for tracking small arms sales around the world, saying it was easier to track lost airline luggage than a machine gun.Amnesty International, Oxfam International and the International Action Network on Small Arms called for a legally binding global marking and tracing treaty covering small arms and ammunition at the start of a two-week U.N. conference weighing how to deal with the problem."
On Friday, 24-year-old Johnny Lee Williams scowled as he was led away in shackles. On Saturday, his mug shot from inside the Cochise County Jail shows the same angry demeanor. Williams is a former decorated Marine who served one tour in Operation Iraqi Freedom during 2003. The Pentagon says he received a bad conduct discharge for marijuana use last February.
Willams had recently been living in his hometown of Tyler, Texas, where he allegedly kidnapped 19-year-old Wal-Mart employee Megan Holden as she was leaving work Wednesday night. On Saturday... Holden's body was found in a ditch near Stanton, Texas.
An APB had been out on Holden's truck since the kidnapping. Early Friday morning, a Willcox police officer spotted the truck, and Williams outside a local hospital, ending the interstate manhunt.
So why was our black gentleman at the hospital? Because his next act was an attempted holdup of a gun-owner named Ritchie:
[Ritchie] says, "I just drew and fired." His one shot went thru 24-year-old Johnny Williams's shoulder and through the cinder block of the building.
Ritchie doesn't want his last name known. He says the suspect walked into the Mountain View RV Park in Bowie at 5:45 a.m. and told him this was a robbery and to give him all the money in the cash register. Ritchie says, "I saw his gun coming out. He reached inside his sweatshirt. I saw a gun and I said 'Oh well, time to react.' I reacted faster than he did." Ritchie told Eywitness News 4 that after he shot the suspect, he called 911, looked out the window, and saw the would-be robber running through the parking lot and getting into his parked truck.
Ritchie was the wrong man to mess with. His weapons instructor told Eyewitness News 4 that all the locals know he carries a sidearm. "We've never been robbed, seeing it changes a lot of people's attitude. It's an attitude-adjustment tool," Ritchie says. It's that tool, Ritchie says, that saved his life and probably the lives of others. "He put my life in danger by drawing his weapon. He brought on it himself."
See here and here
Super wacky! UN pressed to adopt treaty on global gun tracing: "Arms control activists urged U.N. treaty writers on Monday to approve a system for tracking small arms sales around the world, saying it was easier to track lost airline luggage than a machine gun.Amnesty International, Oxfam International and the International Action Network on Small Arms called for a legally binding global marking and tracing treaty covering small arms and ammunition at the start of a two-week U.N. conference weighing how to deal with the problem."
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
ARTY FRUITCAKES
Hypocrites too
Two tenured art professors have resigned from the University of California, Los Angeles, because the school refused to suspend a graduate student who may have used a gun during a classroom performance art piece. Chris Burden and Nancy Rubins, internationally known artists who taught at UCLA for more than two decades, filed their retirement papers Dec. 20. "They feel this was sort of domestic terrorism. There should have been more outrage and a firmer response," said Sarah Watson, a director at a Beverly Hills gallery that represents the couple.
In the brief performance on Nov. 29, the student appeared to point a loaded handgun at his head and pull the trigger, a student and law enforcement officials told the Los Angeles Times. The weapon didn't fire, but after the student left the room a noise that sounded like a gunshot was heard outside. Police said no one was hurt and it wasn't known if the firearm was real. Prosecutors said there wasn't enough evidence for charges, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. The student was allowed to continue his studies after the dean's office decided that suspension wasn't warranted.
Burden, 58, oversaw a program that includes performance, installation and video art, while Rubins, 52, taught sculpture. Burden did performance art in the 1970s and his best-known performance featured an assistant shooting him in the arm with a .22-caliber rifle. That work was different because the audience never felt in jeopardy, while the UCLA performance inspired "genuine fear," Watson said.
Source
Two robbers shot dead by remisier: "A remisier shot dead two armed men who tried to rob him in his bungalow in Section 19 here this morning. Two others escaped but one of the men is believed to have been injured after being shot by the 51-year-old remisier. He was arrested at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Klang where he sought treatment for his wound. The remisier suffered a head injury after being slashed with a parang during a scuffle with the armed men. He received several stitches. ... He said the four robbers, all in their 20s, climbed into the compound of the bungalow in SS19/4A and entered the house when the remisier's wife opened the door to go into the front yard at 6.30am." [Note: A remisier is also known as a 'Commissioned Dealer's Representative' -- an independent agent attached to and registered with a stock broking company]
Hypocrites too
Two tenured art professors have resigned from the University of California, Los Angeles, because the school refused to suspend a graduate student who may have used a gun during a classroom performance art piece. Chris Burden and Nancy Rubins, internationally known artists who taught at UCLA for more than two decades, filed their retirement papers Dec. 20. "They feel this was sort of domestic terrorism. There should have been more outrage and a firmer response," said Sarah Watson, a director at a Beverly Hills gallery that represents the couple.
In the brief performance on Nov. 29, the student appeared to point a loaded handgun at his head and pull the trigger, a student and law enforcement officials told the Los Angeles Times. The weapon didn't fire, but after the student left the room a noise that sounded like a gunshot was heard outside. Police said no one was hurt and it wasn't known if the firearm was real. Prosecutors said there wasn't enough evidence for charges, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. The student was allowed to continue his studies after the dean's office decided that suspension wasn't warranted.
Burden, 58, oversaw a program that includes performance, installation and video art, while Rubins, 52, taught sculpture. Burden did performance art in the 1970s and his best-known performance featured an assistant shooting him in the arm with a .22-caliber rifle. That work was different because the audience never felt in jeopardy, while the UCLA performance inspired "genuine fear," Watson said.
Source
Two robbers shot dead by remisier: "A remisier shot dead two armed men who tried to rob him in his bungalow in Section 19 here this morning. Two others escaped but one of the men is believed to have been injured after being shot by the 51-year-old remisier. He was arrested at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Klang where he sought treatment for his wound. The remisier suffered a head injury after being slashed with a parang during a scuffle with the armed men. He received several stitches. ... He said the four robbers, all in their 20s, climbed into the compound of the bungalow in SS19/4A and entered the house when the remisier's wife opened the door to go into the front yard at 6.30am." [Note: A remisier is also known as a 'Commissioned Dealer's Representative' -- an independent agent attached to and registered with a stock broking company]
Monday, January 24, 2005
BAN ALL BATS!
For the eighth time this month, bat-wielding young men attacked someone walking alone at night on a Nassau street, usually punching and pummeling the victim with the weapon during a robbery, police said. The same type of crime has occurred in six Nassau communities over a span of 20 days. Nassau police are urging residents and merchants to be careful when walking through the streets or making deliveries. The latest incident occurred about 8 p.m. Thursday in Roosevelt in front of 82 Manhattan Ave., when a worker for Freeport-based Papa John's Pizzeria made a delivery, said police spokesman Sgt. Anthony Repalone. The 24-year-old deliveryman gave the food to two girls who were about 15, Repalone said. That's when the two men, each about 25, attacked from behind, punching the deliveryman and hitting him with a bat. Police said the two men and two girls ran behind the house after taking the deliveryman's money and food.
More here
Ulster: New gun laws to cut restrictions: "New firearms legislation that relaxes some restrictions on guns will come into effect at the beginning of February, the Northern Ireland Office has announced. Under the new law certificates for holding firearms will be extended from three years to five years, although the NIO says renewals will be more 'rigorous.' The new law also says low-powered air rifles, paintball guns and de-activated guns will no longer require certificates, and there are provisions to allow shotguns and estate rifles to be loaned out. New firearm holders will be required to demonstrate they can shoot safely, as will shooters already holding a certificate but wishing 'to acquire a firearm of a significantly different type.'"
For the eighth time this month, bat-wielding young men attacked someone walking alone at night on a Nassau street, usually punching and pummeling the victim with the weapon during a robbery, police said. The same type of crime has occurred in six Nassau communities over a span of 20 days. Nassau police are urging residents and merchants to be careful when walking through the streets or making deliveries. The latest incident occurred about 8 p.m. Thursday in Roosevelt in front of 82 Manhattan Ave., when a worker for Freeport-based Papa John's Pizzeria made a delivery, said police spokesman Sgt. Anthony Repalone. The 24-year-old deliveryman gave the food to two girls who were about 15, Repalone said. That's when the two men, each about 25, attacked from behind, punching the deliveryman and hitting him with a bat. Police said the two men and two girls ran behind the house after taking the deliveryman's money and food.
More here
Ulster: New gun laws to cut restrictions: "New firearms legislation that relaxes some restrictions on guns will come into effect at the beginning of February, the Northern Ireland Office has announced. Under the new law certificates for holding firearms will be extended from three years to five years, although the NIO says renewals will be more 'rigorous.' The new law also says low-powered air rifles, paintball guns and de-activated guns will no longer require certificates, and there are provisions to allow shotguns and estate rifles to be loaned out. New firearm holders will be required to demonstrate they can shoot safely, as will shooters already holding a certificate but wishing 'to acquire a firearm of a significantly different type.'"
Sunday, January 23, 2005
GUN ENABLES 79-YEAR OLD TO CONFRONT MANIAC
Trouble came crawling through Henrietta McCormick's bedroom window Tuesday morning. After calling 911 to report a man breaking into her northeast Sarasota home, McCormick, 82, screamed for her 79-year-old brother, Julian Scott. Minutes later, George T. Jackson was in McCormick's cramped living room nursing a head injury after Scott hit him with a handgun. Jackson, a 24-year-old resident with a lengthy criminal history, died hours later at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Sarasota County Sheriff's deputies reported. "I don't feel good about it at all, and I'm sorry it had to happen, but I'm glad I was here to protect my sister," said Scott, shaken from the episode.
It was after 2 a.m. when McCormick told a dispatcher she heard a man pounding on the front door then checking the windows. Deputies headed out to McCormick's single-story, cinder block duplex in the 2600 block of 24th Street. By then Jackson was climbing through McCormick's bedroom window. "He had a rage in him something fierce," she said. McCormick screamed for her brother in the next room. Groggy, he reached for his handgun and confronted Jackson, who lunged at him. The two men struggled for the gun. A shot fired into the ceiling, deputies reported. "The brother overpowered him and hit him on the top of the head with the butt of the gun," said sheriff's office spokesman Chuck Lesaltato.
When deputies arrived, Jackson was conscious but incoherent. Deputies arrested Jackson on charges of residential burglary, possession of rock cocaine and possession of marijuana, and then took him to Sarasota Memorial Hospital at about 3 a.m., where he died at 7:36 a.m., deputies reported. "We don't believe he died from the head injury," Lesaltato said. The medical examiner's office and detectives continue to investigate the case and Jackson's cause of death, he added. Scott isn't expected to be charged, Lesaltato said.
More here
New York: Moron Mayor: "For the first time in the nation, gun makers and dealers are now liable for injuries or deaths caused by the criminal use of their weapons, under a landmark law signed yesterday by Mayor Bloomberg. The law -- one of four bills signed regulating gun sales and possession -- goes further than any other city's effort to hold the gun industry financially responsible for crimes involving their weapons. 'We need to do everything we can to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and out of the hands of children,' said Bloomberg. 'There's just no argument here. Guns kill people, it's time to get them off the street.'"
Trouble came crawling through Henrietta McCormick's bedroom window Tuesday morning. After calling 911 to report a man breaking into her northeast Sarasota home, McCormick, 82, screamed for her 79-year-old brother, Julian Scott. Minutes later, George T. Jackson was in McCormick's cramped living room nursing a head injury after Scott hit him with a handgun. Jackson, a 24-year-old resident with a lengthy criminal history, died hours later at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Sarasota County Sheriff's deputies reported. "I don't feel good about it at all, and I'm sorry it had to happen, but I'm glad I was here to protect my sister," said Scott, shaken from the episode.
It was after 2 a.m. when McCormick told a dispatcher she heard a man pounding on the front door then checking the windows. Deputies headed out to McCormick's single-story, cinder block duplex in the 2600 block of 24th Street. By then Jackson was climbing through McCormick's bedroom window. "He had a rage in him something fierce," she said. McCormick screamed for her brother in the next room. Groggy, he reached for his handgun and confronted Jackson, who lunged at him. The two men struggled for the gun. A shot fired into the ceiling, deputies reported. "The brother overpowered him and hit him on the top of the head with the butt of the gun," said sheriff's office spokesman Chuck Lesaltato.
When deputies arrived, Jackson was conscious but incoherent. Deputies arrested Jackson on charges of residential burglary, possession of rock cocaine and possession of marijuana, and then took him to Sarasota Memorial Hospital at about 3 a.m., where he died at 7:36 a.m., deputies reported. "We don't believe he died from the head injury," Lesaltato said. The medical examiner's office and detectives continue to investigate the case and Jackson's cause of death, he added. Scott isn't expected to be charged, Lesaltato said.
More here
New York: Moron Mayor: "For the first time in the nation, gun makers and dealers are now liable for injuries or deaths caused by the criminal use of their weapons, under a landmark law signed yesterday by Mayor Bloomberg. The law -- one of four bills signed regulating gun sales and possession -- goes further than any other city's effort to hold the gun industry financially responsible for crimes involving their weapons. 'We need to do everything we can to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and out of the hands of children,' said Bloomberg. 'There's just no argument here. Guns kill people, it's time to get them off the street.'"
Saturday, January 22, 2005
Maryland police: Repeal gun ID system: "A law requiring Maryland State Police to collect ballistics information from each handgun sold in the state has not aided a single criminal investigation and should be repealed, a state police report has concluded. About $2.5 million has been spent on the program so far. Col. Thomas E. Hutchins, the state police superintendent, said he would prefer spending the money on proven crime-fighting techniques. Maryland was the first state to adopt a ballistic fingerprinting law in April 2000. New York is the only other state to have such a database."
Defending the right to bear arms: "I carry openly. I do this for political reasons -- the same reason I make it a point to sit in the smoking section at restaurants when I go out to eat by myself, even though I don't smoke. But that's another story. I carry openly, precisely because it invites comment (it shouldn't, but such is the sad state of our society). Some of the comments are good, a few are bad, and many more merely serve educational purposes"
Defending the right to bear arms: "I carry openly. I do this for political reasons -- the same reason I make it a point to sit in the smoking section at restaurants when I go out to eat by myself, even though I don't smoke. But that's another story. I carry openly, precisely because it invites comment (it shouldn't, but such is the sad state of our society). Some of the comments are good, a few are bad, and many more merely serve educational purposes"
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