GOA Ups The Ante In Sullivan Nomination: Gun Owners of America today hammered BATFE nominee Michael Sullivan as "unfit for office"' - characterizing him as a Massachusetts liberal who is cut from the same cloth as Ted Kennedy. In its press release today, GOA called for Sullivan's defeat and praised Senator David Vitter (R-LA) for holding Sullivan's feet to the fire. GOA members should have recently received a letter in the mail from GOA Executive Director Larry Pratt, asking them to send postcards to their two Senators and to President Bush in opposition to Michael Sullivan as BATFE Director. ACTION: Please make sure that you send in your postcards (provided in the GOA mailing) to your two U.S. Senators and to the President. The postcards ask your Senators to OPPOSE the nomination of Acting Director Michael Sullivan, and urge President Bush to WITHDRAW his support for the Sullivan nomination. Not receiving legislative postcards from GOA? Or, the Gun Owner newsletter? Joining GOA online will ensure you receive these and other timely mailings. http://www.gunowners.org/a022108.htm --- The Second Amendment In Context: With the Supreme Court's decision to examine the constitutionality of D.C.'s gun ban, the nation once again turns to an intense examination of the wording of the Second Amendment. One way to understand an amendment whose words have confused generations is to study its somewhat confusing text. But another way is to examine at whose request the amendment was written...The Bill of Rights was written by Congressman James Madison to fulfill a promise made to the Anti-Federalists after pressure from that group had cost him a Senate seat - pressure brought to bear because of his opposition to amending the Constitution with a bill of rights. The Bill of Rights, then, as any history book will confirm, came into being to satisfy the single most suspicious, vociferous, and relentless foes of the new federal government... http://mwcnews.net/content/view/20413/26/ --- Twelve States Considering Campus Carry: Even before a gunman killed six people and injured more than a dozen others in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University, a small but growing movement had been underway at universities and state legislatures to allow students, faculty and staff to carry guns on campus. Twelve states are considering bills that would allow people with concealed-weapons permits to carry guns at public universities. The efforts were sparked by the Virginia Tech massacre last April. Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, an Internet-based organization with 11,000 members in its Facebook group, is calling attention to the issue with a protest from April 21 to 25, a week after the one-year anniversary of the shootings at Virginia Tech on April 16. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-02-14-guns-shooting_N.htm Related Commentaries: http://spectrum.buffalo.edu/article.php?id=35549 http://www.timesreporter.com/index.php?ID=79834 --- Meanwhile, In Utah...: The senior at the University of Utah gets dressed and then decides which gun is easiest to conceal under his clothes. If he's wearing a T-shirt, he'll take a smaller, low-profile gun to class. If he's wearing a coat, he may carry a different weapon, he said. He started carrying a gun to class after the massacre at Virginia Tech, but the student says he's not part of the problem of campus shootings and could instead be part of a solution. Nick, who asked not to be fully identified so his fellow students wouldn't know he carried a gun, says he has had a concealed weapons permit for more than three years. But it was Seung-Hui Cho's murderous campus rampage that made him take a gun to class... (It would be wiser to stick with one gun or one set of guns and adjust the wardrobe around the guns.) http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/20/cnnu.guns/index.html?eref=rss_topstories --- Meanwhile, In California...: Authorities responded Thursday morning to a report of a person with a gun, which turned out to be an Reserve Officers' Training Corps drill rifle, on the campus of Cal State-Dominguez Hills in Carson...The campus was on lockdown during the investigation, according to school officials. A posting on the school's Web site at 9 a.m. said "the campus is closed until further notice due to an emergency situation. Students, faculty and staff are asked to stay home." ...A campus spokesman said the gun is made of wood and used for ROTC drills. http://www.knbc.com/news/15366741/detail.html?rss=la&psp=news --- Parking-Lot Storage Debated Across US: With personal security a major issue now in the U.S., a debate if employees should be permitted to bring their licensed guns and kept under lock inside their cars or not is brewing across the nation. Six states have considering bills that prohibits employers from not allowing their staff to have a firearm ready for their protection while driving home. No state has dared to legislate a law permitting workers to bring weapons to the workplace, but Alaska, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi and Oklahoma are debating if employees may keep one inside their vehicles while in the office or factory. The number of states mulling such a measure is growing. (Oklahoma passed such a law, only to have it set aside by a federal judge.) http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7010099810 --- Sixty-Six Illinois Counties Support RKBA: It's been nearly a year ago that the Pike County board, at the urging of member Mark Mountain, passed a resolution to oppose any new legislation restricting gun ownership. The measure passed in April 2007. Pike County was the second county in the state to pass such a measure, with Brown County being first. Since that time the movement has taken off and as of last week 66 counties have passed similar resolutions and another five have the issue pending... The measure has been voted down by only three entities and never by an entire county board. Champaign, Rock Island and Stark counties declined to pass the resolution. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19317702&BRD=606&PAG=461&dept_id=172213&rfi=6 --- Arizona Vehicle-Carry Bill Supported: We would guess that a fair number of Arizonans regularly - probably unknowingly - break a law concerning the concealment of a gun in a vehicle. Under Arizona law, drivers who want to have a gun in their vehicle when they travel have to be careful where they put it. It's OK to have it anyplace where it is visible, for example laying on the car seat. It's also OK to have a loaded gun in the glove box, map box or trunk of the car. But you better not have it under your seat unless you have a concealed weapons permit... (While support is welcome, the editorial does not fully explain current law, which is totally muddied by poor appellate decisions.) http://www.yumasun.com/opinion/law_39857___article.html/gun_vehicle.html --- Castle Doctrine Alive And Well In Texas: In Texas, more than ever before, burglars and thieves are on notice. From a quiet street in an upscale neighborhood outside Houston to a junk-strewn yard on the other side of the tracks, some Texans are shooting first and asking questions later. In the Lone Star state, where the six-gun tamed the frontier, shooting bad guys is a time-honored tradition. But a new state law, based on the old idea that "a man's home is his castle," gives Texans unprecedented legal authority to use deadly force...So in Texas, the old tradition of shooting bad guys carries on. The big question now is whether a man's castle also includes ... his neighbor's home. http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=4272882&page=1 --- On The Other Hand...: A Brighton (TN) man shot and killed a 44-year-old registered sex offender who attacked two women in their home early this morning, officials said. According to Dist. Atty. Gen. Mike Dunavant, David Fleming charged into the home of two women at about 3 a.m. Fleming bound the women but one escaped and ran to a nearby home. Dunavant said Fleming, who lived in Munford, intended to rape the women. The woman who escaped went to the nearby home of Keith Ingram for help, Dunavant said. Ingram, carrying a .40-caliber handgun, ran to the house and found Fleming attacking the other woman, officials said. When Fleming tried to attack Ingram, Dunavant said Ingram shot Fleming once. http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/feb/19/e19attackweb/ --- Not Exactly Self-Defense: A McDowell County man accused in a fatal shootout faces a rare dueling charge. The McDowell County grand jury indicted 47-year-old Steven Bryant Simpson Jr. of Gilliam Bottom on one count of murder by dueling Wednesday. State Police Senior Trooper J.S. McCarty says the charge carries the same penalty as first-degree murder. That means Simpson could face life in prison if convicted. Simpson is accused of killing 39-year-old Dana Martin of Worth in an April 20, 2007, shootout a few hundred yards from Simpson's home. McCarty says both men fired guns following an argument. The dueling law was enacted in 1849 before West Virginia achieved statehood. http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/15834622.html --- Which Side Of Obama's Mouth Do You Believe?: Senator Obama recently gave us a disturbing foretaste of the contradictory doublespeak we could expect under an Obama presidency...Noting that some argue that the Second Amendment only grants state governments the power to arm National Guard units, Mr. Obama said he rejected that view in favor of the widely held belief that the Second Amendment - like the rest of the Bill of Rights - involves rights held by American citizens. The Drudge Report last week carried the story with the title, "Obama Supports Individual Gun Rights." But that title was wrong...He went on to say that local governments should be able to enact any gun control laws they consider necessary to end gun violence, and that any such measures are constitutional... http://www.nysun.com/article/71591 -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .