No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.9/217 - Release Date: 12/30/2005 Arizona Citizens Defense League Debuts: Frustrated with the legislative efforts of the NRA and its state affiliate, a group of Arizona gun owners have formed the Arizona Citizens Defense League, which has already found sponsors for bills for the 2006 legislative session. AzCDL is basically oriented toward regaining lost rights of self-defense. The group is offering free legislative alerts. At this time you must click on the "Who we are" link, then the "Bylaws" link, then scroll down several pages to find out how to join. (I have taken out a sustaining membership.) http://www.azcdl.org/ --- Dynamics Of A Shooting: A district attorney in Oregon has cleared a Corvallis police officer in the fatal shooting of a mentally ill man who threatened and attacked him with a three-foot metal rod. Note the ineffectiveness of the Taser. http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2005/12/23/news/community/fri03.txt --- More Details Would Be Nice: An auxiliary police officer in Indiana will be sent for remedial firearms training after shooting her fiancé in the leg. She was attempting to shoot a pit bull that was running toward her. (It's not clear if she failed to evaluate the background or if the bullet ricocheted. Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it.) http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051229/NEWS01/51229003 --- A List Member Inquires: > Stephen, > > With two similar incidents taking place on local highways recently, I > was discussing the matter with my wife this evening. I'd like to know > what you would suggest if you were to encounter a situation where you > were: > a. driving on the freeway, in heavy traffic. > b. an erratic driver pulls up to your side, manages to attract you > attention, and brandishes a firearm. > > http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1230shooting-ON.html 1. Get out of the easiest line of fire. In most cases this will be a matter of braking but, in certain circumstances, could involve acceleration. Circumstances may allow you a lane change as well. It is easiest for someone firing from one moving vehicle to another to hit if the vehicles remain completely parallel to each other while the shooter is firing. 2. The problem is enhanced in urban areas, where freeway traffic tends to box you in. While I can advise use of the Key of Defense Driving of "leaving yourself an out," trying to maintain maneuvering space around your vehicle, attempting to do so on a crowded freeway might be the very thing that provokes an aggressive driver. 3. If you perceive an immediate threat, your best weapon is your vehicle. However, recall the annual 5 mph crash tests you see on the news - an impact at a net 5 mph can seriously impair your ability to keep driving. If you must use your vehicle as a weapon (or to remove one that is blocking you), make your impact at 2-3 mph. In other words, if the other vehicle is moving at 55 mph, you want to strike him doing about 57 mph. If you do this against a moving vehicle, aim for one of the other vehicle's wheels. 4. The use of your vehicle as a weapon does present the dilemma of where the aggressor vehicle will end up once it has lost control. This may not pose a threat to other drivers on a relatively empty rural road but could easily do so on a crowded freeway. The rural-road scenario is not unheard of - in the closing months of this year I have been aware of two road-rage shootings on SR 260, east of Payson although I must add that rural highways may also be crowded as they are often two-lane affairs. 5. Most of the time that an innocent driver is hit in a road-rage shooting, the shot is fired by a passenger in the aggressor vehicle. It's extremely difficult to shoot and drive at the same time. --- From John Farnam: 26 Dec 05 Lion Hunting: John Taylor referred to himself as "Last of the Ivory Hunters." An adventurous Britisher, from the 1920s through the 1950s, John was on a more-or-less continuous safari in South and East Africa, hunting mostly elephant. The native Chinyungwe gave him the nickname, "Pondoro," which translates to, "Lion." In such remote areas did he spend most of his adult life, that he didn't even know WWII had broken out until he read about it in old newspapers used to wrap supplies he had arranged to be sent to him in the bush! Upon returning to London in the 1950s, he discovered, too late, that civilization represented a lethal snare. Owing to politics, he was unable to return to the Africa he loved. He died in London, penniless, in 1969. He has interesting comments about lion hunting: "... what rifle to use for lion? See to it that you have plenty of power. The lion's tenacity to life is something you can't possibly appreciate until you have had actual evidence of it. You can drill him through and through..., and he'll come on..., and he will still be able to kill you first. It's happened many and many a time. ... the British seem to have a mania for featherweight, smallbores, throughout Africa, and when I hear of one of them getting killed or mauled, I just can't shed a tear. ... You may shoot many lion without being charged; but sooner of later you'll have to face one. I consider it the acme of foolishness to tackle a lion with a low-powered rifle. ... when lion hunting, I strongly recommend you carry a good handgun, in an open-top holster. When a lion gets you down... he will chew on an arm or leg for a long time and appear to be quite satisfied. Men have tried to get hold of the lion's tongue, only to have their hands crushed to pulp. Had they a handgun... they could have blown out the animal's brains a few seconds after being brought down." Comment: "Tenacity for life" represents a challenge no matter what you are trying to kill! In fighting, it is a matter of being more tenacious than your opponent. When you raise the ante high enough, most human opponents will break it off, rather than risk losing the only life they have. His comments about fast pistols in open-top holsters are also interesting. He apparently had scant interest in wimpy rifles and slow pistols. When carrying a rifle, you should always be carrying a pistol(s) too. When the lion charges, it is too late to "get ready!" /John (I believe that Taylor's comment about open-top holsters refers to the lack of a flap, not necessarily the lack of a retention device such as a thumb-break. When John refers to "slow pistols," I believe that he is referring to access, not muzzle velocity.) -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .