Second Amendment March Needs Help: Second Amendment March needs your help! We have less than eight months until our D.C. event, and there is much to accomplish before then. Many hands make light work, so we are forming committees to take on specific tasks. The descriptions are provided below. If you are willing and able to serve on one of these committees, please send an email to Terri.Stocke@secondamendmentmarch.com with the following information: Full Name, Email address, Phone number, Committee you are volunteering for, Information on your background / experience that would make you a good fit for this committee. We regret that these are all unpaid, volunteer positions (as is the case with all of our staff, coordinators and directors). While we cannot offer you compensation, we can offer you the opportunity to make history! ... http://www.ammoland.com/2009/09/03/second-amendment-march-needs-your-help/ --- Will the Police Protect You?: A previous article examined Rifqa Bary's claim that her father would kill her if she returned to her family on Ohio. Being a Christian convert from Muslim family, Rifqa ran away in fear after her father allegedly threatened to kill her. A Florida family sheltered her for two weeks, and now she lives in a foster home in that state. The Orlando Sentinel reports that Rifqa Bary will stay in foster care for a little while longer, at the very least. The article is a good piece of journalism, reporting the facts, and actions of the main players in the courtroom drama. But the next-to-last paragraph is chilling: "In Columbus, [Ohio - home of Bary's parents] Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Ron O'Brien wrote a letter Wednesday, saying law enforcement officials there are capable of protecting children and will take action to protect Rifqa, if necessary." Apparently, Counselor O'Brien isn't familiar with the Gonzales family... http://www.examiner.com/x-2879-Austin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m9d3-Rifqa-Bary-The-cops-will-protect-you --- Outsourcing Safety: I'm sure that most of you have seen the advertisement for Brinks, now Broadview Home Security Systems. An attractive young mom is home alone with her young child. A menacing prowler is lingering outside and kicks the door in. The alarm sounds, the intruder runs away in fear of the alarm. The woman runs upstairs to answer the immediately ringing telephone and her fear is calmed by the reassuring voice on the other end telling her, rest-assured, the police are on the way. I always shake my head when I see these commercials. The police do their best to be responsive, however, the reality is that a large number of alarm calls are false alarms and will often not receive the priority by law enforcement that the alarm companies would like for you to believe. The reason they call is to validate the alarm. The question is, if someone has just kicked in your door, are you going to take the time to answer the phone? Response from law enforcement, in the best of times, will be several minutes. However, depending on conditions, can take considerably longer, even hours in some locations in the country... http://www.rimoftheworld.net/4060 --- Keeping Your Church Safe: Yesterday, the Ohio News Network ran a story about "Church Safety And Security". This article talks about the fact that although churches are supposed to be sanctuaries they are not immune to violence and church officials and parishioners alike need to be prepared for the actions of those who would do them harm. Last March, a church in Maryville, Illinois became the scene of one such attack. According to accounts, a gunman walked into the First Baptist Church, spoke a few words to the pastor, then shot and killed him. When his gun jammed, he pulled out a knife and two parishioners were cut while trying to subdue him. In July, two teens were shot outside a prominent Catholic church in Chicago. In July, 2008, a gunman killed two and wounded six at Knoxville's Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church before being subdued. In November of that same year, a man shot and killed his estranged wife and wounded two others (one of the wounded later died) in New Jersey's Passaic County church. Another high-profile church shooting was in 2007 at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. A gunman attacked parishioners as services were letting out, killing two and injuring three. The death toll might have been worse had he not been shot by a female security guard... (In summer 1979 I spent six weeks as a student working on an acute psychiatric ward. The two most common preoccupations of schizophrenic patients were bowel function and religion.) http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2206-Cleveland-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m9d3-Armed-and-religious-keeping-your-church-safe --- Illegal Ordinance Defeated in Wisconsin: Jeff Niles asked his local police chief about his ability to openly carry a gun a few months ago. The response from the Police Chief to Jeff was essentially no you can't carry a gun because Milton has a local ordinance that prohibits open carry. However Jeff knew the ordinance was unenforceable and he was just trying to determine if the Police Chief knew the ordinance was unenforceable as well. It turns out the Chief apparently did not know that Wisconsin Stat. § 66.0409 (local regulation of firearms) effectively repealed the local ordinance which prohibited citizens from carrying a gun, almost fourteen years ago. Jeff took his time to educate the Mayor, the city attorney and Common Council about Wisconsin's preemption law and the states open carry law Wisconsin Stat. § 941.23. The leaders of Milton did not know that the Chief of Police was proposing an illegal ordinance, until an informed citizen educated them about these two Wisconsin state statutes. Jeff then encouraged the city's leaders to change the local firearms ordinances to be the same as or similar to state statutes. His efforts resulted in the following "new ordinance" to bring the city into conformity with state law... http://www.examiner.com/x-5103-Wisconsin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m9d2-Illegal-local-ordinances-defeated --- Louisiana Tax Holiday Criticized by Unexpected Source: On the eve of Louisiana's inaugural sales-tax holiday for guns and ammunition, which starts today and runs through Sunday, some unlikely critics emerged to assail the program. During a phone conference on Thursday, officials with the Tax Foundation, a Washington group that advocates lower taxes, called the holiday a "political gimmick" meant to promote gun ownership. "This is an inappropriate use of the tax code," said Joseph Henchman, the foundation's director of state projects. "The tax code should be used for raising revenue . . . not affecting behaviors." ...On the first Friday in September through the following Sunday, shoppers can sidestep the 4 percent state sales tax and any local taxes on purchases of firearms and other hunting supplies. Describing the holiday as "a subsidy for gun buyers paid for by nongun buyers," Tax Foundation economist Mark Robyn criticized the state for providing preferential treatment to a single industry... http://www.nola.com/business/t-p/index.ssf?/base/money-1/1252042242132810.xml&coll=1 --- Oops, Wrong House: Police in Texas say a group of teenagers were trying to break into a home when a resident opened fire and killed two of the youths. San Marcos Police Chief Howard Williams says the shootings happened shortly before 2 a.m. Friday. He says two 16-year-olds died and a third teenager was seriously wounded. Another teen was unharmed and arrested in the shootings that were about 30 miles south of Austin. Authorities declined to release the teenagers' identities but say the two killed were from Luling (LOO'-leeng), about 20 miles from San Marcos. Williams says police responded to a call of a home invasion and shots fired. Authorities say the three people who were home at the time were not injured. http://townhall.com/news/us/2009/09/04/texas_police_2_teens_killed_in_attempted_break-in --- Oops, Wrong Grocery: Here's the score from an Independence shoplifting case that involved a bag of meat, a wild ride atop a car's hood and a gunshot wound: * The alleged shoplifter, Loucinda M. Carroll, 41, of Independence, has been charged with second-degree robbery. * The store's manager, who was struck by Carroll's car, landed on its hood and held on during an attempted getaway, was unharmed. * And the bystander who shot Carroll will not be charged because he felt he and the manager were being threatened, authorities say. Carroll suffered non-life-threatening injuries... The bystander, who had a valid concealed weapon permit from Utah, will not be charged, Jackson County Prosecutor Jim Kanatzar said. Under Missouri law, people can use deadly force if they feel their life or the lives of others are in danger or they are in danger of suffering serious physical injuries, providing they are not the initial aggressors, Kanatzar said. (Many Missouri residents prefer the perfectly legal option of carrying on out-of-state permits.) http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/1420576.html --- Rule Four Reminder: A Pennsylvania history buff who recreates firearms from old wars accidentally fired a 2-pound cannonball through the wall of his neighbor's home. Fifty-four-year-old William Maser fired a cannonball Wednesday evening outside his home in Georges Township that ricocheted and hit a house 400 yards away. The cannonball, about two inches in diameter, smashed through a window and a wall before landing in a closet. Authorities say nobody was hurt. State police charged Maser with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. No one answered the phone Friday at Maser's home. He tells WPXI-TV recreating 19th century cannons is a longtime hobby. He says he is sorry and he will stop shooting them on his property, about 35 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. (Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it. Apparently, two-pound cannonballs retain a fair amount of energy when they ricochet.) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/04/AR2009090401498.html --- Smith & Wesson a "Vice Stock"?: "Vice stocks have consistently outperformed most other market sectors, especially during recessionary times," says Alexander Green, whose 'Seven Deadly Sins Portfolio' is up 59% in six months. One strong performer in that portfolio is Smith & Wesson (Nasdaq: SWHC). Here, the investment director of The Oxford Club explains why investors should load up on the gun maker. "Its world-famous .357 Magnum was developed specifically for law enforcement agencies, and the Smith & Wesson .38 Special has been adopted as the caliber of choice at one time or another by hundreds of police departments. The Supreme Court has recently upheld Second Amendment rights and Smith & Wesson is one of the world's leading suppliers, forging a well-deserved reputation for high-quality precision weapons..." http://www.smallcapinvestor.com/stockresearch/stockstowatch/2009-09-03-load_up_with_smith_wesson_swhc -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .