Philadelphia Defies State Law: The City Council approved limits to gun purchases with the promise to sue state lawmakers to enforce it, saying the city could no longer wait for the Legislature as the murder rate skyrockets. Only state lawmakers can enact firearms laws in Pennsylvania. But with 137 homicides in Philadelphia so far this year, Councilman Darrell Clarke said the city had to do something. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/5/4/123957.shtml?s=us http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20070504_Phila__faces_down_state__adopts_gun-control_laws.html --- Waco Rules vs. Romanian Rules: Mike Vanderboegh challenges a recent editorial that claimed, "In a Shoot-out, the Feds Always Win." He contrasts Waco with the Romanian uprising against Ceausescu and observes that Americans are better armed than the Romanians were. http://waronguns.blogspot.com/2007/05/guest-editorial-resistance-is-futile.html --- Getting Licensed To Own A Handgun In NYC: A back-pedaling Rudy Giuliani suggests that he has no problems with New Yorkers owning firearms, so long as they are properly licensed. A pharmacist, who subsequently had to shoot an armed robber, describes the eleven-month process of getting his own pistol permit in the City of New York. http://www.carrollgardenscourier.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18296582&BRD=2384&PAG=461&dept_id=560116&rfi=6 --- While In Michigan...: Women who wish to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon can now get the required training from the Wayne County Sheriff's office. The class is being held in partnership with Wayne County Community College, and is for women only. http://www.wxyz.com/content/onairlinks/seenon7/story.aspx?content_id=68f5e17f-b161-4178-a1b2-8b3002f41a81 --- Oops, Wrong House: An army officer in Georgia came home early and found that his home had been ransacked and that several firearms had been taken. He grabbed his SKS rifle and dialed 911. As he was on the phone the burglar returned. The burglar died at a local hospital. (The SKS is similar to the AK-47 only in that they both fire the 7.62x39mm cartridge. Arguably, what the American press usually calls an AK-47 also fires semi-automatically.) http://www.wsbtv.com/news/13256605/detail.html http://www.wrdw.com/crimeteam12/headlines/7335341.html --- NRA Letter To Alberto Gonzales: Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA-ILA, has responded to the attorney general's statement of support of Sen. Lautneberg's bill that would give the attorney general the authority to deny firearm purchases to people listed on terrorism "watch lists." http://www.nraila.org/media/PDFs/NRA_ltr_gonzales.pdf --- NRA-ILA Alerts: Legislative alerts for various states are available on the NRA-ILA website. http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/State/ --- Self-Defense And International Law; David Kopel and colleagues thoroughly demolish the current claims of IANSA and the United Nations that there are no rights to self-defense and to keep and bear arms under international law. http://davekopel.com/2A/LawRev/The-Human-Right-of-Self-Defense.pdf --- Murder, British Style: Britain is experiencing a spate of murders that suggests a population increasingly unable, or unwilling, to control itself. A recent survey suggested that the British are now more prone to knife-fights than any other people in Europe. Guns have also become fashionable, despite - or is it because of? - stringent laws against them. http://www.city-journal.org/html/eon2007-04-09td.html --- From Liberty Watch Radio: This week at 1 p.m. MST on Liberty Watch/America Armed & Free, Massad Ayoob, nationally known firearms trainer, will speak on how to stop a mass murderer in his tracks, armed or unarmed. The program is heard on AM 690 in Tucson, AM 930 in Douglas, and 1240 in Globe, streamed live at http://kvoi.com/listenlive.php , and archived at www.libertywatchradio.com/listen. (Note that Arizona is on Mountain Standard Time, not Daylight Savings Time.) -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .