Arming Mexicans will go on regardless

As all Second Amendment issues are political hot buttons, and with this being a presidential election year in the United States, the political wrangling over Fast and Furious is certain to increase in the coming months. The debate is also sure to become increasingly partisan and pointed. But, frankly, this political wrangling is not what we find to be the most interesting aspect of the operation's fallout. Rather, we are more interested in the way that criticism of Fast and Furious has altered law enforcement efforts to stem the flow of guns from the United States to Mexico and the way these changes will influence how Mexican cartels acquire weapons.

Law Enforcement Shifts

Several of these law enforcement changes already have been enacted. For example, the number of ATF inspectors has been increased due to additional funding for an inspection program through the U.S. Southwest Border Initiative. This means that there are more inspectors to audit the sales records of licensed gun dealers. In southern Arizona, for example, the number of inspectors was increased from three to eight. According to the ATF, these inspectors oversee the operations of some 430 federally licensed firearms dealers in six border counties.

These firearms dealers include gun store proprietors as well as independent dealers working the gun show circuit. The increase in ATF inspection staff and activity has sparked an outcry from gun show dealers who claim they are being unfairly harassed by inspectors. ATF sources have told Stratfor that they do not harass dealers, but that the staff increase has allowed the bureau to catch up on inspections it was not able to conduct in the past. The sources also said they believe that their increased presence at gun shows is scaring away cartel buyers, although, obviously, some gun show firearms are still finding their way into cartel hands.

Another procedural change occurred in August 2011, when the ATF began a new program in which licensed gun dealers in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California are required to report to the ATF bulk sales of certain types of rifles, namely semi-automatic rifles larger than .22 caliber with detachable magazines such as the semi-automatic AR-15 and AK-47 variants favored by the cartels. The new rule requires gun dealers to report people without federal firearms licenses who buy two or more of such rifles to the ATF within five working days. The rule has raised the ire of some Second Amendment activists, but the ATF notes that it has had a similar reporting regimen for multiple sales of handguns in place since 1975.

The attention that Fast and Furious attracted to the gun smuggling problem also has led to an increase in interdiction efforts by other U.S. federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Furthermore, weapons cases have reportedly been given increased prosecutorial priority by U.S. attorneys -- meaning they are now less likely to decline prosecution of a gun case than before the controversy emerged. This has led to increased pressure on lower-level violators such as straw purchasers -- people paid by arms traffickers to buy guns from dealers. Greed will ensure that people continue to work as straw purchasers, but considering the increased risk of prosecution and the new reporting requirements, straw purchasers and the traffickers who employ them will be more exposed.

In May 2012, the ATF claimed that the reporting requirements have led to a decrease in large-volume sales of semi-automatic rifles (10 or more in a single purchase). The ATF also said that traffickers are adapting their weapons procurement methods to the new regulations.

Arms Smugglers Adapt

Despite their impact, the law enforcement and reporting changes cannot stem the tide of weapons entirely. In the same way that drug flows adapt to law enforcement interdiction efforts, weapons flows will also adjust. Previous federal investigations have shown that Mexican cartels have contacts in many different parts of the United States, including cities such as Chicago and Atlanta, far from the border. One way to bypass the increase in ATF inspections and the border state reporting requirements is to buy guns in states located farther from the border. Of course, this would require the weapons to be transported longer distances to get to Mexico, increasing transportation costs as well as exposure to interdiction efforts. A shift in the points of purchase would also almost certainly result in the expansion of the new reporting requirements to other states.

Although it will never be possible to completely cut off the flow of guns to Mexico from the United States, it can be reduced. This would force the cartels to search for new sources of weapons.

One significant emerging source of AR-15/M16 variants is something called an 80 percent lower receiver. (The lower receiver is the part of the AR-15/M16/M4 that carries a manufacturer's serial number. These 80 percent lower receivers do not have any serial numbers.) Under U.S. federal firearms law, the unfinished lower receiver is not considered a firearm and thus can be shipped anywhere and sold to anyone without a license. Once the remaining machining on the lower receiver is completed, one can build an AR-15, M16 or M4 carbine by purchasing the additional required parts -- such as the bolt assembly, trigger assembly and barrel -- which also are not considered firearms. Once the weapon is fully assembled, it is then considered a firearm and subject to federal firearms law.

While the 80 percent lower receivers are intended for do-it-yourself gun enthusiasts, according to the ATF, these guns have also begun to show up in increasing numbers in Mexico.

Many if not most of the semi-automatic rifles purchased in the United States and smuggled into Mexico are converted to be capable of fully automatic fire by armorers working for various cartel groups. The same armorers are capable of finishing the machining on 80 percent lower receivers and assembling completed firearms from them. The finishing process is not difficult, and there are specialized jigs one can buy and instructional videos posted on the Internet to assist in the process. With experience, proper parts and equipment, a competent machinist can quickly and easily finish a lower receiver in an hour or less.

But acquiring 80 percent lower receivers is not the only alternative for cartels. As noted previously, the Mexican cartels obtain weapons from a variety of sources. The main reason they buy rifles and high-powered pistols from the United States is that such weapons are cheap and readily available. The United States is also nearby, so the guns do not have to be transported very far. Once in Mexico, such weapons can be sold to cartels or on the black market for three times their purchase price in the United States. This explains the difficulty of shutting down the flow of weapons between the two countries. The gun trade is almost as lucrative as the narcotics flowing north.

The premium prices Mexican cartels are paying for guns mean that even if the U.S.-Mexican border could somehow magically be sealed tomorrow, arms merchants from elsewhere would be able to fill the void. Indeed, there are some weapons that the cartels simply cannot buy from the United States due to a lack of availability. Such weapons include hand grenades, 40 mm grenades, M60 machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and M-72 anti-tank rockets. Instead, the cartels buy such items from members of the Mexican military, militaries in countries such as Guatemala and El Salvador, or international arms dealers. The cartels would go to these same sources to replace the weapons unavailable in the United States due to increased arms interdiction efforts. South American groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and Peru's Shining Path have demonstrated that it is not difficult for groups to arm themselves via the black arms market in the Western Hemisphere.

Rifles and other weapons are durable goods, and it is not unusual to find weapons in Mexico that were provided by the United States, the Soviets or the Cubans to various governments and insurgent groups during the Cold War. Weapons are also fungible, or easily substituted for each other. This means that an AK-47 rifle made in the Soviet Union in the 1950s could be replaced by a variant made in East Germany in the 1970s or in China or Romania today. Indeed, it is not uncommon to find assault rifles of various makes and ages in cartel possession. In videos published by groups such as the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, gunmen armed with FN-FAL rifles have appeared alongside comrades armed with various models of AKs, M16s and M4s. A cartel gunman does not care where his rifle comes from.

In recent years, Mexican cartels have begun to forge close relationships with Chinese organized crime groups that are helping the cartels obtain precursor chemicals for the manufacture of methamphetamine and other synthetic drugs. These Chinese groups also are reportedly becoming increasingly important components of Mexican cartel money laundering efforts. Chinese criminal groups have close ties with the Chinese arms manufacturers, and it is possible that they could begin sending guns to their Mexican contacts with the other illicit cargo.

The Mexican cartels have also reportedly become progressively more involved in the transportation of cocaine to Europe via Africa -- a continent awash in black market assault rifles and other weapons. Some of the cocaine trafficked into Europe is handled by Balkan groups with access to large stockpiles of weapons in Eastern Europe.

These various connections ensure that the Mexican cartels will continue to have access to assault rifles and other military ordnance for the foreseeable future, regardless of how much progress U.S. authorities make in their efforts to stem the flow of guns to Mexico.

Source



PA: Man claims self-defense in  home invasion death:  "Police say a man is claiming self-defense in a fatal home invasion shooting near Pittsburgh.  For now, McKees Rocks police say the unidentified shooting suspect has been released after he was questioned about the Monday afternoon shooting.  Police say 21-year-old Kalief Gates was shot once in the chest and twice in the head about 3 p.m.  Police say the man who lived in the home claims Gates forced his way into the shooter's first-floor apartment and was found shot dead in the bedroom.  McKees Rocks police say it's too early to determine if the shooter's self-defense claim is valid and says it wasn't clear if Gates was armed when he allegedly broke into the home."


KY: Woman fires warning shots and stops home invasion:  "A Laurel County woman fires warning shots and stops a home invasion.  It happened Tuesday morning on Hodge Road when the woman woke up to a man had opened her bedroom window and was almost halfway inside.   Police say she fired a warning shot into the ceiling startling the burglar and causing him to take off.  Police found 35 year old Bobby Green hiding under the house and arrested him. He is charged with burglary, resisting arrest, and public intoxication."


Detective in Zimmerman case said he was pressured to file charges:  "The lead Sanford Police investigator who sought manslaughter charges against George Zimmerman told the FBI that a sergeant and two other officers tried to pressure him into making an arrest in the controversial case — even though he didn’t think there was enough evidence.  Sanford Police Officer Chris Serino first made headlines when evidence released in the case showed he sought manslaughter charges against Zimmerman even while his chief publicly said there was no probable cause to arrest him. But a document released late Thursday casts doubt on Serino’s prior sworn affidavit seeking criminal charges, and raises questions about the credibility of the star law-enforcement witness in the murder case against Zimmerman for the shooting death of a black teenager, Miami Gardens high school junior Trayvon Martin"

OK: Man Shoots Himself in Genitals

(Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) A 36-year-old man with prior felony convictions, Tavares Donnell Colbert, has been arrested after accidentally shooting himself in the genitals while on his way to sell the gun.

Colbert faces one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

According to Colbert, he was on his way to S.E. 44th and Shields when he pulled over to the check the gun. He said he'd had problems with it earlier and wanted to make sure it was functioning properly.

Colbert told police when he tried to force the slide back, he also had his finger on the trigger. The gun went off and he shot himself in the penis. According to the police report, Colbert panicked and drove himself to the hospital.

Colbert was booked into custody at the Oklahoma County Jail. Heh.

United Nations arms control process descends into farce

A little more than a week after accusing Iran of supplying arms for Syria's bloody crackdown on democracy-minded rebels, the UN has given Tehran a key seat at negotiations for a global arms treaty.

The stunning appointment by member states attending the UN Conference of the Arms Trade Treaty in New York came last week, and is just the latest example of the world body appointing rogue and repressive regimes to leadership roles. The 15-nation committee to which Iran was appointed hopes to guide what could eventually become the first legally binding global treaty aimed at regulating the international trade of conventional arms.

Critics say asking Iran to help craft a treaty aimed at stopping arms proliferation to terrorist groups and rogue states makes a mockery of the talks. Just two weeks ago, the UN Security Council accused Tehran of shipping arms to Syria, and Iran is also suspected of hiding illegal nuclear weapons facilities from international watchdogs.

“It defies logic, morality and common sense for the UN to elect this same regime to a global post in the regulation of arms transfers.” - UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer

“Right after a UN Security Council report found Iran guilty of illegally transferring guns and bombs to Syria, which is now murdering thousands of its own people, it defies logic, morality and common sense for the UN to elect this same regime to a global post in the regulation of arms transfers,” UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer told FoxNews.com.

Talks are taking place throughout the month, with Argentina serving as president and the other 14 nations, including the U.S., Iran, China and Russia, as deputies, or vice presidents. The treaty would regulate conventional arms and not weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear, chemical or biological arms.

Any treaty would have to be ratified by the Senate in order to be enforceable against U.S. citizens or corporations. The talks have already raised concerns in the U.S. that an international pact could curb Americans' Second Amendment rights. The conference was backed by the Obama administration, in a reversal of the Bush administration, which had opposed a UN General Assembly resolution launching the treaty process in 2006.

Iran gloated about its appointment, with its news agencies IRNA and ISNA boasting about the Islamic Republic’s appointment as a “deputy” to the treaty talks, and the Tehran Times touting that Iran’s mission to the UN will be “assisting the president” of the conference in conducting business.

At the meeting in which Iran was named to the committee, no nations -- including the U.S. -- objected. But the U.S. State Department scrambled to play down the significance of the appointment, arguing there are safeguards protecting against any treaty not in the U.S. interest from being passed. 

More here




VA: Man armed with shotgun confronts intruder in home:  "Police arrested a 27-year-old Fredericksburg man early Sunday after another man, armed with a shotgun, confronted the intruder, who entered the man’s home.  The 50-year-old resident was awakened at about 2:30 a.m. by a noise on the first floor on his home in the 400 block of Hanover Street, according to Natatia Bledsoe, public information officer for the Fredericksburg Police Department. He grabbed his shotgun and checked the house, she said.  Upon checking, he discovered a man walking up the stairs. He told the man to go back downstairs and get on the floor in the hallway, Bledsoe said. The intruder did so until police arrived.  The intruder was “extremely intoxicated,” police said, and entered the home through and unsecured front door.  Daniel Veit, the intruder, was arrested for public intoxication and unlawful entry."


FL: Customer at Internet cafe shoots 2 black robbers:  "Two men who attempted to hold up an Internet cafe were shot and injured by a patron of the business Friday night, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office.  Sheriff's officials said they got a call at 9:54 p.m. about an armed robbery at Palms Internet Cafe, 8444 SW State Road 200. When deputies arrived at the scene, patrons outside the business told them that two men in masks — one armed with a baseball bat and the other with a handgun — had barged into the business. The robbers told the approximately 30 patrons to get on the floor, and they demanded money.  Officials said one of the patrons, Samuel Williams, drew his own handgun and shot at the robbers, according to sheriff's officials.  Both robbers began running toward the front door, and the patron fired several more shots as they fled.  The two men got into a car parked nearby and fled"


WA: Man gets shot after attempting to break into  home:  "A Tacoma resident shot a man who attempted to break into his home early Saturday morning, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News partner The Tacoma News Tribune reported.  The incident happened at a home in the 600 block of North Pine Street when a couple inside the home was awakened at about 2:10 a.m. by the sound of someone entering through their front door.  According to police, the husband shouted at the intruder that he was at the wrong house.  Police said the husband got his handgun as the intruder kept trying to break the door knob. The husband warned the intruder again, but the intruder did not heed warnings that the homeowner was carrying a gun, police said. The man fired a shot through the door which wounded the suspect.  The intruder suffered a non-lethal wound and was taken to a hospital to be treated."

The Connection between Fast and Furious and the Trayvon Martin Case

It's a war on guns in both cases

Very soon after his inauguration, Barack Obama decided to move ahead with plans to use the horrific number of deaths in the Mexican drug wars as a pretext for new gun control laws.

On March 26, 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder proposed a ban on "assault weapons" in order to reduce violence south of the border.

The administration made its case by citing a GAO report.  "The number of guns that are used by the drug cartels against the police and the military -- 90 percent of them come from America," Hillary Clinton declared later the same day.

The number was too good to be true.  The report actually states that of about 30,000 firearms seized from criminals in 2008, the Mexican government submitted only 7,200 (25%) to the ATF.  The authorities knew or suspected that the rest came from their own military or police, or overseas suppliers.  Of the 7,200 weapons, only about 4,000 could be traced, and of these 4,000 about 3,480 (87%) originated in the U.S.  The real figure for guns seized from criminals in Mexico that could be traced to the U.S. is thus about 11.6%.

There is no other reasonable explanation for Fast and Furious except to improve on this dismal number.

In Phoenix, the ATF watched as over 2,000 weapons were purchased by straw buyers and transferred to the cartels.  They videotaped some of the transactions.  There was no way to track the weapons until they were found at crime scenes or seized in raids.  No GPSs were implanted in the guns.  The Mexican authorities were not informed.  Even the ATF attachés in Mexico were left in the dark.  Agents who wanted to carry out warrantless "rips" and confiscate weapons on probable cause were told to stand down.  Supervisors explained to the agents and to gun shop owners that the agency was going after the cartels: the little fish would lead the them to the big fish.  Worried gun shop owners were reassured by the ATF, but several agents were incredulous and outraged.  At least half a dozen protested and eventually came forward as whistle-blowers.

"The most transparent administration in history" immediately began stonewalling.  The DOJ sent a letter to Congress on February 4, 2011 categorically denying that the ATF had knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to suspicious buyers.  It was only in December 2011 that the DOJ withdrew the lying letter.

Meanwhile, the department repeatedly refused to turn over documents requested by the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform and Senator Chuck Grassley's office.  Memos they did submit were so heavily redacted that frequently only a single line was not blacked out.  One such memo, from the heady early months of the operation, was titled "Expected Legislative or Policy Developments."

The campaign to hide incriminating evidence climaxed last month.  On June 20, President Obama claimed executive privilege over the documents requested by the House.

Eight days later, Eric Holder was cited for contempt of Congress.

Why was Holder willing to become the first sitting Cabinet officer in history to be held in contempt of Congress?  Why was the White House suddenly willing, at the 11th hour, to invoke executive privilege -- recalling the seamy Watergate scandal -- if the documents do not implicate Tricky Barack?  Even with a pussycat press, these are significant crosses to bear going into an election campaign.

Again, the only logical explanation is that the objective of F&F was the "expected legislative developments" and that this objective was discussed "at the highest levels of the White House," as reporters used to repeat during the halcyon days of Watergate.  If supervisors were "giddy" with delight when guns found at crime scenes in Mexico were traced to the operation, it was because that was the mission's goal.

Had the collateral damage been confined only to a few hundred dead Mexicans and not a U.S. Border Patrol agent, it's not difficult to imagine the next step in the administration's war on guns. 

Chicago is like Mexico in some ways.  With 440 murders in 2011, the Second City has one of the highest crime rates of major cities in the U.S., more than double New York's.

The murder rate is up 35% this year.  Nine people were killed one weekend last month.  "It's war," said a local pastor.  Most of the homicides, robberies, and assaults are linked to drug-trafficking by gangs.

Though its twenty-eight-year ban on handguns was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2010, Chicago still has one of the most restrictive gun laws in the country.

Do the Chicago numbers refute the idea that tight gun laws correlate with lower homicide rates?  Not at all, the Obama administration would have claimed.  After all, private ownership of guns is illegal in Mexico.

Had F&F succeeded, the Obamanistas would likely have made the case that the problem in Chicago is that guns were being "smuggled" into the city from jurisdictions with lax gun laws.  Mayor Rahm Emmanuel would have issued a report documenting the number of guns taken from gang members that could be traced to out-of-state and internet gun shops.  Only nationwide restrictions on the purchase of handguns will reduce murders in Chicago and in other large cities, we would have been told.

* * *

If you want to cut down on the consumption of a certain good or service, you can go after the producers or providers.  You can outlaw or restrict their businesses or raise their costs with taxes, fees, and onerous regulations. 

But you can also work on the consumers.  You can do this legitimately by, say, educating the public as to what an unborn baby looks like after three months, or what the lungs of a pack-a-day smoker look like after thirty years.  But you can do this as well by intimidation.

On February 26, 2012, a neighborhood watch captain was attacked by a thug.  Trayvon Martin had already been expelled three times in the school year.  In one case, twelve pieces of women's jewelry were found in his backpack.  His Twitter, MySpace, and YouTube accounts reveal him as a gangsta wannabe, into drugs (and possibly dealing) and screwing "bitches."  On the night February 26, "No-Limit Niggah" bought some Skittles and an Arizona Watermelon Fruit Juice Cocktail.  Mixed with codeine, they're the ingredients for a cocktail called "Lean" that he seems to have been fond of. 

He also apparently tried to buy some blunts -- cheap cigars to be hollowed out and filled with marijuana.  When the clerk turned him down, he had a scuzzy trio buy these for him.

He didn't mix the cocktail, but he probably smoked a blunt.  The autopsy found THC in his blood and urine.

Martin originally left the 7-Eleven at 6:24.  It's a fifteen-minute walk from his condo he was staying in, but forty-five minutes later, he was not back home.  There is no reason to doubt George Zimmerman's description of him as wandering around in the rain, looking "like he's up to no good" or "on drugs or something."

After Martin spotted Zimmerman, the teenager had seven more minutes to walk 300 feet to the condo.  Instead, he circled back, told Zimmerman that Zimmerman now had a problem -- an understatement, it turned out -- then decked the watch captain with one punch and began pounding him into the concrete sidewalk.

The only eyewitness reported seeing Zimmerman being pummeled, his screams were recorded on several calls, and he had a broken nose and lacerations on the back of his head.

In Florida, you have a right to get out of your vehicle in the presence of an African-American teenager.  You have a right to ask a stranger what he's doing in your neighborhood.

George Zimmerman also felt he had a responsibility to do the former.  The watch captain had reported Martin to Sanford police and wanted to be able to tell them where the guy was.  There had been eight break-ins during the previous fourteen months at the Retreat at Twin Lakes, not to mention several unsuccessful attempts.  When the suspects were spotted or caught, they were young black males.

The last time Zimmerman had called 911 to report a stranger casing homes, the guy escaped before the cops arrived.

There is no need to reiterate the media's Pavlovian response to the claims of Ben Crump and his flak Ryan Julison.  Journalists and commentators who were capable of blaming the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords by a deranged, apolitical twenty-two-year old on Sarah Palin were more than willing to repeat ad nauseam the fairytale of the angelic twelve-year-old honor student going out in the rain to buy snacks for the son of his father's girlfriend only to be chased and gunned down in cold blood by a paranoid racist cop wannabe.

It's tempting to see the press's bloodlust to crucify Zimmerman as the consequence of a dangerous and irrational surrogate religion.  We would not expect fair and balanced reporting from a wild-eyed flagellant in 14th-century Europe or in 21st-century Iraq.  But is the lynching a result merely of a pernicious ideology?  Is there a method in the madness?  (And it is truly pathological to pretend that the internet doesn't exist, and that the evidence you ignore or suppress won't surface in the blogosphere.)  Is there, in other words, an agenda being pushed?

It's been speculated that President Obama wanted to shore up support in the African-American community via the Trayvon Martin imbroglio.  This seems implausible.  African-Americans account for less than 12% of the vote, and the man who could have been Trayvon's father received 95% of this demographic.  If he were really concerned about that number, he wouldn't have come out in favor of gay marriage.

A more reasonable explanation is that the administration and its enablers want to terrorize gun-owners with carrying permits into refraining from carrying, and to deter those thinking about getting a gun and a permit.

If you live in or near a big city, the reality is that if you have to use your gun to defend yourself, the chances are good that you'll be using it against a young African-American male.

According to Eric Holder's Justice Department, between 1976 and 2005, African-Americans, 12.6% of the population, committed 52.2% of all homicides.

Over the 30-year period, African-Americans committed murder at about 7.33 times the white rate.  (Whites here include Hispanics.)

The numbers for other violent crimes are comparable.   The perpetrators are overwhelmingly males between fifteen and twenty-five.

So the unspoken message of the media crusade against Zimmerman is that if you use a gun to defend yourself against a young black male, there's a chance you'll face a second-degree murder charge.  You may see your mugshot in every paper and on every TV news show in the country, face death threats, lose your job and your home, and be forced to become a fugitive before your arrest.

Why risk this?

Targeted also are neighborhood watch programs.  No program asks you to carry a gun or to make a citizen's arrest.  But to be effective, you need to be able to describe the suspect and his location to police, and the word has to get out that intruders will be watched.

After Zimmerman-Martin, potential volunteers may ask themselves, why risk a run-in with a suspicious African-American?  If the guy isn't breaking into my own home, just keep driving.  Pick up those groceries at Target and hope he's gone by the time you get back.

More here




ME:  Teenager shot while attempting to burn  home:  "A 14-year-old boy was shot and wounded late Friday at a home where police said he was trying to set a fire.  Gorham police said Saturday that the teenager, whose identity is being withheld, is being treated for what they believe to be non-life threatening injuries after being shot at a residence at 8 Mountview Drive.  Police said the homeowner and a witness interrupted the teenager around 11:45 p.m. as he tried to set a fire at the home, which was occupied at the time. Police did not specify who shot the boy.  There was slight damage to the light-green, two-story, Colonial-style home.  Police said the boy was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland. No charges have been filed, but the incident remains under investigation, police said."


VA: Gun rights group is up in arms about Roanoke County law:  "A pro-gun group is fired up about a county ordinance which they call confusing.  They say it makes it seem that carrying a firearm in county parks is illegal, even though it's not. That's why they organized a protest and picnic today at Green Hill Park in Salem. It's all about semantics. Members of the pro-gun group say they want to make sure their 2nd amendment rights are protected. The Virginia Citizens Defense League says the purpose of this protest is to bring awareness to an issue they feel is extremely important.   This ordinance isn't a new one. It's been on the books for quite some time.  The county issued a statement. It says: "Roanoke County respectfully disagrees with the group's position on our ordinance. What's written complies with state law and is not intentionally confusing or misleading. You can bring a gun onto a state park or Roanoke County park unless you're otherwise prohibited by law."   Terrell Holbrook, the county's acting chief of police, says he will honor the 2nd Amendment and people will not be arrested for carrying guns in local parks."

KY: Woman Released From Prison Early After new evidence of self-defense:  "Tammy Wilson is a free woman after serving 18 months in prison for killing her husband of 30 years back in 2008.   Wilson claimed all along that it was in self-defense. That her husband William Frankie Wilson was beating her, and had throughout most of their marriage. A jury did not believe her and gave her ten years in prison for second degree manslaughter.   Her family hired a new attorney, Robert Norfleet who immediately found a 911 phone call made my Wilson's family and her admitting to shooting her husband because she was being abused.    Norfleet also used a retired KSP crime scene investigator who found blood spatter at the scene that proved Wilson's husband was not sitting down but rather attacking Tammy Wilson. Commonwealth's Attorney Eddy Montgomery agreed to allow Wilson to be released on condition that her conviction stand and she remain on probation for five years."


Texan Shoots Drunk Man in Self-Defense:  "Witnesses report that a drunk man stumbled into the EZ Trip Food Store in Dallas, Texas and began harassing customers. He repeatedly slapped one customer in the face until the customer ran from the store, so the drunk man switched his sights to another target. He began punching another man in the face and followed the fleeing man into the parking lot.   That was the biggest mistake of his life. The punched customer, who was a concealed license carrier, pulled out a gun and shot the drunk man. He hung around and waited for police to arrive and was taken into custody without any trouble. The drunk man was taken to a local hospital, but he was pronounced dead roughly an hour after the shooting took place. The names of both individuals have not been released.  Was shooting an obviously intoxicated and punch-happy drunk man excessive? Possibly. Was it legal? Looks like it."


Congressmen Warn Obama on UN Arms Treaty:  "More than 130 congressmen, led by Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., signed a letter sent to President Barack Obama Monday expressing their opposition to a U.N. arms trade treaty if it violates U.S. gun owner rights and sovereignty.   The United Nations is starting a month-long negotiation for a long-delayed treaty on international standards for importing and exporting conventional weapons. Proponents say the treaty will simply replicate U.S. standards in much of the rest of the world without affecting domestic gun sales, The Hill reports. But gun rights activities are concerned. “The UN's actions to date indicate that the ATT [United Nations Arms Trade Treaty] is likely to pose significant threats to our national security, foreign policy, and economic interests as well as our constitutional rights,” the letter states. “The U.S. must establish firm red lines for the ATT and state unequivocally that it will oppose the ATT if it infringes on our rights or threatens our ability to defend our interests.”


Federal judge kicks out part of Chicago's gun law:  "Chicago's firearm ordinance took another blow Tuesday when a federal judge ruled that the section banning permits for people convicted of unlawful use of a weapon is vague and unconstitutional.  The city must now decide whether to appeal the ruling or rewrite the part of its gun ordinance that bars individuals convicted of even misdemeanor offenses from possessing a firearm in their home for self-defense."

Call for help

As I am about to enter my 70th year, I feel the need to slow down a bit.  This blog takes me up to an hour to research each day and I would like to cut down on that.   We old guys shouldn't have to do all the work!

Since Clayton Cramer shut down his blog, however, this seems to be the only daily reporter of self-defense cases so I would not like to see it vanish.

So I am hoping that there might be someone willing to put something up every day here with me in a backstop role.  Any takers?




PA:  Homeowner won’t be charged for shooting, killing intruder:  "A Washington County home­owner who shot and killed an intruder on Thanksgiving morning was defending his property and will not face criminal charges, District Attorney Eugene A. Vittone II said on Thursday.  The use of deadly force by Martin Swarrow, 59, “was justified and proper in light of the facts and circumstances,” Vittone said.  The shooting occurred about 4:30 a.m. when Swarrow encountered a man who was breaking into a garage attached to his Centerville home.  Swarrow, armed with a handgun, fired a warning shot into the woods behind his house before his next bullet struck the intruder in the upper torso, Vittone said. Swarrow immediately went into the house and told his wife to call 911.  Washington County Coroner Timothy Warco pronounced Elijah J. Malanosky, 30, of Cokeburg dead at the scene.  “Malanosky placed Swarrow in fear for his life through aggressive behavior,” Vittone said. “It is clear that under these facts, circumstances and the application of Pennsylvania’s law ... justifiable use of force (was) justified.”


CA: Drunken intruder shot:  "The man, according to the sheriff's office, was apparently highly intoxicated and wandered into the wrong home, thinking it was his own.  The homeowners -- a 24-year-old male and an 18-year-old female -- were awakened by their dogs barking and quickly realized they weren't alone. The male homeowner then confronted the intruder in the living room, telling him to leave. The man refused, telling the couple to leave his house, according to the sheriff's office.  The couple then left their home, taking refuge at a nearby neighbor's house, before the male homeowner and his 42-year-old neighbor decided to go back and confront the intruder. According to the sheriff's office, the neighbor grabbed his shotgun for protection.  Knight said the husband and neighbor told  detectives that when they asked the man to leave, he jumped from the couch and came at the neighbor, who fired his shotgun, hitting the man once in the abdominal area."


ID: Man shoots naked intruder:  "Police said Hopkins reported being woken up just after 5 a.m. while sleeping in his basement by his Labrador dog barking upstairs. They said he retrieved his gun and went upstairs to find Taylor in the bathroom with his pants down. When Taylor saw Hopkins, he pulled up his pants. Hopkins said he told Taylor not to move, but he 'charged' at him, and Hopkins shot him twice in the leg."


FL: More records released in Trayvon Martin case:  "A wide-ranging investigation of George Zimmerman, who is charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Trayvon Martin, found a man not prone to violence or prejudice and who moved easily between racial and ethnic groups -- a 'decent guy,' 'a good human being.' The assessments, made public on Thursday, came from interviews with friends, co-workers and neighbors who were interviewed by the F.B.I. and state and local law-enforcement authorities"

TX: Accomplices indicted on murder, robbery charges: "Randall County grand jurors indicted two Amarillo siblings Wednesday on murder and aggravated robbery charges in the death of a 26-year-old burglary suspect shot during a June home invasion.  Jessica Medina, 26, and her brother, Timothy Francisco Lopez, 29, were each indicted on both charges. Randall County Criminal District Attorney James Farren said both participated with Gabriel Castillo, 26, in a June 8 home invasion at 2918 S. Highland St. Castillo’s body was found in the 2400 block of Rule Street, where police said he died of a gunshot wound to his right hip.  Earlier that day, a caller told dispatchers two masked men attempted to steal a safe from an office in the backyard of 2918 S. Highland St., when the office owner confronted the men, authorities said.   One of the two men pointed a gun at the office owner, who drew his own pistol and fired it as officers were en route, police said. The unidentified burglary victim from 2918 S. Highland St. was questioned and released pending further investigation, police said."


CA:  Robbery Suspects in Gunfight with Clerk:  "Hollister police are asking the public to help identify two armed men caught on surveillance video who entered Pacheco Liquors in Hollister Saturday night, demanded money and exchanged gunshots with a store clerk.  The suspects took off after the shots were fired around 11:20 p.m. Hollister Police Officers responded to the call of shots fired and an attempted robbery at 801 San Benito Street.   Police said the two suspects entered the store and one of them pointed a gun at a clerk and demanded money. A second clerk produced his own handgun, and shots were exchanged between the clerk and suspects. No one is believed to have been hit. Both suspects ran from the store and were seen leaving in a white, 2000, BMW 328i"


SD: Open Carry Group Praises Gun Decision:  "Gun advocates are celebrating Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether’s announcement rescinding an Executive Order banning guns on city property. The city attorney said the policy would not hold up if challenged in court. Representatives from Open Carry South Dakota, a group in favor of open weapons laws, say the repeal expands personal freedoms.  The group made the announcement Wednesday night in front of City Hall. Before the announcement it would have been one of several buildings and parks where handguns were not prohibited.  “The right to self defense shouldn't stop when we bring our kids to the park or city property,” Hixon said."

OH: Armed Robber Shot, Killed in Shootout With Store Owner:  "According to Cleveland Police Sergeant Sammy Morris, Jonathan Ward, 23 entered Abe & Son’s convenience store at the corner of Cedar Avenue and 70th Street just before 2 p.m.  An altercation erupted between Ward and the store’s owner, Jamal Suliaman, 35. During the fight, both men produced guns.  Sgt. Morris said the altercation, “Resulted in the suspect in the robbery being shot and the store owner being shot.”  Ward passed away at the scene while Suliaman was treated and released at MetroHealth Medical Center for a gunshot wound to his arm.  The suspect in Tuesday’s botched armed robbery has a lengthy criminal record. Ward has had many prior run-ins with the law, with multiple charges for aggravated robbery, drug possession and carrying concealed weapons." [Why do they keep letting these habitual criminals out of jail?]


GA: Papa John's delivery man shoots alleged robber with suspect's own gun:  "A Papa John’s delivery man shot and injured a teen who allegedly tried to rob him, and police said the man shot the teen with his own gun.  But the 19-year-old is telling police he was the victim.  Mr. Javares Scott said he went to the location to deliver a pizza and when he arrived he was robbed by a person whom he later shot in the abdomen and right thigh, police spokeswoman Officer Kim Jones said.  “Mr. Scott advised police that he took the suspect’s gun away from him and shot him with his own gun,” Officer Jones said. “Mr. Scott then returned to the Papa John’s store and advised the manager of the robbery.”  But the delivery man, who still had the gun in his possession, then went home without calling the police to report what happened, she said.  Mr. Paul Hammonds, the 19-year-old who was shot, told police he was walking down Holly Road when a man jumped out of the bushes and shot him “for no reason,” Officer Jones said.  “Mr. Hammonds gave two different descriptions of clothing of the suspect that he alleges shot him,” Officer Jones said."


NC: Law changed to allow firearms during emergencies:  "In North Carolina residents are not allowed legally to use deadly force to protect property. Deadly force may be used to protect oneself or others from imminent serious harm. But not so for property.   We posted an article last week in which we argued that in emergencies, such as in the aftermath of a hurricane, residents should be able to protect their property. We hold very little hope that the Castle Doctrine will be expanded to include the use of deadly force to protect property, even when law enforcement is not available to do so. While we think it is needed in extreme circumstances, we doubt it will happen.  But the last session of the Legislature did make a significant improvement in the laws dealing with emergencies. It revoked the provision in the law that allowed officials to ban firearms during an emergency."

TX:  Homeowner Detains Burglar at Gunpoint:  "A Washington County homeowner took matters into his own hands when a burglar broke into his garage and two vehicles Thursday, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office.  Hord’s wife, Mindy, called 911 when the incident occurred.  “I woke up this morning to get my son his milk and I look outside and there's a black guy outside without his shirt on...so I ran inside and woke my husband up," said Mindy Hord in a 911 call to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.  Ryan Hord grabbed his gun and went after the burglar. Hord detained the burglar in the driveway until sheriff's deputies arrived. n “My husband has a gun on him, right. He's not going anywhere until someone comes and picks him up,” said Mindy Hord to a 911 operator.  Sheriff’s deputies took the burglar into custody. The suspect has been charged with burglary of a habitation and burglary of a motor vehicle."


WA: Police search for robbers in  attempted home invasion:  "Police are searching for three men in an attempted home invasion robbery in Port Angeles Sunday morning. Investigators say the suspects could be responsible for another robbery just east of Port Angeles on Saturday.  The Sunday morning robbery happened in the 300 block of South Barr Road in Port Angeles.  A homeowner told police a man knocked on his back door, asking for gas. When the homeowner told the suspect through the closed door he didn't have any, the man asked to use the phone. The homeowner retrieved a phone, along with his handgun, and went to open the door. That's when a second suspect appeared and pointed a gun at the homeowner.  The homeowner immediately shut the door and fired a shot through the door.  The two suspects fled to a getaway car that was waiting on the road and driven by a third suspect. Another suspect then got into the car and all four drove north on South Barr Road.   Sequim and Port Angeles police and border patrol responded to the call but did not locate the suspects. They said there was no evidence of injuries."

TX: Female robber shot dead:  "Fort Worth police say a high school student who was found shot to death had been robbing a house with two men when she was fatally wounded in an exchange of gunfire. Two other suspects were arrested.  Police revealed Saturday that 17-year-old Claudia Hidic of Fort Worth had been a suspect in the robbery, along with Curtis Fortenberry and Terrance Crumley, who are 21.  Police said in a news release that the three went to the house June 28 planning to rob the occupants. During the robbery gunshots were exchanged and Hidic was shot in the head. Her body was found near the back door of a home."


Zimmerman hiding out in safe house protected by 24-hour private security team:  "George Zimmerman is hiding in a secret safe house in Seminole County, Florida, protected 24 hours a day by a private security team. The former neighborhood watch volunteer has stepped up his security after being released from jail on $1 million bail because he is forced to stay in the same community where he killed Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman's supporters say he has received thousands of death threats since the shooting in February in Sanford, Florida, which he claims was self-defense."

CA:   Store Owner Shoots At 2 Would-Be Robbers:  "Long Beach police are looking for two would-be armed robbers who fled a convenience store when the owner pulled out a gun and started shooting.  Authorities say two men wearing hoodies attempted to rob the Meadow Made Dairy around 10:30 p.m.  The store owner, 40-year-old Mean Kim, believes his quick reaction probably saved his life.  He didn’t hesitate to reach for his weapon. “I tried to shoot them. I know they have guns. And if I don’t shoot them, they might have a chance to shoot me, before I shoot them.”  Kim’s shots missed the two would-be robbers.  Kim says the two suspects fled in a waiting car."


Lawmakers blast U.N. gun control pact and U.S. participation:  "Concerned with the Obama administration’s alleged goal of controlling firearms owned by American civilians coupled with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s support of international law, more than 125 members of the U.S. House of Representatives took pre-emptive action Monday. The lawmakers composed an official letter and sent it to President Barack Obama. The letter details their strong oppositon to the United States being a signatory of the United Nations’ proposed arms trade treaty stating that they believe it imposes restrictions on American citizens’ Second Amendment gun rights as well as U.S. sovereignty. “While many within the Obama White House and Democrats on Capitol Hill deny it would impact on Americans’ gun ownership rights, the fact is there far too many U.S. judges – including some on the U.S. Supreme Court – who believe in imposing international law into their court decisions especially on matters involving the U.S. Constitution,” said political strategist and attorney Michael S. Baker."


Absurd: Michael Behenna's Conviction Upheld:  "By a 3-2 majority, the highest military appeals court has upheld Army Ranger 1st  Lt. Michael Behenna's conviction for the unpremediated murder of a detainee and al-Qaeda-operative in Iraq named Ali Mansur. While Michael still could receive clemency, his legal appeals are now officially exhausted. Barring clemency, Michael will remain at Leavenworth military prison until 2024.   I just finished reading the majority opinion. It is a chilling document. It contains analysis of whether Michael had "the right to act in self-defense" when the detainee he was questioning about IED attacks that had recently killed two men in his platoon, suddenly lunged for Michael's gun, and Michael shot and killed him."

CA: Tenant wins shootout:  "During a struggle, police said, the tenant wrestled a gun from one of the intruders. A shootout ensued, ending with the death of Hernandez and injuries to the tenant and Sebastian. Sebastian, who was in court wearing a black sling on his right arm, suffered a gunshot wound during the shootout.  The tenant was treated and released from a local hospital the same night and has not been charged with a crime, said Salinas police Sgt. Chris Lane.  "We don't plan to arrest him at this time," Lane said."


George Zimmerman to leave jail again as judge sets $1 million bond:  "The judge in the Trayvon Martin case set the new bond for George Zimmerman at $1 million. But Zimmerman needs to post only a percentage to be freed. His lawyer says he has the money."


Since SCOTUS says the Feds can make you buy anything, why not a gun?:    "Speaking of weapons, what if the other side were to take advantage of the gaping hole Roberts blew through the Constitution he swore to uphold? Given the powerful correlation between firearm ownership and crime reduction, Republicans might decree that all Americans and also liberals who happen to live in America buy a gun"

Eric Holder’s Tangled Web of Deception

How disheartening to watch U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder maneuver, spin, duck, dodge and dissemble.  Perhaps Holder still clings to the notion that he is serving the country and protecting the President, but his actions have pushed him well beyond that high ground.  Even Democrat leaders in congress, long-time Holder allies who long ago stopped thinking for themselves and who now resemble crazed wildebeests lost in their blind stampede against Republicans, are having doubts. 

During three years at Justice, Attorney General Holder has told too many tales, ducked accountability too many times and has too-often clung to the tattered banner of racist assertions. 

Americans have watched this recent Team Obama drama unfold over the past two years as the Attorney General initially claimed no knowledge of the Fast & Furious operation, then admitted limited knowledge but no direct involvement, to his recent assertion of Executive Privilege, implying that not only is Holder involved, but that the President is also. 

Holder’s Fast & Furious story has changed so often, and usually after additional scrutiny is applied, that the Justice Department’s credibility and Holder's has been shredded.  The credibility of the Justice Department to is further eroded by the latest round of comical maneuvering by the President to assert Executive Privilege  to protect deliberations between the Attorney General and the President regarding an operation about which they both claim they knew nothing.  That Holder and Obama expect Americans to believe such contradictory posturings boggle the mind. 

Now, right on cue, the Democrat leadership wildebeests stampede to the next waterhole by crying GOP anti-Holder "racism", when explaining congress' motive in finding Eric Holder guilty of contempt of congress.    Haven't Americans had enough of that old saw?  And doesn’t a 258 vote for with only 95 against disprove the “racism” claims?

Let’s look at some facts.

AG Holder has testified that he cannot provide the documents requested by Congress regarding Fast & Furious and the death of Border Agent, Brian Terry, because they are considered too "sensitive" to share with Congress. 

How ironic that the White House and DoJ see no commensurate sensitivity preventing them from revealing the identity of an informer who aided the United States, providing data that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden.  Eric Holder, the Department of Justice and the White House, are awfully quick to release sensitive information that might imprison and ultimately kill a potential ally if the politics suggest a small bump in the polls might be gained.

Nor is that all.  We have seen details of secret operations leaked by the White House, methods and sources coughed up that our intelligence experts say will set back our nation’s ability for the next ten years.  And yet, Holder urges Americans to look away; nothing untoward is happening here he says, as he urges all Americans to join the unthinking, Democrat wildebeests and keep moving along. 

AG Holder also tells Americans that the House Oversight Committee's inquiry into Fast & Furious is a waste of time, a waste of taxpayer money, and that there is more important work that the Department of Justice needs to be doing.

Right.  Consider this: assisting congress' investigation into the Fast & Furious debacle, which led to the death of an American border agent and the placement of thousands of assault weapons in the hands of Mexican drug cartels, is a waste of the government's time?  However, spending three and a half year and almost $100 million taxpayer dollars building a twice-failed case against baseball legend, Roger Clemens, was a better use of DoJ time, energy and tax payer dollars?  Go figure.

The Department of Justice doesn't have time to investigate and to prosecute with rigor social security disability fraud either, even though it costs our nation almost $200 billion dollars annually in wrongful payments.

Then there is the special case of Scott Bloch, former head of the Office of Special Counsel.   Americans may have forgotten Scott Bloch; the Department of Justice certainly hopes they have.  Bloch was the fellow that unscrupulous Democrat leaders in congress once depended upon to serve up juicy morsels of scandal and alleged misdeeds within the Bush Administration.  Democrats quoted him often, the New York Times and Washington Post rushed editorials.  Then, the FBI raided his office and discovered that he had lied to Congress and had constructed an elaborate disinformation campaign to falsely discredit others.

To cover his tracks, Bloch paid ‘Geeks on Call’ to erase government computers and asked his chums to post blog reports, masquerading as wounded warriors to try and settle scores and sway public opinion.   Bloch was, quite frankly, a real piece of work, who was finally caught after a long run and was forced to plead guilty to lying to Congress back in 2008.   For the past several years, Holder’s Justice Department has helped Bloch escape all responsibility for lying to Congress and falsifying government reports, accepting stall after stall, as Bloch attempts to avoid the mandatory jail term and fine associated with his misdeeds. 

Seemingly, under AG Holder, the Department of Justice is not so much interested in facts and justice, but rather is wholly consumed with political tradeoffs and calculations. 

Justice for those that help the political fortunes of Mr. Holder, and his allies, is far different from the justice others can expect.   

Of course, no description of just how Mr. Holder’s DoJ carefully selects investigations to coincide with the political benefits derived can be complete without a mention of the two Black Panthers swinging night sticks at potential voters at a voting precinct in Philadelphia in 2008.  

Holder’s Justice Department doesn't have time to investigate that that kind of voter intimidation, but, instead, is now mobilizing huge resources and millions of taxpayer funds to prevent states such as Florida from updating voter lists by removing the people that have died, Mickey Mouse, and countless others that had been added to the voter rolls by fraudsters like ACORN.  

Perhaps Americans should admit that Justice, under Eric Holder's leadership, is both arbitrary and dangerous, and is neither fair nor swift.  Democrat party leaders crying "racism" is demeaning and shameful and is nothing but a poor attempt to intimidate Congressman Darryl Issa and the House Oversight Committee into silence.

Americans should also understand that holding Holder in contempt of congress is important for what it represents.  First, the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch are supposed to work for the same goal—the good of the American people.  There should be truth between the two branches. So the contempt charge proves that our Founding Father’s system of checks and balances does work.

Second, in voting 258 – 95, Congress seems to be saying that under Eric Holder's Department of Justice, the law is not being applied fairly or equally, and that the decisions, at the highest level, of what Department of Justice and Team Obama considers "transparent" and time-worthy is capricious, vindictive and politically motivated.  Congress seems to be saying that Americans deserve better—and we do.

Source



    
    

E-mails reveal retaliation, cover-up at ATF, DoJ following Fast & Furious exposure

House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa and Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley are asking the Department of Justice's internal investigator to hold accountable anyone who retaliated against or threatened to retaliate against Operation Fast and Furious whistleblowers.

In a Friday letter to the DOJ's Inspector General Michael Horowitz, Grassley and Issa said they're now concerned retaliation is much more likely following Thursday's votes to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal and civil contempt of Congress.

"We just learned that ATF senior management placed two of the main whistleblowers who have testified before Congress about Fast and Furious under the supervision of someone who vowed to retaliate against them," they wrote before describing how senior political figures have made dangerous threats before.

Grassley and Issa said that in early 2011, right around the time Grassley first made public the whistleblowers' allegations about Fast and Furious, Scot Thomasson - then the chief of the ATF's Public Affairs Division - said, according to an eyewitness account: "We need to get whatever dirt we can on these guys [the whistleblowers] and take them down."

Thomasson also allegedly said that: "All these whistleblowers have axes to grind. ATF needs to f-k these guys."

According to Grassley and Issa, when Thomasson was asked about whistleblowers' allegations that guns were allowed to walk, Thomasson said he "didn't know and didn't care."

Grassley and Issa have given Horowitz until July 6 to answer whether Thomasson was "admonished" for those threats against whistleblowers, how he got his job in the first place and how the DOJ and ATF are going to make sure he doesn't retaliate against whistleblowers moving forward.

The two lead Fast and Furious investigators also released new, never-before-public documents that show officials in ATF's Washington headquarters were trying to cover up Fast and Furious two weeks before Grassley ever even asked about it.

Grassley didn't confront the Justice Department or ATF with those questions until Jan. 27, 2011, but ATF headquarters had prepped internal talking points as early as Jan. 12, 2011.

In that Jan. 12, 2011, memo, ATF officials laid out expected questions about gunwalking in Fast and Furious and Border Patrol agent Brian Terry's murder with Fast and Furious weapons - and canned answers ATF officials were supposed to give to press or anyone else asking about it.

For instance, a couple of expected questions include: "Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry was shot and killed after he and his team encountered several suspects near Rio Rico, Ariz. At least four suspects are in custody while one is still being pursued. Was a gun trafficked in this case used in the murder?" and "We understand that a firearm bought in connection with this ATF investigation was used to murder Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry. Can you please comment on this information?"

ATF officials were encouraged to not respond to those questions. Instead, they were told by leadership in Washington to give one of these answers spinning his murder to stress ATF's need to accomplish its mission with Fast and Furious:

    -"The death of Agent Terry in tragic and is a sad and dark day for all of law enforcement. We've lost one of our own. This is another example of the dangers faced by law enforcement every day across this country when pursuing these violent criminals."

Source

NC: Customer shoots robber:  "Police said a man attempting to rob a convenience store early Tuesday was shot by a customer. It happened at the Kangaroo Express in the 900 block of W. Grantham St. just after 3 a.m.  Investigators said a man came into the business and showed a gun to a female clerk. A customer saw the robbery taking place and shot the man once.  The alleged robber was taken to Wayne Memorial and then flown to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville.  Police said they were trying to identify the man and the investigation continues."


SAF sues county in California:  "The Second Amendment Foundation Tuesday (6/26/12) filed a federal lawsuit against Alameda County, California and the county’s Board of Supervisors for violating the constitutional rights of three businessmen by wrongfully denying them permits to open a gun shop. SAF is joined by the Calguns Foundation, California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees and businessmen John Teixeira, Steve Nobriga and Gary Gamaza."

IL: Gun Trade-in Program Nets Rusty Junk

(Chicago, Illinois) The Champaign County pro-gun Guns Save Life group is cashing in on the Chicago gun trade-in program by hauling worthless and rusty firearms into the city and walking away with thousands of dollars in gift cards.

A spokeswoman for the Chicago Police Department said the group is abusing the program.

"We just took advantage of Chicago's induced, artificial market on rusty junk," said John Boch, the group's president.

The city collected 5,500 weapons at city churches June 23. Police handed out out a $100 gift card per firearm and a $10 gift card for a BB gun or replica.

Guns Save Life has done the same thing twice before, and most of the weapons are of little value and are collecting dust in the closet of members or relatives. Boch said the guns were so beaten and worn that one of them, a shotgun, broke while being inspected by a police officer. The group did not get a gift card for that gun.

"Some of them are about 100 years old," he said. "They are rusty. Some have been in fires. It's just junk."

Money received by the Guns Save Life group is used to purchase ammunition and firearms for a youth program that teaches gun safety and marksmanship.

Frankly, I suggest that gun trade-in programs are generally just feel-good political news events and easy dumping grounds for weapons used in crimes.

VA: Store owner pulls gun on robbers to protect family:  "As storms rolled through Saturday night, a different kind of danger erupted at a convenience store in Chesterfield. The shop owner at Tienda Joana boldly refused to back down to a pair of robbers who burst through the door just before closing time. The owner, William Avaloa, drew his gun to match theirs. Avaloa described how one of the robbers kept watch at the door, while the other aimed his gun at one of William's future teenaged stepsons.  "He said, ‘Nobody move!'" said Avaloa. "I was really nervous because you never know what's going to happen."  Avaloa didn't hesitate to reach for his own weapon. He aimed his gun at the robber. "I said, 'You don't move! Put your gun down, or I'm going to kill you! Down! Down! Down! Down!'" shouted Avaloa at the suspect wielding the weapon.  The daring move triggered the robber guarding the door to take off. The other suspect relinquished his gun on the counter. Niko, 17, William's soon-to-be stepson, immediately grabbed it. His brother, Joshua, took hold of another shotgun mounted on the wall.  "The guy (robber) basically ran out of the store," said Joanna Rivera, Avaloa's fiancé and mother of Niko and Joshua."


FL:  Robbery suspect killed in the act:  "A man who flagged down Jacksonville police to report a shooting also said he thought he was responsible.  An off-duty officer was flagged down Saturday around 3:30 AM by a man who says someone tried to rob him.  He says they got into a gun battle and he believed he shot the robber.  Police found a deceased black man behind a house at W 13th Street and Thames Avenue.  He appeared to have suffered a gunshot wound and there was a hand gun lying next to the man. A witness says he was sitting in a car with the shooter when a man approached with a gun and demanded money.  The witness fled but as he did so heard gun shots.  The shooter had a concealed weapons permit and turned his weapon over to police."


TX:  Home invader shot & killed:  ""I hate that the guy's life was taken, I really do," said Rodrick Batiste, a longshoreman who bolted awake when someone tripped his burglar alarm by kicking in the French doors to his backyard. "I try and tell people with the 'You should have shot him again' attitude, that it is not really what you think. If you haven't been there before, you don't know what type of feelings overtake you.  "It changed me. There is nothing cool about taking somebody's life."  On a dark winter morning, a naked Batiste grabbed his .38-caliber revolver from his bedside and charged to confront the home invader who was trying to steal his flat-screen television.  "Although I have all kinds of remorse, that doesn't change the world," Batiste said. "This type (of) thing is still out there, and you should be able to defend yourself and your property without the risk of turning into a victim, if not by the person trying to victimize you, then by the law."

TX: Burglar ignores written warning, dies:  "Mark Brown had just returned home from a morning trip to the grocery store when he realized his home was being burglarized. He grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun, headed to the bedroom, where he saw his rings, watches, cuff links and bracelets piled in the middle of a bed. He heard a noise in the closet behind the closed door and fired one shot. As the thief pushed the door open, Brown fired off more blasts, killing the man. Holes were blown in the wall behind the body, blood splattered on clothes in the closet.  Brown even had a note by his back windows warning would-be burglars. "My neighborhood was getting rough. I was giving people a warning that whatever was going to happen, was going to happen," he said."

GA: Armed passerby saved woman from brutal attack:  "Dennis Terry decided to take a different route to the post office Thursday morning, and it’s a good thing he did. While driving on College Avenue near downtown Athens, he saw a man and woman struggling over a bag. When Terry stopped and backed up to see what was going on, he saw the man punch the woman, knocking her to the ground as she still clung to the bag.  Terry didn’t think twice about what to do next.  he 61-year-old Athens man grabbed his pistol and jumped out of his truck.  I went running toward them and started hollering. ‘You get down and turn her loose or I’ll shoot,’” Terry said in an interview Friday with the Athens Banner-Herald.  I got within about 15 feet of them and told him to ‘get down or I’ll shoot’ two or three times, and when he saw I meant business he turned her loose and ran,” Terry said."

Boehner says House will likely file suit within weeks to get Fast & Furious documents:  "GOP House Speaker John Boehner said Sunday the chamber will likely file a lawsuit to compel the Justice Department to release more documents related to the investigation into the federal government’s Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation.  Boehner, R-Ohio, said the suit could be filed within the next several weeks, following the GOP-led House approving two resolutions Thursday that put Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to provide additional documents to congressional investigators.  However, the second, civil contempt resolution grants the House the ability to ask a court to compel the Justice Department to hand over the documents.President Obama has already asserted executive privilege over the documents in question."

PA: Clerk shoots attempted robber overnight:  "Two men, both masked and armed, entered the Andromeda Grocery Store on the one hundred block of South Queen St. shortly after midnight on Saturday. As they attempted to rob the business, the clerk pulled out a gun and shot one of the suspects. When police arrived, they found Rodney Green, of Steelton, suffering a gunshot wound, and was immediately rushed to Lancaster General Hospital. Green is still listed in critical condition, and is now being transferred to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. Police have charged him with robbery, person not to posses a firearm, and other related charges. The gun he was using was recovered at the scene. The other suspect was not shot, and took after the shooting occurred. He has not been identified, and not in custody. The employees of the business were also uninjured."


TX: Store Clerk Shots, Kills Man Allegedly Stealing Beer:  "A Houston man paid the ultimate price for theft this week after he allegedly tried to steal beer from a convenience store, prompting the clerk to shoot and kill him.  Little is known about the victim other than that his name was Troy Vector, according to ABC station KTRK-TV in Houston, but store clerks told reporters that he was trying to steal several 12-packs of beer on Thursday night.  Rector was 52, and the Lone Star Grocery and Gas clerk was 19, according to KHOU-TV, a CBS affiliate in Houston.  He said Rector had stolen beer in the past and the clerk who was on duty told him that the man became aggressive this time around, going so far as to challenge the clerk to a fight.  The 19-year-old clerk who shot Rector had not been arrested as of Friday because police referred the case to a grand jury"


FL: Armed robber shot, killed after victim pulls his own gun:  "A man was killed this morning when one of two people he tried to rob at gunpoint drew their own gun and opened fire on the would-be robber, Jacksonville police said.  Sgt. Shawn Coarsey said the robber approached the two victims who were in their car in the 1000 block of West 13th Street about 3:30 a.m. He said the victim did have a permit to carry the firearm.


TX:  Restaurant manager shoots robbery suspect:  "An attempted robbery overnight at a Katy-area pizza restaurant ended with the suspect in the hospital with a gunshot wound.  Deputies tell us the 20-year-old suspect and another man entered the restaurant through a back door as an employee was taking out trash at the end of the night.  Officials said the armed duo then ran to the front of the store and confronted the manager, demanding cash.  Instead of reaching for money, the manager reached for a gun and fired twice at the 20-year-old.  The wounded suspect was taken to an area hospital. At last check, he was stable."

The Biggest Scandal In U.S. History

    Ann Coulter

Forget executive privilege, contempt of Congress, "fast and furious," how many documents the government has produced and who said what to whom on which date.

The Obama administration has almost certainly engaged in the most shockingly vile corruption scandal in the history of the country, not counting the results of Season Eight on "American Idol."

Administration officials intentionally put guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, so that when the guns taken from Mexican crime scenes turned out to be American guns, Democrats would have a reason to crack down on gun sellers in the United States.

Democrats will never stop trying to take our guns away. They see something more lethal than a salad shooter and wet themselves.

But since their party was thrown out of Congress for the first time in nearly half a century as a result of passing the 1994 "assault weapons ban," even liberals know they're going to need a really good argument to pass any limitation on guns ever again.

So it's curious that Democrats all started telling the same lie about guns as soon as Obama became president. In March 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced to reporters on a trip to Mexico: "Since we know that the vast majority, 90 percent of that weaponry (used by Mexican drug cartels), comes from our country, we are going to try to stop it from getting there in the first place."

As she sentimentally elaborated on Fox News' Greta Van Susteren show: "The guns sold in the United States, which are illegal in Mexico, get smuggled and shipped across our border and arm these terrible drug-dealing criminals so that they can outgun these poor police officers along the border and elsewhere in Mexico."

Suddenly that 90 percent statistic was everywhere. It was like the statistic on women beaten by their husbands on Super Bowl Sunday.

CBS' Bob Schieffer asked Obama on "Face the Nation": "It's my understanding that 90 percent of the guns that they're getting down in Mexico are coming from the United States. We don't seem to be doing a very good job of cutting off the gun flow. Do you need any kind of legislative help on that front? Have you, for example, thought about asking Congress to reinstate the ban on assault weapons?"

At a Senate hearing, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said: "It is unacceptable to have 90 percent of the guns that are picked up in Mexico and used to shoot judges, police officers and mayors ... come from the United States."

And then, thanks to Fox News -- the first network to report it -- we found out the 90 percent figure was complete bunkum. It was a fabrication told by William Hoover, of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATF), and then spread like wildfire by Democrats and the media.

Mexican law enforcement authorities send only a fraction of the guns they recover from criminals back to the U.S. for tracing. Which guns do they send? The guns that have U.S. serial numbers on them. It would be like asking a library to produce all their Mark Twain books and then concluding that 90 percent of the books in that library are by Mark Twain.

You begin to see why the left hates Fox News so much.

Obama backed away from the preposterous 90 percent claim. His National Security Council spokesman explained to Fox News that by "recovered," they meant "guns traceable to the United States." So, in other words, Democrats were frantically citing the amazing fact that almost all the guns traceable to the U.S. were ... traceable to the U.S.

Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters that even if the percentage is inaccurate, the "vast majority" of guns seized in crimes in Mexico come from the United States. And he should know, because it turns out he was sending them there!

Apart from the guns Holder was giving them, this was an absurd claim. Most of the guns used by drug cartels are automatic weapons -- not to mention shoulder-fired rockets -- that can't be sold to most Americans. They are acquired from places like Russia, China and Guatemala.

Right about the time the 90 percent lie was unraveling, the Obama administration decided to directly hand thousands of American guns over to Mexican criminals. Apart from the fact that tracking thousands of guns into Mexico is not feasible or rational, the dumped guns didn't have GPS tracing devices on them, anyway. There is no conceivable law enforcement objective to such a program.

This is what we know:

(1) Liberals thought it would be a great argument for gun control if American guns were ending up in the hands of Mexican criminals;

(2) They wanted that to be true so badly, Democrats lied about it;

(3) After they were busted on their lie, the Obama administration began dumping thousands of guns in the hands of Mexican criminals.

We also know that hundreds of people were murdered with these U.S.-government-supplied guns, including at least one American, U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

But let's look on the bright side. The BATF was originally going to ship warheads to Iran until realizing the explosions might disable the tracking devices.

(Contrary to more Democrat lies, there was no such program to dump thousands of guns in Mexico under George W. Bush. The Bush administration did have a program that put GPS trackers on about 100 guns in order to actually trace them. That operation was ended almost as soon as it began because of the lack of cooperation from Mexican officials. You may as well say Holder's program was "started" by the first cop who ever put tracer dye on contraband.)

No one has explained what putting 2,500 untraceable guns in the hands of Mexican drug dealers was supposed to accomplish.

But you know what that might have accomplished? It would make the Democrats' lie retroactively true -- allowing them to push for the same gun restrictions they were planning when they first concocted it. A majority of guns recovered from Mexican criminals would, at last, be American guns, because Eric Holder had put them there.

Unfortunately for the Democrats, some brave whistleblower inside the government leaked details of this monstrous scheme. As soon as Congress and the public demanded answers, Holder clammed up. He just says "oops" -- and accuses Republicans of racism.

Source





Is Buying a Gun a Suicidal Act?

Americans often buy guns for self-defense, a purpose that now has Supreme Court validation. But according to advocates of gun control, those purchasers overlook the people who pose the greatest threat: themselves. Anyone who acquires a firearm, we are told, is inviting a bloody death by suicide.

So says Matthew Miller, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health. "If you bought a gun today, I could tell you the risk of suicide to you and your family members is going to be two- to tenfold higher over the next 20 years," he told The Washington Post. Since the chance of a gun being used for suicide is so much higher than the chance of it being used to prevent a murder, we would all be better off with fewer firearms around.

It's a rich irony -- as though smoke alarms were increasing fire fatalities. But the argument raises two questions: Is it true? And, when it comes to gun control policy, does it matter?

As it turns out, the claims about guns and suicide don't stand up well to scrutiny. A 2004 report by the National Academy of Sciences was doubtful, noting that the alleged association is small and may be illusory.

Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck says there are at least 13 published studies finding no meaningful connection between the rate of firearms and the rate of suicides. The consensus of experts, he says, is that an increase in gun ownership doesn't raise the number of people who kill themselves -- only the number who do it with a gun.

That makes obvious sense. Someone who really wants to commit suicide doesn't need a .38, because alternative methods abound. Gun opponents, however, respond that guns inevitably raise the rate because they're uniquely lethal. Take away the gun, and you greatly increase the chance of survival.

But in his 1997 book, "Targeting Guns: Firearms and Their Control," Kleck points out that "suicide attempts with guns are only slightly more likely to end in death than those involving hanging, carbon monoxide poisoning, or drowning." It's not hard to think of some other pretty foolproof means of self-destruction -- such as jumping off a tall (or even not so tall) building, stepping in front of a train or driving at 80 mph into a telephone pole.

People who use guns are generally hellbent on ending their lives. So, deprived of a sidearm, they will no doubt find another reliable method -- rather than swallow a dozen aspirin and wake up in the emergency room. Banning guns is no more likely to reduce suicides than banning ice cream is to curb obesity.

A few decades ago, various European countries changed the type of natural gas used for home heating and cooking -- replacing a toxic form with a harmless variety. That step eliminated one time-tested way of killing oneself. Alas, while the number of gas suicides declined, in most of these countries, the death toll didn't.

The same pattern holds for guns. The National Academy of Sciences report noted that any link between firearms and suicides "is not found in comparisons across countries." The number of guns in a nation tells you nothing about its suicide rate.

But let's suppose science could establish that people who obtain firearms do indeed increase their death rate (or the death rate of their family members) from suicide. So what?

Buying a car may shorten your lifespan, since traffic accidents are a major killer. Building a backyard swimming pool creates a potential fatal hazard to you and your loved ones. But nobody says the government should interfere with such decisions.

Personal safety is a far more central matter of individual autonomy than those choices. A mentally stable person living in a crime-ridden neighborhood should be free to judge whether she's more at risk from street criminals than from a spell of intense depression.

Presumptuous paternalists argue that Americans should be deprived of guns because gun owners are their own worst enemies. A lot of Americans would reply: We can't trust ourselves, but we can trust you?

Source




OH:  Robbery suspect gets shot at gas pumps:  "An armed gunman who tried to rob a customer at a gas station wound up at Miami Valley Hospital after he was shot during a struggle with the intended victim.  A man in his late 20s to mid-30s was filling up his vehicle at the Marathon station, Main Street and Ridge Avenue, at about 5:30 p.m. when another man at the gas pumps pulled out a gun, Dayton Sgt. John Riegel told News Center 7.  A struggle ensued.  "During the struggle, the suspect had the gun taken away from him and was shot in the hand," Riegel said, noting that the bullet is believed to have gone through the assailant's hand. His injury was not life threatening and he was taken to the hospital."


MO: Police say  Man Charged with Murder Was Being Robbed as He Sold Marijuana:  "A University City teen killed Tuesday was robbing the man who shot him, according to St. Louis County Circuit Court documents.  University City Police said in the report that Shawn N. Lackland, 21,  provided a handgun to Eric Gray Jr, 16. Police said Lackland gave the handgun to Gray so he and Orlando McLamb-Rice, 19, could rob Otha Liggins, 23, of the 7400 block of Saleen, University City.  Liggins met Gray and Rice to selling them marijuana, according to court documents. During the attempted robbery in the rear of 1089 North Hanley, Liggins shot Gray in the head, killing him, police said.  Two weapons were recovered at the scene. One handgun was found next to Gray. The second handgun is believed to be the one used to shoot Gray."

Fast and Furious: US facing historic contempt vote

Conservative US Democrats have begun to desert Attorney General Eric H. Holder on the eve of a historic contempt of Congress vote, as Republicans upped the ante by planning to take Holder to court themselves if he doesn't hand over 1500 pages in documents on a failed gun-tracking operation.

House vote counters predicted that 20 to 31 Democrats would desert their party largely because the influential National Rifle Association threatened to oppose lawmakers who support the attorney general.

The House scheduled up to two hours of debate on Thursday before it votes on whether Holder, one of President Barack Obama's closest and most trusted cabinet allies, should be held in contempt.  It would be the first time a sitting member of the president's cabinet has been held in contempt.

Holder has repeatedly rebuffed a congressional subpoena to turn over 1500 pages of internal Department of Justice documents detailing his handling of the botched ATF Fast and Furious program.

The House will consider two resolutions.

The first would ask the US attorney in Washington to file a criminal case to force Holder to comply with the subpoena.

The other would permit the House to hire an outside lawyer to file a civil lawsuit asking a judge to compel Holder to cooperate.

Otherwise, a contempt resolution likely would die once it was sent to the US attorney, who works for Holder and likely would not force his boss to comply because Obama has asserted executive privilege to keep the documents sealed.

Although the Republican-controlled House does not need Democratic votes to pass the contempt resolution, the fact that a growing number of Democrats may switch sides points to the volatility of the increasingly political situation.

Two Democrats announced they would join Republicans in finding Holder in contempt for Fast and Furious, in which federal agents allowed 2500 firearms to be illegally purchased on the southwest border and two were recovered when US Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in December 2010.

"The Terry family, the public and Congress deserve answers," said Representative Jim Matheson, a six-term Democrat from Utah.

"Sadly, it seems that it will take holding the attorney general in contempt to communicate that evasiveness is unacceptable. It is a vote I will support."

Representative John Barrow, a Georgia Democrat in his fourth term, said: "The only way to get to the bottom of what happened is for the Department of Justice to turn over the remaining documents."

Then, he said, "We can work together to ensure this tragedy never happens again."

Republican Representative Darrell Issa of California, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has predicted that as many as 31 Democrats will vote with Republicans, based on the number of Democrats who joined Republicans a year ago asking Obama to direct Holder to cooperate with Congress.

Other House aides put the likely number of Democratic defections at 20.

But some conservative Democrats are remaining loyal to their party. "The House is rushing to judgment on this important issue," said Representative Jim Cooper, in his 11th term from Tennessee.

He said Congress should wait for the Justice Department's inspector general to complete its investigation into Fast and Furious, which he said "is nearing completion".

At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney reiterated the administration's stance that House Republicans are pushing contempt when they should be focusing on jobs and the economy.

He said they "have made the strategic choice to try to score political points," and that "this is political theatre".

A last-minute effort at compromise by White House and Justice officials was rebuffed by House Republicans on Tuesday.

The administration officials showed them about 30 pages of the 1500 pages in question, and promised more if they would stop the drive toward contempt.

Issa and the Republicans refused.

Source






British gun control


Where did these hundreds of seized weapons come from?

The deadly haul of guns collected from the streets of the West Midlands include an Uzi, AK47 and an exact replica of the handgun used by Saddam Hussain.

The myriad of over a hundred fierce firearms - some of which are modified or homemade - have been seized by, or been surrendered to, West Midland’s Police over the last 12 months.

The cache of weapons are now being contained within a secure unit at a secret location by the force and are being used to train firearms officers.

Pc Rob Pedley, a former firearms officer for 11 years, said: 'We obtain the guns through a variety of sources, many are seized but some are surrendered and handed in through amnesty’s and via other means.

'Some people have legitimately held licenses for rifles and decided to get rid of them - others we can perhaps connect to crimes or planned crimes.

'But each gun can be dangerous when in the wrong hands and we need to continually remind people of that fact.

'As a firearms officer, you have to very quickly assess situations and decide what the correct response is.

'It’s very difficult to know whether a firearm someone is in possession of is genuine or an imitation, and it is even more difficult when think about the fact that it could be pitch black and the person holding that weapon could 50 yards or more away.'

The force said yesterday said that imitation guns, easily sought for just a few pounds from a variety of websites, can even be as dangerous as the real thing.

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