Sotomayor Losing GOP Support: The chances are dwindling that a substantial number of Republicans will vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, after a key GOP senator announced his opposition this morning. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) ended months of public indecision when he announced he would vote against confirmation, eliminating one of the last, best chances Sotomayor had of winning over prominent conservatives. Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, had previously said he had concerns about her nomination but had stopped short of saying he would oppose her... The Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider Sotomayor's nomination Tuesday, and only one Republican member - Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) - out of the seven on the committee has said he plans to support her. The full Senate is expected to vote on the nomination next week after as many as four days of debate, and five Republicans have pledged their support. That's only one more vote from the minority party than Justice Samuel Alito Jr. received in 2006, when four Democrats voted to confirm him... http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/07/sotomayor-running-out-of-potential-gop-support.html http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/us/politics/28judges.html?ref=us http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/07/27/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5190900.shtml Race Trumps Rights: Four pro-gun members of the House Hispanic Caucus fired back at the National Rifle Association for opposing Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. "We are concerned that your opposition will alienate Hispanic NRA members and dismayed that you may unnecessarily force some well-intentioned Senators to choose between disappointing the NRA or infuriating their Hispanic constituents," wrote Reps. Joe Baca of California, Solomon Ortiz and Silvestre Reyes of Texas and John Salazar of Colorado. The four Democrats noted that their own "strong support for the rights of gun owners has earned us consistently high ratings from the NRA." The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to recommend Sotomayor's confirmation in a near-party-line vote Tuesday. With backing from virtually all 60 Democrats and independents, as well as at least a handful of Republicans, Sotomayor is likely to be confirmed next week before the Senate's August recess... (As I recall, Reyes, a Border Patrol retiree and Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, was unable to explain the difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims when he sought the latter post.) http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/07/27/nra-opposition-to-sotomayor-draws-fire-from-hispanic-caucus-members/ Speaking of Rights...: ... How ironic that Sotomayor, in her answers to the Judiciary Committee, failed to recognize the Second Amendment right to bear arms as a fundamental right, even as she praised the "broad" mission of the advocacy organization that, on her watch, claimed rights not enumerated in the Constitution were "fundamental." When called on this by Sessions, who said, "but you say [abortion's] the fundamental right" and the Second Amendment is not, she did not deny it. Instead, she said, "Fundamental is a legal term that I didn't make up." ... http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=32880 Public Split 49/49: Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. A breaking Zogby International/O'Leary Report poll finds that American voters who say they have read or heard enough about Sotomayor to make a decision are split evenly on her nomination, while several key voting blocs are decidedly opposed to her nomination. The poll was conducted July 21-24, surveyed 4,470 voters, and has a margin-of-error of plus-or-minus 1.5 percentage points... Of those voters who say they have learned enough about Sotomayor to make a decision, 49 percent favor her confirmation and 49 percent oppose her confirmation. Surprisingly, even Hispanic voters are roughly split on Sotomayor, as 47 percent favor her confirmation and 43 percent oppose it. Independent voters, however, oppose Judge Sotomayor's confirmation 55 percent to 44 percent, as do small business owners 52 to 42 percent. A majority of gun owners (67 percent) also oppose her confirmation, while only 30 percent support it... http://www.prweb.com/releases/OLeary_Report_Poll/Sonia_Sotomayor/prweb2685054.htm --- Foreign Law or the Constitution?: Gun owners are increasingly concerned with the White House's citing of foreign law when it comes to gun rights. Look no further than the recent Senate confirmation of Professor Harold Koh to be State Department legal advisor in June. Koh, a committed transnationalist, is a passionate opponent of gun ownership. Koh, recently the dean of Yale Law School, was confirmed as State Department Legal Advisor with 35 votes against him. He now becomes the top U.S. authority on international law, and the top advisor to the president and secretary of state about America's obligations and treaty commitments with the United Nations and other countries... That's why it's important that Obama's nominee as undersecretary of state for arms control is Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), who was also confirmed on June 25. Tauscher is a fierce opponent of gun rights who holds an "F" rating by the National Rifle Association. Tauscher is the Obama administration's point person on these pending gun ban treaties, advised by Koh. The third nominee is Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. In addition to Judge Sotomayor's support of using international law in U.S. courts, her longtime opposition to gun rights became a central issue in her confirmation battle... http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/OpEd-Contributor/Foreign-law-shouldn_t-impact-American-gun-owners-8027856-51812847.html --- Brady Bunch Shifts Tack: With the "Mexican crime gun" percentages they've been hawking so thoroughly debunked, Paul Helmke of the Brady Campaign is trying out a new sleight of mind routine. From a recent HuffPo column: "Rather than argue about percentages, let's focus on the fact that 20,000 trafficked guns from America have ended up at Mexican crime scenes." How convenient, Paul. Start an argument, lose it, and then change the argument... Perhaps Paul could then explain how the Brady's 2,000 per day li...uh...estimate, sorry, I'll get it right, exceeds U.S. production capacity of pistols, rifles and shotguns for all of 2007, the latest year for which ATF has published its tabulation in the Annual Firearms Manufacturing and Export Report... (And it's hard to believe that we use imports just to make up the difference.) http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m7d26-Focusing-on-Mexican-crime-gun-numbers --- The Beat Goes On: In the national debate over the right to bear arms, the election of Barack Obama was seen as a victory for those who want stricter gun controls. But so far, things haven't worked out that way. The president recently signed a law allowing people to carry loaded guns in national parks. Membership in the National Rifle Association, the NRA, has been rising and, as 60 Minutes and correspondent Lesley Stahl first reported in April, the financial crisis is having its own rather surprising effect: in past downturns people stocked up on things like canned soups, but this time it's guns. And even as the stock market was plummeting, shares in Smith and Wesson were going through the roof... Feinstein wants to reinstate the assault weapons ban. But what are her chances? ... Feinstein said she's going to hold off, for now, but vowed she would eventually push the issue. "I'll pick the time and the place, no question about that," she told Stahl. (It's amazing how all of Van Cleaves statements are taken at face value by CBS until he "claims" that when Big Brother was a senator in Illinois, pushed for every gun ban he could.) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/07/08/60minutes/main4931769.shtml?tag=cbsnewsSidebarArea.0 --- The Beat Winds Down?: As noted in the first installment of The Chicago Gun Rights Examiner, national anti-gun group "The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence" is planning a major effort in Illinois elections in the coming years. Traditionally dependent on a small number of big-money donors who give large amounts to the national organization, the Brady bunch is now working on raising funds locally in Illinois to be used exclusively in Illinois races. Their new organization, "Brady PAC Illinois" has just released its first semi-annual report of contributions and expenditures... In short, Brady PAC Illinois seems to have paid out roughly as much to put on its first fund-raiser as it raised in the process. The good news is that this means pro-gun activists have an opportunity to make a bigger mark in this coming election cycle. The bad news is that these people never, ever go away. They change names, they close old organizations and fold them into new ones, they deny everything they believe in, but they never stop. They will be back, and all wishful thinking to the contrary, they will almost certainly find a way to make their fund-raising work, at least in Chicago... http://www.examiner.com/x-17034-Chicago-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m7d27-Brady-Campaign-fundraising-is-flat-in-Chicago --- Warning - Failure to Resist May Be Lethal: The following story challenges the belief that resisting your attacker only escalates the violence. Just give them what they want and they'll leave you alive, right? Seattle residents Teresa Butz and her partner were in bed sleeping when Isaiah. M.K. Kalebu allegedly broke into their home and stabbed both multiple times. The women escaped the house, while Kalebu ran away. A neighbor heard somebody screaming for help and ran outside. Butz died at the scene from her injuries. A neighbor said Butz told him the attacker said that if they did what he asked, he wouldn't hurt them. Her last words: "He lied, he lied." ...Jessica Gonzales, trying to protect her three young children and herself from a violent estranged husband, obtained a restraining order, too. After the husband kidnapped the kids and murdered them, she sued the city, claiming that the restraining order gave her a special relationship with police. But whenever this issue is brought before the Supreme Court or other high courts, they have consistently ruled that police have no duty to protect a particular member of society, even if they have a restraining order... http://www.examiner.com/x-2879-Austin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m7d27-For-women-not-resisting-attackers-can-be-a-lethal-strategy --- Guns Work Best: While Tasers, pepper spray, and other self defense tools have their place, none of them can match the ability of a gun to stop a criminal before it is too late. This is why firearms are simply the best self defense tool yet invented by humanity. When acting in self defense, the goal is to stop the criminal before they can inflict harm. Reliably stopping a criminal requires that the criminal be physically prevented from continuing their attack. It is not enough to simply cause fear/discomfort/injury to the criminal, as a drug user may be virtually immune from pain, and an insane or irrational person may not fear injury to themselves. Even a sane, non-drug-using criminal will have adrenaline rushing through their body as they attack, and this will make them less susceptible to pain and fear. The only reliable way to stop an attack is to make it physically impossible for a criminal to continue the attack... (These are good points, in the argument why lesser weapons are not substitutes for firearms. However, "If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." Not only are all threats not deadly threats, you are also likely to need some sort of physical skills to buy you the time and space to draw your firearm when is use is warranted.) http://www.examiner.com/x-18149-SelfDefense-Examiner~y2009m7d27-Firearms-are-simply-the-best-self-defense-tools --- Lesson Learned: Spencer Cockrell says he expected to die the night of June 1, 2009. Cockrell and his wife, Sheila, own a cash checking business in Rocky Mount. That's why authorities think three men targeted the Cockrell's home that night, demanding money. The kidnappers stripped Cockrell of his clothes and bound his hands and feet with apron strings. He says being tied up is the most helpless feeling in the world. But Spencer's helplessness turned to empowerment. Cockrell wiggled free and negotiated with the robbers giving them the keys to the store and the codes to the company safe. The robbers discussed the couple's fate and decided to kill them. In efforts to save their lives, the Cockrells talked the robber into cutting the phone lines from outside, so Spencer and Sheila couldn't call the cops. That's when Spencer says he had a chance to run back inside and grab his gun... Now Cockrell says since the robbery, he will always keep a gun nearby. (Cockrell would do best to keep it holstered on his person.) http://www.witn.com/stateregional/headlines/51782722.html --- Listen to That Little Voice: The sight was not that unusual, at least not for Mosul, Iraq, on a summer morning: a car parked on the sidewalk, facing opposite traffic, its windows rolled up tight. Two young boys stared out the back window, kindergarten age maybe, their faces leaning together as if to share a whisper. The soldier patrolling closest to the car stopped. It had to be hot in there; it was 120 degrees outside. "Permission to approach, sir, to give them some water," the soldier said to Sgt. First Class Edward Tierney, who led the nine-man patrol that morning. "I said no - no," Sergeant Tierney said in a telephone interview from Afghanistan. He said he had an urge to move back before he knew why: "My body suddenly got cooler; you know, that danger feeling." ...Still, high-tech gear, while helping to reduce casualties, remains a mere supplement to the most sensitive detection system of all - the human brain. Troops on the ground, using only their senses and experience, are responsible for foiling many I.E.D. attacks, and, like Sergeant Tierney, they often cite a gut feeling or a hunch as their first clue... (The subconscious mind is very good at recognizing deviations from normal patterns. The trick is getting the conscious mind to pay attention. Remember, mental awareness is the first priority.) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/health/research/28brain.html?ref=health&pagewanted=all --- Oops, Wrong House, Colorado Version: A Boulder County family that has watched bears roam through their neighborhood for the last ten to 15 years got an up close and personal visit from a bruin early Monday morning. The family told Boulder County deputies they were awakened when Sienna, the family's Russell Terrier-Shepherd mix, started barking. The family saw that a bear had entered their home after ripping off the screen door and was rummaging through the pantry... He shot the bear three times with a shotgun, wounding it. That third shot stunned the bear and allowed the family to run out of the house and to their car... Deputies fired a handgun at the bear but one of the bullets bounced off its head and struck a window. Deputies finally killed it with a rifle... (No details are provided about the loads in the shotgun or the handgun but it's worth noting that the handgun bullet ricocheted off the head.) http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/20191447/detail.html --- Oops, Wrong House, Idaho Version: The Idaho County Sheriff's Office had honored a Cottonwood woman with a certificate of achievement saying she showed true courage in the face of danger for fending off two prison escapees who tried to break into her home. Cassidy Lockett was home with her young children late last month when she says two men tried to break into her home. She hid the children behind the couch, grabbed a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol and aimed it at a man who was already halfway through a window, climbing into her home. Lockett says she pointed the gun at him and told him to get out or she'd shoot. She says he complied, and left along with another man who was trying to get through the locked front door. The sheriff's department says the two were Richard Nieves and Ben Westley Perez, who are both facing escape, burglary and other charges. http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvba-jul2709-prison_escape.803d16fc.html?fw=http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvba-jul2709-prison_escape.803d16fc.html --- Oops, Wrong Rival: Police say a man who shot and killed his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend was acting in self defense. The shooting happened just after 3 p.m. Monday. Atlanta police Maj. Renee Propes said the shooting victim waited outside his ex-girlfriend's apartment until her new boyfriend came home. Propes said the man attacked the new boyfriend and the fight continued into the apartment, where the new boyfriend shot and killed the ex-boyfriend. Propes said charges aren't likely to be filed. Police didn't release the names or ages of the men but said the man killed had recently gotten out of jail. (If it was self-defense, how as the guy who initiated the figh the victim?) http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/251/story/789782.html --- Another Range Suicide: A woman rented a handgun at an indoor shooting range, got some instructions on how to use it and then fatally shot herself, police said Monday. Police in the Cincinnati suburb of Sharonville said they believe the woman committed suicide Sunday at Target World, a public range that sells and rents guns and has a dozen 25-yard target shooting lanes. The 46-year-old woman, Ann Fukuyama, of Cincinnati, died at a local hospital, police said. Sgt. Keith Schoonover said the woman reportedly had attempted suicide before by other means and police believe she went to the target range to kill herself. He said she rented a 9 mm handgun, learned how to use it and then went into a target shooting lane and shot herself. Witnesses said she gave no indication or warning that anything was wrong... (Sometimes these people give some sort of signal of their intention, sometimes they don't. They seem more likely to use rental guns. I recall two suicides with rental guns at an indoor range I used to patronize in southern California.) http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/ohio-news/police-ohio-woman-shoots-self-at-gun-range-dies-222939.html -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .