Preemption Battle Shapes Up in Washington State: ...In a state where more than 239,000 residents have permits to carry concealed weapons - and many consider a gun in their pocket a better deterrent to street crime than any law the mayor may think up - the proposal appears almost certain to become a local gun control battle in a year when the courts and possibly the administration of President-elect Barack Obama are set to redefine the national debate... In Seattle, the battle will be over a Washington state law that specifically reserves the "entire field of firearms regulation" to the state. Last month, the state attorney general's office issued an opinion that Nickels could not legally preempt state law with the handgun ban... http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-guns25-2008nov25,0,2650424,full.story From CCRKBA: Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has launched an attack on law-abiding gun owners who either live in the city, or visit there, by forging ahead with a plan to ban all firearms, including those legally carried by law-abiding citizens. He is doing this in defiance of an opinion from Attorney General Rob McKenna that such a ban would be illegal under Washington State's model preemption statute. The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms encourages Washington State residents, and citizens from across the country who regularly visit Seattle, to submit comments to the city via its website: www.seattle.gov/firearmsrule On December 15, 2008, a public hearing will be held in the Bertha Knight Landes room at Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue, with sign-in beginning at 5:30 p.m. Mayor Nickels' proposed plan would impair the rights of citizens to bear arms, as affirmed by Article 1, Section 24 of the Washington State Constitution. He would prevent citizens licensed to carry firearms in public places from exercising that right on city-owned property, including city parks and the Seattle Center. Citizens may also e-mail Mayor Nickels directly: seattle.gov/mayor/citizen_response.htm You may also call the Mayor's office: (206) 684-4000. --- Surge in Washington CPL's: A combination of political and economic reasons have people reaching for their guns on a scale that has not been seen since September 11th of 2001. As the 2008 year comes to a close, hundreds of people are applying for concealed weapons permits. While most of us are cutting back on the things we buy, guns or gun permits are not one of them... People with previous felonies, mental problems, or domestic violence can't get one. Despite the $55 price tag, the number of applicants has jumped from 25 a week in September to 50 per week in October. The week Barack Obama was elected, 133 people asked for a license to carry a concealed handgun... http://www.kxly.com/Global/story.asp?S=9409673&nav=menu683_2_6 --- Minnesota CCW Five Years Later: Gun enthusiasts said it would deter crime. Gun-control advocates said the measure would increase it, spawning needless deaths. But Minnesota's permit-to-carry handgun law appears to have done neither, according to an analysis of state crime statistics. Instead, it has accomplished something else entirely in the five years since it was enacted: It's kept clerks at sheriffs' offices hopping busy with paperwork. In anticipation of the five-year renewal deadline, the Dakota County sheriff's office added a second clerk to handle permit applications and background checks for residents who wish to carry their guns in public. But the rush hasn't been as heavy as expected... http://www.twincities.com/ci_11059018?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com --- Soccer Mom Sues Sheriff Who Revoked CWP: A Pennsylvania woman sued a sheriff Monday who revoked her concealed-weapons permit after she upset fellow parents by wearing her holstered pistol to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer game. Meleanie Hain alleges in the federal lawsuit that Lebanon County Sheriff Michael DeLeo violated her Second Amendment rights and prosecuted her maliciously when he took away her permit in September. Hain, 30, successfully appealed the revocation last month, although the judge who restored her permit questioned her judgment and said she "scared the devil" out of others who attended the Sept. 11 soccer game... http://www.newsmax.com/us/soccer_mom_gun/2008/11/24/154833.html --- 23 Other States Now Recognize West Virginia CWP: Louisiana is the latest state to honor a concealed weapons reciprocity agreement with West Virginia. Twenty-two other states also allow West Virginians with valid concealed weapons permits to legally carry hidden handguns in their states. The West Virginia Legislature directed the state Attorney General's office last year to work out agreements with other states. Attorney General Darrell McGraw says negotiations with other states are ongoing. http://www.dailymail.com/News/200811240667 Press Release Lists Reciprocal States: http://www.wvago.gov/press.cfm?ID=455&fx=more --- Oops, Wrong House, Arkansas Version: Little Rock Police are investigating an apparent home break-in turned shooting that left one of two intruders dead. It happened this morning just after midnight in the Broadmoor neighborhood off South University. Police were called to a home on Rosemont Drive where they say the homeowner had shot Roderick Jacobs, 19, of Little Rock. He died after being taken to the hospital. The homeowner told police he opened fire after Jacobs and another man broke into his home through the kitchen door. http://arkansasmatters.com/content/fulltext/news/?cid=154661 --- Oops, Wrong House, California Version: A 60-year-old man armed himself with a handgun and shot at someone who had broken into his home Sunday morning, the Stockton Police Department reported. The man and his 57-year-old wife were asleep inside their home on the 2300 block of Lido Circle about 4:50 a.m. Sunday when they heard a window break. The man got a handgun, confronted the burglar and ordered him to get down on the ground, according to police. The burglar refused and pointed another handgun at the 60-year-old victim. The victim then fired several times. The suspect escaped out a window and fled south toward March Lane, police reported... http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081124/A_NEWS02/81123003/-1/A_NEWS --- Oops, Wrong House, Indiana Version: An unidentified man was shot in the face early Monday after a Glen Ryan resident confronted him during a break-in, police said. The 20-year-old resident told Detective Cpl. Dan Callahan he heard noise and breaking glass about 12:25 a.m. and went to the porch, where he saw the would-be burglar. Callahan said the victim shouted at the intruder to leave, but instead the man turned and started walking toward him. Police did not learn the identity of the shooting victim, who was flown to a Chicago hospital where he is being treated for the gunshot wound... http://www.post-trib.com/news/lake/1297668,gcops.article --- Oops, Wrong House, Ohio Version: A 15-year-old shot a burglar late Friday night after the burglar and two cohorts broke into the teen's West Side home, police said Monday. The teenager and his 14-year-old brother were home alone when three men came to the house, police said. The teens recognized two out three of the men, according to their mother, who spoke with the Star Beacon Monday... When the boys refused to let the men in the house, one of the men took the butt of a shotgun and smashed the window out of the front door, police said. That's when the older boy ran upstairs to retrieve his father's handgun, his mother said... http://www.starbeacon.com/local/local_story_329230719.html --- Oops, Wrong House, Tennessee Version: Metro police said the victim of a home invasion turned the tides on his intruder. Rather than running, the homeowner shot the burglar. John Lewis is sick and tired of being the victim. He said burglars have broken into his home four times this year. Lewis said it was about time the suspect got the raw end of the deal. "You got to be able to protect yourself," he said. To a thief, Lewis may look like an easy target. On Sunday, the 69-year-old Air Force veteran shot a hole through that reputation. "I mean I'm not going to sit here and let somebody rob me over and over and over again," he said... (Hmm. Cocked hammer, hair trigger, .357 Magnum - do I smell a lawsuit?) http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=9409212 --- Oops, Wrong House, Texas Version: ...Guzman kept peering out his windows, and that's when he saw 18-year-old Adrian Hardaway walk towards his backyard. Out of fear Guzman grabbed his gun. "I opened up the door and yelled at him and I just told him to get away. I looked and he was pointing his gun at me and I had mine and I warned him to get away. I looked again and that's when he had his gun and I thought he was going to shoot me - so I shot him," said Guzman... http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=9408092&nav=menu69_2_9 --- While in DC...: Tiffany Gates was so afraid for her life that she began making her own funeral arrangements. The 33-year-old had been stalked by her former boyfriend, who relatives said abused her for at least a year. In August, he set her Southeast Washington apartment on fire. On Friday, authorities said, he stabbed her to death after she dialed family members and 911. Gates was on the phone with a federal marshal as she was being attacked. "He is here and kicking my door in," she told him. The marshal called for backup, but by the time he and D.C. police entered the building a short time later, Gates lay dying... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/24/AR2008112402763.html?hpid=moreheadlines --- Rule Five Reminder: Shannon McRae went out for her Saturday morning run and found a weapon in the road - a rifle, property of the Salt Lake County Sheriff Office's SWAT team. "This is something that is devastating to us in law enforcement," said Levi Hughes of the Sheriff's Office. Hughes said M4 assault rifle was left in the road last night after the swat team was called out on a standoff in White City. The standoff ended peacefully, but somehow, just a few houses down the street where the swat team was breaking down their gear, one of the veteran team members forgot his own rifle... (Rule Five: Maintain control of your firearm.) http://www.abc4.com/content/news/top%20stories/story.aspx?content_id=bcb1bd45-2ca5-42ce-8510-a099a1549218 --- Chicago Teens Protest Police Rifles: Nearly 100 teens marched outside Chicago police headquarters Thursday night to protest the department's plans to equip officers with semi-automatic rifles, saying the weapons could make the streets more dangerous... "The only people who need these guns are in Iraq," said Arthur McGraw, 19, an organizer with the nonprofit Southwest Youth Collaborative, which organized the rally. "It'll shoot through brick, car doors. Say your family is in the house eating and there's some gang violence. When they shoot these [the bullets] can come into your house and shoot your kids." ... (Where have I heard that line about these rifles only belonging in Iraq before?) http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-assault-rifles-copsnov21,0,6943772.story --- When Guns Are Outlawed...: The blanket ban on handguns following the massacre of 16 children in Dunblane in 1996 means Britain has some of the toughest controls yet street gun crime has risen inexorably. If you get shot today in London, Manchester or Liverpool, chances the weapon will be a converted handgun. The conviction of a 13 year-old boy in south London last week for possession of a converted Russian CS gas pistol, highlighted the pervasive use of these weapons and underlined the government's failure to check Britain's growing gun culture... http://www.newstatesman.com/law-and-reform/2008/11/converted-weapons-britain-gun --- Three Agencies Switch to S&W M&P Pistols: Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (Nasdaq: SWHC), parent company of Smith & Wesson Corp., the legendary 156-year old company in the global business of safety, security, protection and sport, announced today that it has recently filled orders from three state agencies for duty firearms for its Military & Police (M&P) Pistol Series. Smith & Wesson has filled an order from the Washington Department of Corrections for 500 M&P pistols chambered in 9mm. In addition, the company also recently shipped 555 M&P357 pistols to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Services, as well as 100 M&P45 pistols to the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigations. Each of the three agencies converted to the M&P pistols from non-Smith & Wesson firearms... http://www.sunherald.com/448/story/976353.html --- Ultralight Caution: Was speaking with my long distance shooting/ loading partner. He had recently purchased a M327 nominally used, but looking unfired. He broke in the bbl carefully ( too much time on his hands, but he wanted to), then was testing various loads that showed no pressure signs at all in his M28. After about 300 rds started to FTF . He sent to S&W . He was told the frame was stretched, and needed replacement . He was told they would replace the frame THIS TIME, but didn't want to hear about it again. The S&W rep said there lots of M327's coming back for same thing. Jess thought the rep wanted to say more, but couldn't. The rep then commented that it would be a good thing to speak with Sierra . Jess then called the Sierra Ballistican, and got an earfull. Seems the Sc framed .357s are definately carry a lot, shoot little, barely able to contain new wave 35,000 psi. The Sierra man said he would only personally use .38 level loads in one... http://www.stoppingpower.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16148 --- Tangentially Related: Anti-democratic judicial activists who place a premium on abstract notions of "human rights" at the expense of what constitutional texts actually say are spreading abroad at a time when U.S. courts have begun to re-discover "orginalism," Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia said in a speech Saturday... In the case of District of Colombia v. Heller, where the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that the Second Amendment protected the right of an individual to maintain possession of a firearm for private use, both the majority and dissenting opinions incorporated an "originalist" approach to interpretation, said Scalia. "So maybe the original meaning of the Constitution is back," he said. "You can disagree on what the original meaning is, of course. But we ought to have a system in which we all agree upon what we are looking for, what the interpreted text is. It's not an area where you want to let a thousand flowers bloom." http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=39918 -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .