DC Rules Show Battle Is Far from Over: The Supreme Court may have endorsed an individual right under the Second Amendment to bear arms. But the District of Columbia certainly isn't leaping to implement that right. After its defeat in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the D.C. Council responded by adopting new gun-control regulations that are only marginally less restrictive than the ones invalidated in Heller. Undoubtedly, the new regulations - and similar ones in other jurisdictions - will be challenged in court. It is the outcome of these future cases that will determine whether Heller has any truly significant impact. History shows that mere judicial recognition of a right doesn't guarantee that the right will get meaningful protection. It is especially unlikely if the right is supported by jurists on only one side of the political spectrum. Judicially recognized rights also can get short shrift if the Supreme Court defines their scope narrowly... http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubArticleDC.jsp?id=1202423169218 --- Prohibitionists Fight for Gun-Free Zones: Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a ban on handguns, gun opponents are fighting to preserve or expand gun-free zones, igniting battles over whether civilians should be allowed to carry loaded weapons to places such as airports, public parks and even the Magic Kingdom...The Supreme Court ruled last month that the 2nd Amendment protects an individual's right to own firearms for self-protection, fueling efforts by gun advocates to overturn gun bans in cities such as Chicago. But some law professionals said the ruling didn't specifically address how laws should be applied in particular venues, thus leaving it to lower courts to decide... http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-gunlaws_bdjul27,0,5208778.story --- Gun Owners Lukewarm to McCain: ...Political analyst Stuart Rothenberg said the gun lobby's ability to spend huge sums of money could boost turnout for GOP contender John McCain, who has yet to generate enthusiasm among many conservatives...Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a group advocating gun control measures, said that McCain has in some ways done more than Obama for gun control. Unlike Obama, Helmke said, McCain has introduced legislation and done television ads promoting a crackdown on the gun show loophole... (Perhaps that's only because Obama has not done much about anything - he certainly has made enough statements about destroying the RKBA.) http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/5909551.html --- New Anti-RKBA Push in New Jersey: New Jersey's Assembly has twice-approved legislation limiting people to buying one handgun per month, but the Senate has never followed suit. Now a state senator and urban mayors are vowing to push hard to get final approval for the legislation. "Handgun violence is on the rise, but taking guns off the streets will help to stop the senseless slaughter of our citizens," said Sen. Sandra Bolden Cunningham, D-Hudson. "It's common sense." (New Jersey already has one of the nation's most cumbersome systems to purchase a handgun legally. I see no common sense in believing that this restriction will "take guns off the streets.") http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj-xgr--legislativepr0727jul27,0,6777974.story --- Throwing Good Money after Bad: State Police Sgt. Dennis Lyons hunched over the computer as images of two different handgun shell casings appeared on a monitor...He placed part of one image atop the other, showing how he concluded police needed to track down the gun whose shell casing matched the one from the Utica case. Lyons was using a computerized gun casing database run by the federal government known as NIBIN, short for National Integrated Ballistics Information Network. It's one of two ballistics networks New York police officers use. The other is the Combined Ballistics Information System, called CoBIS. Now the state is moving to create another firearms database, using a process known as microstamping, in which handgun firing pins are affixed with serial numbers that imprint on each round fired... http://www.poststar.com/articles/2008/07/26/news/local/13761668.txt --- Demand Rises for Guns, Training in Fayeteville: The recent murders of two Fort Bragg soldiers and a Cary woman have caught the attention of many people across North Carolina. And in particular, it seems they've caught the interest of women who fear for their own safety...Weapons instructor Geary Chlebus used to teach a self-defense class at Jim's Pawn Shop once a month, but he said now it's in much higher demand. "Today I had a full class," he said Saturday. "I've had to turn people away. We are now contemplating having classes twice a week - Saturdays and Sundays." And he said half of the students he teaches are women. But these women are doing more than just learning self-defense. They're also buying more guns... http://news14.com/content/headlines/597755/self-defense-methods-in-high-demand/Default.aspx --- Ohio Man Charged for Shooting Charging Bear: An eastern Ohio man says he killed a black bear in self defense because the animal charged at him - but he's been charged with shooting an endangered animal. John Tanksley says his dog tried to chase the bear away from his property at Newcomerstown in Coshocton County but the animal kept coming back. He says that when he and his girlfriend tried to get the dog back in the house on Wednesday the bear charged at them. State wildlife officer Garth Goodyear describes the bear as "man-size" and weighing 165 pounds. If Tanksley is convicted of the misdemeanor offense he could get up to one year behind bars and be fined $1,000. http://www.herald-dispatch.com/homepage/x437282814/-Self-defense-says-Ohio-man-who-killed-black-bear -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .