Cook County Bans Semi-auto, Pump Shotguns: Pump and semi-automatic shotguns banned in Illinois? Cant happen? Just did. Chicago gun owners had until Feb.12, 2007 to remove newly banned firearms from Cook Co. or turn them over to police...Sen. Emil Jones and Rep. Acevedo of Chicago have filed legislation calling for a statewide "assault weapons" ban. http://www.thedepaulia.com/story.asp?artid=2207§id=4 --- New Anti-CCW Tack In Dodge City: The city manager here is recommending that city officials let die a controversial ordinance proposal that adds to the list of city-owned sites where concealed guns may not be carried. Instead, Jeff Pederson's new plan calls on city commissioners to draw up a list of places where they'd like to prohibit concealed guns. Signs would then be posted at the locales announcing as much, with the backing only of the state concealed-carry law, not a city ordinance, said Nannette Pogue, the city finance director. http://www.hutchnews.com/news/regional/stories/dodgeguns030307.shtml --- California Man Charged When Fire Reveals "Arsenal": A man who authorities described as a survivalist after investigators found a cache of weapons and ammunitions at his burning home has been arrested and jailed, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said Saturday...The only illegal items investigators have identified so far are five assault rifles, several high-capacity magazines and the 60 pounds of gunpowder, they said. It is illegal to possess more than one pound of gunpowder, Gutierrez said. (I don't believe, even in California, that it is illegal to own more than one pound of smokeless powder although some cities may ban storing more than one pound in a residence.) http://www.pe.com/localnews/desert/stories/PE_News_Local_D_webarrest.3571c30.html http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_5357855 --- Oops, Wrong House: A 79-year-old Ohio man fatally shot an intruder who had knocked him down kicking in the back door to the man's home, then pointed a handgun at him. The homeowner drew his own handgun and shot the intruder once in the chest. The intruder died at a local hospital. http://www.columbusdispatch.com/news-story.php?story=250554 Intruder Had Lengthy Record: http://www.columbusdispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/03/05/20070305-B4-01.html --- Oops, Wrong Attorney: A prominent Florida attorney describes an attempted robbery which culminated in his fatal shooting of the robber. (With this guy's luck, he should run out and buy a lottery ticket. Points to consider: using the vehicle as a weapon and running over the assailant; getting a CWFL and carrying the gun on your person instead of leaving it in the glove compartment; getting at least a coarse visual index with the gun instead of firing in a "general direction.) http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_063182841.html --- I Could Fire A Gun: A woman who describes herself as a pacifist, married to a gun owner, envisions one scenario in which she would not hesitate to fire a gun - to protect her son. Somehow this fortifies her choice never to own one. (At least her husband appears to keep at least one in the house.) http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/305920_firstperson05.html --- One More Twit: An editorialist in Eugene OR demonstrates that he knows as little about the First Amendment as he does about the Second. "Print and broadcast outlets that should have stood behind Zumbo based on clear First Amendment principles allowed themselves to be brow-beaten by a Second Amendment lynch mob. So much for protecting the Constitution." ( Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/03/04/ed.edit.zumbo.jmg.0304.p1.php?section=opinion Related Drivel From Portland: http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/bill_monroe/index.ssf?/base/sports/1172888748187850.xml&coll=7 --- Probation For Man Who Stole Theodore Roosevelt's Revolver: A man was spared a jail sentence for taking the gun Theodore Roosevelt used in the Spanish-American War's most famous battle. Anthony Joseph Tulino was sentenced Friday to two years probation, 50 hours of community service and a $500 fine. A federal judge noted that Tulino had changed since the 1892 revolver was removed from a Long Island museum in 1990. http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--rooseveltsgun0303mar03,0,2910297.story --- Tangentially Related: I try to avoid partisan politics per se in these mailings as much as possible but, unless the Democrats nominate Bill Richardson for president, it seems as though most politically aware gun owners (who are not willing to "spend" a symbolic vote on a Libertarian") would be looking toward a conservative Republican. The news from this weekend's Conservative Political Action Conference is not encouraging. http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110009744 http://www.humanevents.com/rightangle/index.php?id=21218&title=newt_and_none_of_the_above_talk_of_cpac http://www.washtimes.com/national/20070304-115525-5836r.htm Interestingly enough, a columnist for The New York Times seems to have discovered Richardson's potential as a Democratic presidential candidate but his op-ed is a TimesSelect item. If you want to read his comments badly enough, you can sign up for the 14-day free trial and not continue with the paid subscription. (Richardson, by the way, is regarded as weak on immigration/border issues.) http://select.nytimes.com/gst/tsc.html?URI=http://select.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/opinion/04brooks.html&OQ=_rQ3D1Q26nQ3DTopQ252fOpinionQ252fEditorialsQ2520andQ2520OpQ252dEdQ252fOpQ252dEdQ252fColumnists&OP=7d135710Q2FeQ2AQ7DQ3FeQ24sUQ5CQ5CQ24ewddVedQ5EedQ3BeQ5CfCrCQ5CredQ3BQ3FUQ5CQ5CisQ3C-Q24Pc And a whole bunch of speculation: http://www.redstate.com/stories/elections/2008/the_gop_will_not_nominate_bozo_the_clown --- From AzCDL: SB 1301, which rewrites 13-3102.F to clarify that if any portion of a weapon or holster is visible, the weapon is openly carried, will be heard in the House Judiciary committee on Thursday, March 8, 2007. The current law has two problems. First, open carry is limited in statute to a belt holster, and the holster, NOT the weapon, must be "wholly or partially visible." SB 1301 specifies that either the weapon or the holster can be visible, and removes the "belt holster" restriction. The second problem is the interpretation of the "wholly or partially visible" language in ARS 13-3102.F by a 1994 Appellate court decision. This decision held that it has to be obvious to ordinary observation that you're carrying a weapon. SB 1301 replaces the "wholly or partially visible" language, and refers to "any portion" of a weapon or holster being visible. Information on this and other bills can be found at the AzCDL website: http://www.azcdl.org/html/legislation.html Please take the time to send a polite note to the committee members and let them know that you want them to vote SB 1301 out of committee with a recommendation for passage by the full House. Below are the email addresses of the committee members in both semi-colon and comma separation formats. Use the list that is compatible with your email software. Semi-colon format: efarnsworth@azleg.gov; adriggs@azleg.gov; kadams@azleg.gov; rcrandall@azleg.gov; sgallardo@azleg.gov; akirkpatrick@azleg.gov; bkonopnicki@azleg.gov; bmiranda@azleg.gov; ksinema@azleg.gov; syarbrough@azleg.gov Comma format: efarnsworth@azleg.gov, adriggs@azleg.gov, kadams@azleg.gov, rcrandall@azleg.gov, sgallardo@azleg.gov, akirkpatrick@azleg.gov, bkonopnicki@azleg.gov, bmiranda@azleg.gov, ksinema@azleg.gov, syarbrough@azleg.gov As legislation progresses, we will keep you up to date via these Alerts and at our website. 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 Copyright © 2007 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved. -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .