Opposition to Holder Grows: ...What was considered a smooth path to confirmation has recently been complicated as signs of hostility toward Holder have increased over the past month. Political operative Karl Rove and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), for example, singled out the longtime Washington lawyer as the candidate who would face bruising questions. "The attorney general nominee, Mr. Holder, has got serious questions to respond to with regard to his role in the . . . pardons at the end of the Clinton administration and some other matters," McConnell said yesterday. "Beyond that, I don't anticipate trouble for the new president's nominees." ... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/09/AR2009010903787.html?hpid=topnews --- The Beat Goes On: Gun sales have been on the rise since the election of Barack Obama. Some worry his administration may ban certain weapons. Others are concerned that people buying handguns don't know how to use them safely. KNDU stopped into Hole in the Wall Firing Range in Kennewick to learn more. "No, I don't use a hand gun for personal protection, I use a shotgun in my home." Says Chuck Connor's [sic] a resident in Kennewick. Connor says he's been through two safety courses to learn how to use his weapons. "I wouldn't give my kid a car and let him go out and drive without teaching him how to use a car, and I wouldn't do that with a gun either" ... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28564096/ The line to buy a gun on this morning was long, if you take into account the time, the date and location, which was a Wheat Ridge shop barely larger than my living room. Used to be few folks bought guns this soon after Christmas, the shop's owner, Rich Wyatt, is saying as we sat in the large overstuffed chairs in the middle of the room. Those who did, he adds, for sure didn't go about it only a few ticks after 10 on any morning. The old man in the cardigan was standing first at the glass counter, almost caressing a brushed nickel .45, from which hung a $1,045 price tag. Last I saw him, he was picking out ammo... http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/jan/09/johnson-recession-resistant-retail-guns/ Gun advocates are up in arms and that means big business for firearm retailers. Since the 2008 presidential election, gun sales have spiked nationally, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation tracking 1.53 million criminal background checks in November, a 42 percent increase compared with November 2007. During election week alone, from Nov. 3 to Nov. 9, there was nearly a 49 percent increase in background checks from the same period in 2007. "Before the election, we might have sold one or two assault rifles a week," said Stan Dix, co-owner of Top Gun Shooting Sports of Imperial, Mo. "We've gotten to maybe 10 or 15 a week." ... http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2009/01/12/story2.html?b=1231736400^1758415 ...As a result of an unprecedented increase in demand for ATF Forms 4473 (5300.9) Part I Revised August 2008, inventory of the form at the ATF Distribution Center is running low. As a temporary measure, ATF is allowing FFLs to photocopy the form 4473 in it's [sic] entirety until they receive their orders from the ATF Distribution Center. A notice will be posted at the expiration of this temporary authorized change. http://www.atf.gov/firearms/010609atf_f4473shortage-notice.htm --- Why the National-Park Gun Rule Should Stand: In early December President Bush kept his promise and came through for gun owners who supported him by loosening rules allowing loaded, concealed guns in national parks and wildlife refuges. Now, President-elect Obama needs to keep his promise and come through for gun owners who supported him by allowing this rule to stand as currently written... The rule won't change much, so what's the big deal? People who feel strongly about having their guns for personal safety have been taking them into national parks for decades. Every park ranger knows it, and it has caused minimal if any crime or gun-related accidents. Think about it. Rangers at entrance stations don't even ask park visitors if they have guns, partly because they don't care, but mostly because Reagan's gun rule was impractical, if not impossible, to enforce... (On the other hand, as I have pointed out before, if Big Brother rescinds the rule change, he will have signaled the fallacy of his newfound claims of support for the RKBA and could help alter the Democratic majority inCongress in 2010.) http://crosscut.com/2009/01/09/whitehouse/18732/ --- Bloomberg Target Cops Plea: A South Carolina pawnshop owner accused by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg of recklessly selling a rifle to an ex-convict has pleaded guilty to a federal weapons charge. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald says Larry Mickalis pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to failing to keep appropriate firearms sales records. Mickalis was sentenced to two years of probation. Mickalis was charged last year with illegally selling a rifle to an ex-convict at his pawn shop three years ago. In 2006, Bloomberg sued Mickalis and dozens of other gun dealers, accusing them of illegally selling firearms that had been traced to crimes in New York City. Mickalis has since sued the mayor for slander. Both lawsuits are still pending. http://www.wjbf.com/jbf/news/state_regional/south_carolina/article/sc_man_pleads_to_illegal_gun_sale/9976/ Tangentially Related: A grand jury has indicted Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon on 12 counts of theft, perjury and misconduct stemming from her romantic relationship with a Baltimore developer, the state prosecutor said Friday. The prosecutor's office charged Mrs. Dixon with four counts of theft, saying she used gift cards donated for needy families to buy presents for herself around Christmas every year from 2004 to 2007... (Dixon has been fairly prominent in Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns as well as attacking the RKBA at the local level.) http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/10/mayor-of-baltimore-indicted-on-12-counts/ --- Two Arrested in Firearms Theft: Two men were arrested in their Manchester home Monday afternoon by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and the Manchester Police Department's SWAT team on charges of stealing 73 firearms from a New Ipswich gun dealer... From 1997, until he closed the store, Eric Manna Distributing was a popular hangout for local gun enthusiasts, especially those that liked large military artillery. Manna was known for drawing an early morning Saturday crowd to the gun range behind the store, where he would give enthusiasts an opportunity to fire the military weapons... Chamberlain said Manna knew Bond. "The kid that got arrested was one of his employees," he said... http://www.ledgertranscript.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090108/LEDGERTRANSCRIPT/901080446/1315 --- The Sky Is Falling: A motorist with 16 guns and at least 700 rounds of ammunition in his pickup truck was arrested Friday at a vehicle checkpoint as he entered Los Angeles International Airport, authorities said. The weapons and ammunition were in a container in the back of the man's truck, which was stopped by airport police officers at a major entrance to the passenger terminals area, said airport spokeswoman Nancy Castles. The 47-year-old man's identity was not immediately released. Only one of the weapons, a revolver, was loaded, airport police Sgt. Jim Holcomb said. The man was arrested for investigation of felony transportation of an assault rifle, he said. Police initially reported that 37 weapons were found in the truck. Castles said that count was an estimate based on the number of containers in the truck, which did not all contain weapons. Holcomb said there was no indication the man was out to do any harm at the airport and was apparently there to pick up someone... http://www.newsmax.com/us/la_airport_guns/2009/01/09/169816.html http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-guns10-2009jan10,0,314873.story --- The Mental-Illness Gambit: A common refrain of the anti-gun crowd are repeated calls for "reasonable" gun control designed to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the so-called mentally ill. We already know there is no such thing as "reasonable" gun control, yet the attempt of the anti-gun crowd to vilify people with mental illness is typical of their willingness to exploit just about anything to push their immoral agenda. The anti-gunners in society will use just about anything if it gives them an advantage in the debate over gun rights. One of their favorite targets is people with a so-called mental illness and the favorite tactic of the anti-gun groups is to use people's illness as grounds for destroying their civil rights... http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/6379 --- Arming against Thugs Is No Crime: ...Guns are often used to commit violent crimes, but might they also be an answer for cities suffering from crime? St. Louis Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe thinks so, and suggests citizens arm themselves. The Associated Press quotes him as saying, "The community has to be ready to defend itself, because it's clear the economy is going to get worse, and criminals are getting more bold." Troupe notes that a St. Louis district police commander told him that "there was nothing he could do to protect us and the community... that he didn't have the manpower." Like Washington, St. Louis has an unacceptably high crime rate. With ten being the least safe, St. Louis and Washington both earn a rating of eight regarding "violent crime" on the Sperling's Best Places data analysis website. (The national average is three.) ... http://www.flcourier.com/news/articles/724/1/Arming-against-the-thugs-is-no-crime/Page1.html --- Wyoming Could Mandate Warning for Defendants: Some Wyoming lawmakers want to make certain that people accused of misdemeanor domestic violence realize that pleading guilty would cost them their federal gun rights. A bill drafted for the upcoming legislative session would require judges to inform defendants that a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction would cost them their gun rights. The bill would also classify misdemeanor domestic violence as a serious offense requiring defendants to have lawyers... http://www.trib.com/articles/2009/01/08/news/wyoming/53493ad1b65a9b5487257538008389ab.txt --- Clerk Cleared in Shooting of Fleeing Robber: For the second time in six years, jurors have decided clerks at the same Waukegan grocery will not be punished for killing a robber at the store. The October fatal shooting of an alleged robber by a clerk at the People's Market, a small neighborhood grocery, was justified, and no charges should be filed against the clerk, a Lake County grand jury decided this week. Lake County Assistant State's Atty. Steve Scheller said the grand jury's decision Wednesday means the investigation into the shooting is over. The case has been controversial in Lake County: Some called the shooting justifiable self-defense, but others wondered whether vigilante justice was at work. The clerk shot Brandon Starks, 20, as Starks was fleeing on his bicycle, police said... (Lake County is Cook County's neighbor to the north.) http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-clerk-clearedjan09,0,7636851.story --- Oops, Wrong Car Washer: Orange County Sheriff's Deputies said two men with a sawed off shot gun tried to rob a man at a car wash on Orange Blossom trail Friday night. The suspects didn't bet on the victim pulling out his own gun and shooting. One of the suspects was hit in the chest. He was rushed to the hospital, where he later died. Investigators said the victim had a concealed weapons permit. "For the bad guys out there, you never know who you're dealing with when you go and commit this crime. You might be the one who is laying in the parking lot dead because you went up to someone who is legally protecting himself," said Cmdr. Spike Hopkins of the Orange County Sheriff's office... (Kudos to WFTV for correctly identifying the shooter as the victim.) http://www.wftv.com/news/18451573/detail.html --- Rule Five Reminder: A family gathering came to a tragic end late Thursday night when a 12-year-old playing with a loaded rifle inside an East Palo Alto home accidentally shot and killed a two-year-old when the weapon discharged, authorities said... The toddler - who was visiting the home with his mother from out of town - was rushed to Stanford Medical Center where he died of his injuries. "Through our investigation, we have learned that a 12-year-old child inside this residence was playing with a small caliber rifle," East Palo Alto Police Capt. Carl Estelle told KTVU. "While he was playing with that rifle, it discharged and the bullet struck the small two-year-old child in the chest." ... (Rule Five: Maintain control of your firearm.) http://www.ktvu.com/news/18446172/detail.html --- From AzCDL: Like it says in our brochure, AzCDL is an "all volunteer" organization and we need volunteers to help us at the Prescott Valley gun show, at the Yavapai County Fair Grounds, on January 17th & 18th: http://www.firingpin.com/index.htm . If you can spare a few hours we would deeply appreciate your help - the majority of our members join AzCDL at gun shows thanks to the hard work of our gun show volunteers. Come on down and spend some time observing the other volunteers. When you feel ready, step on in. If pro-active interactions are not your forte, we still need volunteers to manage the table, help hand out flyers and brochures, and keep an eye on things. Volunteers who work the AzCDL table for a few hours get into gun shows FREE! If your membership is coming up for renewal soon, stop by the table and renew at the "gun show special" rate ($10 off!). Sustaining memberships get a FREE AzCDL T-Shirt. Not a member? Not a problem! You can join AzCDL at the gun show! Interested? Send an email to Joe: joenye@hotmail.com . These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. Join today! AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html Copyright © 2009 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved. -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .