Heller Attorneys Request $3.5 Million in Fees: The lawyers who defeated the District's handgun ban in the Supreme Court, successfully arguing that Americans have an individual right to arm themselves, want about $3.5 million for their trouble, according to a motion for attorney's fees and costs filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia...Acting D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles, responding to the fee petition, told the BLT, "We obviously are going to have to look at it closely. That's a lot of money. This is not a situation where there was a trial. Everything was done on motions. Certain kinds of work are recognized to be appropriate and certain kinds are not." Nickles said he was meeting with staff later today to discuss whether to negotiate with the Gura and the others or to contest the fee petition in court. http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2008/08/heller-lawyers.html --- Brady Bunch Praises Obama's VP Choice: The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence praised Senator Barack Obama's choice for his vice presidential running mate, Senator Joe Biden. "Joe Biden is a straight talker about the need for common sense laws to keep dangerous people from getting dangerous weapons," said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "He has been a solid advocate for sensible gun laws that protect our police officers and our families. I was proud to stand with him just weeks ago in Philadelphia when he joined with our nation's mayors in supporting tough crime fighting laws, and also last year when police leaders urged passage of common sense measures to protect law enforcement officers. Our nation would be well served with Joe Biden as our Vice President..." http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/08-25-2008/0004872897&EDATE= Tangentially Related: Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) may be best remembered for his long tenure on the Senate Judiciary Committee - especially for the way that he has handled judicial nominations... Liberals are pleased with his record, especially his opposition to the recent Supreme Court nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito... But conservatives say that for 27 years, Biden has served as a liberal front man for attacking conservative judicial nominees and principles - notably during the confirmation hearings of Judges Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas... http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=34674 --- And I've Got a Nice Oceanfront Condo for Sale in Tucson..: Gun owners in West Virginia turned their backs on Democrats in the last two presidential elections largely over Second Amendment fears, but one veteran hunter says none need fear a Barack Obama administration. In fact, says add-on superdelegate Pete Cuffaro, gun rights are the least of concerns of the Illinois senator...For the record, Cuffaro is a card-carrying member of the National Rifle Association who hunts and fishes, is a frequent visitor at rifle ranges and the owner of a permit to pack a concealed weapon... http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_239221904.html --- Larry Pratt on Oklahoma Gun Dragnet: A June 8 murder of two young people in rural Waleetka has provided the excuse for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, or OSBI, to behave as if the Bill of Rights is an impediment to be overcome in order to employ effective police procedures. In their search for the killer, the OSBI sent a letter to some 60 owners of .40-caliber handguns (the same caliber as used by the murderer) in the community where the victims had lived. The letter "invited" the owners to bring the guns in for testing. This letter raises disturbing questions... (As far as I can tell, the list of "registered owners" was compiled by visiting local dealers and going through recent 4473's.) http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=73473 --- School Opens In Harrold TX: Along with normal first-day jitters and excitement, students in this tiny district started school this week wondering which teachers might be toting firearms...Mr. Thweatt said the board took extra precautions, such as requiring employees to use bullets that will minimize the risk of ricochet, similar to those used by air marshals on planes... (As far as I know, Federal Air Marshals use conventional hollowpoints. A recent discussion in Evan Marshall's Stopping Power Forums indicates that the Glaser Silver Safety Slug gives phenomenal performance at very close distances but offers unreliable performance as distances extend beyond five yards.) http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/aug/27/teachers-armed-for-school/ --- No Safe Places: Recently, there were two Christian musicians who were leaving a recording studio and were murdered for two dollars and their car. Initially, I paid little attention to the news reports nor did I listen to the names of the two victims. Three days later, I received an e-mail from a woman friend who had received her CHL by taking my course along with her son and daughter. The e-mail read, "Hi Don, my son, Steve, was murdered Thursday. His funeral is at...." http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/5902 --- Texas DA Wants to Disarm His Assistants: Harris County District Attorney Ken Magidson has asked the state's top lawyer if he can legally stop his assistants from taking handguns into courtrooms despite a new law removing most restrictions on where prosecutors with gun licenses can carry their weapons. Magidson requires members of his staff, even those with concealed handgun licenses, to obtain his permission, as a condition of employment, before they can carry a firearm into a court. He is seeking Attorney General Greg Abbott's opinion on whether he can continue his policy, despite a 2007 law that allows prosecutors with handgun licenses to pack their pistols anywhere except jails or prisons. They also are prohibited from carrying while intoxicated... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5965737.html Related Commentary: http://waronguns.blogspot.com/2008/08/what-ken-allows.html --- Feedback on the Appleseed Project: Last Saturday, an instructor said to me, "Learning to be a rifleman at an Appleseed is like drinking from a fire hose." He wasn't kidding. I spent a lot of time saying, "Huh?" and "What am I doing?" and "Help!" But by the end of the day, I could definitely say that I learned something... http://thebredafallacy.blogspot.com/2008/08/american-tradition-appleseed-pt1.html http://thebredafallacy.blogspot.com/2008/08/rifleman-persists-appleseed-pt-2.html http://thebredafallacy.blogspot.com/2008/08/cooked-appleseed-pt-3.html --- Oops, Wrong Tattoo Parlor: A 27-year-old man who police said tried to torch a tattoo parlor on the city's near north side was shot and killed by the business owner early Tuesday...Police said Shawn Deegan, the owner of Perfection Tattoo in the 3500 block of Blanco Road, woke up to sound of breaking glass at 2:30 a.m. Moments later, Davis tossed a Molotov cocktail, which crashed through the window, police said. Fearing for his life, Deegan opened fire on Davis with a shotgun, police said. Davis was struck once in the neck and died at the scene. Charges are not expected to be filed against Deegan, police said... http://www.ksat.com/news/17297594/detail.html --- The Olofson Appeal Brief - the Plot Thickens: ...On July 13, 2006, Defendant Olofson loaned Robert Kiernicki ("Kiernicki") an Olympic Arms AR-15-type CAR-AR semi-automatic firearm (hereinafter "AR-15") and a supply of ammunition "to keep [his] training up and to keep the skill of shooting" at a nearby shooting range, the Conservation Club ("the Club"). Tr. 37, l. 8 - 38, l. 14. Kiernicki noticed the selector switch on the rifle could be rotated to a third position, other than "safe" and "fire." Olofson told Kiernicki not to use the "third position" for then it would malfunction by firing a "three-round burst" and then jam up. Tr. 38, ll. 8-21; Tr. 46, ll. 11-15. Nevertheless, at the Club, Kiernicki "more than once," placed the weapon "in the unmarked third position." After pulling the trigger only once each time, the firearm shot "three rounds or maybe four ... and then it jammed" (Tr. 39, ll. 15-16), even though there was still ammunition in the gun and he had not released his finger from the trigger. Tr. 46, l. 22 - 47, l. 8... http://www.jpfo.org/pdf02/us-v-olofson-appellant-brief.pdf --- Canada's East Coast Most Heavily Armed: If the federal government's numbers are right, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are Canada's most heavily armed citizens, but also its least trigger-happy. According to the most recent numbers from the Canada Firearms Centre, the province has 70,977 registered firearms. Statistics Canada's latest numbers estimate the province's population at 508,270. That's one gun for every 7.2 people, the highest ratio of guns to people of any province in the country. Statistics Canada's most recent numbers on gun crime also reveal the province has the lowest annual rate of victims of firearm-related crime in the country, with just 11.4 victims for every 100,000 people... (If the federal government's numbers are right, but resistance to long-gun registration has probably been strongest in the west.) http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=165106&sc=79 --- When Guns Are Outlawed...: A man has been found guilty of turning replica guns into live weapons linked to more than 50 shootings, including the murder of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky. Grant Wilkinson, 34, was convicted at Reading Crown Court of seven offences of converting and supplying firearms and ammunition linked to eight murders. Wilkinson, of no fixed abode, adapted replica Mac-10 guns in a shed in Three Mile Cross, near Reading, Berkshire... ("Pc" would be "Police Constable.") http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/berkshire/7576925.stm --- Meth Heads Posed No Credible Threat to Obama: Authorities charged three Colorado men Tuesday with gun and drug violations but said they posed "no credible threat" to Sen. Barack Obama, despite an investigation that revealed they had discussed several assassination plots and possessed high-powered rifles, camouflage and other gear that could have been used in an assault. U.S. Attorney Troy A. Eid said the three men, who were arrested in suburban Denver on Sunday, had been more "aspirational than operational" in their threats and therefore did not warrant being charged for those actions... www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/26/AR2008082603791.html -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .