DC Gun Bill Could Help Red-State Democrats: A bill to lift gun restrictions in the District of Columbia could be the key to political survival for Texas congressman Nick Lampson and other red-state Democrats. As fall elections approach, these House members in traditionally Republican districts hope to appeal to conservative voters by pushing a bill that would eliminate D.C.'s restrictions on gun ownership... Mr. Lampson hopes to appeal to conservatives in his Republican-leaning district by touting his support for the Second Amendment, said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University... http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/DN-gunban_18pol.ART.State.Edition1.4d7ee6e.html --- Chicago-Area Lawyers Draft Modified Gun Bans: Lawyers in the Chicago area are looking for new ways to restrict handguns despite a recent Supreme Court ruling that made bans illegal. The ruling found that Washington, D.C.'s ban on all handguns violated the constitutional rights of the city's residents. Since then, villages and cities around Chicago have been getting rid of their bans. Nina Vinik is with a gun control group but she says the court's decision wasn't all bad news..."It's an opportunity to come in now and say, 'Okay, no longer do we have a ban, let's look at what we can put into place.'" That's what Vinik's doing. She's with a group called Legal Community Against Violence and they're using their legal savvy to write up model gun legislation that would conform to the recent Supreme Court ruling. The idea is that smaller towns with few legal resources could implement the restrictions, confident that they won't be hit with a lawsuit from the National Rifle Association. http://www.wbez.org/Content.aspx?audioID=27743 --- Guns in the Hands of Good People: June 28, 2008, was a defining moment in my life. It was the day I shot and killed a man in the defense of my life and the lives of others. We all have defining moments. They might not be as tragic as taking another man's life, but they are events that change the way we look at things - or even, perhaps, how we live our lives... (A very eloquent and positive account - my only issue is with the "shooting to wound." Such shots may not be effective in producing quick incapacitation but may still prove fatal, as they did in this case. Legally, it is tough to defend a homicide if you cannot articulate that you were prepared to take lethal action.) http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_10219218?source=most_emailed --- Colorado Students Seek Campus Carry: A student group plans to ask University of Colorado regents this week to allow people with handgun permits to carry weapons on campus. CU Regent Kyle Hybl said he was not sure if regents would take up the issue. The Colorado Springs chapter of the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus argues that gun-free zones on college campuses translate into a ban on self-defense...A state law passed in 2003 allowed concealed weapons to be carried by permit in most parts of the state, but then-State Attorney General Ken Salazar issued a formal opinion that regents could regulate whether they allow guns on campus. Campus police oppose a change in university guidelines. (When seconds count, the police are minutes away.) http://www.examiner.com/a-1541864~Group_seeks_change_in_CU_policy_on_guns_on_campus.html http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/18/pro-gun-group-to-lobby-cu-regents/ --- Oops, Wrong Punching Bag: Police in Metairie said a woman shot and killed her boyfriend on Sunday in self-defense. Officers responded to apartments on the 3900 block of South Interstate 10 Service Road just before 8 a.m. Police found a man shot in his upper torso. He was taken to University Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The victim was identified as 30-year-old Corey Paul. Investigators said Carol Beal, 26, and Paul had a history of domestic violence. Beal had filed a recent complaint against Paul for battery charges. Sunday morning, police said, Beal was inside her apartment when Paul called her threatening physical violence and saying he was coming over. Paul arrived and forced his way inside, police said. Beal told police that Paul attacked her, so she fired two shots at him. No arrest has been made in the case. Police said it appears that the homicide was justifiable. http://www.wdsu.com/news/17215458/detail.html --- Rule Three Reminder: In Athens, Matt Emmons was The Guy Who Shot At The Wrong Target. Yesterday, in the exact same position, with a seemingly insurmountable lead going into the final shot of the same event, the 50-meter three-positions Olympic rifle final - with complete redemption one squeeze of a trigger away - Emmons didn't hit the wrong target. This was worse. "I didn't feel my finger shaking, but I guess it was," said the native of Burlington County, N.J... (Rule Three: Keep your finger out of the trigger guard, up on the frame, until you sights are on the target and you're prepared to fire. Granted, this was an atypical situation, with a rifle whose trigger pull is probably measured in ounces instead of pounds and a target with a relatively small bullseye, it is still a useful reminder of what stress can do to a trigger finger.) http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/olympics/view/2008_08_18_Nerves_get_best_of_Matt_Emmons_again/srvc=home&position=recent --- Rule Four Reminder: A 93-year-old Hemet woman shot at an intruder who entered her home, but she missed and the bullet went through a window and over a neighbor's home, Hemet police said Friday. The woman shot at the intruder who entered her home in the 300 block of South Street shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday, Lt. Duane Wisehart said... The woman told police she heard someone in her home and armed herself with a pistol, then shot at the intruder as the man walked down her hall toward her. The bullet went through a kitchen window of the small, two-bedroom home, through a shade structure and over a house next door, Wisehart said...The woman will not be facing charges, Wisehart said... (Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it.) http://www.knbc.com/news/17206175/detail.html --- Embattled Idaho Gun Shop Reopens Today: Builders are working into the night so that Red's Trading Post can hold the grand opening of its new location on Monday. Ryan Horsley, general manager of Red's Trading Post, said that despite some setbacks the store will open for business as scheduled. The new location at 203 Fifth Ave. S. in Twin Falls - formerly the site of Tribes Interiors - required a "significant" investment of time and money in order to make the building secure enough to store firearms, Horsley said. "The biggest thing we have had to deal with is the installation of security," Horsley said... Red's began looking for a new location about a year ago because its previous location was too small, Horsley said... (Conspicuously absent from this report is Horsley's successful battle with BATFE, over a few minor clerical errors, to keep his FFL.) http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/08/16/business/local_state/142424.txt --- Tangentially Related: ... Neither candidate shied away from a question about which current Supreme Court justice they would not have nominated. Obama's reply: Clarence Thomas. "I don't think he was a strong enough jurist or a legal thinker at the time for that. I profoundly disagree with his interpretation" of the Constitution, he said. McCain said he would have never nominated Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, David Souter and John Paul Stevens. "This nomination should be based on the criteria on a proven record of strictly adhering to the Constitution and not legislating from the bench," McCain added. The Arizona senator said he was "proud" of President Bush for nominating conservative Justices Samuel Alito and John Roberts to the court... (Unfortunately, talk is cheap, especially at election time.) http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/16/warren.forum/index.html Related Commentary: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121901817146948231.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDg5NjI0NzE1OTc2ZDllMDU5NDg5OTdmNjQ3ODQ2NDE= -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .