On to the Supreme Court?: Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has been called an "anti-gun radical" by some gun rights activists for joining an opinion this year that said the Second Amendment does not prevent state and local governments from restricting arms ownership. But yesterday a panel of conservative luminaries on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit reached the same conclusion. The unanimous ruling rejecting a challenge to Chicago's tough handgun law could complicate efforts to portray Sotomayor as a judicial activist trying to undermine the Supreme Court's landmark decision last year holding that the amendment protects the right to own a gun for self-defense. It also tees up the issue for review by the high court and raises questions about whether Sotomayor would be able to participate, should she be confirmed to the court... But yesterday, a panel of the 7th Circuit, hearing a challenge to gun laws in Chicago and the suburb of Oak Park, came to the same conclusion. "We agree with Maloney," said the opinion, referring to the 2nd Circuit's decision. The 7th Circuit's decision was written by the circuit's chief judge, Frank H. Easterbrook, one of the nation's leading conservative jurists, along with two Republican-appointed judges, including conservative favorite Richard A. Posner... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/02/AR2009060203379.html A federal appeals court in Chicago ruled today that the Second Amendment doesn't bar state or local governments from regulating guns, adopting the same position that Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, did when faced with the same question earlier this year. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court cited the Second Amendment to strike down a handgun ban adopted in 1976 by the Washington, D.C., City Council. The court, by a 5-4 vote, found that the amendment protected from federal infringement an individual right to "keep and bear arms." The decision applied only to the District of Columbia, a federal enclave that is not a state. It left open whether the amendment also limits the powers of state government... http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124398585843379259.html --- Olofson Denied Rehearing: A terse two-sentence statement from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a request for a rehearing in a case that defense lawyers say stemmed from a broken rifle that was loaned out and then malfunctioned. The ruling from the court today came in the case involving David Olofson, who was sentenced to 30-months in prison for "transferring" a machinegun, even though the weapon in question was described by defense weapons experts as a rifle that misfired... The panel found what a federal agent did during a testing procedure to result in "automatic" fire from an AR-15 has no bearing on Olofson's conviction. The ruling had affirmed the trial judge's decision that the Wisconsin man sent to prison was guilty, no matter the reason that the semi-automatic rifle he loaned to a prospective buyer unleashed several bursts of multiple rounds and then jammed. His defense team had explained the case is about nothing more than a malfunctioning gun. But according to judges Manion, Kanne and Kendall of the 7th Circuit, the weapon is a machinegun, and government information about the tests that determined that are not pertinent... http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=99999 --- Looking Back from 2038: After 30 years of writing for the Examiner.com, I have seen most everything. I thought I would write today on the watershed events around 2008 that reset the course of the last three decades in American politics. Guns played an amazing part. First, we had the election of Barak Obama, America's first black president who began to pick administration officials and cabinet members with obvious track records opposing gun rights. The intentions coming out of congress and statements by administration officials fueled the fears that our 2nd Amendment rights were in the sights of this new president. The ensuing months after the election saw gun sales soar as previous owners bought guns they intended to own someday before they were outlawed, and first time buyers got off the fence and bought a gun "just in case" the new administration moved to outlaw guns. Ammunition was being bought like the country was preparing for war. About half way through the Obama term, supplies eased up as manufacturers finally added permanent increases in manufacturing capacity. They decided that the level of consumption in our country had permanently increased with millions of new owners adding to the increased interest in shooting sports and self defense... http://www.examiner.com/x-2944-Denver-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m6d2-A-post-from-2038 --- Group Supports Campus-Carry Advocate: A free speech organization says it is fighting officials at Community College of Allegheny County after they first banned a student from trying to organize a chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, then reaffirmed that activity would not be permitted on campus. According to a statement from The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonprofit educational foundation that works on behalf of individual rights, due process, freedom of expression, academic freedom, and rights of conscience at colleges and universities, the case involves student Christine Brashier. She had sought to form the SCCC chapter on the Pittsburgh-area campus and in April created on pamphlets to give to classmates encouraging them to join her... http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=100002 --- Louisiana House Rejects Campus Carry: State Rep. Ernest Wooten's proposed law, which would have allowed those over 21 with permits to carry concealed weapons on Louisiana's college campuses, failed badly last week in a vote of the full House of Representatives. In this state, conservative as it is, the measure drew only 18 votes. The paucity of support may testify to the clout of the police chiefs and top higher education officials who opposed it... The push for campus carry permits grew out of a series of tragedies, including the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech, where a disturbed young man named Seung-Hui Cho shot 32 people to death and then killed himself. Almost at once, two sets for drums began beating: one for greater restrictions on campus, the other for more guns on campus... http://www.dailyworld.com/article/20090602/OPINION01/906020307 --- Texas Rejects Campus Carry, Parking-Lot Storage: The Texas State Legislature said "no" to the gun lobby in the session just ended, joining a growing list of states that rejected forcing colleges and universities to allow students to bring loaded, hidden handguns to class and also rejected a second gun lobby priority bill to force businesses to allow employees to have loaded guns in their cars on private property. Texas joins 10 other states that have already rejected guns on campus legislation this year... The guns at work bill, SB 730, would have permitted gun owners to have guns in cars in company parking lots even if the business prohibits it. http://www.bradycampaign.org/media/release.php?release=1142 --- The Guns-and-Alcohol Routine: NRA is feeling betrayed. Another one of their endorsed politicians has broken his vows. (Guys, guys, guys...) Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen vetoed a bill that would allow concealed carry permit holders to retain their firearms in establishments that serve alcohol... There is a lot of confusion over what the bill would do, and much of that is intentional. Opponents want to portray it as an invitation for drunken maniacs to open fire in saloons. Proponents point out that many family restaurants serve beer and wine, and those dining there should not have their defenselessness dictated to them by a state that has neither the capability nor the legal obligation to protect them... http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m6d2-Tennessee-veto-about-control-not-guns-and-alcohol --- Georgia Has More Gun-Free Zones than California: ... Which place has more off limits locations to bearing, i.e., actually carrying, a firearm. California has more than 50,000 people with firearms licences. California is a "may issue" state. But, if you are one of the more than 50,000 people who have a firearms license in California, are you better off than a Georgian? Prior to July of 2008, the members of GeorgiaCarry.Org, Inc. contended that Georgia had more places off limits to the bearing of arms than any state in the nation. Now, in 2009, Georgia still has more places off limits than California. Most people assume California is highly restrictive of the right to bear arms and that Georgia is a "gun friendly state." Are these twin assumptions justified? Let us examine California's off limits list in detail and compare it to Georgia's list... (Perhaps California does not have many gun-free zones for CWP-holders because there are, proportionally, so few CWP-holders in the state. Further, the majority of permittees in California have some sort of past or present relationship to law enforcement. While some counties issue freely, most Californians can't legally carry anywhere because they can't get a permit.) http://www.examiner.com/x-5619-Atlanta-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m5d30-Georgia-has-more-places-off-limits-to-bearing-arms-than-California?cid=exrss-Atlanta-Gun-Rights-Examiner --- Small-Town Range Gets Good Press: Former Roundup reporter Erin Turner had never fired a handgun or rifle until she accepted an invitation to visit the Jim Jones Shooting Range. The invite, which was issued in the summer of 2007, persuaded Turner to somewhat reluctantly visit the range - located at the Tonto Rim Sports Club - south of Payson. There, Turner was officially introduced to handling firearms in a safe and professional manner... Almost every law enforcement agency in Central Arizona including the Department of Public Safety, Payson Police Department, the Gila County Sheriff's Office, Arizona Game and Fish Department, U.S Forest Service, National Guard and the FBI use the range. Boy Scouts also frequent the facility. Most recently, the Payson Parks and Recreation Department used the site for youth after-school archery programs. Public use is allowed on Saturdays for a fee of $5... http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/2009/jun/02/sports_club_shooting_range_appeal_growing/ --- Justifying Deadly Force, Part 1: In the previous article, we examined two defensive shootings which started out being remarkably similar, but one appeared to go wrong because of subsequent actions by the defender. This article attempts to explain why, in hopes that perhaps one decent person will be spared the agony and expense of having to justify their actions in court. In tactical firearms training, one message is repeated over and over: You shoot to stop the threat... As seen in the recent Oklahoma pharmacy incident, a defensive shooting can turn into an offensive one in the blink of an eye. There are well-defined criteria for the justifiable use of lethal force, and studying these is just as important as tactical training and practice, when preparing to successfully survive a defensive shooting incident and its aftermath. http://www.examiner.com/x-2879-Austin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m6d2-Justifying-deadly-force-Part-1 --- Avoid Getting Shot by Cops: ... That dramatic scene - a role-play exercise on Tuesday for recruits at the Police Department's training complex in the Bronx - ended without gunfire, in contrast to the fatal shooting of Officer Omar J. Edwards in East Harlem last Thursday. According to police officials, Officer Edwards was in civilian clothes when he chased a man who had just broken into his car. Three other officers spotted Officer Edwards running with his gun drawn. One of them, Officer Andrew P. Dunton, identified himself, and told Officer Edwards not to move, the officials said. Officer Edwards turned around, gun in hand. Officer Dunton fired, mortally wounding him... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/nyregion/03training.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion --- Oops, Wrong House, Ohio Version: A wannabe burglar may be walking around with a lead reminder of a Friday break-in. Lima Police believe the man who reportedly broke into a home in the 800 block of West Wayne Street early Friday morning may have been shot by the home's owner. The incident occurred just before 4 a.m. Friday, according to Lima Police Detective Kent Miller. The home's owner was sitting in his living room, just about an hour after coming home from working third shift, when he heard a bang from the next room. He walked in and saw a man in his house by the front door. The homeowner turned around and grabbed his .22 revolver and yelled at the intruder, who then rushed at him, Miller said. He fired one shot before the would-be burglar fled. Police believe the bullet may have struck the intruder, but found no blood or other evidence of injury at the scene. "We think he hit him mainly because of the distance between them. He was just three or four feet away, but we didn't find any blood," Miller said... (Unfortunately, if you settle for the training that comes in the box with the gun or only practice target shooting, it's all to easy to miss at three or four feet.) http://www.limaohio.com/news/police-37135-miller-lima.html --- Oops, Wrong House, South Carolina Version: A 29-year-old woman who broke windows at a house behind Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia was shot in the head by the homeowner, a Richland County sheriff's spokesman said. The bullet grazed the woman, who was slightly injured, the spokesman said Tuesday. The woman who broke the windows at the house at 618 Hatrick Road was trying to get in and will face charges, the spokesman said. The homeowner will not face charges, the spokesman said. Officials did not disclose the names since no charges had been filed. http://www.thestate.com/local-metro/story/803948.html --- Rule Five Reminder: District Attorney General Jerry Woodall says he will not file criminal charges against the Madison County sheriff's deputy whose gun was discharged in a Jackson store last week. Debra A. Bond, 46, was suspended for 10 days without pay after her 3-year-old grandson reached into her purse and accidentally discharged her .40-caliber Glock handgun Wednesday evening at the Goodwill Store at 1688 S. Highland Ave. The bullet struck the ceiling, and no one was injured. In a letter sent to Sheriff David Woolfork on Friday, Woodall stated, "It is my opinion that the officer's conduct was not reckless in that she was carrying the weapon in a manner that most women would carry a weapon and that being in her purse. The actions of the child, under ... supervision of Deputy Bond, are not so foreseeable as to arise to the level of criminal negligence as defined under Tennessee law." ... (Rule Five: Maintain control of your firearm. Women who insist on carrying handguns in purses are best served by those purses that have a specific compartment with some sort of holster to protect the trigger.) http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20090602/NEWS01/906020306 -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .