Kentucky Students Join Empty-Holster Protest: Some students at Western Kentucky University are wearing empty holsters to class, as part of a national collegiate protest. The protest is in response to the shootings at Virginia Tech back in April. There are about 500 students who signed up online to participate. WKU student, Nathan Hayes, plans to work with the Kentucky Coalition to Carry Concealed to change state laws. http://www.wbko.com/news/headlines/10726461.html At Penn State...: http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2007/10/23/students_protest_campus_gun_ba.aspx And At Oklahoma State University...: http://www.ocolly.com/2007/10/22/students-protest-ban-of-campus-concealed-carry/ --- Firearms Subdued Topic For Candidates: Brian Halterman is keeping an eye on how presidential candidates answer gun control questions. Halterman, a 39-year-old rural Keokuk resident, has noticed the issue has not taken center stage as it had in previous elections, and that is a concern to him...Republican and Democratic presidential candidates dance upon political eggshells when it comes to gun control because it's a divisive issue that can change the outcome of an election. Some believe that's what happened in 2000 when Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore - an advocate of gun control - lost in his home state of Tennessee. http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071023/NEWS09/710230403/1001/LIFE01 --- Kentucky Students Join Empty-Holster Protest: Some students at Western Kentucky University are wearing empty holsters to class, as part of a national collegiate protest. The protest is in response to the shootings at Virginia Tech back in April. There are about 500 students who signed up online to participate. WKU student, Nathan Hayes, plans to work with the Kentucky Coalition to Carry Concealed to change state laws. http://www.wbko.com/news/headlines/10726461.html At Penn State...: http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2007/10/23/students_protest_campus_gun_ba.aspx And At Oklahoma State University...: http://www.ocolly.com/2007/10/22/students-protest-ban-of-campus-concealed-carry/ --- Firearms Subdued Topic For Candidates: Brian Halterman is keeping an eye on how presidential candidates answer gun control questions. Halterman, a 39-year-old rural Keokuk resident, has noticed the issue has not taken center stage as it had in previous elections, and that is a concern to him...Republican and Democratic presidential candidates dance upon political eggshells when it comes to gun control because it's a divisive issue that can change the outcome of an election. Some believe that's what happened in 2000 when Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore - an advocate of gun control - lost in his home state of Tennessee. http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071023/NEWS09/710230403/1001/LIFE01 --- Newspaper Wants Access To Colorado CCW Records: ...Here in Boulder County, the ratio is much lower: One in 191 residents has a concealed-weapons permit the Camera reported Sunday. Knowing who holds permits is a matter of public concern. Sadly, these records remain secret from the citizens whose government decides who will and who won't be allowed to pack heat surreptitiously. (Note that Colorado is a shall-issue state.) http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/oct/23/furtive-guns-and-secrecy/ --- NYPD Officers Scored More Hits, Fired Fewer Shots Last Year: ...In 13 gunfights last year, police fired 144 shots - a 48 percent drop from the year before, when 276 shots were fired in 16 such battles. Just as important, fewer cops opened fire in those gunfights last year. And those who did struck their target 43 times, a 30-percent hit rate that is considered excellent in most cases and exceptional in comparison to 2005, when police hit their target in gunfights just 8 percent of the time. (Only hits count. Perhaps when they hit, officers don't need to keep firing.) http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nyroc225427289oct22,0,4272598.story --- The Hypocrisy Of The BATFE: The BATFE has been trying to shut down an Idaho gun shop over a 0.4% error rate in paperwork, deemed high enough to be "willful." On the other hand, BATFE has a pretty poor record of maintaining the National Firearm Act registry of machine guns, suppressors, etc. http://redstradingpost.blogspot.com/2007/10/hypocrisy-of-atf.html --- Brits Told It's Really Not That Bad: Sometimes, listening to politicians, police and the media, it can sound as if there is a gun-toting criminal on every street corner. The truth is far more nuanced. Serious gun crime is concentrated in particular parts of England and Wales; internationally, the country has a low death rate from guns compared with EU states such as France and Finland. (How often does someone get murdered in England? Just like anywhere else - only once.) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2324223.ece -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .