Holder Expected to be Confirmed Wednesday: The nomination of Eric Holder Jr. to be attorney general is headed for a committee vote as soon as Wednesday, after a day and a half of mostly positive interactions with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Holder is widely expected to get a positive vote in the committee and in the full Senate. No Democrats have said that they'll vote against him, and at least two Republicans - Orrin Hatch of Utah and Mel Martinez of Florida - have said that they plan to vote for him. Martinez, a former Cabinet secretary under President George W. Bush and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, met with Holder today... http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/01/holder-hearing-wraps-up-with-confirmation-expected.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/16/AR2009011602362.html --- Just Because I'm Paranoid...: ...Those who understand the Bill of Rights are paranoid that our guns are being taken away little by little. We're told we're wrong. When Obama condescendingly assures us that it's not necessary to stock up on guns prior to his swearing in, he is deliberately missing the point. Guns aren't just for homeowners concerned about personal safety. Guns are to protect US from THEM. "Lawful gun owners have nothing to fear," Obama smoothly told us in a December statement. "I think people can take me at my word." WRONG. We're not taking him at his word - we're taking him at his voting record. Fortunately, a lot of people don't believe him, and that's why gun sales are up 50 percent by some accounts... http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=86317 --- Montana Likely to Codify Castle Doctrine: Two bills put before lawmakers Thursday would put on the books a widely recognized right to use a gun on home intruders posing a serious threat, but one Republican says the Legislature needs to go farther in protecting Montanans' Second Amendment rights... The identical bills would enshrine the so-called "Castle Doctrine," a common-law concept that holds a person can use deadly force in their own home if someone poses a serious threat to them. Those testifying at Thursday's hearings said county prosecutors in Montana already recognize the Castle Doctrine and that the law should reflect that... http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2009/01/16/news/50gun%20laws.txt --- VCDL to Rally for Expanded CCW: Members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) will be meeting at the State Capitol in Richmond on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to rally for the elimination of existing gun regulations and the repeal of laws that have prohibited concealed carry permit holders from bringing handguns into schools, churches, government buildings, restaurants and other places of public gathering in the Commonwealth. The holiday commemorates the birthdate of the great civil rights leader and proponent of nonviolence... (Is someone playing the race card here?) http://in.sys-con.com/node/812407 --- Colorado Can't Keep up with CWP Applications: ...Applications for concealed carry permits tripled in Larimer County in the last quarter of 2008, and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said Thursday it is having trouble keeping up with the workload due to so many new applications statewide. CBI completed 18,725 background checks for people seeking concealed weapon permits in 2008. They took in 1,395 applications in December '08 compared to 797 in December of '07. A spokesperson said the CBI can't keep up at this pace for much longer with current staffing and budget constraints... http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/18492504/detail.html#- --- Nebraska Cities to Ignore AG CCW Opinion: Hub Territory cities can continue to ban the carrying of concealed weapons despite the Nebraska attorney general's opinion. Attorney General Jon Bruning announced an opinion Wednesday that a conceal-carry law passed in 2006 applies to all communities, despite clauses that allowed cities local control. Lexington City Manager Joe Pepplitsch said until he hears differently, he will assume that Lexington's ban remains in effect. "An attorney general's opinion has no legal effect. There's a lot of questions about it, but we'll probably take no action," Pepplitsch said. "We have an ordinance prohibiting concealed weapons, and it doesn't pre-empt any other laws, so for us it's a nonissue. We're not taking any action on it." ... http://www.kearneyhub.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20241929&BRD=268&PAG=461&dept_id=577571&rfi=6 --- California Gun-Show Ban Back in Court: A long-running challenge to Alameda County's ban on gun shows at the annual county fair in Pleasanton was back before a federal appeals court in San Francisco today. Gun show promoters Russell and Sallie Nordyke, of Willows in Glenn County, claim the ban violates their constitutional First Amendment right of free speech and their Second Amendment right to bear arms... A three-judge panel took the case under submission after hearing an hour of arguments and will issue a written ruling at a later date... In 2003, the 9th Circuit said the ban didn't violate the Second Amendment, because, according to the court, the amendment protected only a collective state right and not an individual right to bear arms. But that reasoning was rejected in a decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court said last year that the Second Amendment applies to individuals. The ruling, known as the Heller case, struck down a Washington, D.C., ban on handgun possession. The Nordykes say the Heller decision means the Alameda County law should also be overturned... http://cbs5.com/localwire/22.0.html?type=bcn&item=GUN-SHOW-ARGUMENTS-baglm --- Pro-CCW Former California Sheriff Acquitted on Most Serious Charge: A jury acquitted former Orange County sheriff Michael Carona of charges that he took bribes in exchange for the power of his office, a verdict that was hailed by the elated defendant as "an absolute miracle." Carona was convicted of one witness-tampering count, but the jury rejected the heart of a case that federal prosecutors spent five years assembling against the former head of the nation's fifth-largest sheriff's department... (Carona, citing the book More Guns, Less Crime, had made Orange County about as close to shall-issue for CWP's as California law allows. His successor has reversed that policy.) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/16/AR2009011604564.html?hpid=sec-nation http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/17/us/17brfs-FORMERSHERIF_BRF.html?ref=us http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-carona-jurors17-2009jan17,0,4269157.story http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-parsons17-2009jan17,0,6914600.column http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2009/01/17/20090117OCSheriff0117.html --- Sad Step for a Hero: An Ogden police officer hailed for helping to end a deadly Salt Lake City mall shooting nearly two years ago has resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor. In a one-sentence statement issued Monday, Ogden police said patrol officer Ken Hammond resigned from the department Friday. No other comment was offered. Brenda Beaton, Hammond's attorney, said he resigned after determining that the department planned to fire him... Hammond was off duty and having dinner with his wife at Salt Lake City's Trolley Square mall on Feb. 12, 2007, when teenage Bosnian immigrant Sulejman Talovic began randomly shooting shoppers, killing five of them. Hammond ran to the site of the shooting and engaged Talovic in a gun battle, giving Salt Lake City police time to arrive. Talovic was killed by Salt Lake City officers. Hammond was labeled a hero and decorated with state and national honors... http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5haiIbAujmE7tmWy2BtKbf2i9N43wD95LTLE81 --- How Do You Spell Hoplophobia?: The suspicious person who caused an unscheduled two-hour stop for a Metra train this morning and a search of its passengers was a U.S. Secret Service agent. Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet said the incident began when a plainclothes Secret Service agent asked a Naperville ticket agent whether there were metal detectors aboard the BNSF Line train and indicated he was carrying a gun. "He did not identify himself as any type of law-enforcement officer. That concerned the ticket agent," Pardonnet said. But Kristina Schmidt of the Secret Service office in Chicago said a preliminary review showed the agent had acted properly and identified himself to the ticketing staff... It was a few minutes later that police boarded the train. The agent again identified himself, Schmidt said, not realizing his interaction with the Metra employee had led to the train being stopped. The express train departed the downtown Naperville station at 8 a.m., then made an unscheduled stop in Lisle. Lisle police boarded the train and searched 2 1/2 cars before finding the man... More than 1 1/2 hours later, passengers were allowed to reboard the No. 1252 express train. Service then resumed on the line... (Note that Illinois is one of two states that still lacks a statutory provision for private citizens to legally carry concealed handguns and that the agent carried his handgun in such a manner that it was not concealed when he reached for his wallet.) http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/01/metra-train-halted-passengers-searched.html --- What's Wrong with This Picture?: Plaxico Burress' Florida license that covered a rifle and an old, inoperable handgun was seized last month from his Totowa, NJ, home - but he's hoping the permit will stave off new gun charges even though it has expired, a source involved with the case said yesterday. The license expired because Burress had failed to inform Florida authorities he was moving and the state sent the renewal forms to his old address, the source said. "If you have a license and it's expired and not because of any misconduct on the part of the licensee, they typically don't charge you with weapon possession," the source said. Burress is already facing gun-possession charges for accidentally shooting himself in the leg at a Manhattan nightclub over the Thanksgiving weekend. (As far as I know, Florida does not register or license long guns and Concealed Weapon and Firearm Licenses are not specific to any particular weapon or firearm.) http://www.nypost.com/seven/01162009/news/regionalnews/plaxicos_gun_possession_hail_mary_150416.htm --- DEA Approves S&W M&P Pistols: Smith & Wesson Corp., the legendary 157-year old firearms maker, announced today that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has approved select models from the company's Military & Police (M&P) Pistol Series as authorized firearms. The approval allows DEA special agents to purchase approved M&P pistols for use both on- and off-duty. The DEA now joins the growing list of federal agencies to test and approve the M&P pistol for duty use... (I believe that DEA still has a policy of approving several different handguns so that carrying a specific model of pistol does not identify an agent as being with DEA.) http://www.policeone.com/police-products/firearms/press-releases/1775030/ --- NRA-ILA Alerts: Alerts for the week are posted on the NRA-ILA website. http://www.nraila.org/GrassrootsAlerts/read.aspx --- From AzCDL: The legislative session got underway on January 12th and interesting bills are already starting to pop-up. Warm up your keyboards and keep an eye on AzCDL's Legislative page: http://www.azcdl.org/html/2009_bills.html . When critical legislation comes before committees, we'll notify you via these Alerts. So far, two Restaurant Carry bills have been filed. SB 1113 permits firearms in certain restaurants if signs are not posted forbidding firearms, and the person possessing the firearm does not consume alcohol. HB 2171 allows firearms in establishments that derive more than 50% of gross revenue from the sale of food. Both bills are a good start and we will attempt to work with the sponsors to improve them. We are expecting some exciting pro-rights legislation to be filed. AzCDL has been working with legislators on proposed changes for the past few months. Among the bills we are anticipating are: - Constitutional Carry (no CCW permit required for law-abiding citizens to carry concealed). - Defensive Display (clarifies when a defensive display of a weapon is justified). - Crediting alternative training (e.g., NRA classes) towards CCW permit training. - Campus Carry (complying with Federal law that allows CCW permit holders to carry on college/university grounds). The above issues, along with other bills we hope to see filed, will be attacked in earnest by the anti-rights crowd. Successful passage of any pro-rights legislation depends on how hard YOU are willing to fight for it. The stage has been set in our favor. The Arizona legislature expanded a pro-rights majority after the 2008 elections. Assuming Governor Napolitano passes muster for her new position in the Obama administration, we will have a new Governor, Jan Brewer, with a solid pro-rights reputation. Are YOU ready to make a difference? 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 .