Keep and Bear Arms - Gun Owners Home Page

NRA silence gave pass to �pro gun Democrats� who voted for �nuclear option� Submitted by: David Codrea Website: http://www.davidcodrea.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"And now it looks like these Democrats will once again be allowed to escape any political repercussions for supporting a change that clearly poses great legal dangers for gun rights."

OK: Jury Convicts Oklahoma Cop in Death of Unarmed Teen
Submitted by: jac

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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - An Oklahoma police captain has been found guilty of first-degree manslaughter in the death of an unarmed teenager who was running away after a scuffle.

Jurors on Tuesday convicted Capt. Randy Trent Harrison of the Del City Police Department in suburban Oklahoma City in the death of Dane Scott Jr.

Harrison had arrested Scott on drug violations previously. Prosecutors said he became so fixated on the teen that he finally crossed the line, shooting him in the back at a time when he posed no threat.

MI: Analysis: Self-Defense Claim May be Legally Weak in Michigan Porch Shooting
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Earlier this month, a man allegedly shot a woman through the front screen door of his porch when the woman knocked or banged on it after reportedly crashing her car nearby in suburban Detroit, Michigan. The case has since made news headlines.

I�ve been asked repeatedly to comment on the purported self-defense shooting by Theodore Wafer of Renisha McBride in Michigan, and now that the factual situation appears to have stabilized a bit it seems suitable fare for the Thanksgiving weekend.

OH: Ohio House OKs self-defense bill similar to 'Stand Your Ground' laws
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The Ohio House moved legislation Nov. 20 that provides some legal protection for residents defending themselves during violent attacks -- over objections from black lawmakers and others concerned about the state adopting its own version of controversial "Stand Your Ground" laws.

House Bill 203 passed on a vote of 62-27 and heads to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.

Proponents said the changes are needed to fix issues in Ohio's concealed carry laws and to protect the people of the state.

Law Prof. David Kopel: �Bans on switchblades, gravity knives, butterfly knives are unconstitutional�
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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While we often think about the Second Amendment in terms of its relationship to firearms, the truth is it covers all arms, including of course knives.

I was reminded of this fact while reading a Volokh Conspiracy blogpost written by Second Amendment expert David Kopel, who was touting Knives and the Second Amendment, a scholarly article on that very subject recently published in the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform.

Co-authored by two other luminaries, Clayton Cramer and Joseph Olson, the article makes the following arguments:

CO: Judge decides Colorado sheriffs can't sue state over new gun magazine limits
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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In her ruling, Krieger said sheriffs can still choose to join the suit in an individual capacity, and they'll have 14 days to make that decision. But they cannot, as a group, sue the state in their official capacities.

"If individual sheriffs wish to protect individual rights or interests they may do so ... however, the sheriffs have confused their individual rights and interests with those of the county sheriff's office," Krieger said.

The remaining plaintiffs include individuals and various gun groups.

TX: Open-carry advocates see hope in Abbott proposal
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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For years, supporters of open-carry gun laws have pleaded with lawmakers to allow Texans to bear their arms openly in public. With the front-running Republican gubernatorial candidate proposing open carry laws, many supporters believe the time has finally arrived for legislators to approve such a measure.

�I think open carry will be the Second Amendment issue this next session, and I do think that we can pass it because the support is just tremendous,� said state Rep. George Lavender, R-Texarkana, who introduced open-carry legislation that failed earlier this year.

Second Amendment Foundation Launches �Oppose Obama Gun Care� Campaign
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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�With a track record like Barack Obama has on health care, we don�t want the president getting involved in gun care or firearms safety.�
That�s the message being sent today by the Second Amendment Foundation. SAF has launched a satirical website � ObamaGunCare.com � to bring attention to a serious concern within the firearms community.

SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb has paraphrased the president�s own words about his so-called �Affordable Health Care Act� � which have proven to be to false - to underscore the genuine mistrust firearms owners have toward the administration.

CO: Nation�s Largest Teachers� Union Funds Ads Accusing 2nd Amendment Supporters of Being Pedophiles Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
The NEA, the nation�s largest teachers� union, is really staying classy in the Colorado recall battles pitting supporters of the Second Amendment against their elected officials. In a desperate effort to convince Coloradans not to sign any more recall petitions, the Democracy Defense Fund distributed these door hangers accusing the petition collectors of being criminals and pedophiles.

CO: The Gun-Control Movement�s Thug Tactics in Colorado
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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In Colorado, efforts to recall a third anti-gun politician ended this morning with the news that Senator Evie Hudak, who represents the communities of Arvada and Westminster, will resign. Hudak apparently decided that the election, which if lost could have flipped control of the state�s senate, was not worth the risk.

Hudak is one of many who backed Colorado�s hated new gun restrictions, but she is especially disliked among Second Amendment advocates for having callously dismissed the testimony of a rape survivor during a legislative hearing. The full details of that event � and the wider debate around women and firearms � are here.

TX: Gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott to bring open carry to Texas? Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Is open carry finally coming to Texas? Maybe, if GOP gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott becomes the next governor of the Lone Star State. In his �We the People� policy plan released earlier this month, State Attorney Abbott who unequivocally embraced allowing law-abiding citizens to openly carry firearms in public.

CO: Third CO State Senator Out Over Gun Restrictions
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Colorado State Senator Evie Hudak (D-Moron), who should never have been elected in the first place (more on that in a moment), this morning announced her resignation.

Hudak was facing a recall election due to her deplorable behavior during the Democratic rampage against Coloradoans' Second Amendment rights, not least her lying about gun statistics to a rape victim who was pleading with the senate not to disarm her. Even the liberal Denver Post excoriated Hudak for her callous misrepresentations.

CO: Hudak resigns as recall petition deadline nears Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Rather than face a potential recall election, Evie Hudak instead has chosen to resign from her Senate seat � a move that will enable the Democrats to maintain control of the Legislature's upper chamber. Hudak's resignation is effective immediately, according to a letter that she submitted to the Secretary of the Senate on Nov. 27.

Knives and the Second Amendment Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
The first detailed scholarly analysis of knives and the Second Amendment has been published in the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform (vol. 47, pages 167-215). Authored by noted Second Amendment scholars David Kopel, Clayton Cramer and Joe Olson, the paper makes the case for knives as �arms� protected by the Second Amendment, supporting one of Knife Rights� foundational tenets.

CO: Senator quits to avoid recall over gun control
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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A Colorado lawmaker targeted for recall because of her support for a White House-driven anti-gun agenda in the state legislature has quit rather than wait for the results of a recall vote, after two of her colleagues were voted out of office.

For state Sen. Evie Hudak, D-Westminster, the previous recalls of two Democrats left her party with only an 18-17 advantage in the chamber. A successful recall against Hudak would have shifted the majority to the Republican Party.

...

State law allows the Democratic Party vacancy committee to appoint a replacement to fill her seat until 2014.

CO: Colorado federal judge dismisses part of gun control lawsuit
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Krieger dismissed the claim that the state legal language dealing with readily converted gun magazines � those with removable base plates, allowing for additional rounds to be added via an extender � is "unconstitutionally vague."

Krieger said that Technical Guidance letters issued by the state Attorney General's Office after the magazine-limit law passed, outlining the interpretation of the "designed to be readily converted" component of the mag-ban measure, sufficiently addressed that issue.

In the finding, Krieger wrote that magazines with removable base plates � which most possess � "are not considered to be 'designed to be readily converted' into large-capacity magazines for purposes of enforcement of the statute."

The NRA Encourages Its Members To Lie To Their Families At Thanksgiving Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
This year several ideological groups and news outlets are trying to prep their readers for the inevitable political conversation around the Thanksgiving dinner table. But the National Rifle Association is taking a new tact -- it wants you to lie to your family members about gun violence.

TX: "Firearms homicides are down about 40 percent" since Texas passed concealed-gun permit law
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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An online campaign video from Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, one of the Republican hopefuls in the 2014 lieutenant governor race, touts his record on defending Second Amendment rights.

"I stood alone in passing the Texas concealed-handgun law over the doomsday predictions of blood in the streets, �Wild Wild West� and shootouts at every four-way stop," Patterson says, "and of course none of that happened. Matter of fact, firearms homicides are down about 40 percent."

WA: Seattle officials promote �Lok-it-up� safe storage program, discounts on gun locks Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
It also appears that gun rights advocates do not have a problem with the campaign either. �It�s voluntary, so it�s perfectly fine with us,� said Alan Gottlieb, of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, although he expressed some concern for not receiving a heads up about the campaign before its launch.

MN: Recommendation to extend Capitol gun ban is defeated with tie vote Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
The safety of the State Capitol�s staffers and visitors weighed against the freedom of the state�s nearly 160,000 gun permit holders Tuesday in a vigorous debate that effectively killed a proposal to extend a weapons ban on the Capitol grounds.

The New Gun Control Agenda: Give up your guns because we will keep you safe
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Somewhere between screaming for gun control and then being called out for actually wanting gun confiscation, the anti-gunners decided to change the phrase �gun control� to �gun safety.� I wonder why they would do that. I mean, whether you call it 2G, 4G, or 9G, you�re still screwing me with the same slow ass Internet speeds, the same way anti-gunners are trying to force feed us the �gun safety� placebo.

CO: Sen. Evie Hudak quits Colo. Senate rather than face recall
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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What she did not say was that she is also protecting, at least for the time being, the Democrat majority in the Senate. They hold a paper-thin one-vote margin that was almost sure to go the other way if an election had been held. Two of Hudak�s colleagues, Sens. John Morse of Colorado Springs and Angela Giron of Pueblo were thrown out of office in September and replaced by Republicans. Morse was the Senate President.

Gun Control Hurts People
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The most conservative studies suggest that, at a minimum, for every crime with a gun, someone uses a gun to defend themselves or others from violent assault. Other reputable studies place defensive firearm use much higher, more than five times more frequent than offensive use � up to 2.5 million defensive uses per year. Usually defenders don�t have to shoot; just showing the gun is enough to stop the attack. These events often go unreported.