Maryland Women Push For Shall-Issue CCW: Maryland Shall Issue, Inc. notes that this Friday at noon, dozens of women are expected to show up for the Lawyers Mall press conference and then hearing on HB 228, a bill to make the process of granting concealed carry permits non-discretionary. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-07-2007/0004541561&EDATE= --- More Tennessee Women Carrying Guns: For years, Nashville real estate agent Kim Hoard considered toting a gun for her safety at work and while traveling alone with her two children, ages 7 and 10. She recently took action when she started getting harassing telephone calls from a man who saw her photo in an advertisement... http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=43057&provider=gnews --- Vetoed Arizona Self-Defense Bill May Be Tweaked: Article provides more detail than the one linked yesterday about the possibility of producing a more palatable (to the governor) version of a bill to make Arizona's burden-of-proof statute for self-defense retroactive to cases pending at the time of the bill's passage. http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/44065.php --- California City Likely To Mandate Reporting Stolen Guns: The Thousand Oaks City Council has tentatively passed an ordinance requiring that losses and thefts of firearms be reported within 72 hours, mirroring ordinances in Los Angeles and San Francisco. (Apparently, no one questioned how such an ordinance would prevent the vicious crime recounted at the hearing.) http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/co_valley/article/0,1375,VCS_166_5400310,00.html --- Terrorists Could Use .50-Caliber Weapons!: An editorial in a New Jersey newspaper chastises state legislators for not yet having banned .50-caliber rifles, ostensibly because they could be used by terrorists. (No mention is made of any pending legislation to ban airplanes, which terrorists have actually used as weapons within the boundaries of the US.) http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzOTcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcwODkwMzMmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNA --- Ammunition Prices Skyrocket: An Idaho television station takes note of the fact that rising prices of copper and lead worldwide have raised the cost of ammunition, in some cases by as much as 50%, and that another 10% rise over the next 16 months is likely. http://www.kidk.com/news/6367572.html -- From JPFO: Today I was handing out JPFO anti-U.N. pamphlets in front of the United Nations visitor's entrance. I was behaving peacefully and orderly, and I thought that I might be protected by the United Nations' "Declaration on Human Rights" and the U.S. constitution, which are supposed to protect political speech and free expression... http://www.jpfo.org/alert20070307.htm --- From AzCDL: Your activism is working! SB 1629, which reduces the penalty for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit for otherwise law-abiding citizens, passed the Senate Committee of the Whole (COW) on March 7, 2007. It's now headed for a final vote (Third Read) in the Senate tomorrow on March 8, 2007. If you are not committing, or attempting to commit, a serious or violent crime, SB 1629 reclassifies carrying a concealed weapon without a permit as a petty offense. Here is the exact wording of the proposed new language for ARS 13-3102.K: "Misconduct involving weapons under subsection A, paragraph 1 or 2 of this section is a petty offense unless the violation occurs in the commission or attempted commission of a serious offense as defined in section 13-604 or a violent crime as defined in section 13-604.04, in which case the offense is a class 1 misdemeanor." Under current law, if you have not been issued a concealed weapons (CCW) permit, it is a class 1 misdemeanor to carry a concealed weapon. Everyone is treated like a hardened criminal. Sadly, because of a couple of 1994 Appellate Court decisions: · There is no clear, objective standard in statute that you can rely on to determine if you are violating the law. · If a casual observer cannot easily see your firearm, you are carrying concealed and could be arrested. · Wearing a gun in a vehicle = concealed carry. Without a permit you are subject to arrest. · Having a CCW permit and wearing a gun in a vehicle puts your non-CCW permit passengers at risk for being arrested for carrying concealed without a permit. SB 1629 separates the innocent mistake by otherwise law-abiding citizens from the cold-blooded actions of hardcore criminals. SB 1629 even adds the "attempted commission of a serious offense" language to the law, to assist law enforcement in arresting the bad guys. We need to keep the pressure on for passage of SB 1629 - Take the time to let the Senators know, in your own words, that you want them to vote for SB 1629, and that you are monitoring their vote. The following are email lists of Senators in semi-colon and comma separated formats. Use the one that works with your email software. Senate email addresses in semi-colon format: paboud@azleg.gov; aaguirre@azleg.gov; callen@azleg.gov; marzberger@azleg.gov; tbee@azleg.gov; rblendu@azleg.gov; rburns@azleg.gov; mburtoncahill@azleg.gov; kcheuvront@azleg.gov; jflake@azleg.gov; jgarcia@azleg.gov; pgorman@azleg.gov; rgould@azleg.gov; cgray@azleg.gov; lgray@azleg.gov; ahale@azleg.gov; jharper@azleg.gov; jhuppenthal@azleg.gov; kjohnson@azleg.gov; llandrumtaylor@azleg.gov; bleff@azleg.gov; dmccunedavis@azleg.gov; rmiranda@azleg.gov; to'halleran@azleg.gov; cpesquiera@azleg.gov; rrios@azleg.gov; vsoltero@azleg.gov; jtibshraeny@azleg.gov; tverschoor@azleg.gov; jwaring@azleg.gov Senate email addresses in comma format: paboud@azleg.gov, aaguirre@azleg.gov, callen@azleg.gov, marzberger@azleg.gov, tbee@azleg.gov, rblendu@azleg.gov, rburns@azleg.gov, mburtoncahill@azleg.gov, kcheuvront@azleg.gov, jflake@azleg.gov, jgarcia@azleg.gov, pgorman@azleg.gov, rgould@azleg.gov, cgray@azleg.gov, lgray@azleg.gov, ahale@azleg.gov, jharper@azleg.gov, jhuppenthal@azleg.gov, kjohnson@azleg.gov, llandrumtaylor@azleg.gov, bleff@azleg.gov, dmccunedavis@azleg.gov, rmiranda@azleg.gov, to'halleran@azleg.gov, cpesquiera@azleg.gov, rrios@azleg.gov, vsoltero@azleg.gov, jtibshraeny@azleg.gov, tverschoor@azleg.gov, jwaring@azleg.gov You can also call your Senator and ask them to support these bills. The Senate main number is (602) 926-3559. You can find your Senator here: http://www.azleg.gov/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp We will keep you informed on the progress of SB 1629 and other important legislation. Information on this and other bills can be found at the AzCDL website: http://www.azcdl.org/html/legislation.html 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 .