Will Feinstein Lead the Way?: With its days numbered, the Bush administration has made an unnecessary and dangerous change to a 25-year-old regulation that bans concealed, loaded firearms in America's national parks and wildlife refuges... This is an astonishingly reckless move, made in the absence of any public outcry in favor of changing this rule. In fact, the public consistently rates our national parks at the top of federal government programs that work well. There is no reason to fix a system that Americans overwhelmingly tell us is not broken... Poaching will increase in our national parks, upsetting the delicate balance between park visitors and wildlife... If there is any good news, it is this: President-elect Barack Obama will take office on Jan. 20. I hope he moves quickly to reverse this monumentally reckless move by his predecessor. (Does Senator Feinstein really believe that there will be poaching by hunters equipped with two-inch .38 revolvers?) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/28/ED5D14VH27.DTL --- More Gun Shows, Fewer Murders: ... With a new Congress and a new president taking office next month, you are bound to hear more calls for closing the so-called "gun-show loophole," that permits American citizens in many states to buy guns without ridiculous and counterproductive waiting periods. There will be an all-out effort to renew the slow, plodding, incremental, long-term goal of banning and restricting the sale of as many firearms as possible. It will likely start with gun shows - one of the easiest targets of the gun-grabbers. They will cite all kinds of bogus statistics to support their claims that gun shows spell nothing but death and destruction. What they won't cite, however, is a groundbreaking study of the impact of gun shows on homicides. They can't - because it shows just the opposite of what they claim to be true... http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=84749 --- On-Duty Police Deaths Decline: Fewer police officers died in the line of duty in 2008 compared to last year, reflecting better training and tactics, two law enforcement support groups reported Sunday. The findings reversed the trend for 2007 when there was a spike in police deaths, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and another group, Concerns of Police Survivors. The groups reported fatalities through Sunday... Gunfire deaths dropped to 41 officers this year, compared to 68 in 2007. The 2008 number represented the lowest total since 1956 - when there were 35 - and was far below the peak of 156 officers killed by gunfire in 1973... (Hmm, these figures don't seem to correlate with the availability, for legal purchase, of military-look-alike firearms.) http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/29/line-of-duty-police-officer-deaths-down/ --- Murders Among Black Teens Rise: The murder rate among black teenagers has climbed since 2000 even as murders by young whites have scarcely grown or declined in some places, according to a new report... The main racial difference involves juveniles ages 14 to 17. In 2000, 539 white and 851 black juveniles committed murder, according to an analysis of federal data by the authors. In 2007, the number for whites, 547, had barely changed, while that for blacks was 1,142, up 34 percent. The increase coincided with a rise in the number of murders involving guns, Dr. Fox said. The number of young blacks who were victims of murder also rose in this period... (Firearm possession by minors under the age of 18 is already tightly restricted by federal law as well as the laws of most states.) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/29/us/29homicide.html?ref=us --- Tried and Untrue: Need more proof that the gun-control advocates are completely out of ideas? Just look at the papers in New Jersey, South Carolina, Missouri and other states. Gun "buybacks" are making a comeback, even though they've been proven to be ineffective at reducing gun violence. Researcher David Kopel recently highlighted the problems with these programs in a recent issue of America's 1st Freedom. The guns that are turned in don't come from criminals, many of them are inoperable, and studies have shown that crime rates don't drop in areas that conduct "buyback" programs... http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=479 Meanwhile, In Colorado...: A gun "give-back" in Denver ended Saturday after it started as a plan to buy guns from people. Organizers couldn't come up with the $50 per gun they had hoped to trade people for weapons. The event was held at 9th and Holly and 15 guns were turned in, but more were expected if there had been money. Several people with handguns and even a shotgun came expecting to collect cash, but they apparently did not hear that there would be no money, so they left with their guns... http://cbs4denver.com/local/guns.denver.buy.2.896044.html --- The Beat Goes On: ... Concern that new gun-control measures will follow Obama's election has fueled skyrocketing increases in gun sales and applications for permits to carry concealed weapons, both in Central Virginia and across the nation. The Virginia State Police also has seen a surge in the number of background checks for potential gun owners, especially since the November election. And local gun dealers report a waiting list for sales of assault rifles and many handgun models. The president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Phillip Van Cleave, said gun owners point to Obama's voting record as a state senator in Illinois and as a U.S. Senator. He said Illinois has some of the nation's most-restrictive gun laws, and is just one of two states (Wisconsin is the other) that does not allow weapons to be carried concealed... http://www.wsls.com/sls/news/local/lynchburg/article/gun_sales_skyrocket_as_obamas_inauguration_nears/23736/ A good turnout and brisk sales are marking Kenny Woods' Gun & Knife Show this weekend at the Kentucky Exposition Center - an interest that Woods attributes to the nation's shifting political landscape. Woods and other firearms and ammunition dealers say sales have been upbeat as buyers worry that President-elect Barack Obama's administration will push for changes in gun laws or possibly new taxes. "If you want people to want something, all they have to do is think that they can't have it," said Woods, who lives in Hazard... http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20081228/NEWS01/812280466/1008 Redding [CA] gun stores haven't noticed the economic downturn felt by most of America this holiday season. Just the opposite. Owners of three of the area's largest gun dealerships say their sales have doubled or even tripled as hundreds of worried gun-rights advocates rush to buy firearms before President-elect Barack Obama and a Democrat-controlled House and Senate take power after January. "After the election, there definitely was motivation," said Fred Drollinger, 53, of Shingletown, who picked up a new Kimber .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol earlier this month from Jones' Fort in Redding. "The Democrats have a very different view of guns" than he does... http://www.redding.com/news/2008/dec/27/local-gun-sales-flourishing/ The Surry County [NC] Sheriff's Office has been swamped with applications for concealed carry and gun purchase permits since the election in November. To date, the sheriff's office has receive a total of 1,286 purchase permits in 2008. Last year, the office processed 1,131 for the entire year. Last December, it received 21 requests for the entire month. This month, the office has already received 39 with three days left in the month. Surry County Sheriff Graham Atkinson said the sheriff's office has received more requests for gun permits for the whole year from about five to six weeks ago. He said both concealed carry and purchase permits have exceeded last year's requests... http://www.mtairynews.com/articles/2008/12/29/news/local_news/local02.txt --- Gun-Toting Soccer Mom Interviewed: Some people have called Meleanie Hain a courageous defender of the Second Amendment. Others have referred to her in online forums as an "idiot" for taking her gun to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer game in Lebanon in September. Hain said she is "just a mom who happens to carry a gun ... everywhere." No matter your viewpoint, there is no doubt Hain aroused a storm of controversy - making headlines locally and nationally. Whenever The Patriot-News published a story about Hain on PennLive.com, dozens, sometimes hundreds, of readers weighed in. Hain agreed to an interview by e-mail... http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2008/12/jim_zengerle_the_lebanon_daily.html --- Oops, Wrong House, Alabama Version: A burglary suspect got an unpleasant surprise while attempting to rob the gun cabinet of a Dothan resident, according to police. Dothan Police Lt. Anthony Westberry said a homeowner is reported to have opened fire on a suspect he found trying to rob his gun cabinet. Westberry said the attempted burglary happened at about 7:48 p.m. The homeowner entered his house on Decatur Street and found the suspect trying to take weapons from a gun cabinet. Westberry said initial police reports indicate the homeowner shot at the burglar and chased him from the residence... (It's hard to say what is meant by "gun cabinet" but the traditional American gun cabinet is more oriented toward display than security and would fail to meet Rule Five requirements to maintain control of your firearm.) http://www.dothaneagle.com/dea/news/local/article/homeowner_opens_fire_on_burglar/52464/ --- Oops, Wrong House, Oklahoma Version: A Tulsa homeowner shot and killed a teenager who was breaking into his house early Tuesday, police said. Shortly before 3 a.m., three people broke into a home in the 1300 block of North Irvington Avenue, Tulsa Police Cpl. Mark Shelton said. Many of the 15 to 20 occupants were awake, including the home- owner, who heard the break-in and got his gun. Two of the suspected burglars, including one who was armed, were moving through the house when they encountered the homeowner, Shelton said. Gunfire was exchanged. The homeowner shot one of the intruders twice in the chest, and the homeowner's wife was shot in the abdomen... http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20081224_11_A1_ATulsa289074 --- Oops, Wrong House, Texas Version: Police investigate a deadly shooting that could fall under the State's so-called "Castle Law". Police are not saying much right now because they are still investigating the invasion, but we do know that the suspected burglar was shot and killed. It happened at a home about an hour northeast of Austin in Cameron. Milam County Sheriff's deputies got a call around two this morning about the shooting of a home intruder. Deputies found suspected burglar, 34-year-old Eddie Sexton III, dead. No charges are filed yet, but the case could be the latest in a string of Castle Law defenses... (Texas has always been relatively liberal with the use of deadly force against burglars - it's intriguing that this case would seem to require a defense under the recent castle-doctrine statute.) http://www.kvue.com/news/top/stories/122808kvue-castle_-mw.16e2aea5.html http://www.kauz.com/news/local/36809294.html -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .