DC Cabbies Don't Benefit from Heller: Gun rights advocates say attacks on taxicab drivers in the Washington area call for further changes to D.C. handgun laws. After a Supreme Court decision overturning a ban on handguns, D.C. residents may keep registered weapons in their place of business. But police and city officials say the workplace must be a "fixed location," making it illegal for taxicab drivers to carry weapons. Nathan Price, chairman of the D.C. Coalition of Taxicab Drivers, says the city's 7,000 drivers aren't sufficiently shielded. He says that if the city fails to protect drivers, then it's a constitutional right "to carry a gun to protect yourself..." http://www.examiner.com/a-1646755~DC_gun_laws_do_not_change_for_taxicab_drivers.html --- Open Carry Sought in Oklahoma: To at least one Midwest City man, openly carrying a gun is a matter of safety for him and his family. Fears of shoot-outs like those of the Old West are just fear-mongering, he said. Donald Ohse is part of a movement to change laws in several states, including Oklahoma, so people can openly carry their weapons. This movement is an online drive to get enough signatures of like-minded people to influence legislators to pass open carry laws. He said he's gotten 1,300 signatures... (Note that Mr. Ohse at least has the sense to use a snatch-resistant holster for the gun he proposes to carry openly.) http://newsok.com/gun-association-seeks-right-to-bare-arms-in-oklahoma/article/3313439 --- Open-Carry Harassment in Ohio: ...In other words, the mayor and Police Chief Michael McGrath are engaging in a bit of activism, a bit of deliberate indifference, a bit of premeditated lawbreaking and a bit of conspiracy to deprive citizens of their rights under color of authority? Would anyone prosecuting a criminal charge of open carry on behalf of the city be similarly engaged? And importantly, do we all get to ignore laws we don't agree with, too, and make up our own, or is that privilege reserved exclusively for our public official royalty? Civil and criminal remedies should be pursued to stop this abuse. As for the cases where the cops simply didn't know, if you buy that, I have some suggestions to take that excuse away from them... http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Cleveland-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2008m10d20-Ignorance-or-Intent-Either-Way-Ohio-Gun-Owners-Pay-the-Price --- Oops, Wrong House, 1: A Tulsan who shot and wounded a man as he allegedly tried to break through the resident's front door says he's unsure why the suspect wanted to break into his home. Shortly before midnight Thursday, resident Steve Manning says he was awakened by his wife, who heard someone trying to break into their home. The intruder, later identified by police as 21-year-old Robert Alan Wickham, repeatedly rammed the front door with a straight arm, demanding that Manning open the door. Manning says he warned Wickham several times that he would be shot if he broke into the house. When Wickham finally jarred the door open, Manning fired at least two shots into Wickham's left leg. Wickham was arrested on complaints of first-degree burglary, attempted escape from arrest and other charges. (Note the shots to the left leg, consistent with pushing down and to the non-dominant side of a right-handed shooter.) http://www.fox23.com/news/state/story.aspx?content_id=da9eeef3-aeca-4c16-b7c1-de35a2d6b243 --- Oops, Wrong House, 2: Kentucky State Police say a man has died of a gunshot wound, suffered when a resident opened fire on three men he found inside his central Kentucky home. Trooper Ron Turley says 23-year-old Eric Reynolds arrived at his Shelbyville home Saturday night, discovered a burglary in progress and opened fire, wounding 28-year-old David Fletcher of LaGrange. Turley says police were called just before midnight by a man who said his friend had been shot. Officers went to a location in Shelby County and found Fletcher dead in the cab of a pickup truck of a single gunshot wound. Police say two men with Fletcher were taken into custody and charged with second-degree burglary. Police say the men in the truck had been unable to find the local hospital. Turley says no charges have been filed against the homeowner. http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/562005.html --- Clerk Who Shot Robber Could Face Lesser Charges: The Waukegan clerk who authorities say shot a fleeing robber could face criminal charges - even if he acted in self-defense, a previous case demonstrates...The Waukegan clerk did not have a firearm owner's identification card, police said. So he could also be charged with a state firearms violation. Illinois law allows people to carry a gun in a "fixed place of business," but the person must be the owner or have a proprietary interest in the business - not just an employee... http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1224963,CST-NWS-law16.article Mother Bemoans Shooting of Robber: Brandon Starks' mother tearfully condemned the shooting that took his life after he robbed a Waukegan grocery store, questioning why the store clerk who shot him outside the business didn't instead call police...The 20-year-old Starks - a convicted burglar paroled from prison less than a month ago - was shot to death by a store clerk Monday night as he fled the People's Market after robbing the store with a chrome-plated pellet gun... http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1224481,CST-NWS-shoot16.article --- Texas College Censors Poor Gun Jokes: The stifling of parody on college campuses in recent years is a sad tale of censorship, oversensitivity, and overreaction in the wake of actual incidents of violence. The latest case, as we document in today's press release, occurred over nothing worse - be careful, and don't be alarmed! - than a Letterman-style "top ten" list of "Gun Safety Tips." The official student organization that published this list on a recruiting flyer, Young Conservatives of Texas (YCT) at Lone Star College -Tomball, had its flyers confiscated during Lone Star College -Tomball's "club rush," and shortly afterward the group was told that it was under investigation and probably would be suspended - if not derecognized altogether... http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/9818.html?PHPSESSID=c3b0d9d5bcd83ef826a3110405b27a1d --- EPA Clears Washington Range: A site inspection of Security Services Northwest's shooting ranges has turned up no evidence of lead poisoning near Discovery Bay. Mark Ader, remedial project manager with the Environmental Protection Agency cleanup office in Seattle, said in a letter to Security Services president Joe D'Amico that the EPA "does not anticipate further investigation under the federal Superfund program..." http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20081020/news/310209995 --- Japan Further Restricts Firearms, Daggers: The government approved a bill Tuesday banning the possession of highly lethal double-edged knives of a certain length and tightening gun-ownership rules in response to a series of violent crimes involving such weapons. The revised firearms and swords possession control law would ban the possession of daggers and other double-edged knives whose blades are 5.5 centimeters or longer, and swords and spears with blades of 15 cm or longer. At present, one is prohibited from owning swords, knives and spears whose blades are 15 cm or longer. The bill would also expand the scope of a ban on gun ownership to people with such records of such criminal action as stalking and domestic violence as well as bankrupt people and those feared to commit suicide. (As I recall, private ownership of firearms in Japan is restricted to shotguns, which must be stored in lockers at shooting clubs.) http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93UJ50G0&show_article=1&catnum=0 -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .