The Missing Link: Yesterday I neglected to paste in the link to the report of the Israeli man who intervened and fatally shot the terrorist on a bulldozer. Here it is: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=68676 --- Nonsense Nullified: ...Last week, the Supreme Court put an end to that nonsense when it issued a decision overturning the District of Columbia's 32-year-old ban on handguns - even in citizens' own homes. In the 5-4 decision, Justice Antonin Scalia hailed "the right of law-abiding... citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home." ...John Eastman, law school dean at Chapman University in Orange County, Calif., found it ironic that the four justices relied on an interpretation, albeit erroneous, of the Framers' original intent - when they don't seem to care about original intent in so many other cases... http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/jul/05/nonsense-nullified/ --- Legal Firearms Still Elusive for DC Residents: Days after the Supreme Court ruled that residents of the nation's capital can keep handguns at home for self-defense, George Harley walked out of a Maryland gun shop disheartened, his goal of legally having a gun to protect his family put on hold. Since before Harley, 30, was born, the District of Columbia has restricted its residents' ownership of handguns. After the high court's ruling was handed down late last month, Harley was one of several dozen Washington residents who came to the Atlantic Guns shop in Silver Spring, Md., just over the district line, to ask about buying a gun. They were all told the same thing: Go home. (DC's criminals do not appear to have this problem.) http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-dcgunban5-2008jul05,0,7778286.story --- Chicago Gun Ban May Test Heller Ruling: ...Chicago officials say they have reason to be concerned about the high court's decision. The city looks likely to provide the next critical test of the justices' ruling as courts decide how far the decision extends to other cities and the 50 states. Within hours of the 5 to 4 decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia, gun rights groups filed fresh challenges to Chicago's restrictions. Scalia, who spent five years as a law professor at the University of Chicago, close to some of the city's most violent precincts, made clear that some restrictions would be permitted, but the majority opinion left unclear what standards courts should use to assess them...Yet culinary student Drenetta Bagwell, 39, thinks a gun might be just what she needs to feel secure on a mean street. She suggests permitting people over 30 with no criminal records to carry a firearm. "We as women need some type of protection," Bagwell said. "Guns should be banned for criminals, but you should be able to have one if you only use it with a good reason." (But protection is legitimate only for women over 30.) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/05/AR2008070500565.html?hpid=topnews --- Jindal Signs Louisiana Parking-Lot-Storage Bill: Over the objections of 5 powerful trade associations, Governor Bobby Jindal has signed into law a bill that gives employees more freedom to take guns to work. The Legislature's Web site says the bill was signed Wednesday. The bill, backed by the National Rifle Association, gives an employee the right to keep a legally owned firearm locked in a car in a parking lot at the workplace, with some exceptions. The bill's sponsor says the legislation backs employees who are fired for unwittingly carrying a firearm in their personal vehicle because they went hunting before or after work. The trade associations say the bill interferes with employers' right to decide whether to allow firearms on their property. http://www.klfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=8620261 --- Jeff Knox on Parking-Lot-Storage Battles: ...Contrast the Indiana story to what has been happening in states like Florida and Georgia where gun rights advocates and business leaders are dragging each other to court after contentious legislative battles. This fabricated animosity between gunowners and business leaders is unnecessary and counterproductive...Which brings us back to a familiar refrain for readers of this column: Shift the liability. The entity that prohibits lawful possession of the means of self defense assumes liability for protecting everyone in the establishment. Shifting the liability is not as dramatic as filing a grandstand lawsuit and may not fire up donations from irate gunowners, but neither does it create enemies of potential allies and result in years of litigation. Friends are good to have. Making enemies unnecessarily is just wasteful. http://www.ohioccw.org/content/view/4023/83/ --- Oops, Wrong House: A Baden neighborhood homeowner shot and killed a man who struck him in the head with a pipe after the homeowner confronted the man early this morning, police said...The homeowner, who also is not being identified by police, said that he heard a noise outside of his home in the 9000 block of Edna Avenue early this morning. When he went outside, he found the man, who the homeowner knew, police said. The man then struck the homeowner in the head with a metal pipe and the homeowner ran back inside his house, police said. The man, still carrying the metal pipe, followed the homeowner into the house. The homeowner then shot the man several times. The man ran out of the house and collapsed in the street in the 1000 block of Melvin Avenue, police said. The man died. (I would not exit my home to investigate a noise without taking a firearm.) http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/A0F532F4074F88848625747B003DC086?OpenDocument --- Utah Man Weighs Plea in Self-Defense Shooting: A southern Utah man says he needs more time to consider whether he will take a plea deal or head for trial in the case of a 2007 fatal home-invasion shooting. Danny Dutton, Hurricane, is charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a gun. The case has been the focus of debate as local authorities had ruled that Dutton's shooting of a man was considered self-defense. According to police, Dutton shot and killed Aaron Barbosa when Barbosa and another man forced their way into Dutton's apartment on March 24, 2007. Barbosa began beating Dutton with a steel pipe and Dutton shot him... http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700240713,00.html --- Oops, Wrong Restaurant: Two men tried to rob an Old Hickory Sonic restaurant, but an assistant manager pulled out a gun and fired shots, causing the suspects to flee. Police believe that one or both of the suspects was wounded. Metro police Capt. Michele Donegan said that at approximately 10:30 p.m. Thursday, two men, one of whom was armed with a handgun, went inside the Sonic at 1410 Robinson Road, in Old Hickory. Several employees were at the restaurant, and numerous customers were at the tables outside and at the drive-ups. The armed suspect showed the gun. The assistant manager then pulled out a gun and fired several shots, Donegan said. The two men fled out the door without firing. Police are still looking for them... http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080704/NEWS03/80704002&s=d --- Time Versus Castle Doctrine: ... The passage of new Castle Doctrine bills goes over well with voters, politicians and people like Horn because of a wide perception that criminals are still given far too many rights at the expense of law-abiding (and gun-owning) citizens. As Horn said in his 911 call, he wasn't going to let those robbers get away. For many, the recent Supreme Court decision striking down Washington's gun ban was seen as a rare respite from a long string of legal attacks on the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms. The Horn decision was hailed as another rare victory... (The credibility of this reporter can be weighed by his use of the term "multistate concealed weapons permit." While Front Sight may advertise it that way, it is actually a Utah Concealed Firearm Permit, issued by a single state, which happens to be recognized by many others.) http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1820028,00.html?imw=Y --- Lead-Bullet Ban Hits Some Parts of California: Visalia gun-shop owner Jerry White says most hunters are interested in conservation. But he's frustrated by a new state ban on lead-containing bullets, a ban designed to protect the endangered California condor. "They went way overboard," White said. "We haven't seen any condors in this area, period. It feels like more of a way to prevent hunting in certain areas." The law bans using bullets that contain lead in the condor's range. The bird is particularly susceptible to the danger of lead because its feeding habits of eating carcasses containing lead ammunition left by hunters, according to proponents of the law. In Tulare County the restricted area for lead ammunition coincides with the deer-hunting zone which excludes the area west of Highway 99 and a portion of the easternmost region. The new regulations went into effect Tuesday.... http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080702/NEWS01/807020325/1002 Related Commentary: http://www.bakersfield.com/136/story/488931.html --- California RKBA Lawyer Profiled: He helped fight for victory in the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned a handgun ban in Washington, D.C.. Now Palos Verdes Peninsula resident and gun-rights lawyer Chuck Michel is taking aim at cities with similar firearms prohibitions... It's a labor of love for the 50-year-old father of two boys and the husband of a Redondo Beach deputy city prosecutor who grew up in rural New Jersey with a gun-collecting father... http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_9783667 --- NRA-ILA Alerts: Alerts for the week are posted on the NRA-ILA website. http://www.nraila.org/GrassrootsAlerts/read.aspx --- When Guns Are Outlawed...: Fighting the knife crime epidemic has overtaken terrorism as the top priority for police in London, a senior officer disclosed as details emerged of the 18th teenager murdered in the capital this year...At a Metropolitan Police committee meeting yesterday, Sir Paul Stephenson, Deputy Commissioner, admitted that "clearly the message is not getting through" for youths to stop carrying weapons. He said the battle against knife crime has become "the number one priority for the Met at this time". Scotland Yard launched a high-profile crackdown named Operation Blunt in May and have now responded by announcing a further initiative - creating a dedicated anti-knife task force of 75 officers. (I'm not sure which bothers me more, the blame-the-weapon mentality or the attitude that Britain is at higher risk from these murders than from dedicated terrorists, who would happily blow the whole island off the face of the earth if they could.) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2248238/Knife-crime-overtakes-terrorism-as-number-one-priority-for-police.html?DCMP=EMC-new_05072008 --- East Timor Could Legalize Firearm Ownership: East Timor's Prime Minister is supporting a new law that would allow civilians to own guns, less than five months after illegally armed rebel soldiers tried to kill him and the President. The proposal has sparked heated scenes in Parliament, with MPs almost coming to blows over what some say is a dangerous development that could threaten the nation's fragile security. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao last week introduced the proposed gun law to Parliament for "urgent debate" - pushing back scheduled budgetary discussions. Under Article 4 of the law, civilians would be allowed to own firearms. Currently, only police and military personnel can carry weapons... http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23959964-663,00.html -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .