Heller Brief Filed: ...Lawyers for Dick Anthony Heller, a security guard, filed a brief saying that the District's categorical restrictions are so broad that they cannot comply with the Second Amendment's protection of the right to bear arms. "However else [the District] might regulate the possession and use of arms, their complete ban on the home possession of all functional firearms, and their prohibition against home possession and movement of handguns, are unconstitutional," wrote Alan Gura, one of three lawyers representing those who challenged the District's 1976 ban..."Demoting the Second Amendment to some lower tier of enumerated rights is unwarranted," the brief said. "The Second Amendment has the distinction of securing the most fundamental rights of all - enabling the preservation of one's life and guaranteeing our liberty." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020402591.html?hpid=moreheadlines The Brief: http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/07-290_resp_merits.pdf --- Nine Montana Legislators Licensed To Carry: State Rep. Ed Butcher has been packing heat for 30 years. "I carry at all times," the Winifred Republican said in a recent interview. Today, Butcher carries a .38 caliber pistol, but back in 1979 it was a .22 handgun that saved his life. A man was coming at him, intending to kill him, Butcher believes. "He didn't think I carried a gun," he said. Butcher pulled out his .22 pistol and held it to the man's forehead. You've never seen eyes get so big so fast, Butcher said. The man backed down. "It's one of those things where I'd probably be dead in that situation if I hadn't had it," said Butcher. "It saved my life once and I'm a firm believer in it." http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/02/03/news/local/news03.txt --- South Dakota Committee Approves Campus-Carry Bill: ...The State Affairs Committee voted unanimously to pass HB1261, which would guarantee people the right to carry or possess firearms on college campuses. The schools also would be prevented from expelling students or firing employees for having a gun on campus. The panel later voted unanimously to kill a competing measure, sponsored by the Board of Regents, which sought to ban guns on campus. http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2008/02/04/news/legislature/2008_stories/doc47a0dd4d11efc997367037.txt --- Indiana Campus-Carry Bill Failed By One Vote: ...Nugent, a Lawrenceburg Republican, got 25 votes on a Senate bill last week that would have stopped universities and many other public buildings from prohibiting those who have permits to carry concealed weapons from doing so. Courthouses, airports and jails would have been exempted from the prohibition. The bill fell one vote short of the majority needed to advance to the House, but Nugent, who represents Union County, said he'll likely bring the issue up again in the next session... http://www.pal-item.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080204/NEWS01/802040303 --- Another Miscreant Nabbed: A Scott Libby Elementary School student has been disciplined for bringing a BB gun to campus last week. In a letter sent home to parents Jan. 30, Principal Lee Nelson said the BB gun stayed inside the boy's backpack and was not used to threaten anyone. The boy showed the BB gun to a few students, who reported it to their teacher. "He's a very good student, so the principal was surprised," said Litchfield Elementary School District Superintendent Julianne Lein. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0205weapon0205.html --- Strange Case: Despite the pleas of the victim's family, an Arivaca woman was sentenced to five years' probation Monday for killing her former boyfriend and hiding his body. Stephanie Lynn Bartlett, 41, was also sentenced to 365 days in jail, but she was given credit for the 248 days she's served since her arrest last June...Bartlett told detectives she shot Gatlin in self-defense with an AK-47 she'd found abandoned in the desert. Bartlett said she only pulled the trigger once, but since it was a fully automatic weapon, it didn't stop firing until she dropped it. http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/223660 --- What's Sauce For The Goose...: A judge in Brooklyn says New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg didn't break the law when he sent civilian private investigators to other cities in a "sting operation" designed to catch federally licensed gun sellers engaging in straw purchases. But what The New York Times doesn't tell you is that this ruling by the judge means the gun dealers Bloomberg targeted ALSO didn't break the law...In the case of Bloomberg's "sting," the judge in Brooklyn says the firearms purchased by the private investigators never changed hands. In other words, no straw purchase occurred. Not for the private investigators and not for the federally licensed firearms dealers. Yet Bloomberg smeared these dealers, calling them the "worst of the worst," blaming them for New York's violent gun crime, and suggesting he'd caught them breaking the law... http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=359 --- Will NRA Endorse McCain?: ...I would be very, very surprised if the NRA endorsed [McCain] in the Republican presidential primary, and I would be surprised if they could give a full-throated endorsement of McCain over Romney. It's not that Romney doesn't have his flaws it's just that the NRA had extremely strong opinions about McCain's campaign finance reform which led to descriptions like this in NRA publications.. http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/ --- New York County Trades Thompson: It's a gun that was made very famous by some very famous criminals back in the 1920's. Remember Bonnie and Clyde? It's a fully automatic submachine gun called a Tommy Gun...One of those guns today, is worth a lot of money. Jefferson County Sheriff John Burns has two in his office worth about $30,000 a piece. With his department needing some new equipment, he got an idea. Trade one of them for some new guns that his deputies can use. (This outlandish price is strictly a result of the closing of the limits on privately owned machine guns by a last-minute amendment to the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986.) http://news10now.com/content/top_stories/109829/jefferson-county-trades-tommy-gun-for-new-ones/Default.aspx --- 2007 DEA Firearms Discharge Report: Of particular note: the extremely close range of most of the intentional shootings, the disproportionate number of negligent discharges involving Glocks, the disproportionate number of shootings involving dogs. A couple of negligent discharges involved the operation of weapon-mounted lights; two of three firearms on which I have mounted lights require the extension, rather than the flexion, of the non-gun-hand finger to activate the light, an advantage of newer lights that do not require a pressure pad. http://www.ambackforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=54709 --- The Stossel Video, One More Shot: http://conservablogs.com/sunflowerdesert/2007/11/25/video-john-stossel-links-gun-control-to-higher-gun-rates/ -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .