DC Names New Lead Heller Counsel: Acting D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles has selected former acting U.S. solicitor general Walter E. Dellinger to defend the District's handgun ban in a high-stakes Supreme Court case. Dellinger, now with the private firm of O'Melveny & Myers, had been working on the handgun case with a team of more than a dozen lawyers under the direction of D.C. special counsel Alan B. Morrison...Among the cases Dellinger has argued before the high court are ones dealing with physician-assisted suicide and the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act...Dellinger served three years as U.S. assistant attorney general and head of the Office of Legal Counsel under President Bill Clinton. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010303853.html --- CCRKBA Opposes Cook County Gun Bans: The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is encouraging members and supporters throughout Illinois and in neighboring Michigan and Indiana to flood the Cook County, Illinois Board of Commissioners with phone calls and mail opposing proposed ordinances that would effectively put firearms dealers out of business and ban guns in the county. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-03-2008/0004730318&EDATE= --- Anti-Gun Bills Advance In New Jersey: Proposals intended to crack down on guns and gangs advanced Thursday in the Senate and an Assembly committee... "We have a serious problem with gun violence in this state. It's increasing. It's not declining. It's going to continue to increase unless we do something about it," he said. (New Jersey already has some of the most draconian firearm restrictions in the nation.) http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080104/NEWS01/801040381/1006/NEWS01 --- New Yorkers Warned To Expect Lead-Bullet Ban: ... The notation in this space two weeks ago, in the wake of California's decision to ban lead ammunition in certain areas of the state, that lead was on its way out got me labeled as an alarmist. Well hell yes, I am alarmed. You should be, too... The dwindling hunting population would likely be able to withstand a ban on lead, since there are plenty of solid copper loads available. But target shooters and other .22 rimfire aficianados would take a major hit. Lead rimfire ammunition is the least expensive and most widely sold of any caliber, virtually matching the volume of all other calibers combined. Ban lead and raise the price of rimfire ammunition geometrically, and you'll see a major change in the face of shooting. http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008801030328 --- Georgia Legislature To Reconsider Parking-Lot Storage: Last year, Republicans in the state Senate were torn apart by a bill backed by the National Rifle Association, demanding that employees be permitted to keep handguns and such in vehicles parked on corporate lots. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce fought the organization to an ugly standstill, protesting what it called an infringement upon private property rights. Round 2 will commence Monday, a full week before the Legislature convenes... http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/politicalinsider/entries/2008/01/03/wayne_lapierre_and_the_nra_com.html --- Pennsylvania And Arkansas Sign Reciprocity Agreement: Arkansas has just been added to the list of states with which Pennsylvania has reciprocity agreements for concealed carry. http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/crime.aspx?id=184 --- Rule Four Reminder: For the second year in a row, city officials are being asked how police officers responding to celebratory New Year's Eve gunfire ended up shooting innocent bystanders. This year, police chasing an armed reveler shot into a house filled with partygoers, leaving one man in a coma, a second wounded and a 9-year-old boy with a graze wound to the chest. A year ago, police fatally shot a man in the back of the head as he tried to flee when neighbors started shooting guns into the air. (Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it.) http://www.newsmax.com/us/philadelphia_police_shootings/2008/01/04/61685.html --- What's The Definition Of Entrapment?: A former JetBlue Airways employee was sentenced today to 70 months in prison for accepting guns from an undercover agent posing as an international weapons trafficker. Hiram Rivera-Ortiz, 35, of Orlando, was working at Orlando International Airport when he met with an undercover agent on July 30, 2007. Rivera-Ortiz agreed to transport four handguns and two machine guns to Puerto Rico aboard a commercial airline for $4,500. After [he] accepted payment and the guns from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent, Rivera-Ortiz was arrested. (Perhaps the reporter and her editor are simply incompetent in the use of the English language but it doesn't sound as though Rivera-Ortiz initiated the conspiracy.) http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-bk-jetblue010308%2C0%2C910749.story?coll=orl_tab01_layout --- Some Interesting Thoughts On CCW: A libertarian columnists reviews the major excuses for people not carrying the means to protect themselves and ends up recommending off-body carry. He then tosses in the use of an electronic device to alert you if you wander six feet from your gun. (What if a thief or assailant has already gotten hold of your gun by the time the alarm goes off? Gunsite can't teach anything better than this?) http://www.lewrockwell.com/perry/perry38.html Some Alternate Views On Concealed Carry: http://www.spw-duf.info/holster.html --- Some More "Amusing" Advice: (This is not the first time that I have disagreed with Dr. Adams' selections in firearms. However, regardless of what you prefer, would it not make more sense to acquire duplicates [or even more copies] of those firearms that are crucial to your well-being? For example, I not only choose to carry two identical handguns in mirror-image positions on my belt, when one of them had to go in for replacement of a defective tritium sight, I simply took a third one out of the safe, to carry until it was returned.) http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MikeSAdams/2007/12/31/my_new_year%E2%80%99s_gun_control_resolution?page=full&comments=true --- Uncommon Pistol Clue In Bhutto Assasination: ...Reports are also circulating that a black 9 mm hand gun recovered at the scene of the assassination is now in the custody of the Pakistani police. The handgun, which appears to match the one seen in the first two videos, has been identified as a Steyr M 9X19 mm, a weapon used by the Pakistani army Special Services Group... (For those unfamiliar with it, the second link provides a look at the unusual Steyr sight system.) http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59525 http://www.steyr-aug.com/m_series_pistols.htm --- XS Big Dot Sights Videos: In December 2001 I spent a couple of evenings doing some low-light training with Andy Stanford, which gave me the opportunity to try the Big Dot front sight he had installed on his S&W Centennial revolver. Compared to the miniscule front sights on mine, I became a convert within the first minute. These sights may not be for everyone, particularly those using a full-size handgun and who have years of experience with conventional sights. However, these videos are worth evaluating and confirm my experience with the system, whether the front sight alone on my Centennials or the paired front and rear sights I tested on a student's Glock a few months back. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY5RURFEGd8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQVCeJ103BQ&feature=related -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .