Brady Bunch Takes New Tack: More than 30,000 firearms are unaccounted for in gun dealers' inventories nationwide, according to a new study by a gun control group. Further, the group, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, says its finding most likely undercounts the missing firearms, since the data used, from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, are drawn from the compliance inspections that were conducted at gun dealerships in the 2007 fiscal year. Just 10,000 dealers were inspected, one-sixth of the nation's total..."No one in America should place any faith in any alleged study coming from the Brady campaign," said Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the N.R.A... A spokesman for the firearms bureau, Nicholas Colucci, said that in his experience, many gun dealers did take inventory annually or even more frequently, although not required to do so by federal law. Mr. Colucci also said shops from which most of the 30,000 weapons were missing had since gone out of business, some because their licenses had been revoked as a result of the inspections. No firearms were missing, he added, at 90 percent of the inspected businesses. (Not mentioned is how many records in the National Firearm Registry (full-auto, etc.] have been lost by BATFE.) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/us/19guns.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin --- NPR Looks at Heller: ...The District of Columbia's ban is considered the nation's strictest gun-control law. A ruling by the court to strike it down could threaten other gun-control measures across the country, including laws that ban machine guns or assault weapons. Although the Second Amendment was ratified in 1791, the court has never definitively said what it means to have the right to keep and bear arms. The current dispute over gun rights raises several important questions... http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91667394 --- One Cop's View of Our Nation's Capital: So, as I sat doing my morning work it occurred to me that things are a bit... ah... off in our nation's capital city: Washington DC. It would seem to me that our capital should be the ONE place that EVERY law is not only just consistent with the Constitution, but is ground breaking; trend setting; progressive. In other words, it shouldn't just be another city but should be the MODEL city for all other U.S. cities to try to follow. However... http://www.officer.com/interactive/2008/06/17/our-nations-capital/ --- After Heller Ruling, NYC Could Be Next: If gun enthusiasts are victorious this month when the Supreme Court declares what rights exist under the Second Amendment, their next target may be New York City's strict gun control laws...Obtaining a gun license in New York City is now a lengthy and costly endeavor. In the span of a decade, a New Yorker with a licensed handgun at home will pay more than $1,000 in fees. Some of the obstacles facing prospective gun owners in the city may change if the Supreme Court rules that individuals have a constitutional right to keep a gun for protection... http://www.nysun.com/new-york/after-supreme-court-gun-ruling-ny-may-be/80314/ --- Presbyterian Church Opposes RKBA: ...Pastor Perry McCallen, of the Second Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga, says the Presbyterian Church USA supports gun control, "Guns have been used to harm people. The idea of more gun control legislation might produce less guns in the hands of people that could do harm." PCUSA's stance on gun control calls for "removing handguns and assault weapons from our homes and our communities." McCallen says the denomination joined the many churches taking a stance on gun control out of a desire for safety. (This is not the only mainstream church that opposes the RKBA,) http://wdef.com/news/churches_weigh_in_on_gun_control/06/2008 --- Utah Debates Non-Resident Permits: Utah is on track to grant more than 40,000 concealed-weapons permits this year; that's way up from about 28,000 last year. And so far this year, nearly half were granted to out-of-state residents. So what is the next step? As you can imagine, there is a sharp difference of opinion about this matter. One democratic senator says this is a matter of public safety. More conservative lawmakers say there is no problem. Utah's concealed-weapons permits are among the least expensive and widely recognized in the nation. And to get one, out-of-state residents don't even have to set foot in the state. Today, state law enforcement officials say they're being overwhelmed by demand for the permits. Richard Townsend, with the Department of Public Safety, said, "We are having a very difficult time administering the out-of-state component to this issue." http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3565876 --- National CCW-Reciprocity Bill: Senator David Vitter (R-LA) is planning to introduce a concealed carry reciprocity bill next week. Senator Vitter had been working closely with Gun Owners of America to draft and file a reciprocity amendment a few weeks ago, but that amendment, unfortunately, never saw the light of day - thanks to powerful opponents inside the Senate. However, Sen. Vitter has continued undaunted and last week sent a Dear Colleague letter to his fellow senators, asking them to cosponsor his forthcoming bill, the "Respecting States Rights and Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act." The Vitter bill treats concealed carry permits much the same as drivers' licenses, where one state's license is recognized in all other states. In addressing the matter of reciprocity, the first concern of GOA and Sen. Vitter is that it be done constitutionally and that it respects states' rights... http://www.gunowners.org/a061808.htm --- West Virginia City Considers Gun Ban: The first reading and discussion of a new ordinance in the city of Ranson that would prohibit firearms and weapons on public property was tabled at Tuesday night's City Council meeting after concerns were raised by the city's police chief that the wording of the new ordinance may be too vague. The issue arose after an individual showed up at a semi-pro football game at Ranson's Charles C. Marcus Field with a gun about a month ago. The man did have a permit to carry a concealed weapon, but agreed to remove the gun from the public field. The council now wants to enact an ordinance that would allow the city to prohibit people from carrying firearms on public property owned by the city. The point, Hamill said, is that the council does not want people to carry weapons at public functions within the city. (State law preempts this sort of ordinance in West Virginia.) http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/507780.html?nav=5006 --- Ohio Man Harassed for Open Carry: Bryan Ledford, an Ohioans For Concealed Carry member, was walking down a street in Willowick, OH yesterday when he was ordered to his knees at gunpoint by several police officers. Our member was exercising his right to Keep and Bear Arms by openly carrying a firearm. He did also have a concealed handgun license. A Willowick Police Sergeant showed up at the scene, and our member was berated by several of the officers over his choice to openly carry, even being told that, "you can't just walk around with your gun exposed" and that he "made a piss-poor decision. It has to be concealed." As people educated about Ohio law know, there is absolutely nothing illegal about open carry of a firearm in places not prohibited by federal or state law... http://www.ohioccw.org/content/view/4010/83/ --- Unity Urge for Ohio Gun Owners: In the past four years, gun owners in Ohio have made amazing strides forward. After years of battling for concealed carry, we finally won in 2004. In 2006, we won major reforms with HB347. This year, we not only won the uphill battle for Castle Doctrine but many other important amendments were added that improved what was already a pretty good piece of legislation. We even saw passage of laws to help handicapped hunters with access to public grounds, so they too could enjoy the time-honored tradition of taking to the field for the hunt. As a group, the gun owning fraternity in Ohio has truly enjoyed advancement in our goals. That said, there are additional things that need to be done. Granted, some of the needed changes are in Columbus, but I want to talk about something each and every one of us can do... http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/5766 --- Oops, Wrong Bank, Further Details: ...He said the robber at the adjacent teller station kept one hand behind his back at all times until the teller began doling out dollar bills. The robber demanded a stack of larger bills instead and moved both hands to the window to collect the cash. Within seconds, Fawzi drew his handgun, racked a round in the chamber and told the man that he wasn't robbing the bank... (All's well that ends well but I don't advise carrying pistols with empty chambers; you may neither have the time nor the use of the second hand to rack the slide. I also don't advise carrying handguns in briefcases instead of holsters.) http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/06/customer_foils_bank_robbery_at.html Fawzi Speaks Out on Camera: http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=1556864&referralPlaylistId=949437d0db05ed5f5b9954dc049d70b0c12f2749 --- Rule Three Reminder: A 19-year-old man accidentally shot and killed himself Tuesday morning while he was attempting to rob a Grand Prairie home, authorities said. Cameron Sands, 19, of Fort Worth kicked in the door of the house and then shot himself in the stomach as he pulled a gun out of his pants to shoot the homeowner, Grand Prairie police said. The homeowner was not injured. After Mr. Sands shot himself, he dropped the gun and ran out of the home. Police found his body around 5:30 a.m. in the driveway of the home in the 2800 block Garden Grove Road, said Lt. John Brimmer, a Grand Prairie police spokesman. (Rule Three: Keep your finger out of the trigger guard, up on the frame, until your sight are on the target and you're prepared to fire.) http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/061908dnmetrobberydeath.168672f7.html --- Cody Attractions Draw Gun Enthusiasts: It wasn't only guns that attracted hundreds of Winchester Club of America members to Cody last weekend. "Many of our members attend because of Cody and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center," club president Joe Salter said of the annual gun show. "The show is an excuse for many of us to come here." ...He added the prospect of a proposed events center on the grounds of the BBHC would be attractive to the club. "Many of our members visit the BBHC and we have a really good relationship with the Cody Firearms Museum" he said. (As I recall, the Cody Firearms Museum bans carry by visitors.) http://www.codyenterprise.com/articles/2008/06/17/news/news4.txt --- Despite Lack of Guns, Japanese Suicide Rate Soars: Japanese professionals in their thirties are killing themselves at unprecedented rates, as the nation struggles with a runaway suicide epidemic. Newly published figures show that 30,093 people took their own lives in 2007- a 2.9 per cent increase in a year - leaving the country as the most suicide-prone anywhere in the developed world and rendering government efforts to combat the problem a failure... http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4170649.ece -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .