The Beat Goes On: The number of people seeking gun permits has soared in Kentucky and Indiana this year, apparently sparked by fears that President Barack Obama's administration has an anti-firearms agenda. In Jefferson County, for example, the number of applications processed in February and March were triple those the same months last year and nearly doubled through May, to 1,484. Statewide figures show a similar trend. Kentucky State Police say they issued 16,114 licenses last year to carry concealed deadly weapons. The number issued through June 29 this year was already 15,531. Indiana issued 42,403 new handgun permits in the first four months of this year, up from 29,029 in the same period last year, prompting the state police, which processes the applications, to hire five temporary workers to handle the crush, according to Lt. Jerry Berkey, commander of the Indiana State Police Firearms Section... http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090706/NEWS02/907060307 --- Michigan AG Supports Incorporation of Second Amendment: Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox today threw his support behind the National Rifle Association's challenge of a City of Chicago ordinance banning possession of most handguns by filing a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court. Cox's amicus brief - a document filed in court by someone not directly related to a case - supports the request by the NRA to the Supreme Court for an appeal of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals' decision in June favoring the City of Chicago. At least 33 other states support the NRA's request for the court to hear an appeal in National Rifle Association v. City of Chicago. "The right to keep and bear arms is fundamental," said Cox, a Republican candidate for governor, in a press release. "The Supreme Court recognized this in the Heller case, and I am confident they will protect this right yet again. No government should impinge on the basic right to defend yourself." ... http://blog.mlive.com/talkingpolitics/2009/07/michigan_ag_mike_cox_backs_nra.html --- Lawsuit Seeks to Block Tennessee Restaurant-Carry Law: A restaurateur and others who serve alcohol asked the Tennessee Attorney General to join them in opposing a proposed law that will expressly allow loaded guns in bars. The Legislature overrode Gov. Phil Bredesen's veto and the law is slated to take effect on July 14. It will make Tennessee the first state to expressly allow people to carry a loaded, concealed gun into a bar, according to the complaint in Davidson County Court. Randy Rayburn, a restaurant owner, claims that with more than 220,000 gun permit-holders in Tennessee, the "guns in bar law" will create a public nuisance, threaten the health, safety and welfare of the public and endanger the lives of bar and restaurant employees. The plaintiffs claim the bill was passed through trickery, as proponents called it the "restaurant carry" law or "restaurant bill," all the while knowing that Tennessee liquor laws do not differentiate between bars and restaurants... (Many states don't ban carry in bars so who's being deceitful?) http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/07/06/Last-Ditch_Effort_Tries_to_Stop_Law_Allowing_Loaded_Guns_in_Bars.htm --- Sportswriter Bashes RKBA: After former NFL and Super Bowl quarterback Steve McNair was found shot dead yesterday, the police said he was a victim of murder, but one well-known sports writer claims the athlete was a victim, instead, of the "American gun culture." Mike Lupica is the author of more than two dozen sports-related books and novels, an ESPN TV personality, a regular writer for the New York Daily News and, apparently, no friend to gun-rights advocates. In response to the discovery of McNair's body and that of his alleged mistress, both shot presumably by the semiautomatic pistol found at the crime scene, Lupica penned an article titled, "Steve McNair's famous face becomes just another victim of American gun culture." ... (Grammar appears to be a lost art - the couple may have been shot "with" the pistol; they were not shot "by" it.) http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=103288 http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/2009/07/06/2009-07-06_famous_face_just_another_victim_of_our_gun_culture.html#ixzz0KTYvinty&D Police say the gun found at the scene where former NFL star Steve McNair died was bought by his girlfriend less than two days before the two were shot to death. Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said Monday that 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi bought the semiautomatic handgun Thursday evening from a person he didn't name. An autopsy showed that McNair and Kazemi died early Saturday. He was shot four times and his death has been ruled a homicide. She was shot once and Aaron said police are still waiting for ballistic and gunpowder residue tests before deciding if she was slain or committed suicide... http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/07/police-mcnairs-girlfriend-bought-gun/ --- Oops, Wrong House: The coroner's office has identified the man killed during a home invasion in Louisville as the homeowner's grandson. Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Larry Carroll says 20-year-old James Michael Keen died of multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene...Louisville Metro Police homicide commander Lt. Barry Wilkerson said the homeowner shot the intruder after being awakened by noises and fighting with Keen. Wilkerson said both fired shots and that police collected "numerous casings" from the scene. The gun Keen fired had been stolen from a vehicle at the home earlier this year... http://www.lex18.com/Global/story.asp?S=10623841&nav=EQlp --- Oops, Wrong Tires: We now know the name of the man shot and killed Sunday morning in rural Clark County [KY]. We also know the name of the man who shot him. Kentucky State Police tell us the victim was 45-year-old Rodney Mann of Lexington. The shooter is Charles Steppe. Police say Steppe saw Mann slashing the tires of his vehicle when he confronted him. The two men then fought over a handgun. Steppe got the gun, and says Mann came at him with a knife. That's when Steppe says he shot Mann in self-defense. No charges have been filed, but KSP says their investigation will continue and the case will be presented to the Clark County Grand Jury. (Generally, the unreimbursed portion of the replacement cost of the tires is not worth this risk.) http://wtvq.com/news/5377-clark-county-shooting-in-self-defense.html --- He Died, She Said: A 29-year-old Amarillo woman has been charged with manslaughter linked to the weekend shooting death of her boyfriend. Marci Lynne Johnson, 29, allegedly shot Josh Robinson, 33, as they struggled over a pistol he was using to threaten her, said Carson County Sheriff Tam Terry. Robinson was shot once in the chest. An autopsy on his body will be conducted today in Lubbock. The couple, dating for less than a year, was driving home Sunday from Greenbelt Lake on Interstate 40 when they stopped near Farm-to-Market Road 2880 around 12:40 p.m. "He took her out there and assaulted her and threatened her with a pistol," Terry said Monday. "She fought with him over the gun, and he ended up getting shot. We are not going to say that it is totally self-defense at this point. We want to finish our investigation, which is going to take awhile." ... http://www.amarillo.com/stories/070709/new_news3.shtml --- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: A Wrens County man was arrested and is now charged with aggravated assault after officials say he shot a man who was running from police, Saturday... The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office says the chase started when a deputy tried to pull over a man who was illegally passing cars on a highway between Wrens and Louisville. Bryan Lane, 24, from Louisville, led the deputy on a five-minute high speed chase where speeds reached more than 100 miles per hour. Investigators say Lane pulled off onto a dirt road and ran, leaving behind his 24-year-old pregnant girlfriend - this is when deputies say 56-year-old Andrew Swan stepped in. Swan is the owner of the property Lane drove onto and started running across. Sources say Swan was tending to his livestock and noticed Lane running from police, so Swan started chasing him on an ATV. Swan fired a few warning shots with a handgun he had inside the vehicle after yelling at Lane to stop. Lane didn't stop, so Swan fired once directly at him and brought him down... "You can't shoot someone unless you're in fear of your life or someone else's life. If you're in fear of your life or of a third person's life, then you can use deadly force. In this case, we don't believe deadly force was necessary," Lt. Robert Chalker... (Even the "warning shots" could qualify as aggravated assault in some jurisdictions.) http://www.nbcaugusta.com/news/local/49351602.html --- Rule For Reminder, Part 1: A man charged with killing his son on the first day of Vermont's spring turkey hunting season pleaded not guilty Monday to a manslaughter charge that could send him to prison for up to 15 years... Jacob Kadamus, 17, was shot once by his father with a 12-gauge shotgun early in the morning May 1 in the town of Wheelock. Investigators say Jacob moved from the area where he had been hunting into his father's area. The teenager, a popular athlete at Lyndon Institute, died at the scene... Prosecutors do not allege that Kevin Kadamus meant to shoot his son and agree the boy's death was tragic. Over the past several years, prosecutors across the state have taken a harder line in such cases. Game wardens say it's not an accident when someone fires a weapon at the wrong target... (Rule Four: Be sure of your target and what's beyond it.) http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990706049 Rule Four Reminder, Part 2: A homeless man was accidentally shot and wounded during a SWAT standoff on Wednesday. The shooting occurred at a home near 4th Street and Division Avenue around 6:30 p.m. A search warrant was being served at the residence when the owner ordered his pitbull to attack the officers, according to a police report. After non-violent attempts to subdue the animal failed, four SWAT members shot and killed the dog. A stray bullet ricocheted and hit John Poe. He taken to a hospital for treatment of non life-threatening injuries... (This is an increasingly common scenario as drug dealers rely on dogs to hinder officers serving warrants. While rounds such as Glaser Safety Slugs are intended to reduce ricochet hazards, they often lack the characteristics that make a bullet reliable under a wide variety of circumstances. The saving grace is that these injuries, which are often to fellow officers, are generally not life-threatening.) http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/state/story/Man-accidentally-shot-by-SWAT-team/H37NUFq1E0OZhxoN5LS1yw.cspx --- Department Becoming Disenchanted with Glocks: It's a favored weapon among law enforcement agencies and military personnel around the world, renowned for its reliability, light weight, and ease of maintenance. But since the Austrian-made .40-caliber Glock semi-automatic became the standard-issue sidearm for Danbury police officers in 2003, it's been involved in three accidents, most recently last month, when one discharged and sent a bullet into the leg of a 21-year member of the department. On June 3, Sgt. Vincent Lajoie was wounded when his Glock fired as he was "securing it" in his holster at a friend's house on Griffing Avenue before reporting for duty, according to information released so far by the department... On March 4, 2004, Officer Augusto Lowe inadvertently discharged his weapon in the locker room of the old police station, Wendel said. On May 30, 2003, after the Glocks were delivered to Danbury police but before they were put into service, Lt. James King was cleaning a Glock and another handgun in his office when the Glock fired, sending a round into a file cabinet. "He thought it was unloaded, but it wasn't," Wendel said... (Not a good choice for "non-dedicated personnel [NDP's], as they were labeled by Mark Moritz, a great many years ago.) http://www.newstimes.com/ci_12748954?source=email --- New Forum: List member Bruce Eimer has established a forum dealing with armed self-defense. It appears to be well motivated and well designed. I have not fathomed what makes some forums more successful than others but wish him luck in this endeavor. http://www.defensivehandguns.com/ -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .