DC Refuses to Register Heller's Pistol: ...Among the first to arrive when the doors opened at 7 a.m. was Dick Anthony Heller, 66, who was the responder in the case District of Columbia v. Heller. However, Mr. Heller, was told be could not register his 45-caliber semiautomatic Colt Model 1911 because it is still illegal under D.C. law. He couldn't register a second gun, a revolver, because he didn't bring the weapon with him. "Now I'm disappointed," said Mr. Heller, a security guard. "I've been denied again." Mr. Heller said he will try to register a nine-shot .22-caliber Harrington and Richardson revolver Friday... http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/jul/18/district-begins-licensing-pistols/ ...Arriving at 6:30 a.m., accompanied by an adviser, Heller was met outside the building by various police officials. In an animated discussion, they explained to Heller that he needed to show authorities the handgun he wanted to register, and allow it to be test-fired, as part of the registration process. The adviser, Dane von Breichenruchardt, president of the Bill of Rights Foundation, a public-interest group, said that Heller owns at least two handguns - a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol and a .22-caliber revolver - and that the weapons have been stored for years with a friend in Maryland. Although officials said that gun owners in Heller's situation can bring legally owned revolvers from other jurisdictions into the District to register them, von Breichenruchardt said he had told Heller not to do so without written assurance that it was permissible. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/17/AR2008071700621.html?hpid=moreheadliness ...Dick Heller, whose legal challenge prompted the Supreme Court ruling, said he would challenge new city regulations that continue to ban District residents from owning semi-automatic weapons. "The city still does not yet understand the decision of the Supreme Court," Heller said from the steps of police headquarters. "We have been denied again." ...Dane von Breichenruchardt, president of the Bill of Rights Foundation, said the city was attempting to make gun ownership as "difficult and restrictive as possible." "We're going to be back in court. There is no doubt about that," he said... http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-07-17-gun-ban_N.htm?csp=34 Dick Heller is the man who brought the lawsuit against the District's 32-year-old ban on handguns. He was among the first in line Thursday morning to apply for a handgun permit. But when he tried to register his semi-automatic weapon, he says he was rejected. He says his gun has seven bullet clip. Heller says the City Council legislation allows weapons with fewer than eleven bullets in the clip. A spokesman for the DC Police says the gun was a bottom-loading weapon, and according to their interpretation, all bottom-loading guns are outlawed because they are grouped with machine guns... http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=74036&catid=158 The District of Columbia has made it legal for residents to own a handgun after being so ordered by the United States Supreme Court. But they're not making it easy. The plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that overturned Washington's strict 32-year-old handgun ban was among the first to arrive as the city started registering firearms. Dick Heller showed up early Thursday at the police department, but he's still upset with the city even after winning his case. He says its strict new rules for handguns still violate the spirit of the court's ruling defending the constitutional right to bear arms. They allow handguns to be kept in the home if they're used only for self-defense and carry fewer than 12 rounds of ammunition. Gun owners can only register one weapon in the first 90 days. Police say the permitting process could take weeks or months... http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2008/07/dc_bans_guns_with_red_tape_/ --- UCLA Professor Discusses Heller: ...This was an unusual right-to-bear-arms case from the beginning. Not only was it top-down-driven legislation, but also they sought out very sympathetic plaintiffs. Among the original plaintiffs this includes not just Dick Heller, who was a security guard who carried a gun during his day job but wasn't allowed to bring it home with him or protect himself at night with a firearm - a sympathetic figure, a responsible, law-abiding person. But there were also other sympathetic figures, such as one gay plaintiff who claimed that on a previous night the plaintiff had been surrounded by skinheads and, were it not for brandishing a gun in defense, the skinheads might have done violence to or hurt the plaintiff. So, sympathetic victims, to be sure.... That was a very smart strategy... http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/ii_20080715_4338.php --- Heller's Future in the Lower Courts: ...The repudiation of this extensive body of case law suggests that the real test of Heller will occur once the lower courts, traditionally hostile to an individual rights interpretation of the Second Amendment, face the inevitable follow-up cases challenging other restrictive gun laws. Experience with other seemingly groundbreaking Supreme Court decisions in recent years, such as United States v. Lopez, suggests that lower-court foot-dragging may limit Heller's reach, though this time around there will likely be considerably more scrutiny and more vigorous litigation efforts. http://colloquy.law.northwestern.edu/main/2008/07/hellers-future.html --- Another Chicago Suburb Amends Handgun Ban: Evanston aldermen unanimously voted to amend the city's 27-year-old handgun ban last week at a special closed-door meeting in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a similar ban in the District of Columbia. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that laws requiring handguns in homes to be disassembled and outfitted with trigger locks are incompatible with the gun rights accorded under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment. On June 26th, the day after the ruling's release, the National Rifle Association sued numerous cities that ban the private possession of operative handguns, including Chicago, Morton Grove, Oak Park and Evanston. After weeks of consideration and consultation with the police, Evanston city council members authorized a resolution that would rewrite the ordinance to comply with the Supreme Court ruling... http://media.www.dailynorthwestern.com/media/storage/paper853/news/2008/07/17/City/To.Avoid.Nra.Suit.Aldermen.Vote.To.Amend.Gun.Ban-3391932.shtml --- Savage to BATFE - See You in Court: A gun expert who alleges the U.S. government is retaliating against him for his testimony on behalf of a man sentenced to prison after his gun malfunctioned now has challenged the feds to go ahead and confiscate one of his own products. "Your suggestion for forfeiture of company property is an excellent solution to this most unfortunate controversy. The initiation of forfeiture proceedings by ATF against the firearm serial number V1, will afford the opportunity for both parties to be heard and will provide a fair and equitable determination of the issues while preserving all processes that are due for both parties," Len Savage, owner of Historic Arms LLC, wrote in a document prepared for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives... http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=69910 --- Mother Jones Assaults Rifles: ...Another loophole was created for the sks semiautomatic carbine, developed in 1945 for use by the Soviet army until it was replaced by the more rugged AK-47. The Bush administration reclassified the sks as a "curio," adding it to the atf's list of such weapons, most over 50 years old and considered collectors' items, that are automatically authorized for import. However, the atf reported in 2002 that the sks was "the rifle model most frequently encountered by law enforcement officers" and noted that the guns "are capable of penetrating the type of soft body armor typically worn by law enforcement officers." Since being added to the atf's curios list, the sks has become one of the cheapest assault rifles on the market--less expensive, at between $89 and $250, than most handguns... http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2008/07/outfront-bush-to-cops-drop-dead.html --- Die in the Streets: ...The only two reasons for a citizen to own a firearm are for hunting or defense of the household from intruders. In either case, ownership of a handgun, shotgun or rifle is more than adequate to satisfy these purposes. There is absolutely no need for any U.S. civilian to own any weapon more powerful or sophisticated than these. Accordingly, all handguns, shotguns and rifles must be licensed and registered to the degree necessary to match weapon to owner at the click of a computer key. Furthermore, if we had prohibited the purchase of more sophisticated weapons, several innocent victims would not have died at restaurants, universities and shopping malls. http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/letters/296573 --- Oops, Wrong Press Conference: Three journalists were injured in southwest China when a gun went off at a press conference called by Chinese police to highlight the success of a gun-control campaign, state media said. The press conference took place in Nanchong in Sichuan province to publicize the results of a campaign by the city's police to seize illegal weapons, the Beijing News reported. One of the police officials mishandled a homemade weapon, releasing the trigger and dropping it to the ground. It was unclear from the report whether the gun contained bullets or shotgun pellets but it said one local journalist needed surgery after being hit in several areas of the body including his ankle, crotch, and chest. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking_news_detail.asp?id=606&icid=2&d_str=20080718 --- Changing History: What would you think of a museum dedicated to the life of Abraham Lincoln that didn't feature a single firearm? The 16th president guided the Union through the bloody Civil War...Can a gun-free retelling of the Revolutionary War be far behind? Will "The Shot Heard 'Round The World" be changed to "The Shout Heard 'Round the World"? Will Lexington and Concord be portrayed not as battles for our independence ... just spirited debates? Our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is an indelible part of our history. To ignore it isn't just politically correct, it's intellectually moronic. http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=421 --- Tangentially Related: A man forces his way into an apartment to rape the woman who lives there. A guy on a bicycle handcuffs and robs pedestrians, and another gropes random women on the side of the road. In each case, men pretending to be police preyed on victims who let down their guard because they thought they were being stopped by real officers. Officer impersonation is a nationwide crime, and it has flourished in recent years with brazen criminals sometimes going to great lengths to pull off their ruse... http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/jul/18/fake-police-trick-victims/ -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .