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Police Question Ballistics Database
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Anonymous
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"Proposals for a Ballistics Imaging and Comparison national database has drawn fire from the Fraternal of Police (FOP) which warns that the technology has multiple drawbacks that make it unwise to implement both it and the national firearms database the plan would require."
"The FOP does not support any federal requirement to register privately owned firearms with the federal government." ...
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Meanwhile, LEO members of the FOP will arrest a gunowner who possesses an unregistered firearm in the areas of the country where registration is required by unconstitutional state statute. |
You must fight
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Anonymous
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"There is a myth of the policeman in modern America. From a very young age we are taught that the police are here to protect us, and 'To serve and protect' is a motto common to many police forces across the country. Sadly, the reality is that the police are not in the protection business."
"Despite the pretense, it has been confirmed in more than one court that not only do you not have a right to expect protection from the police, but they have no responsibility for your safety and security." ... |
The Hatred of Gun Controllers
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J W Parsons
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"In the many articles concerning gun control, it becomes readily apparent that gun controllers are liars - they are not interested in controlling guns, they're objective is controlling people. Criminals by definition disobey all laws and are not the targets of gun control - law-abiding citizens are." ... |
FL: Gun Nonsense
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Doug Charette
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"Arthur Hayhoe is once again talking nonsense. He states his organization did an 'extensive study of unregulated sales at our county gun shows.' First of all, there are no gun shows in Pasco County."
"Second, a true extensive study would have shown that every sale at guns shows - and everywhere else in Florida - is regulated by law. Alcohol Tobacco and Firearm officers often visit gun shows undercover." ... |
TX: A Tarrant prosecutor 'hopes' tough sentencing will deter juvenile gun crimes
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serinde
Website: http://www.progunwomen.com
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"With the help of a three-year, $120,000 grant from the Justice Department, [Tiffany] Burks was recently assigned to prosecute only cases involving youths accused of gun crimes in Tarrant County."
" 'We want to give our community hope that when juveniles commit these acts, the punishment will be great and, hopefully, it will deter others from doing it.' "
"The gun violence prosecution program is not without its critics, especially in regard to juvenile crime." ... |
Illusory thinking on gun control
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Robin Maxwell
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In the Boston Globe no less...
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"We live in a dangerous world. Guns kill; so do explosives strapped to a human body, airplanes turned into weapons, or lethal powder mailed in an ordinary-looking envelope. It may be comforting to think that if we just had the political will to take tough measures, whether against guns or against illegal aliens, we would be safe. But it would be a comforting illusion." ...
"Let's not forget, too, that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens can actually stop those who prey on the innocent. A largely ignored incident in Pittsburgh, which happened at the same time as the sniper shootings, provides a convincing demonstration."
"A man who committed a half-dozen sexual assaults in the city's East End, eluding police and terrorizing women - not as lethally as the sniper ... but seriously enough - was captured when his intended seventh victim shot and wounded him." ... |
Crime Rose Again in 2001, FBI Says
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Jerry Rowe
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WASHINGTON (AP) - "Murder, rape and every other violent criminal act except aggravated assault rose last year, the FBI said Monday in reporting the first year-to-year increase in overall crime in a decade."
"The number of murders increased for the second straight year, following several years of decline, according to the FBI,..."
"The 15,980 murders represented a 2.5 percent increase over 2000, while forcible rapes were up less than 1 percent and robberies rose 3.7 percent. Aggravated assaults fell by a half-percentage point, reaching its lowest level since 1987." ...
"Despite the increase in murders, the FBI said the overall number still is down nearly 33 percent from 1992. Murder accounts for only about 1.1 percent of the nation's violent crime, with aggravated assault making up about two-thirds of the cases and robbery another 29 percent." ...
"Firearms accounted for 8,719 slayings, or about two-thirds, followed by knives, "personal" weapons such as fists and feet, blunt objects and such methods as drugs, strangulation and drowning. There were 10 murders-by-poison in the United States last year, according to the FBI."
REALITY CHECK...
If there were 15,980 murders and 8,719 of them were by firearm, that's not "two thirds"; it's 54.5%. Two thirds would be 66.7%. Two thirds of 15,980 murders would be 10,653 murders -- a difference of 1,934 lives taken.
The Associated Press needs to buy a new calculator -- and stop inflating numbers and percentages in ways that mislead. |
Bellesiles Is Out -- Time to Revoke his "Bancroft Prize"
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Randy Hudson
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"While some have faulted Emory for taking too long to begin its investigation, most scholars agree that the investigation was thorough. And now that the Emory report is out, scholars expect Columbia to investigate the possibility of revoking Bellesiles's Bancroft Prize." |
NY: Curses: Libertarian Witch to Put Halloween Hex on Olympic Bid
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Manhattan Libertarian Party
Website: http://www.manhattanlp.org
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Mixing magic and politics, the Manhattan Libertarian Party announced that it has hired a witch to place a curse on the westside site of the proposed Olympic Stadium. According to party spokesman Jim Lesczynski, the hex is intended to ward off the evil spirits of higher taxes and municipal budget crises.
"We've hired a witch, and we're putting her to work on Halloween, when her powers will be at their peak," said Lesczynski. "New York City is facing an unprecedented $6 billion budget deficit next year, and the last thing it should be do now is squander billions of dollars more on a stadium boondoggle." ...
"This Olympic bid is a corporate wolf in sheep's clothing," charges Lesczynski. "From the corporate sponsors to the TV networks to the pro sports teams that will inherit the facilities, it's one massive corporate welfare scheme. Libertarians advocate the complete separation of sports and state." ... |
WA: Ferry passengers face tighter, airport-style security
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Anonymous
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"Boarding a Washington state ferry could soon feel like heading to the airport: Passengers might have to pass through security screeners; their luggage and shoes could be checked; and armed guards could be roving the vessels."
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The WA state ferry service is part of the state highway system. I wonder how they plan to "handle" CPL holders?? |
MD: Gun Laws Focus of Attention
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Doug Charette
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"With a series of sniper attacks apparently ended, Maryland political leaders hope voters no longer worried about the safety of their families will focus on the state's closely contested race for governor."
"The question is, how have the attacks affected the race, especially in a state where voters favor strong gun control laws." ... |
Criminal Enablers!
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Doug Charette
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"Today I�d like to continue taking aim at opportunistic pond scum who exploit tragedy and death for personal and political gain."
"But this column is not about the so-called 'snipers' and their relationship to the maggots who use them to feed off the carcass of our freedoms. The vile lowlifes who terrorized the DC area for three weeks appear to have been captured, and perhaps, if the justice system is indeed swift and fair, they�ll be rotting in hell sooner than later." ... |
Poll: More Gun Laws Won't Help
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Doug Charette
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"Few Americans think tougher gun laws could make a difference in situations like the sniper attacks in the area around Washington D.C."
"The latest FOX News poll conducted by Opinion Dynamics Corporation found that most Americans are doubtful that tougher guns laws would help stop these kinds of acts, with 76 percent saying people like the serial sniper(s) will always find ways around gun laws. Only 14 percent say tougher gun laws can stop acts like the sniper shootings from happening." ... |
Australia: 'Concerned' doctors 'should be forced to report' gunowners to the government
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"Doctors and other health professionals who have concerns about the behaviour of patients who own firearms should be forced to report them to police, Justice Minister Chris Ellison has said."
"A spokesman for Senator Ellison said anyone wishing to own a gun could be forced to undergo a health check, including a psychiatric evaluation."
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Coming soon to a state near you... |
Professor quits in probe of gun book (Wash. Times on Bellesiles)
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Doug Charette
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"Michael Bellesiles, the history professor who wrote that firearms were rare in early America, has resigned from Atlanta's Emory University after an investigation found he 'willingly misrepresented the evidence' in his award-winning book."
"Robert A. Paul, interim dean of Emory College, announced that Mr. Bellesiles would resign effective Dec. 31 after 14 years at Emory..."
" '[H]is scholarly integrity is seriously in question,' the committee concluded in its 40-page report." ... |
GA: Miller urges study of gun 'fingerprints'
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Doug Charette
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"The case of the sniper who terrorized the area around the nation's capital this month has raised an argument about whether science could have helped authorities catch their suspects more quickly."
"The gun safety group that helped initiate Atlanta's lawsuit against the firearms industry says yes. But one of Georgia's senators is cautioning the public to learn more about whether a national ballistics registry could have helped shorten the three-week spree, or any case like it."
"the science that allows authorities to compare the markings on bullets to see if they were fired from the same gun. Miller is pushing for a bill that would study whether it would help authorities to have access to a national registry of those unique markings." ... |
MD: Maryland's failure on background checks
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Doug Charette
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"If Maryland's Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is such an effective crime-fighter, why has Maryland failed to perform hundreds of criminal background checks of would-be gun purchasers? It's a question Mrs. Townsend's Republican opponent, Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich, has begun asking in print and television ads � in response to criticism leveled at him by the Townsend camp on the gun-control issue." ... |
The Sniper and the Keystone Cops: Another Case of Why Gun Control is Evil
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Doug Charette
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"The Beltway Snipers� murder spree ended the other night at a rest stop that I frequent on my way home after teaching an MBA economics class in Frederick, Maryland. It is a good thing the killers were asleep and unaware that others at the stop had called the police, because had they escaped, most likely they would still be at large." ... |
MD: Gun-shy biz groups slow to back guv
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Doug Charette
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"Where's the love?"
"Despite a strong pro-business record and the almost unheard-of prospect of winning statewide election as a Republican in heavily Democratic Maryland, gubernatorial candidate Bob Ehrlich has yet to win endorsements from several key business groups. With the race as close as it is, the failure of the business community to line up behind Ehrlich has some people puzzled and could be a key factor come Nov. 5." ... |
"Sniper deaths boost pressure for control"
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Doug Charette
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"The sniper attacks in the region surrounding Capitol Hill have energized attempts to expand the federal ban on assault weapons to prohibit semi-automatic rifles of the kind used to kill 10 people and wound three."
"The arrest of two suspects in the case brought palpable relief to an agonized community. But seizure of a Bushmaster XM-15, which police suspect was used in at least 11 shootings..." |
The Fantasy of Gun Fingerprints
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Doug Charette
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"IN the wake of the D.C. sniper comes a new push for 'ballistic fingerprinting' of firearms, which, we're told, would help police catch future mystery killers."
"Too bad it doesn't work." ... |
Value of armed citizens
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Doug Charette
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"We're going to do a little thought experiment here. So, what I want you to do is read the following paragraph, then close your eyes and picture the scene, and then answer the question that follows. Ready? OK:"
"You are standing on a hilly piece of land in suburban Maryland not far from Washington, looking down at a crowded shopping mall surrounded by snarls of traffic. Through your binoculars, you see a man step out of a white van, pull a rifle with a scope from behind the seat and shoulder the weapon. Standing fifty feet behind him happens to be a civilian who also sees the sniper. The civilian watching the sniper also has something in his hand. Now, here's the question: would you prefer that the object be a cell phone, or that the civilian has a firearm and the ability to use it effectively?" ... |
Gun-Control Crowd Misuses Fear Factor to Distort the Truth
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Doug Charette
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"It perhaps was inevitable that the recent sniper killings in the Washington-area suburbs would be seized upon by advocates of gun control. Like so much in the agenda of the political left, gun-control arguments would collapse like a house of cards if people just stopped to think through what is being said instead of being swept along by emotional rhetoric." ... |
2nd Amendment Supporter Critical of Restraining Orders
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Doug Charette
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"When the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving Second Amendment rights in June, it turned down an opportunity to review the very law that federal authorities used to charge sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad."
"The arrest warrant for Muhammad issued Wednesday by a federal court in Seattle made no mention of the sniper shootings in the Washington, D.C., region." ... |
PA: Sticking to their guns (Pink Pistols)
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Anonymous
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"Some gays and lesbians say a gun is the best defense."
"Matthew Shepard. Brandon Teena. Tyra Hunter. Barry Winchell. Anthony Milano. All were murdered because they were gay."
" 'We're not a bunch of crazies running around with guns. All we want is to be safe,' said Gwen Patton. 'The fact is,' said Maggie Leber, 'there are people out there who don't like gays, don't like what we are and are waiting to hurt us. To take up legal firearms is the most effective means to defend oneself.' " ...
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NJ: Senate race gun ad gets news boost
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Doug Charette
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"As political commercials go, the television ad assailing Republican Douglas Forrester's position on gun control is standard fare for a Democratic campaign in New Jersey."
"Yet it has become one of the most potentially powerful weapons in this election season." ... |
Watch Where You Point That Weapon!
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Doug Charette
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"The other night I was watching television, fixated on the DC area sniper shootings. They were showing footage of the lock down on I-95 after one of the shootings. The footage included a scene of a man who was pulled over in a white van. Just for driving a white van, the man had the pleasure of being forced out of his vehicle by three police officers at gunpoint. The three officers pointed their weapons directly at the man even though he posed no immediate threat to the officers." ... |
Semi-automatic firearms - fact sheet
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Doug Charette
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"The first semi-automatic rifle was patented (1878) by John Browning in the years following the Civil War, about the same time modern photography was being born, before radio and television were invented. Semi-autos were commercially available to the public, through the Sears catalog among other places, at the turn of the last century, and for many decades before the US military ever adopted its first semi-auto rifle, the M-1 Garand in the days preceding WWII." ... |
The Ugly Truth About the Republican Party: The Myth of GOP Conservatism
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Doug Charette
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"As a paleoconservative, I find myself these days looking back at the Clinton Administration with a sort of warm, golden nostalgia. Much has changed since those days...and not for the better.
To anyone with even a basic understanding and respect for the Bill of Rights, the United States, since September 11, 2001, has begun a nightmarish descent. To put it simply, the Bush White House has put the Constitution on the chopping block in ways the Clintons would have never dared to attempt." ... |
Do we need warning labels for lies in the libraries?
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Doug Charette
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"In September 2000, publishing house Alfred A. Knopf handed professional librarians a knotty problem. It published Arming America, a book in which Emory University professor Michael Bellesiles outlined research supposedly showing that guns were rare in America from the Colonial period to the Civil War. The book was awarded Columbia University's Bancroft Prize in history in April 2001, and immediately appeared in library collections around the country." ... |
IL: Illinois Community Gun Safety Seminar Announced
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Doug Charette
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"The second annual Community Gun Safety Seminar sponsored by the Downers Grove Citizens for Responsible Firearms Ownership (DGCFRFO). Representatives will be on hand to discuss topics
ranging from ballistic fingerprinting to hunting and home safety. Light refreshments will be served." ... |
Pentagon Ready to Call Up Record Reserves
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Doug Charette
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"If there is going to be war with Iraq, the Defense Department is ready to call up as many as the 265,000 reservists who served during the Gulf War. But, experts say they will be used quite differently than they were in 1991." ... |
Australia: Doctors reject reporting gun owners
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Doug Charette
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"Doctors and psychiatrists have attacked the Federal Government's proposal to force them to report concerns about the behaviour of gun-owning patients."
"Health professionals said it could prevent people with mental health problems seeking treatment."
"The option is part of a 13-point plan presented by Prime Minister John Howard to crack down on handguns and related crime." ... |
Australia: Gun law support huge
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Doug Charette
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"THERE is overwhelming public support for stricter laws controlling handguns and fewer than two people in 10 oppose them, the latest Newspoll finds."
"Most Australians are in favour of changing handgun laws. File picture. Your vote: Gun control"
"The level of support for stricter handgun laws � 83 per cent in favour, including 71 per cent "strongly in favour" � reflects a similar public mood to that after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996." ...
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Democracy: Two wolves and a sheep voting on what's for dinner. |
IL: 135 one-shot rifles stolen from South Deering boxcar
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Doug Charette
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"A shipment of one-shot rifles � 135 muzzle-loaders in all � was discovered stolen from a railroad boxcar in Chicago's South Deering community."
"The theft from a Norfolk Southern Railroad boxcar in a railyard near 9500 S. Stony Island Avenue was discovered at 4:35 p.m. Friday."
"The rifles were .50 caliber muzzle-loaders shipped in 27 boxes out of Elkhart, Ind., railroad spokesman Rudy Husband said Sunday." ...
"Used for hunting or kept as a collector's piece, a muzzle-loader is classified as a curio � not a firearm � under the federal gun control act, Ahern said. ... "But federal ATF agents assisted Chicago and railroad police with the theft investigation. Ahern said they plan to review today whether the agency has jurisdiction over the case." ... |
Europe: EU Constitution Proposed
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Doug Charette
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"The European Union took a giant step toward becoming a federal body Monday when the man given the task with simplifying the bloc's Byzantine decision-making procedures sketched out plans for an ambitious EU Constitution."
"Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, who heads the 105-member Convention on the Future of Europe, told delegates that a 'Union of European States,' should 'administer certain common competences on a federal basis.' " ... |
Ballistic imagine - fact sheet
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Doug Charette
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"Ballistic imaging technology can be a useful tool in the investigation of crimes committed with firearms. As currently used, forensic experts are able to electronically scan into a database a shell casing(s) recovered from a crime scene to determine if those case(s) match those from other crime scenes. The technology can serve as a starting point in assisting law enforcement in determining if the same firearm was involved in multiple crimes." ... |
SAF Demands Revocation Of Bancroft Award From Discredited Author
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Doug Charette
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"Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) today called upon Columbia University to immediately revoke the Bancroft Prize from author Michael Bellesiles for his discredited book, 'Arming America: The Origins
of a National Gun Culture.' Columbia University has received SAF's revocation request." ... |
Dinwell: Shootings launch gun debate
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Seth M. Vose III
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Boston area Metrowest Daily News columnist Joe Dinwell comments on recent sniper attacks.
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"Ready, aim, fire! Guns, from mighty assault rifles to snug pistols, are Public Enemy Number One this fall." ... |
IL: Blagojevich Supporters Propose Ban On Pheasant Hunting
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Doug Charette
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"The ISRA-PVF issued a warning today to Illinois hunters that the 2002 pheasant-hunting season might just be their last."
"The warning was issued in light of an ongoing effort by the Humane Society of the United States to ban pheasant hunting on federal lands in Massachusetts. It should be noted that the society's political action committee has endorsed Rod Blagojevich in his bid for the Illinois governor's mansion." ... |
Editorial: Registering firearm fingerprints
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Seth M. Vose III
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Boston area Metrowest Daily News editorial comments on ballistic fingerprinting issue.
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"Whether creating a national database of the markings on bullets from new weapons makes sense is still debatable. We know of no cases solved through ballistics fingerprinting in Maryland and New York, the two states that now require it, though the system has helped New York police link hundreds of guns seized in traffic stops to earlier crimes. The cost to taxpayers of such a system is as arguable as its effectiveness, and it could take years before enough 'fingerprints' were in the database to make a difference." ... |
OH: Violent Crime In Ohio Up, Citizens Remain Disarmed
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Ohioans For Concealed Carry
Website: http://www.OhioCCW.org
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Most disturbing are the FBI statistics about forcible rape, up five percent, and aggravated assaults, up ten percent. The largest increase in killings occurred in Cincinnati, where the debate over concealed carry and judicial flip flop declaring the concealed carry illegal one day and legal another has made it clear to those bent on criminal mischief: Cincinnati citizens are disarmed and defenseless under unconstitutional Ohio law. |
Shooting the Messenger: Jon Wiener on Arming America
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Randy Hudson
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"Jon Wiener's recent brief for the defense of Arming America, 'Fire at Will', in the Nation, fits into a larger pattern originally pioneered in this case by the subject of the inquiry himself, Michael Bellesiles. It's called 'Shooting the Messenger,' a tactic invariably employed by politicians who find themselves under indictment for fraud or corruption." ... |
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| QUOTES
TO REMEMBER |
| To trust arms in the hands of the people at large has, in Europe, been believed...to be an experiment fraught only with danger. Here by a long trial it has been proved to be perfectly harmless...If the government be equitable; if it be reasonable in its exactions; if proper attention be paid to the education of children in knowledge and religion, few men will be disposed to use arms, unless for their amusement, and for the defence of themselves and their country. � Timothy Dwight, Travels in New England and New York [London 1823] |
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