John Lott - Gun-Free Zones Or Killing Fields?: As Northern Illinois University restarts classes this week, one thing is clear: Six minutes proved too long. It took six minutes before the police were able to enter the classroom that horrible Thursday, and in that short time five people were murdered, 16 wounded. Six minutes is actually record-breaking speed for the police arriving at such an attack, but it was simply not fast enough. Still, the police were much faster than at the Virginia Tech attack last year... (When seconds count, the police are minutes away.) http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewFreeUse.act?fuid=NzkyMzI5 --- There Are People This Stupid In Virginia?: Some Elizabeth State University students are upset after being almost scared to death by a recent safety drill on campus. On Friday, an undercover campus officer barged into a history class in the Moore building and held the class hostage. According to students, he even held a gun to the professor's head! It was all part of an emergency alert system drill that the school was planning for months. Problem is...not everyone knew it was a drill. http://www.wtkr.com/Global/story.asp?S=7923804 --- Fighting To Keep The NPS Gun Ban: For over a century our national parks have been set aside for their natural beauty and cultural and historic resources. Many national parks also help preserve wildlife in their natural settings, and all attract visitors who come to enjoy the peaceful and beautiful settings. Neither crime nor attacks by animals are typically associated with national parks. If anything, they're atypical. And yet there are members of Congress who believe threats to visitors are so great that the existing ban against carrying loaded weapons in units of the National Park System should be overturned... (How often does someone get murdered in a national park? Just like everywhere else - just once.) http://www.npsretirees.org/feature/fighting-keep-gun-ban Related Article: http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2008/02/26/news/wyoming/87ebe6e56b1cb296872573fb00027aa9.txt --- Guns Save Lives: It's all too predictable. A day after a gunman killed six people and wounded 18 others at Northern Illinois University, The New York Times criticized the U.S. Interior Department for preparing to rethink its ban on guns in national parks. The editorial board wants "the 51 senators who like the thought of guns in the parks - and everywhere else, it seems - to realize that the innocence of Americans is better protected by carefully controlling guns than it is by arming everyone to the teeth." ... "It equalizes unequals," Palmer told "20/20". "If someone gets into your house, which would you rather have, a handgun or a telephone? You can call the police if you want, and they'll get there, and they'll take a picture of your dead body. But they can't get there in time to save your life. The first line of defense is you." http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JohnStossel/2008/02/27/guns_save_lives?page=full&comments=true --- Obama On The RKBA: ...At Cornell College on Dec. 5, for example, a student asked Mr. Obama how his administration would view the Second Amendment. He replied: "There's a Supreme Court case that's going to be decided fairly soon about what the Second Amendment means. I taught Constitutional Law for 10 years, so I've got my opinion. And my opinion is that the Second Amendment is probably - it is an individual right and not just a right of the militia. That's what I expect the Supreme Court to rule. I think that's a fair reading of the text of the Constitution. And so I respect the right of lawful gun owners to hunt, fish, protect their families."... "Like all rights, though, they are constrained and bound by the needs of the community . . . So when I look at Chicago and 34 Chicago public school students gunned down in a single school year, then I don't think the Second Amendment prohibits us from taking action and making sure that, for example, ATF can share tracing information about illegal handguns that are used on the streets and track them to the gun dealers to find out - what are you doing?" http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120398899374792349.html?mod=opinion_main_commentarie --- Virginia Senate Panel Balks At CCW Confidentiality: A Senate panel killed a bill Monday that would have codified an order from the attorney general to remove from the public domain a state database of Virginians with permits to carry concealed handguns. The Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted 9-7, along party lines, to carry House Bill 982 over until next year after disagreement about how far the measure should go. The bill's sponsor, Del. Dave Nutter, R-Christiansburg, intended the bill to write into state law what is currently in practice anyway. Attorney General Bob McDonnell advised state police in April to stop distributing the database after a Roanoke Times editorial writer wrote a column encouraging readers to check the list and included a link to the database, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. http://www.roanoke.com/politics/wb/152230 --- New York County Turns Over Pistol-Permit List: Will The Post-Star be responsible or not now that Saratoga County officials have released the names of pistol permit holders in that county from 2001 to present? Earlier this month, The North Country Gazette learned that The Post-Star had filed Freedom of Information Law requests with the town clerks of Warren, Washington and Saratoga Counties for a list of names and towns of concealed carry permit holders in the three counties and had plans of publishing those names in a database on their website. Although Post-Star editor Ken Tingley vigorously denied that the daily newspaper intended to make public the names of pistol permit holders, NCG filed its own FOIL request and found that Tingley was telling a story... http://www.northcountrygazette.org/news/2008/02/26/saratoga_pistol_permits/ --- Utah Students Debate Open Carry: Brent Tenney always covers up his gun when he heads to class. The senior information systems major said that as a concealed weapons permit holder, he likes having the right to keep his firearm hidden. And he said students who openly display their guns on campus would surely be ostracized by peers. "I personally would not open carry," said Tenney, president of the Second Amendment Students of Utah. Although Tenney doesn't see a need to open carry, he thinks other students should have the right to... http://media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/storage/paper244/news/2008/02/26/News/Campus.Gun.Rules.Debated-3234283.shtml --- Oops, Wrong Engine Shop: Bakersfield (CA) Police are searching for a burglary suspect who may have been shot by the owner of a business he was trying to break into Tuesday morning. It happened just before 5 a.m. at Dennis Brown Racing Engines in the 3200 block of Chester Lane. Police tell us the suspect was caught in the act by the business owner who reportedly got a call from the alarm company with a report of the power being out. When the employee gets there he finds the alleged burglar inside the business, gets a gun and beings shooting at the suspect. http://www.eyeoutforyou.com/news/local/15989262.html --- Dim Bulb Award: A 19-year-old tried to hold up a Volusia County (FL) convenience store on Sunday night using his finger as a pretend gun, according to sheriff's deputies. Justin MacGilfrey, of South Daytona, was arrested on attempted robbery charges after the incident at the Circle K, located at 1800 S. Nova Road near Daytona Beach. According to Volusia County sheriff's deputies, MacGilfrey entered the store at about 8 p.m. and told the clerk, "Give me all the money in the register." The clerk, who had been looking down at the time, thought someone was playing a prank on him but looked up and noticed MacGilfrey pointing a finger at him, apparently pretending that it was a gun, deputies said. The 22-year-old clerk walked out from behind the counter, and MacGilfrey ran out of the store, sheriff's deputies said. http://www.local6.com/problemsolvers/15404109/detail.html -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .