*About That Oceanfront Condo in Tucson...:* ...There isn't much difference between McCain's and Obama's stands on gun rights and gun control. Both endorsed the recent Supreme Court decision affirming the Second Amendment's guarantee of individual gun ownership. They also have similar records and have made similar promises on gun limits and restrictions. They are similar in two more interesting ways: First, neither is a gun owner, shooter or hunter. Second, both have running mates who are famously pro-gun... (Well, I suppose if we ignore Obama's and Biden's records and only listen to their campaign rhetoric...among a long list, Biden takes credit for authoring the 1994 federal "assault weapon" ban.) http://www.thetimesherald.com/article/20081017/SPORTS/810170321/1006/SPORTS --- *More of the Same: *Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama won't take away Americans' guns, says the head of the American Hunters and Shooters Association. "We're a gun rights organization and we are stating Obama's not going to take away your guns," Ray Schoenke, who is founder and president of the AHSA, said in an interview Thursday night...The issue of who supports the Second Amendment the strongest should be off the table, Schoenke, a former Washington Redskins offensive lineman turned Washington, D.C., lobbyist said... (Shoenke has come up with one of the most creative misconstructions of the /Heller /decision I have seen to date.) http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/articles/index.cfm?id=18900§ion=news&freebie_check&CFID=104333857&CFTOKEN=82353329&jsessionid=883067cede153d34c621 --- *Birds of a Feather:* The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, along with its New Jersey Million Mom March chapters, today strongly endorsed Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey for re-election. "Senator Frank Lautenberg is a hero to all Americans working to prevent gun violence. He has been a courageous champion for sensible gun laws and has worked tirelessly to make our communities safer," said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign...The Brady Campaign endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President and Senator Joe Biden for Vice President recently. The organization is urging candidates for public office to support specific steps to help make American communities safer, such as... http://www.bradycampaign.org/media/release.php?release=1043 --- *Obama Could Gut /Heller /**Decision: *Now that Barack Obama has received the endorsement of the Brady Campaign gun-control group, will the Supreme Court's findings in the D.C. gun-ban "Heller" case matter? That's the question experts are asking in the wake of Obama's 11th-hour support from America's leading gun-ban advocates. The late-date endorsement was conspicuously absent from most large news outlets. Those groups have repeatedly claimed that anti-gun-rights agendas were a key issue in the Democrat election defeats of 2000 and 2004... (I am currently making my way through /The Heller Case: Gun Rights Affirmed/.) http://mensnewsdaily.com/2008/10/16/gun-law-update-brady-backs-barack/ --- *BATFE Stole Software:* A small _software company_ trying to create a program to help gun dealers comply with federal regulations now believes that the government purposefully stalled and then swiped the _technology_ to create a copycat program of its own. James LaMonte is the CEO and founder of Coloseum _Software_ Corp. in Mansfield, Mass. He believes the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) used the government's muscle to extract technology from his business for its own use.LaMonte told Gun Owners of America , a non-profit lobbyist group defending Second Amendment gun rights, "As a small business owner, I never would have thought that our biggest competition was the United States government..." http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78334 *GOA's Version:* http://www.gunowners.org/a101708.htm --- *Straw Purchases Targeted in Arizona: *Felons and illegal immigrants aren't allowed to purchase guns, but many get legal associates, or "straw men," to buy them and then use the firearms to commit crimes, the U.S. attorney for Arizona said Sept. 24...Humetewa joined representatives of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and an organization representing gun owners to announce "Don't Lie for the Other Guy," a public-awareness campaign to curb the crime. The goal: reminding the public that buying firearms for someone who has been barred from doing so is a federal offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine... http://www.wmicentral.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20162776&BRD=2264&PAG=461&dept_id=506173&rfi=6 --- S*an Francisco to Settle with Gun-Suit Plaintiffs:* Earlier this year, the courts slapped down San Francisco's voter-approved initiative to ban the sale and possession of firearms, calling the proposition unlawful. Gun-owning residents, the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun groups, cheered. Now, it looks like those plaintiffs - well, technically their attorneys - are getting paid by city taxpayers.The city has tentatively agreed to a $380,000 settlement for lawyers' fees and other costs the plaintiffs incurred in fighting the ban. The Board of Supervisors still must approve the agreement, but it's likely they will... (As I recall, the City and County of San Francisco is on the verge of bankruptcy but continues to engage in these court battles. This obstinacy, over its ban of firearm ownership by residents of public housing, could actually be the case that results in incorporation of the Second Amendment.) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/17/BA5B13J91H.DTL --- *Philadelphia Continues to Challenge Preemption: *The same Philadelphia City Council members who have challenged the state's supremacy on gun laws introduced two new gun-control bills yesterday, one aimed at closing what critics say is a big loophole in the secondhand gun market. Under legislation proposed by Council members Donna Reed Miller and Darrell L. Clarke, anyone reselling a gun would have have to run the sale through a licensed dealer, who would run a background check on the buyer...The other bill introduced yesterday would raise the city penalty for carrying a gun illegally from $300 to $1,900 and would allow police to confiscate a car driven by someone illegally carrying a gun - regardless of ownership of the car... http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20081017_2_gun-control_bills_introduced_in_Council.html --- *87^th Illinois County Affirms RKBA:* Will County became the 87th of 102 Illinois counties to approve a resolution defending the Constitutional amendment allowing people to owns guns. The Second Amendment support is in response to cities, such as Chicago, who have prohibited handguns. Chicago's handgun ownership ban, the Chicago Weapons Ordinance, has been in existence since 1982. Will County Board member Lee Ann Goodson, chairman of the board's Legislative Committee, said at Thursday's County Board meeting the resolution was requested by the Illinois State Rifle Association. Goodson said there have been many attempts to "chip away at our rights...'' http://daily-journal.com/archives/dj/display.php?id=429380 --- *Oops, Wrong House:*...Shortly before midnight, police were called to Riverside Drive because a man was seen screaming and shouting at cars driving by. About 10 minutes later, police received another call from a homeowner about the man trying to break into his house. The homeowner was on the phone with a 911 operator and told police he had a gun. He left the phone off the hook and the operator heard several shots fired. The homeowner told police the man had to break into his home and was shouting threats at him. That's when he grabbed his gun and opened fire, hitting the man in the right leg... http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=fb43d05f-9fcc-4131-84fb-0cfc3bf175e3 --- *Oops, Wrong Driver:* Two men with shotguns tried to rob a man late Thursday in southeast Fort Worth, but the would-be victim pulled his own gun, killing one, police said...Police responding to a report of shots fired at the address met with the 35-year-old resident, who said he was in his pickup outside the home when he was approached by two men toting shotguns. The man was "forced to lie down in the street while the suspects contemplated what to do next," said Lt. Paul Henderson, police spokesman."One of the men," Henderson said, "decided to force (the resident) back inside his residence and told him to get up. As (he) began to stand up he retrieved a handgun that was concealed in his pants and began slinging lead at the two would-be robbers. "One suspect was hit multiple times and immediately collapsed in the street..." http://www.star-telegram.com/crime_courts/story/981182.html --- *Tennessee Judge Dismisses Homicide Charge:* Friday morning against James Bryan Miller in the case in which a Central High School student was killed in a home invasion at Summit.General Sessions Court Judge Bob Moon said, "I cannot imagine a case where there is more justification for taking a life." ...County Det. Ed Merritt said Miller would likely have not faced any charges had he not fled the scene. He was later arrested in Whitfield County, Ga... http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_137274.asp --- *Rule Five Reminder, Version 1: *A Reminderville [OH] police officer thought his on-duty equipment - including his gun - would be safe inside his personal car, but that wasn't the case. The officer's 40-caliber Glock Pistol, ammunition, tactical vest, handcuffs, asp (baton), a radio carrier and a Taser (electric stun device) were taken from the officer's car as part of a string of car robberies across several Stow neighborhoods...The officer's car was one of eight reported vehicle break-ins, Stow Police said, in a press release. Many of the cars were in driveways or garages and, in addition to the police equipment, the thieves took CDs, wallets, credit cards, and prescription drugs from the other cars... (Rule Five: Maintain control of your firearm.) http://www.wkyc.com/news/regional/akron_article.aspx?storyid=98659&catid=6 --- *Rule Five Reminder, Version 2: *The Joplin Police Department on Wednesday recovered a police officer's pickup truck that had been stolen from his garage with a department-issued rifle and two police uniforms in it. Lt. Brian Lewis said a 2007 Dodge Ram was stolen overnight Tuesday from the garage of the officer in the northwest part of Joplin. The truck contained a .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle and the uniforms...The uniforms were still inside the recovered truck, and the gun was found a short distance away, Lewis said. He said the matter remained under investigation, and the case was being reviewed for possible violation of department policies with respect to the securing of the weapon. The officer was not identified in information released by the Police Department. http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/local_story_290000559.html .