The Case Formerly Known As Parker: ...But that ban is in jeopardy. The law was struck down by a federal appeals court this year, and now the District is asking the Supreme Court to weigh in. Both sides of the gun debate are apprehensive..."It will be the biggest ruling on the Second Amendment ever," Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "You get nervous when you see something with far-reaching implications." Even the National Rifle Association, which thinks it might have an advantage with a conservative-leaning high court, is uneasy. (Let's not forget that the NRA actually opposed the initial lawsuit.) http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071005/METRO/110050056/1004 Related Article: The D.C. residents who successfully challenged the District's handgun ban urged the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday to review the case, saying it presents a "unique opportunity" for the court to recognize that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual's right to "keep and bear arms." It is rare for the winning side to agree with the losing side that its legal victory should be reviewed, but the residents and their attorneys have a greater goal: a ruling by the justices that would allow courts across the country to strike gun prohibitions and gun control measures that they think infringe on an individual's rights. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/04/AR2007100402327.html Wayne LaPierre Chimes In: Despite what you may have read at places like MSNBC.com, the Supreme Court hasn't yet decided if it will take the D.C. Gun Ban Case (currently known as D.C. v. Heller). I saw a story the other day that made it sound like the high court was guaranteed to hear the case. Well, not quite...So turn off NBC and CNN, and tune in to Ginny and Cam at NRAnews.com. They'll let you know what's really going on with news that's important to you. http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=315 --- From GOA: It may be a cliche, but it is true: This letter is written not in anger, but in sorrow and concern. It is written to our friends about NRA staff who, tragically, have taken a course which, we believe, would be disastrous for the Second Amendment and the pro-gun movement...But those who staff the NRA, without consulting the membership, have now made a series of strange and dangerous alliances with the likes of Chuck Schumer, Carolyn McCarthy, and Pat Leahy. And we believe that, if allowed to continue, this will produce anti-gun policies which the NRA staff will bitterly regret. http://www.gunowners.org/a100407.htm Related Article: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200710/CUL20071005b.html --- Counter-Suit Against Bloomberg OK'd: Questioning the legality of tactics used by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to sue gun dealers, a federal judge in Atlanta has allowed a defamation suit by a Smyrna gun shop against Bloomberg and other New York City officials to go forward. Senior U.S. District Judge J. Owen Forrester rejected arguments by New York officials to dismiss the suit brought by Adventure Outdoors Inc. - one of 27 shops, eight of them in Georgia, facing Bloomberg's suit in New York. Although the judge dismissed the Smyrna gun seller's negligence claims against New York officials, he declared that six of 13 potentially defamatory statements were actionable and cleared the way for a tortious interference with business claim. http://www.dailyreportonline.com/Editorial/News/new_singleEdit.asp?individual_SQL=10%2F5%2F2007%4017034_Public_.htm --- Ohio Law Needs Fix: In case you missed it, the Ohio Supreme Court has forever removed any doubt about transportation of unloaded firearms in Ohio being broken. In a decision that surprised no one, the Court ruled that ammunition being readily at hand places anyone transporting any firearm in Ohio in jeopardy of arrest and prosecution. What does "readily at hand" mean? Anything the police want it to... http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/article3984.html --- Mental Preparedness?: Two armored car guards were shot and killed by a robber as they removed deposits from a bank ATM in a brazen daylight heist Thursday, setting off a sweeping search for the killer that shut down a nearby mall and several schools...The robber approached the car from behind shortly after 8 a.m., shot one guard in the chest, then went around the vehicle and shot the second guard as he tried to unholster his gun, police said. Johnson said neither the victims nor a third guard who was injured fired a shot. (It sounds as though they might not even have been wearing ballistic vests.) http://www.newsmax.com/us/armored_car_shooting/2007/10/04/38278.html --- Meanwhile, In Texas...: Two teens are dead following a botched robbery of a 20-year-old security guard who fought back early Thursday in southwest Dallas, police said...The guard, Dedrick Howard, was using a laptop computer in his vehicle when he was approached by three young men, said Sgt. Ray Beaudreault, a homicide detective. They ordered him out of the vehicle, and one of the robbers, later identified as Vann, had a handgun, Beaudreault said. But Howard grabbed an semiautomatic SKS carbine and opened fire, killing Vann, Beaudreault said. http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/256689.html --- Hmm...: A loaded handgun was found in an airport men's room beyond a security checkpoint, leading to a brief evacuation of the concourse, federal officials said. Authorities were investigating who owned the gun and how it got in the men's room trash can at Tucson International Airport, Transportation Security Administration spokesman Christopher White. (Ordinarily, this would have been a Rule Five reminder, had it not been that the gun was found beyond the security checkpoint. I suppose it's possible that someone unintentionally carried the gun that far, then dumped it when he realized his [and the TSA's] error.) http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/10/04/ap4189682.html http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/64889.php --- "Assault Weapons" vs. "Patrol Rifles": ...In the end, an "assault weapon" is a "patrol rifle," is a homeland defense rifle, etc. To put it another way, "a rose by another name . ..." To put it still another way, whether a gun is an instrument of evil, or a lifesaver, boils down to the intent and actions of the person holding it, rather than the cosmetic features or designation it bears. (The certificate on my wall reads "NRA Law Enforcement Patrol Rifle Instructor." The carbine that lies alongside my bed at night is a "home-defense rifle.") http://armedandsafe.blogspot.com/2007/10/assault-weapons-vs-patrol-rifles.html --- Armed Woman Chases Invaders From Home: Wolcott police said officers arrived at 4:41 a.m. at the site of a home invasion on Chestnut Drive. Police said a woman was home alone with her sister when the two men entered the house. Police said the homeowner was armed with a gun and chased the men out of the house. http://www.wfsb.com/news/14268769/detail.html --- Support For Ice-Cream-Parlor Manager: We harbor a great deal of sympathy for 21-year-old David Fielding, the VCU art student who was working at the Baskin-Robbins on Forest Hill Avenue in early September when a career criminal walked in with a gun to rob the place - only three weeks after another robbery at the site. So do a lot of other people who question the decision by Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Michael Herring to seek a charge against Fielding of reckless discharge of a firearm... http://www.timesdispatch.com/cva/ric/opinion.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-10-03-0007.html --- Meanwhile, In Tennessee...: The Student Government Association will hear a proposal today from Liberal Arts Senator Matthew Hurtt attempting to make it legal for students and faculty to carry guns on campus. The rational behind this resolution is that MTSU will become safer once students are able to defend themselves using firearms, assuming they have the proper licenses and permits to own and carry a weapon...All in all, it doesn't sound like too bad of a proposal, unless you actually take into account the behavior of college students and the reality of guns and their owners. The people who want to carry guns on campus may want to do so in order to protect themselves, but what this really means is that they will be using them, or tempted to, out of fear... http://media.www.mtsusidelines.com/media/storage/paper202/news/2007/10/04/Opinions/Keep-Guns.Off.Campus-3010350.shtml Related Article: http://www.murfreesboropost.com/news.php?viewStory=6830 --- Teacher In Oregon CCW Suit Speaks: Site offers a sequence of three audio clips. http://www.larslarson.com/pg/jsp/charts/streamingAudioMaster.jsp?dispid=362&headerDest=L3BnL2pzcC9tZWRpYS9mbGFzaHdlbGNvbWUuanNwP3BpZD0xMTI3NyZwbGF5bGlzdD10cnVlJmNoYXJ0dHlwZT1jaGFydCZjaGFydElEPTM2MiZwbGF5bGlzdFNpemU9MzA= Her Students Comment: For some South Medford High School students, the news that English teacher Shirley Katz is "Jane Doe" in a lawsuit asserting her right to carry a gun on campus came as a surprise. But some of her pupils said they have had a hunch for weeks that Katz was the anonymous plaintiff in the case challenging the Medford School Board's policy prohibiting employees from carrying concealed weapons on school grounds..."I think she should be able to have the gun to protect herself and the students in case he did come to school," said sophomore Amanda Mena, who is in Shirley Katz's class. Sophomore Derek Cline disagreed. "I don't think teachers should be able to carry guns," Derek said. "If she has a personal issue and she thinks she is going to be attacked, she shouldn't get students in the way." "Getting caught in the crossfire would not be cool," added sophomore Aya Underwood. (Yes, it's clearly better if the intruder in the school can fire at his own leisure.) http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071004/NEWS/710040307/-1/LIFE --- Paintball Hazards: ...Since then, masks and protective vests and gloves have sharply reduced eye injuries and bruises. In addition, closer supervision has been imposed at paintball parks, where rules governing distances between shooters and targets have also helped to curtail serious injuries. Still, paintball players must continue to unscrew their guns' compressed-gas cylinders for recharge during play and at the end of the day. The valve design that proved deadly in the Contois case can loosen on the side that keeps gas under pressure in the cylinder. A player can then unwittingly release the valve, turning a charged cylinder into a dangerous rocket... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/us/05paintball.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=us&pagewanted=all --- Custom Riflesmith Profiled: Todd Ramirez is one of those rare people who transformed a passion into a career. As a teenager in the Rio Grande Valley town of McAllen, Ramirez was looking for his future. He enjoyed working on guns, so he enrolled at the Colorado School of Trades to learn the craft..."What I like is, after all the metal work is down and you have laid out the stock, is probably seeing both of them come together," Ramirez said. After a pause, however, he added, "But what is better is that once all the components are finished and you see them put together, that is when it is the prettiest - the finished product." http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20071004/SPORTS02/710030370 -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .