After Heller: The New American Debate About Guns: This is a Weblog debate about the Heller case and its implications. Participants are Bob Levy of the Cato Institute, Dave Kopel, Dennis Henigan of the Brady Campaign, and Erwin Chemerinsky. http://www.cato-unbound.org/archives/july-2008-after-heller-the-new-american-debate-about-guns/ One More Heller Commentary: http://media.www.ndsmcobserver.com/media/storage/paper660/news/2008/09/16/Viewpoint/The-Fine.Print-3432489.shtml --- DC About to Blink: D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson says he will propose regulations Tuesday that would legalize semi-automatic handguns in the District because the stopgap legislation the council passed in response to a Supreme Court ruling "would not stand up to judicial scrutiny. The Supreme Court has spoken, and we have to act accordingly," he said. "We are still going to have a strong gun control law." Mr. Mendelson, at-large Democrat, said the bill will refine the city's definition of machine guns by using wording from other jurisdictions and the federal assault-weapons ban, which has since expired. The bill also will cap at 10 the number of rounds a semi-automatic gun magazine can hold... http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/sep/16/bill-allows-semi-automatics-with-limited-rounds-in/ --- From GOA: How quickly things can change. Last week, the early reports indicated that the Childers bill to repeal the DC gun ban, HR 6691, was going to be a "cake walk" in the House of Representatives. But now, DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) has managed to get an alternative, anti-gun bill onto the floor of the House. Her bill passed out of committee last week on a whopping 17-1 vote. Every Republican on the committee - except for Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) - voted for the Norton bill. The Norton bill would allow the DC council to continue enacting gun control, while the Childers bill (HR 6691) would repeal the ban on semi-auto pistols and rifles in DC, the registration requirements which require residents to get permission from the city council before they can own a weapon, and the lock-up-your-safety provision... http://www.gunowners.org/a091508.htm Related Commentary: http://www.vvdailypress.com/opinion/bill_8571___article.html/house_childers.html --- Obama Trots Out "Sportsman" in Ad: Barack Obama's campaign is airing a new radio ad in New Hampshire that focuses on Obama's stance on the Second Amendment and the economy. The ad features Ray Schoenke, a former Washington Redskins player and current president of the American Hunters and Shooters Association. "It's important to me that our next president protects our Second Amendment rights to own guns and defend ourselves," Schoenke says in the ad. "Barack Obama and John McCain will both make sure we can keep our guns. But what about keeping our jobs? Barack's got a real plan that invests in creating jobs here at home and cuts taxes a thousand bucks for working families..." (It should now be apparent why I and others have consistently referred to AHSA as a Trojan horse.) http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/3604/obama-airs-ad-guns-economy --- While in Pennsylvania...: Stormy weather didn't stop a group of more than 50 union sportsmen from shooting in the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Working Families Trap Shoot Finals at the Bay City Gun Club in Waterford, outside of Erie on Saturday afternoon. And it didn't dampen the enthusiasm these union gun owners and hunters have for Sen. Barack Obama. Jack Fischer, president of the Erie-Crawford Central Labor Council, puts it this way: "There is a lot of nonsense out there about Barack Obama taking our guns. Working folks from our area are a lot more worried about John McCain shipping away our jobs." (Do I detect a line from the same playbook?) http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/09/15/union-sportsmen-describe-why-they-back-obama ---I In the Other Corner...: ... The NRA boasts slightly fewer than 4 million members, but that number significantly understates its ability to mobilize tens of millions of other gun owners, hunters and sportsmen in presidential campaigns in large swaths of the nation's rural country in the Midwest, South and West and the rural Northeast that has helped Republicans win seven out of the past 10 presidential elections... NRA officials say the gun issue has traction across the country, especially among union households that are heavily Democratic. "Polls show that gun ownership in union households runs from a low of 48 percent in California to 90 percent in states like West Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Nevada and places like that," Mr. LaPierre said... http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/16/gunning-for-victory-risky-for-obama/ --- You Can't Take a Campaign Promise to Court: Yesterday, I told you about the GOP platform plank on the Second Amendment, in which the party talks about the fact that our Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a right that pre-dates the Constitution. The platform also states: "Gun ownership is responsible citizenship, enabling Americans to defend their homes and communities against violent individuals and the drug culture. We call for education in constitutional rights in schools, and we support the option of firearms training in federal programs serving senior citizens and women. We urge immediate action to review the automatic denial of gun ownership to returning members of the Armed Forces who have suffered trauma during service to their country..." http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=447 --- Eight Pennsylvania Mayors to Copy Philadelphia Ordinance: Eight central- and eastern-Pennsylvania mayors plan to introduce ordinances modeled on a Philadelphia gun-safety law. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter is expected to join the mayors at a meeting Tuesday in Reading. Philadelphia adopted an ordinance earlier this year requiring owners to report lost or stolen handguns within 72 hours. CeaseFire Pa executive director Joe Grace says the reporting requirement is designed to help police track weapons they recover when investigating a crime. The National Rifle Association is challenging the constitutionality of the Philadelphia requirement. The mayors of Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown, York, Lancaster, Reading and Pottsville say they'll introduce similar ordinances. (The constitutional challenge is base on state preemption. Arguably, the ordinances could be used to penalize straw purchases but do not promote "gun-safety." As it says in my signature block, "Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation.") http://yorkdispatch.inyork.com/yd/pennsylvania/ci_10474704 --- For Those Who Don't Know About AARP: ... But don't expect AARP to be satisfied with this. They are not a seniors' organization. They are just another Washington liberal left front group. If they really spoke for seniors, rather than neo-socialism, they would support measures like eliminating the death tax, or reducing or eliminating the capital-gains tax, or the taxation of dividends. It is seniors who have accumulated the most capital, and who receive the most dividends, because they have been around the longest. A true seniors' organization would also speak up for gun rights, seeking to empower seniors to defend themselves when necessary... http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=N2ZhYTFhNmM2MjZiMDE4NGFkZjcwM2ZjODU1OTZmMTU= --- Oops, Sorry About That: Prosecutors say no charges will be filed against a man who was arrested after causing a weapons scare during the Democratic convention. Joseph Calanchini of Pinedale, Wyo., was arrested on suspicion of unlawfully carrying a weapon on Aug. 23. Police say he had two hunting rifles and two pistols in a case when he tried checking in to the Denver hotel where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was staying. Pelosi was evacuated. Denver DA's spokeswoman Robin Finegan said today police never presented the case to prosecutors. Police did not immediately have additional information. Calanchini has said he didn't know about the convention or that Pelosi was at the hotel. He says he's relieved the case is closed but he hasn't gotten his guns back. (Calanchini was reportedly on his way to an African safari.) http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/sep/15/no-charges-man-guns-pelosis-dnc-hotel/ --- Elsewhere in Colorado: ... As Bowman threatened the women, another resident of the apartment building grabbed a shotgun and ordered Bowman to drop the knife. The power of a gun put a hero in charge of the situation, because of its enormous potential stopping power. Bowman refused the order and approached the gun-wielding hero. So what did the hero do, armed with a weapon that could have removed a good portion of Bowman's head? He whacked the criminal with the butt of the gun - a polite response, considering the circumstances. As that got the job done, the hero never resorted to using the business end of the weapon... (What troubles me about this report is that if there was a round chambered, it could have been fired from the impact of the butt stroke. If there was not a round chambered, there was the risk of not being able to chamber one in time had the assailant lunged at the defender. Then again, maybe that explains the butt stroke.) http://www.gazette.com/opinion/bowman_40589___article.html/hero_gun.html --- An Interesting Case from a Year Ago: "Defendant, a reservist, has two handguns (one a semiauto, one a registered full auto) and two shoulder stocks that would fit either. The shoulder stocks double as holsters, and he has one handgun in each when ATF raids him (on other grounds, which turn out to be a legal mistake). Government argument is that the semiauto plus the stock in which it was holstered equal an unregistered short-barreled rifle. The District Court says no - using the Thompson Arms test, the two stocks had a purpose other than an illicit one, namely being fitted legally to the full auto." http://www.nfaoa.org/documents/JudgeZillyNewTrialOrderKwanCase.pdf --- From AzCDL: If you haven't already signed up to participate in the FREE 23rd Annual Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC) in Phoenix on September 26, 27 & 28, 2008, we urge you to do so. Did we mention it's FREE? And "free" includes the registration, receptions, luncheon, breaks and a library of useful pro-rights books and literature. It's been 6 years since the GRPC was held in Phoenix. Do not miss this golden opportunity! Sign up today: http://www.saf.org/default.asp?p=GRPC . You can download an application for printing and mailing at: http://www.saf.org/images/grpc2008flyer.pdf . The GRPC will start with an evening reception on Friday, September 26th, and run through mid-day on September 28th. The bulk of the activity and forums will be on September 27th which includes lunch and an evening reception. This is a great opportunity to meet-and-greet and "chat `n chew" with leaders in the "Right to Keep and Bear Arms" movement. The full roster of GRPC 2008 speakers has not yet been set. Past speakers have included: Alan M. Gottlieb, Joseph P. Tartaro, U.S. Representatives Ron Paul, Chris Cannon, Bob Barr & Jean Schmidt, Robert Levy, Esq. & Alan Gura, Esq., counsel for the Heller case, Wayne LaPierre, John Lott, G. Gordon Liddy, Michael Reagan, Larry Elder, Ken Hamblin, Massad Ayoob, and many others. You do not want to miss this opportunity! Audio recordings of this Gun Rights Policy Conference will be produced by AzCDL's Secretary, Charles Heller. Recordings of this GRPC and prior conferences going back to 2003 are available from Charles at LibertyWatchRadio.com. AzCDL will have a table at the GRPC. If you are attending the GRPC and can spare a few hours to staff the AzCDL table, we'll give you a spiffy AzCDL t-shirt. If you can help us out at the GRPC, please contact Dave Kopp (President@AzCDL.org). These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. Join today! AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html Copyright © 2008 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved. -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .