Big Brother's Speech to Students: There's been a lot of sound and fury in the past week over President Obama's planned broadcast to school students across the nation. Opponents have accused the President of using children for political gain or even "indoctrinating children" in ways "reminiscent of 1984." Supporters have dismissed critics as paranoid racists and called their concerns, in the words of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, "silly." Duncan has a point; Presidents are inevitably role models for better or worse, and Presidential advice for students is perfectly normal - even tradition. But Duncan's derision is still wrong. There's a very good reason to be concerned that the Obama administration might attempt to indoctrinate school children or use public schools and students as political props: when Duncan was the Superintendent of Chicago public schools, he did exactly that. In June 2008, for instance, the Chicago public school district used over 1200 buses and drivers to bus a reported 30,000 students from all over the city to Soldier Field, where they were allowed to watch a free performance by area musicians like rapper "Ben One." The catch? The performance was part of a political rally. The students had to sit through speeches by Arne Duncan, Richard Daley and Jesse Jackson, and these weren't innocuous pep talks about staying in school. Students were exhorted to demand that the state legislature pass Daley's gun control agenda and cough up more state funding for Chicago schools, and anyone who wasn't willing to recite the party lines with which they'd been briefed beforehand simply wasn't heard... http://www.examiner.com/x-17034-Chicago-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m9d8-Obama-school-speech-arne-duncan-school --- The Beat Winds Down?: Are gun owners less fearful of President Obama? Eight months after taking office, officials with the R.K. Gun Show at the Boone County Fairgrounds say fear among gun owners has tapered off, along with gun sales... After November's election, firearm sales spiked. Many gun owners stocked up, afraid of the president's policies on gun control. Since then "everybody's kind of calmed down on that," according to Waylon Pearson, the manager of the R.K. Gun Show at the Boone County Fairgrounds... About 2,500 people passed through the three day gun show this weekend. Firearm sales are typically slower in the summer and then pick up in the fall. Organizer's say gun sales have returned to the levels they were before the election and are holding steady... (Perhaps sales of firearms are returning to normal levels but the supply of ammunition has not yet stabilized. I believe a larger proportion of American gun owners have learned not to rely on ammo being on the shelves when they need it.) http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?id=346913 The widely reported increase in U.S. small arms sales and ammunition shortages are beginning to taper off, several metro Detroit gun shops say, but one store is seeing another trend: Business executives buying handguns for personal protection. "I get guys that come in here who want to arm themselves and ask about security for their business over workplace violence," said Ray Jihad, owner of Royal Oak-based Target Sports. "It's because of them laying people off." Jihad declined to identify specific companies that have had executives buying guns, citing privacy and safety concerns, but he did say they come from prominent auto suppliers, banks, accounting firms and steel manufacturers. Target Sports bought $2 million worth of small arms last year in anticipation of a run on guns sparked by fears of the Democratic Party, which traditionally favors deeper restrictions on guns, controlling both the White House and Congress. Jihad said he's sold almost all of his inventory, and some of it went to those more worried about workplace violence than any new gun laws... http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20090906/FREE/309069949/1069 --- The Man behind the Chicago Gun Case: Otis McDonald is a great American. In the 1960s, he wore an Army uniform and served with distinction. He then moved home to Chicago were he began a family. Meanwhile, he busied himself during the days with work at his local union. Eventually, he led the effort to integrate his union and ended up as president of the union. In recent years, McDonald looked around Chicago and decided that he could do something about the shadowy areas of the city outside the bright lights. He went into impoverished, crime-riddled neighborhoods as a community activist. Yet his work inevitably meant he crossed paths with shady characters -- drug dealers and gang leaders. Justifiably, he feared for his safety. And he wanted a gun. "I only want a handgun," he explains, "for my protection." Yet the city of Chicago disagreed. A city ordinance there essentially prohibits McDonald - or any resident - from owning a handgun. Not that the ordinance has stopped the criminals. They seem to own lots of guns. McDonald was encouraged last year when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller. In that ruling, the court essentially struck down the famous gun ban in the nation's capital. For years, legal scholars had debated whether the Second Amendment applied to individuals or the government... http://www.star-telegram.com/242/story/1593634.html --- Maryland State Police Target .22's: In its infinite wisdom, the licensing division of the Maryland State Police has determined that certain .22 caliber rimfire rifles are "assault weapons" based solely upon there cosmetic resemblance to some firearms that are defined by Maryland law as "assault weapons." ...The real problem is: The Maryland State Police have apparently not issued a formal written bulletin to the firearms dealers informing them of this new requirement. It is entirely possible for a dealer and/or buyer to be arrested, charged, and prosecuted for violating an unwritten policy established in secret by Maryland State Police Licensing Division. http://www.ammoland.com/2009/09/07/maryland-state-police-define-22-rimfire-rifles-as-assault-weapons/ --- Ohio Logic?: It is legal, as it stands under state law, for someone to carry a holstered, loaded handgun into a city park. But carry a pocket knife into the same park, and you stand the chance of having it confiscated under a city ordinance. You would be ordered to leave the park and possibly fined. "There is a different law out there that trumps our local ordinance," Police Chief Mark Brownfield said. "That law is very specific. It deals with the open carry of a firearm. It doesn't say the open carry of a pocket knife or a slingshot." Englewood hasn't used its ordinance to prosecute anyone for pocket knives or slingshots, but the example shows how state and local laws can sometimes work in opposition. Two years after the state amended its concealed-carry law, there is confusion in some cities about just how it should be enforced... (Arizona and Florida are two states that mean it when the license citizens to carry concealed weapons. In most states, however, permits or licenses apply only to handguns and it looks as though this may sometimes overlap into open carry.) http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/handgun-allowed-in-englewood-parks-pocket-knife-may-be-confiscated-284308.html?cxtype=rss_local-news --- Verizon Wireless Co-Sponsors Right-Wing Event: Verizon Wireless sponsored a rally in West Virginia on Labor Day that was organized by climate bill foes and which was attended by conservative FOX News personality Sean Hannity and controversial guitarist, Ted Nugent. Several environmental groups had asked Verizon Wireless to pull from the event, which was put together by Massey Energy, one of the country's top coal producers... At the rally, aside from publicly condemning the Waxman-Markley bill, conservatives attending the event pressed on other issues. Musician Ted Nugent told the crowd that they didn't need the Bill of Rights to tell them that "God gave" them the right to keep and bear arms. "Keep means, it's mine, you can't have it. Bear means I got them right here," said Nugent to the crowd waving American flags. Nugent also said that the country was being "dominated" by a president and an administration that "clearly hate America." ... (I use Verizon - maybe we can get them to do this stuffe nationwide.) http://newsjunkiepost.com/2009/09/08/verizon-wireless-sponsors-anti-energy-bill-right-wing-event/ --- Nashville Could Amend Park-Carry Ban: One Metro Council member said the ordinance banning guns in Nashville's parks needs to be re-examined. Sam Coleman wants carry permit holders to be allowed to bring a gun in a park. State lawmakers started the debate when passing the law letting carry permit holders bring a gun into a park. Local governments were given the option to opt out of that law which is what Metro Council members did. Sam Coleman hoped to amend that law... Coleman supported the ban on guns in parks, but he plans on filing an amendment which would allow carry permit holders to carry a gun in certain parks. Coleman is asking park officials to identify secluded areas not frequently patrolled by police. Once a list is completed, Coleman will ask the Metro Council to once again look at the issue... http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=11088519 --- Fantasy Meets Reality: I always assumed if someone tried to rob me, I could kick them in the nuts, then while they were down, I'd take their weapon, shoot them in the knees, maybe pistol whip them for good measure, quite possibly steal their wallet, and take off. I had revised my strategy many times and devised multiple plans of action for a variety of situations. For example, if they took my purse and started running, I envisioned myself taking off after them and managing a well-placed ninja assassin kick where my stiletto severed their spinal cord, then I and my slouchy Kenneth Cole leather tote could escape valiant and unscathed. You can imagine my dismay when on Tuesday, Sept. 1, my boyfriend, his roommate, and I were robbed at gunpoint outside of my apartment, and I did none of those glamorous things... (Amy, to get a permit to carry your own handgun in Mobile, you go down the sheriff's office, fill out a form and pay $20. You wait while they check your record on NCIC and, assuming you're clean, they take your photograph and print it on your pistol permit. You do have to go back for a new permit each year.) http://www.usavanguard.com/and-the-plot-thickens-1.424019 On the Other Hand...: Hours after being released from prison, Scott. T. Loher beat an 80-year-old man who refused to let him steal his car from a Warrington parking lot Monday night, authorities said. While Loher broke a bone in the man's face during the assault, the uncooperative victim managed to kick his attacker in the groin, a jolt that was enough to send Loher running from the lot outside Doylestown Hospital's Health and Wellness Center. "There was a scuffle and the old-timer won out," said Lt. Joseph Knox of Warrington police. "It's dangerous. We don't recommend civilians do it. But this time it worked out." ... http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/27/2009/september/02/man-fends-off-would-be-carjacker-1.html --- Britain Looks Back: Robbers who raided Manchester's banks in the 19th century didn't have to worry about CCTV - but they had to keep an eye out for gun-toting cashiers. Rarely-seen archives from the city's financial history show how bank staff were routinely issued with guns to protect their branches from thieves. A series of leather-bound volumes and sepia photographs set to go on public display reveal the story of how Manchester banks helped finance the world's first industrial city. They will be on show as part of an exhibition looking at the history of banking in Manchester through the archives of institutions such as the Union Bank of Manchester, established in 1836. The archives show Union Bank of Manchester branches were issued with revolvers for protection. These were maintained until 1925 when they were gathered in at head office, though one continued to be issued to the bank's chauffeur when he drove the cash van. The firearms were surrendered to the police early in the Second World War... (Curious. As I recall, Britain began disarming her subjects during the "Irish troubles," around 1916. In WWII she actually armed individuals as part of the Home Guard.) http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1135635_days_when_bank_workers_had_guns -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .