Most Americans Believe Second Amendment Protects Individual RKBA: In anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning the Second Amendment expected at some point this month, The Harris Poll finds that by a margin of over two to one, more U.S. adults believe that the Second Amendment supports an individual's right to bear arms. Furthermore, the survey also finds that more of the U.S. public continues to favor stricter gun control. However, concerning the impact on the election, the public seems to be split on which presidential candidate would do a better job handling gun control. These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 2,602 U.S. adults surveyed online by Harris Interactive between May 5 and 12, 2008... http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080603005358&newsLang=en --- Georgia Dealer Withdraws from Trial: Saying he could not afford what he feared would be an unfair trial, a Georgia gun dealer accused by New York City of illegally selling handguns that made their way to New York backed out of his federal trial on Monday, the day it was set to begin. The city will now negotiate with the dealer, Jay Wallace, to allow a "special master" to oversee gun sales at his store, potentially joining 20 other dealers who have settled lawsuits filed by the city...In 2006, the city sued Mr. Wallace and 26 other gun dealers, mainly in the South, claiming their lax or illegal gun sales created a public nuisance in New York City. Two cases have been thrown out of court, two sellers have gone out of business and two more are set for trial in September... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/nyregion/03case.html?ref=nyregion --- More Handgun Carry Permits in Tennessee: ...In Tennessee, a person must successfully complete a handgun safety course that is certified by Department of Safety. Application can be made at a full service driver service center. The applicant will need to bring the original copy of the safety course completion certificate, proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residency, photo identification such as a driver license, and $115 non-refundable permit fee. This fee may be paid in cash, money order or with a certified check. If there are no problems with the application and the applicant meets all eligibility requirements, he or she should receive the permit within 90 days of the date the application is submitted... http://spartaexpositor.com/articles/2008/06/02/news/doc4844152c4a63d659876119.txt --- New York Governor Calls for More Infringements: Declaring that gun violence has reached an alarming level, elected officials and local community leaders held an emergency summit Sunday in Harlem, where a bloody Memorial Day weekend saw 10 people shot. Enacting tough federal gun laws, opening more youth centers across the city and reversing unemployment rates were all considered at yesterday's summit...Paterson recommended enacting legislation that would make the psychiatric records of potential gun owners more accessible to dealers while also making it easier for police departments to work with gun shops... http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/06/02/2008-06-02_gov_paterson_pushes_tougher_gun_laws_at_.html --- Tulsa Police Chief Calls for More Infringements: Police Chief Bill Citty called Monday for tighter gun control laws to curb the kind of gang violence that left six teenagers with gunshot wounds following a drive-by shooting in southeast Oklahoma City two days earlier. Citty, speaking at a news conference by a coalition of social services, clergy and community groups opposed to gang violence, said he believes in a citizen's right to carry firearms but that too many guns are reaching the hands of gang members. He said gang members and their victims are getting younger and younger. "There has to be some tighter rules and regulations on the sale of firearms and the registration of those firearms," Citty said. http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080602_12_OKLAH80306 --- San Francisco Gun Ban Hurt Budget: San Francisco's budget crisis underscores the frivolity of the city's stubborn and expensive defense of its doomed-from-the-start 2005 gun ban, the Second Amendment Foundation said today. SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb said the city administration's pursuit of this case - which was almost a carbon copy of a similar court action 23 years ago that was also won by the Foundation - is a clear indication that "fiscal and philosophical irresponsibility run hand-in-hand on the Board of Supervisors and in the mayor's office. Mayor Gavin Newsom should have, and probably could have, stopped this case dead in its tracks after the city's first loss in the trial court," Gottlieb noted. "Instead, the city doggedly appealed, and appealed again, and for what? To make a political statement of some sort? When you're hemorrhaging money from the city budget, pushing a court case that you already know you're going to lose is remarkable carelessness with the public's money." http://www.saf.org/viewpr-new.asp?id=267 --- "Black Rifles" Explained: ...Actually, many of the national leaders in the gun banning community know they are lying to the public. Josh Sugarmann, author of the 1988 book "Assault Weapons and Accessories in America" laid out the strategy for all to see. "Assault weapons - just like armor-piercing bullets, machine guns, and plastic firearms - are a new topic. The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons - anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun - can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons." http://hubpages.com/hub/Assault-Weapons-Evil-Black-Rifles-or-perhaps-not --- BATFE Calls for Destruction of Historic Machine Gun: The Nahant Public Library wants to sell one of its most valuable possessions: a German machine gun captured by Army Sgt. Alvin C. York during World War I...John Welsh, a library trustee, said a bureaucratic tangle soon emerged and hasn't been resolved. "It's a machine gun and it's not registered, so apparently we can't sell it until we find a legal way to own it," he said. "We've had estimates that it could be worth up to $200,000, presuming we can show its relationship to Sgt. York." Both Welsh and deStefano said at least two agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) have listened to the story but offered no recommendations, other than to suggest the machine gun be destroyed. http://www.itemlive.com/articles/2007/04/23/news/news01.txt --- Firing Ranges Hinder PTSD Recovery: ...Like many of the wounded soldiers living in the newly built "warrior transition" barracks here, the soft-spoken 25-year-old suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. But even as Strickland and his comrades struggle with nightmares, anxiety and flashbacks from their wartime experiences, the sounds of gunfire have followed them here, just outside their windows. Across the street from their assigned housing, about 200 yards away, are some of the Army infantry's main firing ranges, and day and night, several days each week, barrages from rifles and machine guns echo around Strickland's building. The noise makes the wounded cringe, startle in their formations, and stay awake and on edge, according to several soldiers interviewed at the barracks last month. The gunfire recently sent one soldier to the emergency room with an anxiety attack, they said... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/02/AR2008060202983.html --- Marine Heads to Federal Court over War Trophy: A Marine sergeant accused of bringing home an AK-47 assault rifle as a war trophy from Iraq is headed to federal court to face charges he failed to properly register the weapon. Jury selection was set to begin Monday in the trial of Sgt. Leonardo San Juan, who is charged with one felony count of possession of an unregistered firearm. The charges stem from accusations that San Juan, 31, brought back the AK-47 with him more than two years ago from his service in Iraq, according to a grand jury indictment filed in U.S. District Court in San Diego. (More likely, he is being charged for possession of an unregistered machine gun.) http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/CA_Marines_War_Trophy_343897C.shtml --- "Gun-Toting Yanks" Not Welcome in Toronto: ...The reality is that there is no appreciable violent crime in Canada that is committed by Americans. Nor are Americans primarily responsible for smuggling guns into Canada; that is done by Canadian criminals who politicians like David Miller and Adam Vaughan are too busy crying tears over to take any action. Vaughan's statement is nothing more than classic America bashing that is so popular with Canada's left.... http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/3328 --- Brits Block Man from Flight Due to T-Shirt: Optimus Prime, the hero of the series of kids toys, movies and comic books, is the "largest, strongest, and wisest of all Autobots," protects life on Earth and defeats the Decepticons. He also can create havoc at Heathrow Airport's high-security Terminal 5. That's because he was pictured on a T-shirt worn by Brad Jayakody, 30, who was trying to board a British Airways jet to Dusseldorf, Germany, with four work colleagues. The character's right arm is a gun, and Jayakody was ordered to change his shirt, or miss his flight, because of the threat from the image, according to a report in the Telegraph. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=65988 -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .