Kansas Senate Overrides CCW Pre-Emption Veto: Kansas lawmakers on Friday overrode the governor's veto of a bill preventing city governments from imposing additional restrictions on people carrying concealed guns. It's the second veto by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, to be overridden by the Republican-controlled Legislature since she took office in 2003. Last year, lawmakers overrode her veto of a bill creating the concealed gun law. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/4/27/214320.shtml?s=us --- Nevada CCW-Reciprocity Bill Clears Senate: SB 237, the long-awaited Right-to-Carry reciprocity bill, passed the Senate by a 20-1 margin and is now on its way to the Assembly Judiciary Committee, where it faces its toughest battle. The Assembly Judiciary Committee has killed every reciprocity measure brought before it...SB 92, a measure that would significantly improve the pro-gun climate in Clark County by eliminating the immediate handgun registration mandate that currently exists, passed the full Senate by a vote of 20-1. It now moves to the Assembly Government Affairs Committee, which is chaired by pro-gun Democrat Marilyn Kirkpatrick... http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?id=2905 More NRA-ILA State Alerts: http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/State/ --- Webb Aide Will Not Be Prosecuted On Gun Charges: Federal prosecutors will not prosecute an aide to Virginia U.S. Sen. Jim Webb for trying to take a gun that was in a handbag into a Senate office building last month, according to NBC News correspondent Pete Williams...Thompson was arrested after an officer stationed at an X-ray machine allegedly saw a 9 mm handgun in a bag he was trying to take into the building. Authorities said they also found two additional fully loaded magazines. http://www.nbc4.com/news/13213059/detail.html http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0428CapitolGun0428.html --- Not "Allowed": ... What really bothers me about the word "allow" is the way it is so commonly used in the fight for gun rights; a CCW allows one to carry a gun, we should be allowed to carry in National Parks, the Post Office does not allow guns in their buildings, etc. The problem with these statements is that the use of the word "allow" implies authority and privilege and shifts the burden of proof in debate. .. http://www.ohioccw.org/content/view/3866/83/ --- Couric's Biased Questions: Ken Shepherd contrasts the questions Katie Couric asked the Brady Bunch's Paul Helmke with those she asked pro-RKBA Sen. Larry Craig, following the Cho incident at Virginia Tech. http://newsbusters.org/node/12363 --- Three Years later...: A California jury has acquitted a rancher of manslaughter charges in the fatal shooting of his neighbor three years ago. The key element in the jury's decision appears to be that even California does not impose a duty to retreat. http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/44257.html --- Free Publicity: Ignatius Piazza has scored a bit of a publicity coup for his legally beleaguered Front Sight Firearms Training Institute with an offer of free firearms training for teachers, in the aftermath of the Cho incident at Virginia Tech. (He made a similar offer to airline pilots following the event of September 11, 2001.) http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55436 Airline Defense Training Gets Low Turnout: ...Although the pilots said the course was valuable, federal officials are struggling to boost the participation of airline crew members in the one-day program. Only two - both of whom had experience in self-defense - showed up to take the Monday morning class. And neither was a flight attendant, the target group for the training. (Flight attendants are not eligible to become armed Federal Flight Deck Officers, a program which has not exactly been facilitated by TSA.) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/27/AR2007042701937.html?hpid=artslot --- Another Legend Bites The Dust?: Most police firearms instructors have heard an unsubstantiated account of an officer who hung his 1911 pistol from a coat hook while using the toilet in a public restroom. The story goes that he bumped the trigger on the hook when he went to recover the pistol and that the recoiling motion from each shot resulted in emptying the full magazine into the ceiling. I have long felt that the story is apocryphal but would make a more credible lesson if told with a Glock, which would not require the release of a thumb safety. Well, a cop in Arkansas tried it with a Glock and only fired one round into the ceiling. (Rule Three applies to not inserting inanimate objects, as well as fingers, into trigger guards before your sights are on the target and you're prepared to fire.) http://www.bentoncourier.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3156 --- Rule Four Reminder: Police rushed to a Weirton (WV) home after the homeowner claimed there were intruders inside his house. But, in the end, officers said the homeowner fired shots from inside his house and nearly shot an officer...While no one was injured, police arrested Collins and said he could face a charge of wanton endangerment. (Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it.) http://www.wtov9.com/news/13050781/detail.html --- Here We Go Again: The bullet that killed a New York state trooper during a shootout Wednesday morning in a farmhouse in the Catskill Mountains came from the gun of a fellow officer, not the suspect they had cornered, the state police said yesterday. (Recall John Farnam's questioning the value of a target system that requires users to shoot a metal plate as quickly as possible, simply because it popped up. Bullets come with no brakes or steering wheels.) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/28/nyregion/28trooper.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=nyregion&pagewanted=all Related Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/28/nyregion/28friendly.html?_r=1&oref=slogin --- What Else Is New?: A report from Britain cautions that women police firearms officers risk accidental shootings because the weapons they use are too big for their hands, according to a leading representative of female officers. (While most American firearms instructors are aware that female students often require handguns with smaller grip-frame circumferences, I think it would be more accurate to express the resultant problem in terms of missing the selected target, rather than shooting themselves and their colleagues. As to the issue of buttons, traditionally, women's garments have had the buttons opposite those of men's because ladies were dressed by maids, for whom it was easier if the buttons were placed that way.) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/27/ngun27.xml Meanwhile, In Scotland...: http://www.24dash.com/showbiz_slapdash/19851.htm --- Interesting Approach: Members of a special grand jury began training sessions Tuesday to help them investigate fatal shootings and other uses of force by police in DeKalb County (GA) last year...The special grand jury will review how the shootings were investigated and study police training and procedures...After the special grand jury was sworn in April 10, Keyes Fleming said the members would receive training regarding police use of force, but she declined to specify what the training would include. http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2007/04/24/0424dekgrandjury.html --- NRA Backpedals?: The National Rifle Association has always supported including the records of individuals adjudicated mentally defective into the National Instant Background Check System...We do not support proposals that allow for unnecessary or overly broad information to be included in the NICS; unfairly target individuals who have not been adjudicated mentally defective; seek to retain approved NICS transaction records for more than 24 hours; or anything else that would expand NICS beyond its original purpose. http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?id=217&issue=018 Related Article: http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070427/NEWS/704270385/1006/NEWS --- Arizonans More Worried About Drivers With Cell Phones Than With Guns: Arizonans are more concerned about motorists with cell phones than those with guns. A new statewide survey shows residents nearly evenly divided on the question of whether it should be illegal for drivers to have a loaded weapon in the vehicle. (However, it is legal to carry a loaded firearm inside a vehicle in Arizona, under a variety of circumstances, including being licensed for concealed carry.) http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2007/04/27/news/20070427_front%20page_8.txt --- Arizona Governor Vetoes Clarification Of Open Carry: Gov. Janet Napolitano on Friday vetoed a bill that would have allowed a person without a concealed-weapon permit to carry a gun largely concealed as long as any part of it or its holster was visible. (See more objective report below.) http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=6439373 --- From AzCDL: SB 1301, which rewrites ARS 13-3102.F to clarify that if any portion of a weapon or holster is visible, the weapon is openly carried, was vetoed by the Governor on April 27, 2007. SB 1301 had strong bipartisan support in the legislature. It passed the Senate on April 23, 2007 by a vote of 21-5-4. On April 9, 2007, the House passed SB 1301 by a vote of 40-16-4. The current law has several problems. Foremost, 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. Another problem is the interpretation of "concealed" by a 1994 Appellate court decision, which 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 in ARS 13-3102.F, and refers to "any portion" of a weapon or holster being visible. An amendment was added to SB 1301 in the House clarifying that a concealed weapons permit is not required to carry in your home, business, or real property owned, leased or rented by you, including in "common areas". The amendment also made it clear that this exemption applied to carrying concealed in vehicles on your own property as well. People have been arrested for carrying a firearm in the common areas of apartment complexes where they live. Please take the time to send a message to the Governor letting her know you are disappointed with her veto of SB 1301. Her email address is azgov@az.gov. Please send a courtesy copy of your message to president@AzCDL.org. You can also go to the Governor's website http://azgovernor.gov/Contact.asp where you will find a fill-in-the-blanks form to register your opinion. For "subject", scroll down and select "Legislation." For "topic", fill in "SB 1301." You can also fax a letter to her at 602-542-1381. Or you can mail it to her at the following address: The Honorable Janet Napolitano Governor of Arizona 1700 West Washington Phoenix, Arizona 85007 You can call her office toll free using this number: 1-800-253-0883 Information on this and other bills can be found at the AzCDL website: http://www.azcdl.org/html/legislation.html 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 .