Keep and Bear Arms - Gun Owners Home Page

Mexican drug cartels more violent without guns? Submitted by: Anonymous	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
The Associated Press recently reported that Mexican drug gangs have sunk to �a new level of brutality.� But what the AP neglected to mention is that gangsters didn�t need a gun to do it.

MO: Self defense: A right with a responsibility?
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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As the old adage about protecting one's property says, "A man's home is his castle."

What's not said is exactly how far he (or she) can go to safeguard a home - or even more vaguely, a car or family.

It's a complex question, as evidenced by two high-profile area cases in recent weeks.

The first, on Dec. 27, involved a St. Louis man who allegedly shot and killed an 18-year-old who was attempting to steal the man's truck.

The next day, two St. Louis police officers shot and killed a man who they said fired at them, but who may have believed he was shooting at an intruder.

The Making of the Military's Standard Arms
Submitted by: Larry

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The posts were prompted by the leak of an official historian�s account of the battle of Wanat in 2008, in which a remote Army outpost in eastern Afghanistan was nearly overrun by insurgents. Nine American soldiers were killed that day. The historian�s draft study suggested that at least a few American weapons failed in the fight, perhaps because of overheating.

The reports of weapons� stoppages in combat resurrected longstanding controversies surrounding the M-16 line.

TX: Homeowner shoots, kills suspected burglar Submitted by: NYSRPA-PVF Website: http://www.nysrpa-pvf.org	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
A suspected burglar is dead after being shot by a homeowner in northeast Houston. Police say the homeowner saw the man breaking into his house on Baer and Meadow this morning. He grabbed a gun and opened fire. The suspected burglar got outside, jumped a fence and collapsed. He died later at a hospital. It's unclear right now if the homeowner will face any charges.

NY: Hero detective who risked life to battle Mafia told to give up his gun by NYPD Submitted by: NYSRPA-PVF Website: http://www.nysrpa-pvf.org	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
An NYPD detective who risked his life to infiltrate the Mafia has been stripped of the right to carry a firearm because of a line-of-duty injury, the Daily News has learned.

NY: New York Governor Paterson boosts private security detail while state patrols shrink
Submitted by: Anonymous

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The New York Post recently ran a story about New York State Governor Paterson�s doubling the size of his security detail during the last year to �over 200� members. This comes at the expense of New York�s taxpayers, who must tolerate reduced police services as a result.

For example, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the Long Island counties of Nassau and Suffolk had a population of over 2.8 million in 2008. Thomas Mungeer, President of New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association, notes that there are currently 150 troopers covering this area, about five patrol officers per 100,000 population. By contrast, neighboring New York City�s police force provides about 429 officers per 100,000 population.

Gun-Toting Judge Underscores Self-Defense Value of Handgun Ownership, says Washington Senior Rights Activist
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Gun-Toting Judge Underscores Self-Defense Value of Handgun Ownership, notes Washington Senior Rights Activist

"An Associated Press report Sunday about a judge who carries a handgun into her courtroom shows that people need guns for self-protection," says John M. Snyder, named the senior rights activist in Washington by Shotgun News.

According to the article

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34793838/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Suzanne Childers, a judge for the Jefferson County Domestic Relations Court in Birmingham, Alabama, keeps her .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver with her in the courtroom for the protection of herself, her staff and the general public.

DC: Washington�s Gun Past May Play a Big Role in Arenas�s Future
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The proximity of the three locations underlines how law, government, sports and the continuing threat of violence stand shoulder to shoulder in the nation�s capital, creating a stark backdrop for Gilbert Arenas�s decision to store several guns in a Verizon Center locker room.

In doing what he did, where he did, Arenas has potentially created more legal trouble for himself than had he done it elsewhere.

�The District of Columbia is about as unique a place as there is in the country in terms of regulating firearms because of its need to balance safety with the Second Amendment right to bear arms,� Nickles said.

Somewhere in that balance could lie Arenas�s fate.

The real Scalia, warts and all
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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He [Scalia] can alienate colleagues and friends with his "natural combativeness," but never wavers from speaking his mind - a quality that has allowed him to transform the face of U.S. law.

The story opens in Washington, with "Nino" Scalia delivering a speech at the Mayflower Hotel to enthusiastic Federalist Society members. He is waving his hands and declaring that the Supreme Court's landmark 2008 decision establishing that citizens have an individual right to bear arms under the Second Amendment - an opinion that Scalia himself wrote - proved that the court was returning to the "original meaning" of the Constitution.

IL: Illinois AG Supporting Chicago's Handgun Ban in Supreme Court Case
Submitted by: NYSRPA-PVF
Website: http://www.nysrpa-pvf.org

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The National Rifle Association has long fought gun bans saying the second amendment guarantees the right to bear arms. Gun advocates are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to find Chicago, and Oak Park's gun bans unconstitutional. But in a brief submitted to the Court, Illinois Attorney General argues that the whole point of the second amendment is to protect local governments from the might of the federal government.

NV: Handcuffed, disarmed for obeying the law
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Things were real different at 5:30 a.m, Jan. 3, however, when Mr. Mitchener called Metro to report the fifth break-in at his office.

"Vin, I hope I did not see the future this morning," Charlie e-mailed me. "Today was drastically different."

The responding officer was a lady cop, officer J. Rogers, badge number 13525.

"Upon presentation of my (firearms permit), the officer asked if I had the weapon on me to which I replied yes. She then said to spread my legs and put my hands behind my back. I complied and she then handcuffed me. While doing so, she said that she wanted to make certain 'that we were all safe.' "

DC: What didn't happen after the D.C. handgun ban ended
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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I invite readers to undertake a brief thought experiment with me. The Jan. 1 front-page article "Homicide totals in 2009 plummet in District, Prince George's" reported that the District has just experienced its lowest total number of homicides in 45 years. This was also the first full year after the D.C. handgun ban was found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller, and therefore the first year that city residents were able to maintain handguns legally in their homes.

Post Office Proposes That Grenades Go Registered
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Fake explosives that look real, and inert explosives, such as grenades, may be mailed using Registered Mail only, if a proposed U.S. Postal Service rule is adopted.

The Postal Service drafted the rule due to the impact of shut downs at mail service centers when such items were mistakenly identified as live explosives.

Initially, the USPS had proposed a total ban on the mailing of inert and replica devices, but mailers objected to infringement of their Second Amendment right to bear arms. Other arguments against the total ban included that the Postal Service did not have the authority to do it, and that it was an unnecessary rule.

MI: Firearms safety, knowledge aim of new business
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Five friends with a common interest have banded together to start a firearms and concealed-pistol-license education business dedicated to teaching proper firearm safety.

The Livingston County-based MiCPL.net is jointly owned and operated by friends Rick Buckner, Bob Knight, Jason Baker, Garry Flanary and Edwin Hoffman.

"We've all worked for other instructors at different times, and we didn't feel the quality of instruction was there," Buckner, 42, of Cohoctah Township, said.

"We wanted to give people the proper training," he added.

The five friends have diverse backgrounds.

PA: 2nd amdnt. refers to 'well-regulated militia'
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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I can understand why reasonable people feel strongly about their right to own and bear arms. I hunted as a youngster and was a pretty good skeet and trap shooter in my day (which is, admittedly, a while behind me). I disagree, however, with anyone who ignores the "well-regulated militia" portion of the Bill of Rights, thus creating in their mind an absolute right for everyone to bear arms.

As with any other right � whether religion, speech, assembly, the press, you name it � I'm sure none of our very solid-citizen founders would have advocated absolute anarchy in regard to any of these.

Philipines: Philippine police arrest 18 at start of gun ban
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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About 50,000 Philippine policemen began enforcing a five-month ban on carrying guns in public Sunday in hopes of avoiding bloodshed in the buildup to May elections, arresting 18 violators at checkpoints across the country.

The Philippines is a lively democracy and elections are often marred by violence and fraud. In the 2007 local and congressional elections, 108 people were killed in election-related violence, including 15 candidates, national police spokesman Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina said Sunday.

MO: More talk about workplace violence
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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And when the Dems realized that many gun owners would cheerfully vote against their economic self-interest if they thought their right to bear arms was threatened, the gun control movement collapsed.

Again, no editorial comment. Just a fact. We are heavily armed and will stay that way.

Now you could argue � at least I could � that a private citizen does not need to own a military assault-style weapon, like an AK-47. If a person wants to fire that kind of weapon, he or she ought to join the military. Or maybe the military could make some money by letting civilians fire these weapons at a range. Personally, I don't like the idea of civilians being able to outgun the cops.

Ed.: Link corrected, 9:30am PST.

Supreme Court to tackle gun rules, NFL, kidnapping
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The justices met privately Friday to pick through the stack of review requests that accumulated since their last public session Dec. 14. And they will begin a new round of oral arguments today in which Justice Sonia Sotomayor probably will play a prominent role.

The new year will bring at least a few new cases to a docket that is mostly full � the court traditionally stops hearing oral arguments in April. The court already has taken at least one case that will command the nation's attention: whether the Second Amendment right to personal ownership of firearms that rendered unconstitutional the handgun ban in the federal enclave of Washington also applies to state and city attempts to severely restrict gun ownership.

NJ: New Jersey Assembly Passes "One-Gun-a-Month" Bill
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Last Thursday, the New Jersey Assembly voted unanimously (73-0-3) to approve S3104/A4361. These bills were drafted in response to recommendations put forth by the Firearms Task Force created after the midnight passage of New Jersey�s gun rationing law. S3104/A4361 now head to the desk of Governor Jon Corzine (D) for his consideration.

While NRA attempted to create a more robust exemption for gun owners, these requests fell upon deaf ears and the bill passed as written without creating changes beneficial to New Jersey�s law-abiding firearm owners as promised by the Firearms Task Force.

TN: Guns-in-bars law positions differ for gubernatorial candidates
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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A Tennessee Newspaper Network survey of the major candidates - four Republicans and three Democrats - shows candidates taking a range of positions on several gun issues up for debate at the capitol.

The issues range from guns in bars and parks and on college campuses to guns on employer-owned parking lots and in leased property.

They also include whether the public can find out if someone has a state-issued permit to go armed and whether the state should declare that guns made and sold inside Tennessee are exempt from federal regulation.

TN: Law shouldn't be based on a handgun's appearance
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Recent news reports about an individual carrying a legal but uncommon-looking handgun into Radnor Lake State Park raises questions about whether Tennessee's handgun permit laws need to restrict handgun permit holders from carrying certain handguns based on their appearance.

I would oppose such legislation and think most of other legislators who support the Constitution would do likewise.

The debate arises, in part, because the individual, while exercising a right under Tennessee law, decided to openly carry a handgun that had an uncommon physical appearance.

DC: How to Buy a Handgun in D.C.
Submitted by: Larry

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The Washington Post has a fairly detailed article on what a journalist had to go through to get a gun in The District:

It took $833.69, a total of 15 hours 50 minutes, four trips to the Metropolitan Police Department, two background checks, a set of fingerprints, a five-hour class and a 20-question multiple-choice exam.

The story is about the post-Heller decision, where now, with heavy licensing requirements, it�s possible for the benevolent DC government to allow you to keep a gun in your home. One thing that I did not know is that, because there are no (legal) gun dealers in DC, one must buy the gun in another state and have it transferred to a local Federal Firearms Licensee. Turns out, according to this story, that there is only one person in DC licensed to do that!

TX: Dallas Officer Once Fired for Theft On Leave Again
Submitted by: jac

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DALLAS - A Dallas police officer who got his job back after being fired over an alleged theft is on leave over another accusation of thievery.

Thirty-three-year-old Johnny Rodriguez was placed on leave this week while police investigate an allegation that he stole a pair of boots belonging to a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper. Rodriguez and his attorney declined to comment.

Assistant Chief Ron Waldrop said the incident is under investigation.

Rodriguez was fired in 2006 after an internal investigation said he stole a set of tires and rims worth about $4,000 from the auto pound. Rodriguez denied the allegations and was not indicted.