Democrats Look to Undo Bush Rules: Democrats are hoping to roll back a series of regulations issued late in the Bush administration that weaken environmental protections and other restrictions. Potential targets include regulations allowing concealed weapons in some national parks and forbidding medical facilities that get federal money from discriminating against doctors and nurses who refuse, on religious grounds, to assist with abortions... Spokesmen for the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, and the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, said they shared their colleagues' desire to overturn some of the regulations but were waiting for guidance from the administration before adopting a specific strategy... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/us/12regulate.html?ref=washington --- Et Tu, Bob Barr?: Regulars at Gun Rights Examiner know we've been focusing on the impending confirmation hearing for Eric Holder as attorney general. We've seen numerous examples of his hostility not only to gun rights, but to a host of civil liberties. In a move that can only make one shake their head in wonder, former congressman and current NRA director Bob Barr has issued a letter endorsing Holder's nomination. You can read his letter here. This comes as a surprise even to me, and I've been cautioning readers about Barr's problematic record for some time. http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m1d11-Lowering-the-Barr --- The Beat Goes On: Gun owners are flooding the state with applications for concealed weapons permits, with almost 45,000 applications filed in 2008, easily a record number, quadrupling the figure from just four years ago. With the surge, about one in every 25 Utahns over age 21 could be carrying a licensed concealed weapon, according to a Salt Lake Tribune analysis of numbers from the Bureau of Criminal Identification. In December, alone, BCI received 6,000 permit requests - the highest number ever, capping a year with six record-breaking months. In all, about 71,000 Utahns have a license to pack a concealed weapon. It is estimated that another 71,000 out-of-state residents have a Utah permit. Experts say the sharp increase in the numbers can be attributed to several factors: national politics, the economic downturn and well-publicized shootings. Clark Aposhian, chairman of the Utah Shooting Sports Council, says gun owners, worried about the gun control stand of President-elect Barack Obama, scurried to get a permit. Applications poured in during the Democratic primary and saw a spike after the Nov. 4 election... http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11423785 --- Virginians Petition for Restaurant CCW: Virginia has a somewhat curious law in that firearms are not prohibited in establishments that serve alcohol but must be carried openly in such establishments. http://www.petitiononline.com/VCDLrtrb/petition.html --- Another Pennsylvania City to Consider Violating Preemption Law: The York City Council will take up an issue Tuesday that municipalities throughout the state have been dealing with: lost and stolen firearms... Several cities, including Pottsville, Allentown, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, have passed similar laws. The city council in Easton, where the mayor also joined PA Mayors for Gun Safety, considered a proposal but did not pass it. The Philadelphia law has been challenged in court. A state law prohibits municipalities from making their own gun laws. Brenner said he thinks the proposed York law stands a better legal chance because the penalty only kicks in if an unreported weapon is used in crime. He believes the chances are even better if more municipalities adopt such legislation... (This is the California strategy - pass ordinances that violate state preemption in the hopes of prodding the legislature to replicate the ordinances for the entire state.) http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_11430012 --- Florida Gas-Station Shooting, More Details: Longtime Kangaroo Express customer Chris had stopped in for a pack of smokes dozens of times before, but something felt wrong Monday night. A man was looking around the convenience store, even opening the bathroom door as if casing the place. Chris, who was chatting with the store clerk, decided to get his phone from his SUV. "As soon as I touched my cell phone, I heard the lady screaming, 'Help, help, help,' " Chris, 26, told the Orlando Sentinel on Wednesday. The Ocoee native quickly reached inside the glove box of his parked SUV, unholstered his .40-caliber gun and hurried back inside the store. Moments later, a robber lay dead behind the counter of the store at 400 Franklin St. Chris, who asked that his last name not be used because two of the robber's accomplices are still on the loose, was on the phone with an Ocoee police dispatcher immediately after he fired at the man... (An earlier report had the man running to the sound of the screams, then returning to his vehicle for his pistol. In either case, it would have been wiser to have been carrying the pistol on his person, so long as he had a CWFL. Businesses of this sort are known in police parlance as "stop and robs.") http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-shooting0809jan08,0,6737821.story --- Rule Four Reminder: A drug bust in Manayunk went sour yesterday when a Philadelphia police officer shot at a threatening dog at the scene. The dog was wounded, but so was a DEA agent. Agent John Douglas, 40, of the Drug Enforcement Administration, was admitted in fair condition at Temple University Hospital with a gunshot wound to the left calf... (I usually express Rule Four as "Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it." Others state it as "...what's around it." This definitely sounds like a ricochet wound, as is typical in these incidents. When faced with a charging dog, it's difficult to survey the background. Perhaps these raid teams need to have designated shooters who use ammunition with lower ricochet potential, such as unjacketed or pre-fragmented bullets; this could require the use of revolvers.) http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20090110_Philadelphia_officer_shoots_dog__hits_DEA_agent.html http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/DEA-Agent-Shot-by-Co-Worker.html --- Tangentially Related: A year ago, this would have been illegal: Mark Eakin, a federal oceanographer and avid deer hunter, sat in a portable tree stand with his bow at the ready, overlooking a small creek and two Rockville back yards on a cold January morning. As the camo-clad Eakin peered down, the weekday routine rolled down the street behind him, school buses, trash trucks and commuters heading toward Wootton Parkway... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/11/AR2009011102587.html -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .