Tiahrt Cites BATFE, FOP In Defense Of Amendment: In its June 20 editorial, The Eagle editorial board asked, "How do Tiahrt restrictions protect cops?" In fact, the board answered its own question by stating the ATF and FOP "argue that the restrictions protect the identity of undercover cops and ongoing investigations." http://www.kansas.com/205/story/102261.html --- Your Physician Could Put You On The No-Gun List: WorldNetDaily is one of the few media sources that has recognized the concerns expressed by Gun Owners of America about the NICS Improvement bill. "Under this bill, based solely on a diagnosis of a psychiatrist, an American's name could be dumped into the National Criminal Instant Check (NICS) system," said GOA Executive Director Larry Pratt, who called the plan "conviction by diagnosis." http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56311 --- Missouri Castle-Doctrine Bill Awaits Governor's Signature: Castle Doctrine legislation has passed the Missouri House and Senate and is awaiting the signature of the governor. The legislation clarifies when lethal force may be used against an intruder...Before this legislation, a homeowner was required to make an attempt to escape before using lethal force to defend against an intruder. http://www.kccommunitynews.com/articles/2007/06/20/smithville_herald/news/d.sh.news.castle.doctrine.txt --- South Carolina Campus-Carry Bill Tabled For Now: The South Carolina bill that would allow adult permit holders to carry concealed handguns on public school campuses, from elementary to collegiate level has been sent back to legislative conference, effectively killing it at least until the next legislative session. http://www.collegiatetimes.com/news/1/ARTICLE/9117/2007-06-20.html --- Meanwhile, In Nevada...: The university system's four police chiefs were given the green light Thursday to draft a plan to deputize faculty and staff volunteers. A Board of Regents committee directed the police chiefs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Community College of Southern Nevada, the University of Nevada, Reno and Truckee Meadows Community College to develop guidelines and budgets to allow faculty and staff at the colleges to go through a police academy and carry firearms on campus. http://www.lvrj.com/news/8128617.html --- "No Guns" Founder Pleads Not Guilty To Firearms Charges: A former Los Angeles 18th Street gang member, who had received $1.5 million to fund his No Guns anti-gang project, has pled not guilty to charges of selling an assault rifle, a machine gun, two pistols and two silencers to undercover federal agents last fall. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-briefs22jun22,1,7693018.story?coll=la-headlines-california http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_172145921.html --- CWFL's Rise In Orlando Area: Nearly 20,000 people in Orange County are legally carrying concealed guns, records show. The number of licenses for concealed weapons in the county has jumped 20 percent in the past year and has risen 57 percent in the past five years. And more are on the way. The state Division of Licensing has sent out nearly a quarter-million applications for permits statewide this year, a 33 percent increase from five years ago. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-mfightback2107jun21,0,1800798.story?page=1 --- Use Enough Gun: A retired police officer, serving divorce papers in New York State, shot the subject twice in the chest after being attacked with a police baton. (I am amazed that someone who spent 24 years as a police officer would rely on a .25 Auto for self-defense.) http://www.nyjournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070621/NEWS04/706210382 --- Meanwhile, In NYC...: An off-duty Brooklyn cop - who had left her gun at work - was caught defenseless when a masked intruder ambushed her as she arrived home and raped her at knifepoint, cops said yesterday. http://www.nypost.com/seven/06222007/news/regionalnews/never_had_shot_regionalnews_john_doyle__murray_weiss_and_leela_de_kretser.htm --- While In California...: An off-duty San Leandro police officer was choked in a fight with an intruder Wednesday, before fatally shooting the man, police said today...The intruder had knocked on the door of the home and the off-duty officer allowed the man to use his telephone on the porch. But when the officer tried to get the phone back from the man, a fight broke out between the two and eventually led to the shooting. (Good tactics would be making the phone call for the person requesting help as this is a common ruse for invaders to gain access to homes.) http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_6193240 --- Oops, Wrong House: One of a trio of home-invaders in Florida is dead of a gunshot wound after one of the victims was able to access a rifle in a bedroom. When one of the intruders tried to enter the bedroom, the man inside shot through a closet door, hitting the intruder in the chest, killing him. (Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it.) http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2007/6/21/homeowner_shoots_kills_home_invader.html --- Florida Man Fired For Shotgun Receives Broad Support: An apartment leasing agent fired last week after grabbing his shotgun and running to help a woman who was shot is being praised by talk-show host Neal Boortz, celebrated on Internet blogs, supported by the National Rifle Association and called a hero by a columnist with The Washington Post. http://www.news4jax.com/news/13545696/detail.html --- Illinois Gun Makers In Limbo: Area gun manufacturers remain in limbo, unsure if Illinois legislators could put them out of business...Most have made plans to move to other states if necessary, while one firm -- Les Baer Custom of Hillsdale -- has called it a day...Bill Dermody, spokesman for Springfield Armory, Geneseo, said with 170 employees, it's hard to move operations. http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=343309 --- Forest Service Will Not Ban Recreational Shooting In Boulder: U.S. Forest Service officials said Wednesday that they will not be looking to ban recreational shooting on national forest land in Boulder County..."The Forest Service honors the Second Amendment, period," he said. (Now, if we could just get a similar commitment from BLM...) http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5595577,00.html --- From AzCDL: On June 20th, in the final hours of this year's legislative session, SB 1166 was sent to the Governor. SB 1166 makes it clear that legislature intended to apply the 2006 "Castle Doctrine/Burden of Proof" legislation to cases pending at the time it was signed on April 24, 2006. Unfortunately, due to a recent Arizona Supreme Court decision, cases pending when the 2006 Castle Doctrine/Burden of Proof bill was signed were held to be subject to the old law, where the burden was on the accused to prove their innocence. To correct this deficiency, SB 1302 was introduced. SB 1302 passed both the House and the Senate with more than the 2/3 majority needed to enact it as an emergency measure, but it was vetoed by the Governor on March 20th. The media claimed that the Governor bowed to the wishes of the Prosecutor's lobby, who claimed that the courts would be overloaded with appeals of cases pending at the time if SB 1302 were to become law. Considering the reality of the situation (only a few hundred murder cases statewide, with only a fraction of those involving self-defense justifications), we found that excuse hard to fathom. Rather than attempt an override, the Legislature replaced the language in SB 1166 with the language from SB 1302, along with modifications intended to address the Governor's concerns stated in her veto letter. SB 1166 passed the House by a vote of 32-23-5. On May 5th, SB 1166 passed the Senate by a unanimous 29-0-1. It is very important to contact the Governor and urge her to sign SB 1166 into law. You can use your own message, or you can use the cut-and-paste message below. Her email address is azgov@az.gov. Please send a courtesy copy of your message to president@AzCDL.org. 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 Subject: Please sign SB 1166 Governor Napolitano: The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) has informed me that SB 1166 is awaiting your signature. I urge you to sign this important legislation into law. SB 1166 clarifies that the Castle Doctrine bill, which restored "innocent until proven guilty," was intended to apply to relevant court cases that were pending when you signed it on April 24, 2006. There has been uneven application of the law, with defendants prosecuted under different standards at the whim of the courts. The language in SB 1166 was amended by the legislature to address the concerns you raised in your veto of SB 1302. Again, I ask that you please sign SB 1166 into law. Sincerely, Your Name Street Address City, AZ zip-code (telephone number) 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 1166." You can add your own polite message urging her to sign SB 1166 in the "message/comment" area, or you can use the cut-and-paste message above. 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 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 .