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Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 267.15.8/260 - Release Date: 2/14/2006 Pediatricians, Butt Out: A bill passed in the Virginia House of Delegates, if also passed by the Senate, will bar pediatricians from asking parents about firearms in the home unless the question is related to a patient complaint or an injury. http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&%09s=1045855935264&c=MGArticle&cid=1137834076858&path=%21news%21politics --- Experienced Hunters Fault Cheney In Shooting: Echoing the sentiments of a few list members who e-mailed me, all the hunters who were interviewed by The Washington Times, the largest conservative national newspaper, put the blame squarely on the vice-president for shooting a hunting companion. http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060214-111127-7044r.htm The Wall Street Journal On the Cover-Up: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110007970 Putting It All Into Perspective: http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/tonyblankley/2006/02/15/186541.html --- SWAT Weapons Stolen From Vehicle: A Virginia Beach VA SWAT team member, in San Antonio TX to train with the local SWAT team, had some weapons stolen from his vehicle as he returned to his hotel room to get some more items. (John Farnam counsels against carrying firearms in cases that suggest their contents.) http://www.ksat.com/news/7013679/detail.html?subid=22100443&qs=1;bp=t --- Tacoma Mall Shooting Victim On Road To Recovery: The man who was too slow on the trigger when confronting an active shooter in a Tacoma WA mall is making surprising steps on the road to recovery. Note his account of how he got shot. http://www.katu.com/team2/story.asp?ID=83365 --- Arizona Trail-Shooting Trial Postponed At Least 30 Days: Article summarizes issues and the recent ruling on admissibility of evidence. More defense motions will be filed. http://www.paysonroundup.com/section/localnews/story/22182 Defense Attorney Arrested For Suspicion Of DUI: (from The Arizona Daily Star) PHOENIX -- A former U.S. attorney for Arizona was arrested on suspicion of driving while impaired Tuesday following a minor traffic accident, authorities said. A. Melvin McDonald, now a prominent Phoenix defense attorney, was booked into a Maricopa County jail Tuesday afternoon and was released on his own recognizance, said county sheriff's spokesman Lt. Paul Chagolla. Authorities said McDonald's car appeared to rear-end another vehicle while exiting Interstate 10 near downtown Phoenix. No one was injured, but the other driver suspected McDonald might be impaired and called authorities, according to state Department of Public Safety spokesman Rick Knight. "I'm a diabetic. I take insulin four times day. I may have had diabetic reaction," McDonald said in a telephone interview. "I do not drink, and I am an advocate against drinking and driving." --- Ontario Government Leads Burglars To Gun Owners: Government agencies released a map showing the concentration and general location of licensed firearms owners in Ontario. This highly private information was recently posted on the Toronto Star's website. http://www.ccnmatthews.com/news/releases/show.jsp?action=showRelease&searchText=false&showText=all&actionFor=579966 --- Modern-Day Silly Talk: In the middle of Walter Williams' commentary is an insight into the CDC agenda to end private ownership of firearms in the US. http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/walterwilliams/2006/02/15/186329.html --- From Gun Week: Front Sight Suit Appears Headed to California Court by Dave Workman Senior Editor Despite early hopes that a class-action lawsuit against Dr. Ignatius Piazza, founder of the Front Sight Firearms Training Institute near Las Vegas, NV, might be settled out of court, it now appears that the case will wind up before a judge. While that prospect looms on the legal horizon, it has now been revealed that Piazza's once-coveted "special deputy" status with the Nye County, NV, Sheriff's Department was not renewed in 2003 when a new sheriff took over the agency. Prior to that, according to The Pahrump Valley Times and documents obtained by Gun Week, it appears that Piazza used his "special deputy" status to fly armed aboard commercial aircraft. Gun Week reported last Fall that Piazza and Front Sight Management Inc. are being sued by several Front Sight students under consumer protection laws in the state of California. C. Keith Greer, attorney for the plaintiffs, had initially told Gun Week that he was hoping the issue could be settled amicably, but more recently, he has indicated that the case will go to trial. Gun Week has left repeated requests with Piazza's attorney for comment, but he has not returned several calls. Piazza declined to discuss the lawsuit last Autumn, telling Gun Week instead that his attorney would respond. Investors The lawsuit was brought by people who had invested considerable sums of money in Front Sight memberships, believing that they were getting, as part of the agreement, building lots on which to construct homes in what Piazza had envisioned would become a shooting community, growing up around the firm's world-class training facility. Years have passed, and the development has not materialized. According to The Pahrump Valley Times, a community newspaper, Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo stripped Piazza of his special deputy status, along with several Front Sight instructors, when he came into office in 2003. Piazza reportedly had gotten deputy credentials from former Sheriff Wade Lieseke, who was defeated by DeMeo. DeMeo is facing re-election this Fall. In an interview with Gun Week, DeMeo said the situation of the special deputy designations is only now coming to light because of the attention being paid to the federal lawsuit against Piazza and Front Sight. DeMeo told Gun Week that he first learned of the special deputy program when he joined the department in 1999, after having retired from a law enforcement career in Jersey City, NJ, and moving west to be near his parents. After serving with the Nye County agency for about three years, he ran for sheriff on a shoestring budget and a very grassroots campaign, and won. Still clinging to his New Jersey accent, DeMeo said he was first approached by one of his own deputies in early 2003 about renewing special deputy status for Piazza. Instead, due to legal requirements that have been adopted over the past several years pertaining to reserve deputies, he decided to quash the special deputy system. He said he even placed an advertisement in the newspaper, asking for the return of all special deputy badges. He estimated that about 100 of the badges had been issued at the time he was sworn in as sheriff. Piazza reportedly had contributed $8,000 to Lieseke's campaign, but DeMeo denied that his decision to strip Piazza of his badge had anything to do with politics. The sheriff insisted to Gun Week that his sole interest was to protect Nye County from liability because Piazza had apparently never gone through the required law enforcement training to be a reserve deputy, and there are very strict guidelines on who may bring firearms aboard commercial aircraft. Piazza is known to have had extensive firearms experience. Letter However, according to a "To Whom It May Concern" letter written on Piazza's behalf by the former sheriff, "Ignatius Piazza has received an extensive amount of specialized and advanced firearms training." This letter, on Nye County Sheriff's Office letterhead, was dated Sept. 16, 2002 and was apparently provided to Piazza to allow him to fly while armed on commercial airliners. Gun Week has obtained a copy of that letter. When Piazza personally visited DeMeo in 2003, only to learn that the new sheriff would no longer allow him to have a badge, "Piazza was not pleased," DeMeo recalled. "It was just too problematic, too troubling to me," DeMeo explained. He also told Gun Week that his deputies no longer train at the Front Sight facility. DeMeo was also concerned about the appearance of propriety when Front Sight instructors who had received special deputy badges would be teaching firearms courses and apparently intimated to students that they were Nye County sheriff's deputies. This article is provided free by GunWeek.com. For more great gun news, subscribe to our print edition. --- From AzCDL: On February 13, 2006, amendments to SB 1145 and SCR 1001, adopted by the Senate Judiciary Committee, created the most significant legislation affecting anyone faced with a self-defense situation in Arizona. SB 1145 and SCR 1001 stand out among the half dozen or so "castle doctrine" bills introduced this legislative session. These bills are essentially identical. Where SB 1145 proposes changes to Arizona statutory law, SCR 1001 creates a referendum for proposed changes to the Arizona Constitution. The text of each bill can be found here: http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/47leg/2r/bills/sb1145p.pdf (SB 1145) http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/47leg/2r/bills/scr1001p.pdf (SCR 1001) On February 10, 2006, Senators Dean Martin and Jack W. Harper introduced amendments to SB 1145 and SCR 1001 that would reestablish "innocent until proven guilty" (affirmative defense) in self-defense situations in Arizona: http://tinyurl.com/cmpbh (SB 1145) http://tinyurl.com/d58tx (SCR 1001) The Senate Judiciary committee on February 13, 2006, with broad bi-partisan support, passed the amendments and the bills out of committee by a 7-1 vote. http://tinyurl.com/8b39o The amended versions of SB 1145 and SCR 1001 represent an historic opportunity to reestablish "innocent until proven guilty" in Arizona law. From territorial days until 1997, Arizona properly treated self-defense as a case of innocent until proven guilty. In 1997 all that was changed with A.R.S. 13-103: http://tinyurl.com/bn5ks Since 1997, in self-defense cases, you are now in effect guilty unless you can prove your innocence. You must admit to the underlying criminal conduct and then demonstrate that the guilt you admitted is false, by proving you were justified. It is a prosecutor's dream and the public's worst nightmare. A criminal now has better legal protection than a person who claims self-defense after an attack. Arizona and Ohio are the only states in the nation that have this insane law. We now have an opportunity to restore "innocent until proven guilty" in Arizona by pushing for the passage of HB 1145 and SCR 1001. AzCDL is closely monitoring SB 1145 and SCR 1001 and will "alert" you when it's time to put pressure on your Senators. These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all-volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. Join today! AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .