Montana FFA Update: ... The first hurdle in this lawsuit is the pending U.S. Motion to Dismiss. The feds argue that the lawsuit should be dismissed immediately - should not go to trial - because Plaintiffs lack "standing," because the U.S. is sovereign and may not be sued ("jurisdiction"), and because of merit (they say we'll lose so why waste time discussing the issue). This Motion to Dismiss was expected, and is pretty standard, boilerplate legal maneuvering. Still, we must respond and respond well. If we lose on the Motion to Dismiss, we will have to appeal that dismissal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. We'd rather move on directly to trial in the lawsuit on the merits of the MFFA arguments than get sidetracked with an appeal over dismissal... So, it is necessary for our side to mount a full court press on all the issues the U.S. has raised in their Motion to Dismiss. To that end, it is VERY helpful that so many other states have climbed onto this FFA bandwagon, a phenomenon called "emerging consensus" by the courts. Six other states have enacted clones of the MFFA and 20 others have introduced FFA bills. Plus, there are a number of amici (plural of "amicus curiae" - friends of the court) parties that have joined the fray. Collectively, they bring a lot of weight to our side... http://www.ammoland.com/2010/04/12/firearms-freedom-act-amici-briefs/ --- Alaska FFA Sits in Committee: The "Alaska Firearms Freedom Act" HB 186 is still sitting in the finance committee. We are on the edge of getting it passed if Senator Stedman will schedule it for hearing. Two more states have passed this important legislation while our finance committee has been sitting on it. I spoke with Sen Stedman's office this morning and got no commitment for hearing it. Please let him know how important you feel the Alaska Firearms Freedom Act is to you. Now is the time to bombard each of these Committee Members with e-mails and telephone calls showing our support for this Bill being passed! Also, you may contact each Senator, individually, and lobby for them to Sponsor HB 186, again speaking of your support for this Bill being passed. Please spend a few minutes supporting this bill... http://www.ammoland.com/2010/04/12/alaska-firearms-freedom-act-update/ --- RKBA Rally in Virginia: Dozens of gun rights advocates, many wearing holstered handguns on their hips, rallied on the State Capitol grounds Monday, a warm-up of sorts for next week. Scores more like-minded folks are expected to attend the April 19 Second Amendment March in Washington, D.C., though likely without their firearms, to oppose laws that limit the rights of gun owners. Virginia Citizens Defense League president Philip Van Cleave regularly makes that case to Virginia lawmakers. Speaking to reporters at the rally, Van Cleave likened gun restrictions to placing limitations on routine individual behaviors. "We can go to church as many times as we want. We can read as many book as we want. But they start restricting your rights when it comes to guns. It makes no sense," he said... http://hamptonroads.com/2010/04/second-amendment-rally-richmond Spring and Second Amendment rights were in full flower yesterday during a rally at Richmond's Capitol Square. A little more than 100 people - many of them openly carrying firearms - gathered at the Bell Tower to drum up support for a national "Second Amendment March" in Washington next Monday. A few silent gun-control advocates and a thick concentration of pollen were the only challenges to the well-armed group, the majority of whom wore fluorescent orange stickers proclaiming "Guns Save Lives." Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli hailed the group as "people, who, as I do, love the Constitution." ... http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_regional/state_regional_govtpolitics/article/CUCC13_20100412-222205/336864/ --- Ohio Gunners to Rally Saturday: For the past few months Ohioans For Concealed Carry has attempted to advise the City of Campbell, Ohio (near Youngstown) that their illegal ordinance prohibiting the sale of firearms was in violation of Ohio Law. We thought we were making progress when an article in The Youngstown Vindicator suggested that council would repeal the ordinance. At the time, the law director acknowledged it was likely they could not achieve what they wanted to accomplish due to Ohio Revised Code 9.68. Unfortunately, more than a month has transpired since that story was written on our website and members of Council have told us that the Police Chief may be intimidating council into tabling the repeal, sending the legislation back to committee and maintaining an illegal ban on the sale of firearms. Late last week the Young Americans for Liberty, a Tea Party movement out of Youngstown State Univeristy, advised us of a rally they plan to hold on Saturday April 17th and asked us to help spread the word. Ohioans For Concealed Carry will be speaking at the event, and supporters of the OFCC (carrying firearms openly or not) are encouraged to attend to support this organization's rally and our efforts to educate Campbell leadership on the concept of following state gun laws... http://www.ohioccw.org/201004124850/campbell-ohio-open-carry-rally-saturday.html --- Georgia County Rejects Park Carry: A proposal to revise the county's ordinances to allow residents to carry firearms into county parks and on other government properties was shot down Monday during a Rockdale County Board of Commissioners work session. The ordinance would have reworded two portions in the county ordinance to allow licensed gun owners to carry a firearm on county property. The sections in question refer to parks and county-owned property in Lakeview Estates that currently prohibits possession of a firearm. The proposed revision changes the prohibition to discharging a firearm in a county park or the property in Lakeview Estates. The proposed ordinance is scheduled to be deleted from today's regular meeting agenda after Rockdale County Commission Chairman Richard Oden said he was against passing the ordinance as he understood the provisions. He expressed concerns that county property could be confused to include county buildings... http://www.rockdalecitizen.com/news/headlines/90712294.html --- California Sheriff Promises Change in CWP Policy: People with a clean record who want to carry a gun will have a much better chance at snagging a concealed weapon permit, Sheriff Adam Christianson said Monday, drawing thunderous applause from firearms advocates. The stunning change in policy comes as Christianson prepares to lay off dozens of deputies because of budget cuts. He has released 300 inmates to comply with new state rules. The sheriff, who is running for re-election on the June 8 ballot, stood grim-faced during a 12-minute introduction at Monday's public meeting of the Madison Society, whose leaders have criticized Christianson for being stingy with gun permits. He had told them - and The Bee as recently as two weeks ago - that he would not sign a pledge accepting self-protection as "good cause" for licensing. Given the stage Monday, Christianson shocked a standing-room-only audience of more than 100 by immediately signing the pledge with a flourish. "I'm not going to infringe upon your right to protect yourselves," the sheriff said. "You are more likely [emphasis added] to get a gun permit when you apply for one." ... (While this sounds like good news, I don't believe anyone has ever successfully sued a politician for breaking a campaign promise. As noted earlier, Stanislaus County stands out in California's Central Valley for its restrictive CWP policy.) http://www.modbee.com/2010/04/12/1125435/stanislaus-county-sheriff-makes.html --- Favorable Appeal in New Mexico: The case is City of Espanola v. Archuleta, decided by the New Mexico Court of Appeals in February but just posted on Lexis; it's closely tied to the terms of the particular city ordinance involved in the case, but I thought that some of our readers would find it interesting. An excerpt... Archuleta ... argues that since our state constitution guarantees his right to bear arms for security and for the defense of his property, the police had no reason to detain him. He also argues [among other things] that the ordinance, as applied, was unconstitutional; ... and finally, that the evidence presented at trial does not support his conviction under Ordinance Section 70-211 (a)(4) of the Espanola Municipal Code. We agree with this last assertion and hold that substantial evidence does not support Archuleta's conviction under the scheme chosen by the drafters of the Espanola Municipal Code, specifically, Ordinance Sections 70-211(a)(4) and 70-212. We have no occasion to reach Archuleta's other arguments.... (As of 1986, the New Mexico State Constitution includes "...No municipality or county shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms." Art. II, § 6) http://volokh.com/2010/04/12/an-interesting-case-involving-open-carry-defense-of-property-and-allegedly-resisting-arrest/ --- Oops, Wrong Former Partner: Authorities officially ruled the fatal shooting of a Van Buren Township man outside a Pittsfield Township home last December was self defense. Washtenaw County [MI] Prosecutors recently opted not to charge Adham Farha with a crime because his "use of deadly force was justified under the Self Defense Act," according to a police news release... Rajchel was under the influence of prescription medication and alcohol when he pulled into Farha's driveway that morning at about 8:30 a.m. He was also armed with a semi-automatic handgun and showed it to Farha after they got into a confrontation in Farha's vehicle. Harshberger said Farha believed his life was in danger and pulled his own semi-automatic handgun and shot Rajchel nine times. Farha was not injured and went inside to call 9-1-1. The two had a previous business relationship and were acquaintances. Rajchel reportedly ordered Farha to drive them away from his home and showed his weapon, which was cocked and ready to fire, police said. Farha feared for his safety and fired his weapon while fleeing the vehicle. http://www.heritage.com/articles/2010/04/13/ann_arbor_journal/news/doc4bbb5eceaf11f610659475.txt --- On Whose Advice?: For months Pat Fuller promised herself that she would not suffer in silence. Now five months after she was accosted and sexually assaulted in her home, the Alton [NH] selectman has gone public with her harrowing ordeal hoping doing so will give courage to other victims to report the crime to police... Fuller said she supports the Second Amendment of the Constitution, which protects a right to bear arms. Being a Second Amendment Sister, she does have her permit to carry a concealed weapon and has had the proper training to fire a handgun, having taken a training course through the National Rifle Association [emphasis added]. "I recommend that to women," she said. "But they have to take the course, they have to be trained and they have to be a responsible gun owner." Second Amendment Sisters is a women's advocacy group in the United States devoted to the protection of gun rights, specifically for self-defense. She said in her situation, she survived without a gun, as her gun was locked up and unloaded at the time of the incident [emphasis added]... (If the gun was locked up and unloaded because the recommended NRA course teaches that, I cannot concur in that training recommendation and I would be surprised if Second Amendment Sisters does either.) http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100413/GJNEWS02/704139882/-1/CITNEWS --- When Guns Are Outlawed: Five men were killed and three others were injured in a separate shooting in a wave of violence across London at the weekend. Three of those who died were stabbed, another was shot and the fifth death is still unexplained. The three injured were hit when a gunman opened fire at a warehouse party in Wembley in the early hours yesterday. A man and a woman were treated at the scene for serious gunshot wounds. Detectives are investigating eye-witness reports that the weapon involved was an Uzi-style sub-machinegun. A third man who later went to North Middlesex hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg is also believed to have been hurt in the same attack. He left soon after receiving basic treatment. The gunman struck during a packed club night on an industrial estate in Capitol Way. A 23-year-old man - believed to be the intended victim - was hit twice in the stomach and twice in the buttocks. The woman, aged 21, was shot when the gunman missed his target. Both victims, who are from west London, were described as seriously ill in hospital today. Detectives from Scotland Yard's homicide squad and the Operation Trident unit, which deals with black on black gun crime are investigating the five deaths, which are... http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23823691-five-killings-and-three-shot-at-party-in-weekend-of-london-violence.do --- Sniper Duel in Afghanistan: It echoes the plot of a Hollywood blockbuster, but the deaths of seven British troops at the hands of a highly-trained and highly-skilled Afghan sniper in Sangin is a very real problem. During a five-month killing spree, the sniper has stalked the 3rd Battalion, the Rifles, picking off individuals including a British sniper who was on the lookout for the shooter himself. Three of those killed were considered among the best in their field. Now the SAS is hunting the sniper who is stalking them across the streets of the city considered the most dangerous in Afghanistan. The scene is chillingly reminiscent to the storyline of the 2001 film Enemy at the Gates, in which Jude Law and Ed Harris play rival Soviet and German snipers stalking each other across Stalingrad during World War II... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1265320/Deadly-Taliban-sniper-stalks-British-troops-echoes-Hollywood-blockbuster.html --- Tangentially Related: Washington's spin machine cycled into high gear Monday, churning out a new set of names as possible contenders to fill Justice John Paul Stevens' seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. For months, the list of hopefuls has been thought to include Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Judge Diane Wood of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, Judge Merrick Garland of the D.C. Circuit, as well as Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. On Monday, the Associated Press reported that Sidney Thomas, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, "was one of about 10 people under serious review." The AP confirmed that Wood, Garland, Kagan, Granholm, and Napolitano were on the list. The wire service, citing an administration official, added former Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears to the list. ABC News also reported that Sears is under serious consideration. Other names floated Monday by various news outlets and blogs included: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.); and Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, a Democrat and former governor of Washington... http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202447968878&src=EMC-Email&et=editorial&bu=National%20Law%20Journal&pt=NLJ.com-%20Daily%20Headlines&cn=20100413NLJ&kw=For%20Stevens%20slot%2C%20a%20growing%20list%20of%20potential%20nominees Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's short stint as a potential Supreme Court nominee was as bright as it was brief, before the White House called it off. It ignited, as some things do these days, with a senator on one of the network morning shows. "I even heard the name Hillary Clinton today, and that would be an interesting person in the mix," Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah said on NBC's "Today Show" when asked about potential nominees. Speculation about her suitability burned intensely for, at most, a couple of hours. Though it was a tantalizing prospect, many news outlets appeared eager to disprove the notion. "She's doing a wonderful job, and the president is going to keep her as secretary of state," said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs... By tossing her name out there, Hatch, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, accomplished several things at once - he forced Obama to squash the idea, he paid a compliment to Clinton, and he fired up both the Left and the Right over the upcoming nomination process... http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/white-house/Justice-Hillary-Clinton_-GOP-likes-the-sound-of-that-90702084.html Democrats hope to turn the upcoming Supreme Court confirmation hearings into a referendum of sorts on controversial recent decisions by the Roberts court - portraying the conservative majority as a judicial Goliath trampling the rights of average Americans. As President Barack Obama mulls possible replacements for retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, the administration and congressional aides are gravitating toward a strategy that goes beyond the goals of a run-of-the-mill confirmation fight - to define a corporations-vs.-the-common-man battle between Democrats and the high court. In addition to building a defensive perimeter around Obama's pick - whoever that may be - Democrats will use the hearings to attack what they view as a dangerous strain of conservative judicial activism espoused by Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas... http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/35709.html Thomas Sowell nails it in his farewell to Justice John Paul Stevens and concludes with some advice to the GOP. http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=139961 --- From AzCDL: SB 1108, the Constitutional Carry bill, was transmitted to Governor Brewer today, April 12, 2010. SB 1108 eliminates the prohibition and penalties for law-abiding adults who carry a concealed weapon without a permit. A letter to the Governor, urging her to sign SB 1108, has been prepared and is waiting for you at AzCDL's Action Center: http://azcdl.capwiz.com/azcdl/issues/alert/?alertid=14907736 The Governor has 5 days (not counting Sunday) to make a determination on the fate of any bill sent to her desk. That means she must decide the fate of SB 1108 by Saturday, April 17 at Midnight. She can sign it, let it pass without her signature, or veto it. Any bill she does not veto will become law 90 days after "Sine Die," the official adjournment of the Legislature. We encourage you to contact her and request that she sign this historic legislation, and ask your fellow freedom lovers to do so as well. You can use the pre-written letter linked to above, or you can call her office at 602-542-4331 or 1-800-253-0883. Stay tuned! When critical legislation moves, we will notify you via these Alerts. If you want to get legislative news as it happens, follow AzCDL on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AzCDL_Alerts . AzCDL "tweets" from the Capitol with committee votes and breaking news as it happens. You can also follow AzCDL on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/FacebookAzCDL . AzCDL's Political Action Committee (PAC) is also on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/FacebookAzCDLPAC . These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. Join today! http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html . AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom http://www.azcdl.org/html/accomplishments.html . Copyright © 2010 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved. -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. The tactics and skills to use a firearm in self-defense don't come naturally with the right to keep and bear arms. http://www.spw-duf.info .