Bloomberg Group Renews Attack: States with lax gun laws had higher rates of handgun killings, fatal shootings of police officers, and sales of weapons that were used in crimes in other states, according to a study underwritten by a group of more than 300 U.S. mayors. The report, which was obtained by The Washington Post, found that 10 states, including Virginia, supplied 57 percent of the guns that were recovered in crimes in other states in 2007. The 38-page report is based on an analysis of annual crime-gun data compiled by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The analysis tracks guns used in crimes back to the retailers that first sold them... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/04/AR2008120403333.html --- The Reports of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated: Last month, voters across the country took a cue from the late Charlton Heston and pried the assault weapon from the NRA's cold, dead hands. Although the gun group unleashed everything in its arsenal to defeat Barack Obama and dozens of down ticket gun-control candidates, it lost by a margin as historic as the war chest it opened in an attempt to convince voters that Democrats were mortal enemies of the Second Amendment. Despite expending nearly $7 million in a national fear campaign, NRA-endorsed candidates lost 80 percent of their races against gun-control candidates. More than 90 percent of candidates endorsed by the NRA's nemesis, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, won their races. If 2008 was, in the NRA's own words, "arguably the most important year in its history," then the election results suggest that the gun group is arguably the most overhyped and impotent special-interest lobby in the country. The NRA even got its chamber cleaned in its home state of Virginia... http://www.alternet.org/rights/109841/?page=entire --- Does Burress Case Raise Constitutional Issue: ... The Heller decision did not say that requiring a license to carry a gun was unconstitutional. But in New York State, nonresidents cannot even apply for the licenses to possess or carry a handgun. Unlike most other states, New York refuses to honor carry permits issued by sister states. Most observers believe that the Supreme Court will eventually make state and local governments obey the Second Amendment. If it does, New York's discrimination against nonresidents will probably be ruled unconstitutional... http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122835270947177981.html --- Indictments in Death of Eight-Year-Old Boy: A police chief was among three men indicted on involuntary manslaughter charges in the death of an 8-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself in the head with an Uzi at a gun show. The Westfield Sportsman's Club also faces the manslaughter charge in the death of Christopher Bizilj (bah-SEAL') of Ashford, Conn., who lost control of the 9mm micro submachine gun as it recoiled while he was firing at a pumpkin. The boy's father was 10 feet behind him and reaching for his camera when the child fired the weapon. Pelham Police Chief Edward Fleury owns the COP Firearms & Training, which sponsored the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo last month at the Westfield Sportsman's Club. Two other men, Carl Guiffre of Hartford, Conn., and Domenico Spano, of New Milford, Conn., also were indicted on involuntary manslaughter charges, but it was not immediately clear what role Guiffre and Spano played in the boy's death... http://www.onenewsnow.com/AP/Search/US/Default.aspx?id=342434 ...At a news conference where he announced the charges, Mr. Bennett said Dr. Bizilj (pronounced bah-SEEL) had chosen the Micro Uzi for Christopher to shoot because it was small and, the father thought, would therefore be easier to handle. "He did not realize its small size actually made it more dangerous," Mr. Bennett said, adding, "Although it might appear a heavier or longer weapon would be more dangerous, the small size of the weapon together with the rapid rate of fire made it more likely that an 8-year-old would lose control and the muzzle of the weapon would come close to his face, which is what happened here." ... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/us/05gun.html?_r=1&ref=us --- Remington Repudiates HS Precision, Horiuchi Connection: I just got off the phone with Tommy Millner, President and CEO of Remington Arms Company. First, he assures me the email reproduced on AR15.com is authentic. He has been in contact with HS-Precision management after getting blindsided by the Lon Horiuchi development, and has also personally read and responded to every email sent to him by concerned customers. He assures me Remington takes this situation, and lack of response by HS-Precision, very seriously, and completely disapproves of what they have done. He tells me Remington is committed to doing the right thing by their thousands of customers, up to and including changing suppliers if there is no other way to go forward... http://waronguns.blogspot.com/2008/12/remington-ceo-issues-statement-on-hs.html --- A Report on the Appleseed Project: I spent the last weekend at the Phoenix Appleseed Shoot in Arizona with a number of fellow shooters. I came with my wife, five children and my other best friend in tow. We resembled the Beverly Hillbillies pulling into the campground in my F350 crew cab truck and trailer that should require harbor navigation skills (notice that I don't advocate licensure) on Friday night the day before the shoot. We were exhausted but excited after the four-hour trip from southern Arizona. Almost three-dozen shooters showed up for the training which is a fairly respectable turn-out... http://www.lewrockwell.com/buppert/buppert14.html --- Oops, Wrong House: Deputies in Gallia County are investigating a home invasion where one of the suspects was shot. The sheriff's office says it happened shortly after midnight on Clay Lick Road. They say that after the suspects broke into the home, they brandished a weapon at the homeowner. Investigators say the homeowner was able to get a shotgun and shoot one of the suspects in the shoulder. Both suspects were able to flee the scene. Investigators say a short time later; the sheriff's office got a call form Holzer Medical Center that a man had been dropped off at the emergency room with a gunshot wound to the chest. That man is believed to be one of the home invasion suspects. He was later transferred to St. Mary's Medical Center in Huntington. He is said to be in critical, but stable condition... http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/35466379.html --- From John Farnam: (I am including John's comments today because I am unsure if I will be able to generate a mailing over the weekend.) 1 Dec 08 Springfield Armory: Just talked with friends at SA this morning. Backlogs for M1As are running four to twelve weeks, depending on the flavor. Most in demand is, not surprisingly, is the sixteen-inch-barreled SOCOM. Next in line is the "Scout," which is essentially the same thing with an eighteen-inch barrel. The twenty-inch "Standard" version is next. We've had a number of SOCOMs in Urban Rifle Courses, and they've all run just fine! 20-round magazines are in good supply. XDMs are also in short supply. Standard XDs, less so. There are no plans to gradually phase-out the XD in favor of the XDM. Both pistols will remain in production. The XD is "plain-vanilla," while the XDM represents the more-expensive premium pistol with extra features and increased capacity. Both run and run! SA, since its inception, has had some rocky periods, but they are currently producing excellent products, and customer service is also very good. The Garand-inspired, M14 platform is hard to beat! /John (I was in the last cycle to take Basic Combat Training with the M14 at Ft. Lewis, the end of 1969 and the beginning of 1970. Except for it quirk of having to "hook in" the magazine, I always considered it a fine rifle and was surprised, decades later, to find historians knocking it. I am told that with the last of the M14's in Navy stock wearing out, the government has contracted for a few runs of M1A's from Springfield Armory.) Fulton Armory: Friends at FA tell me they are backlogged, like everyone else: Most in demand is their standard M14, similar to SA's "Standard" M1A. Backlog is twelve weeks, and growing! Next in line is the M1 Carbine, with a backlog of eight weeks. Their wonderful Garand rifle, available in 30-06, 308, and 270, is also eight weeks out, longer for those who want the shorter "Tanker" version. Magazines are in good supply. The owner of Fulton Armory is a perfectionist, and all his rifles are exquisite, albeit pricy! Customer service is second to none. /John 2 Dec 08 Fire extinguishers are now considered a "hazard" in the UK! All fire extinguishers may be forcibly removed from apartment buildings, and individual residences, throughout the UK! Government eggheads have decided that fire extinguishers represent a threat, because their presence encourages "untrained people" to take (God forbid!) personal initiative and actually extinguish a fire, rather than simply fleeing the building! "Risk assessors" further pontificated that typical citizens (aka: "idiots") might point fire extinguishers in the wrong direction, or use the wrong extinguishers. They just can't be trusted to do anything right! Besides, they add, with new building regulations, every escape route "should be" fireproof. I am left to wonder about those confronting small fires in their kitchens. Do you suppose there is even a slight chance they might just figure out how to actually use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose? They're awfully complicated, you know! I also wonder if all those who are trapped and subsequently burned to death in "fireproof" escape routes will find these risk assessors' assurances comforting! Comment: Among ordained collectivists, every possibility of personal initiative must be suffocated! This is the same thinking that underpins anti-gun politics in this country. They only want victims. Being a "good victim" is thus one's ultimate civic responsibility! /John (If memory serves, this is the same nation that created the unsinkable Titanic.) 2 Dec 08 Bombay, India, 2008 Since throwing off British occupation in the last century, India has rabidly tried to rid itself of everything that so much as smells British, even changing names of cities (Bombay to Mumbai, for example)! Unfortunately, one British legacy to which succeeding generations of cowardly politicians have held fast is anti-gun fanaticism, the black curse Britain inflicted upon all her colonies. Today, the licensing process for an Indian citizen to legally acquire a firearm is so complex and bewildering that few even make the effort (kind of like NYC, eh?). In addition, guns cannot be legally imported for non-government consumption, so there isn't much of a selection anyway. Accordingly, India has no "gun-culture," which means there are no competent instructors who are able to teach even those few police who are ostensibly "armed." The resultant incompetence of Indian police was on public display last week. As terrorist sieges of hotels proceeded unabated, and innocents were being mercilessly gunned down left and right, arriving police, even though armed, milled about aimlessly and did nothing, for hours and hours! They were more afraid of their own firearms than they were of terrorists. The only activities at which they showed any real acumen was cowering and hiding! As a result, a team of armed, foreign terrorists went about their deadly program, with virtually no interference from police, nor anyone else, because, in India, good people are, by law, unarmed! The city, indeed the entire nation, was paralyzed, for days. Bodies piled up! Even Gandhi cursed the British, and the gutless Indian politicians who followed them: "Among the many misdeeds of British rule in India, history will look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest." Well, this evil "black curse" is still alive and well today, and it still arouses power-mad politicians (not too much of a redundancy!) in every corner of the globe. In the aftermath, predictably, the current gallery of entrenched Indian politicians and bureaucrats will scurry about, trying desperately to convey the false impression that they are actually doing something. Of course, they will accomplish nothing, and, in a week or two, everything will be back to normal, as if nothing had ever happened. However, foreign visitors have taken notice! India, and many other countries, are no longer attractive as places to do business, nor even visit! So long as west-hating terrorists can expect little interference, much less active opposition, from the local "government," Westerners and western business interests will stay away, and should! Indian politicians, British politicians, indeed most politicians, prefer dead victims to live heroes, and always will. Well, they were granted their wish last week! In 2009, we can expect more episodes like the one in Bombay, and, in view of the foregoing, there is scant reason to hope for different results! Once again: You're on our own. Dress appropriately! /John 3 Dec 08 Stay put, or get out? During the terrorist attack of a building, those caught inside need to make a decision immediately. Should I stay put, or attempt to escape? Of course, there is no risk-free option! Indeed, either option is fraught with danger, but here are lessons from recent events: 1) "Rescue" is a lot further off than you think! It will take several days for authorities and tactical teams to arrive, assemble, get organized, make a plan, and begin actively seeking out terrorists and innocent victims. You'll have to hold out all that time. When captured, you probably won't! Those wounded, when they remain where they are, will likely bleed to death long before any possibility of their being rescued. Bottom line: "rescue" is mostly myth! 2) Escape is likely to be successful sooner, rather than later. At the beginning of the event, confusion is king! Everyone is bewildered, shocked, and disorganized, including terrorists. No terrorists plan ever goes exactly as anticipated, and, in the beginning, terrorists are at the weakest and least ordered. Eventually, terrorists will consolidate their gains, cut off all escape routes, murder, tie up, or otherwise incapacitate hostages, and rig the building with explosives. Thus, the longer you delay, the less likely that your escape attempt will be successful. 3) A "lock-down" does little more that herd people into coffins! When instructed by "authorities" to stay put, get out immediately! Don't worry about venturing into "unauthorized" areas. Get out of and away from the building any way you can, and as quickly as possible. 4) Avoid upper floors of hotels. Stay on the first or second floor. That way, you can escape out a window without being confronted with a suicidal fall. Tie bed-sheets together to make a descent rope, when necessary 5) When staying in a hotel, never unpack! Keep everything packed-up and ready for instant departure. 6) In foreign hotels, the registration system is linked to passports and can be used by terrorists (who know exactly how it works) to identify you as a US Citizen. Accordingly, find a reason to change rooms, even floors, every few days. The tactic will throw the system into confusion. It will be difficult for anyone to know exactly where you are. 7) Likewise, switch cabs often. Notice when the driver talks on his radio/cell-phone the moment you depart the vehicle. All drivers are suspect! None can be trusted. 8) Likewise, keep note of behavioral and routine changes on the part of hotel staff and endemic locals. Terrorist plans are hard to keep secret, and the word often leaks out among locals. When you notice significant alterations in their routines, it's time for you to depart! 9) Get to know folks at the Marine Detachment associated with the US Embassy. They can tell you, in real time, what is going on locally, without the heavily filtered/sanitized "official" State Department party line. 10) If not a gun, locally acquire several good blades and have them with you always. Dispose of them prior to departure. 11) Most importantly, act at the critical moment! Don't become a victim of the "paralysis-of-analysis." Avoid capture at all costs! Don't wait to be rescued. Stay in motion. Keep your head up. Watch your back. Don't relax too soon! Kill without hesitation, when necessary. /John (Many of these suggestions apply to incidents on US soil as well. Ed Lovette, a former CIA officer and trainer, has written a book, The Snubby Revolver. One of the most useful things I got from it is the concept that a revolver with a fully enclosed hammer, such as the S&W Centennials I carry, offers not so much the advantage of being fired reliably from a pocket as being fired reliably when it is carried in the hand, with a garment draped over the hand, such as when you are trying to depart inconspicuously from a site where you have perceived danger.) -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .