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SAF Applauds New Kates-Mauser Report on Firearms and Crime
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"The Second Amendment Foundation today said a new report by criminologists Prof. Don Kates of the United States and Prof. Gary Mauser of Canada that shows the rate of firearms ownership is irrelevant to the homicide and violent crime rate should be required reading, especially for reporters, editorial writers and elected representatives."
"Appearing in the current issue of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy (pages 649-694), the Kates/Mauser report entitled 'Would Banning Firearms Reduce Murder and Suicide? A Review of International Evidence' is a detailed look at gun ownership and how it does not relate to the incidence of murder and violence. They conclude that 'nations with very stringent anti-gun laws generally have substantially higher murder rates than those which allow guns.'" ... |
NRA Might Agree to Stronger Background Checks? (GunGuys)
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"Finally today, here's the most interesting thing we've heard yet about the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shooting� while the NRA has been officially silent ... rumors are spreading that they've been talking ... with Democrats about stronger gun laws." ...
"We're all for stronger background checks ... but if this proposed law doesn't actually have an effect on how gun dealers process these purchases, it's worthless. The federal background check system can be completely comprehensive, but if we don't change the way gun dealers do business (including requiring background checks even on private gun sales), we aren't going to see a change elsewhere." ...
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Submitter's Note: So even if the NRA does sell us out, the anti-gunners will still want more. |
Your Gun Rights Could Soon Hang In The Balance -- VA Tech shootings now spurring the most far-reaching gun control in a decade (GOA)
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"The biggest gun battle of the year is about to erupt on Capitol Hill. Fueled by the recent Virginia Tech shootings, an odd coalition is forming to help expand the number of honest people who now won't be able to buy a gun."
"The legislation has been introduced by none other than the Queen of Gun Control herself, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY). But she has picked up a key ally, as the bill (HR 297) is being pushed by a powerful gun group in Washington, DC."
"On Friday, The Washington Post reported on the strange coalition. ... 'the National Rifle Association has begun negotiations with senior Democrats over legislation to bolster the national background-check system.'" ... |
Between gun lovers and targets
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"Knives also cut bread and carve wood and aid surgery, but guns only shoot bullets. That's what they are designed to do, and that's what they do."
"When we talk about protecting our right to have guns, we are talking about protecting our right to shoot bullets. So what is it that's so important to shoot at?" ...
"... Guns are good because they provide the ultimate self-defense? While I'm sure some people believe that having a gun at their bedside will make them safer, they are wrong. This is not my opinion, and it's not a political or controversial statement. It is a fact. Guns kept in the home for self-protection are 43 times more likely to kill a family member, friend or acquaintance than to kill an intruder ..." ... |
Dr. Lott: Bans don't deter killers: Look what happened at Columbine and Virginia Tech, both 'gun-free zones'
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"People are beginning to notice what research has shown for years: Multiple-victim public shootings keep occurring in places where guns are already banned. Forty states have broad right-to-carry laws, but even within these states it is the 'gun-free zones,' not other public places, where the attacks happen. It is high time that legislatures remove these roadblocks to people protecting themselves, including at public universities."
"Whether it is Virginia Tech or other deadly attacks � Columbine High School, where 13 were shot dead ... Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, where 23 were fatally shot ... or a McDonald's in Southern California, where 21 people were shot dead ... they happened in gun-free zones ..." ... |
NE: Jury: Stella man not guilty [in self-defense shooting]
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"Richardson County District Court jurors found Dennis L. Lockard not guilty of second-degree murder Saturday morning in the Aug. 18 death of James Nutile, 32, of Humboldt." ...
"What was not disputed was that Nutile was partying with friends outside a house on Main Street in Stella while Lockard was visiting his parents next door. Nutile got in a fight with one of his friends, and Lockard tried to break it up by firing a warning shot with a .40-caliber handgun."
"After the warning shot, Nutile rushed Lockard and knocked him down. Lockard fired two more shots from the gun, both of which struck Nutile in the chest." ... |
CA: Pizza parlor owner fatally shoots suspect, wounds son
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"The owner of an East Oakland pizza parlor shot and killed a robbery suspect - and accidentally shot his own son as well -- when three men tried to rob them at gunpoint, police said today."
"Three men entered Coliseum Pizza ... and demanded money, police said. The owner of the restaurant pulled out a weapon and opened fire, hitting one of the assailants ..." ...
"'There is definitely a balance,' [Alameda County prosecutor] Holmgren said. '... But by no stretch of the imagination are we agreeing with or justifying what the owner did.'"
"Holmgren said, 'We're not saying that we want citizens to go out there and arm themselves and take the law into their own hands. We want citizens to be good witnesses, to be good report-takers and to identify suspects.'" [emphasis added] ... |
OH: Robber, 15, fatally shot by would-be victim
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FULL TEXT BELOW:
A 25-year-old Cleveland man shot and killed Arthur C. Buford, 15, after the boy tried to rob him, police said. Buford was shot in the chest at 8:30 p.m. Saturday and taken to MetroHealth Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later, according to Cleveland police spokesman Thomas Stacho.
Buford and an accomplice reportedly robbed a man at gunpoint on the porch of his house near East 134th Street and Kinsman Road. Stacho said the robbery victim had just walked home from a nearby store. Stacho said the robbery victim, whose name was withheld, told police he pulled his own gun and shot the teenager, who staggered away and collapsed in the street. The accomplice banged on neighbors' doors for help before fleeing, Stacho said. |
Gun-Free-School-Fraud Costs Lives Again (BFA)
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"Another armed murderer has used the so-called Gun-Free-School-Zones law to simply walk onto school grounds and with impunity begin killing innocent children."
"These dangerous criminals rely on the fact that no one on campus will be able to offer resistance. Congress passed the law in 1990 and renewed it in 1995 after the famous 'Lopez' case declared it unconstitutional. Though it cannot stop murderers it has enabled many, experts say. States and schools themselves have copied the law locally for a false sense of security with disastrous effect." ... |
Quiet No Longer (BFA)
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"Over the last 12 years gun-control was the equivalent of a political black hole with Congress firmly in the grasp of the GOP. Now, as Democrats control our nation's legislative bodies, the quiet enjoyed by pro-gun activists on the gun-control front will surely come to an end."
"Although not heavily covered by the establishment media, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and her cohorts in the anti-gun movement have already renewed their drive to protect criminals by disarming law-abiding Americans."
"Everywhere, pro-gun groups are prepping their members for what is sure to become an issue in the 2008 presidential election. The fight could last much longer if a Democrat ... or even some of the Republican front runners wins the presidency." ... |
Guns and politics, together again (BFA)
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"The immediate reason for the decline of gun control as a political issue is the political power of the National Rifle Association, the world's oldest and largest civil liberties organization. Since 1980, the Republican nominee for President has won the general election whenever, and only if, he is endorsed by the NRA."
"In December 1994, President Clinton told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, 'The NRA is the reason the Republicans control the House.' For every 10,000 NRA members in a House district, NRA support can augment a candidate's vote percentage by as much as 5 percent. If not for the NRA's influence in several swing states, Al Gore and John Kerry would have become President." ... |
OH: Cleveland homicides - criminals killing criminals (BFA)
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"A recent article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that most homicide victims in Cleveland are criminals."
"From the article:"
"Most of the victims of homicide in Cleveland look a lot like their killers."
"They are criminals being killed by other criminals. The incidents almost always involve black men killing a man of the same race."
"The deadliest areas are those stricken with poverty and fatherless households. Homicides here are about three times the national average."
"This is something that gun owners, and other people with common sense, have been saying for years. The private ownership of firearms does not cause crime ..." ... |
OH: The most neglected part of self-defense training (BFA)
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"Most self-defense advocates take training very seriously. We cover mindset, awareness, equipment, ammunition and scenarios in most any training. However, there is one component of concealed carry training that is completely ignored by most schools. This is unfortunate, as this one component is the one that is statistically most likely to result in the arrest of a concealed carry license holder." ... |
OH: VT massacre: OH Gov. says state gun laws sound; Sheriff calls for armed teachers (BFA)
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"The Dayton Daily News is reporting that while Governor Ted Strickland (D) believes dangerous mentally disturbed people should not have access to guns, he does not believe the Virginia Tech case means Ohio's gun [control] laws need strengthened."
"Gov. Strickland ... says the massacre raises troubling questions about how mental illness is addressed, telling the DDN that not everyone with mental issues is dangerous." ...
"Elsewhere in the state, the Virginia Tech massacre has prompted one of Ohio's 88 sheriffs ... to write a letter to Gov. Ted Strickland and state Rep. Courtney Combs suggesting that armed officers should be required at all Ohio schools and colleges, public and private." ... |
OH: Northwest Ohio newspaper shows up Pulitzer-winning Plain Dealer on gun coverage (BFA)
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"On Wednesday, April 18, the Cleveland Plain Dealer published an article entitled 'In Ohio its really easy to buy a gun.' It was immediately apparent that the writer ... relied on incorrect information from the Brady Campaign." ...
"After contacting the author of the story and publishing a rebuttal on this website that same day, Buckeye Firearms Association issued a press release to caution other Ohio journalists to avoid trusting the Brady bunch�s 'report cards', which are chocked with information that is just plain false in many cases, severely misleading in others."
"Two days after the Plain Dealer's Brady drivel rewrite, the Defiance Crescent published a story entitled 'Purchasing a gun is not that easy in Ohio' ..." ... |
IL: Anti-gun vultures descend (letter)
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"As expected, the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech has brought the anti-gun people out of the woodwork in droves. Like vultures, they descend upon the victims of this tragedy and add insult to injury by proclaiming that stricter gun-control laws could have prevented this incident. Hogwash. Common sense tells us, and history has proved, that 'crooks and crazies' always will be able to get guns, either by stealing them or obtaining them through underworld sources."
"Gun-control laws affect only honest citizens, who are not the problem. Such laws only deprive people of the best means of self-defense available, and serve to embolden criminals who are thus assured that their victims are unarmed." ... |
Joe and Tom: Gun control
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"Left's arguments are specious" ...
"I agree the VT shootings were 'sheer insanity,' but guns were not the cause; 'sheer insanity' was actually the cause. If only one student or professor had been allowed to carry a weapon the number of lives taken might have been greatly reduced. Instead, the university made a policy decision not to allow firearms on campus." ...
"Stop the insanity of guns"
"Our Constitution's Second Amendment forbids the government from infringing on a citizen's right to 'bear arms.' I'm generally OK with that. But what no longer makes any sense is how perverted the 'right' has become, because today itcauses far more death, destruction, anguish and cost than we ever bargained for." ... |
Gun Free Zones: A Mass Murderer�s Dream Come True
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"My heart is sick. I feel so sorry for those that were murdered, as well as the parents and loved ones of the slain students and professors�and all of us here at ClashRadio.com pray for those whose lives were just senselessly shattered."
"But imagine if at least one Virginia Tech student (with a concealed weapons permit) had his .40 caliber Glock with him, locked and loaded, when this little Charlie Chan chump began his murderous mayhem last Monday on the Hokie campus? What would have happened differently?"
"Would idiot boy have been able to slay 32 students and professors? I doubt it. But then again . . . who knows?" ... |
New Gun-Control Victims
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Bruce W. Krafft
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"You can be sure the mass murder at Virginia Tech will resurrect the dreary old gun-control debate even though Democrats, having been singed in two presidential elections, are more gun-control shy than they used to be."
"Let me list some of the ways the gun-control crowd is wrong. First and foremost, it fears and distrusts the people. What the gun-control crowd is saying to you is that even though we've never met, I don't trust you to own a firearm. I'd like to prevent it, but if I can't do that, I want to make it as difficult and as expensive as possible."
"Thomas Jefferson observed ... people always fall into one of two groups. One fears and distrusts the people; the other loves and cherishes the people. ..." ... |
Looser Gun Laws May Save Lives
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"I want to tell you the story of Chris Cope."
"Cope was working as a manager in a financial services office ... He was alarmed to see ... one man chasing another across the lot ... brandishing a bloody kitchen knife over his head ..." ...
"Cope saw all this and what he did next is notable, especially in this age of declining personal responsibility and common sense. Cope retrieved his gun, a 9mm pistol, from the glove box of his pickup truck, and used it to subdue Ingram, disarm him and save the life of his intended ninth victim. 'He saw my gun and that was pretty much it,' Cope (who kept Ingram subdued until police arrived) told the Associated Press." ... |
Why the Left hates Self-Defense
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... "Ah, here lays the ugly truth about the left my friends, they hate self-defense, and guns, more than any other tool, are used by Americans to defend themselves. Why, though, do those on the left despise self-defense? They are collectivists, and Socialists. They believe that people should think, and act, collectively, not individually. They also deeply believe in collective self-defense. The government should be responsible for your protection, not you. Listen to all the left�s talking points concerning guns and self-defense. They never talk about Americans who use guns in self-defense. Rather, they paint armed Americans as morons, or trigger happy rednecks. ..." ... |
Second Amendment right essential in times like these
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"Some suggest that protection is best left to professionals: The police, the military and the 'government.' The police are not always where they are needed, and their response time isn't always on-the-spot. Even when they do arrive, they are often in the retaliatory and not the prevention business."
"Criminals know that in gun-free zones, they will encounter no resistance, and can wantonly commit crimes, including murder at will."
"The problem is that gun bans disarm only citizens who obey the law while leaving criminals free to prey on the populace. A gun makes the most petite woman the equal of the largest thug, the oldest most venerable professor with the most callous killer-student." ... |
The Second Amendment or something more?
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Bruce W. Krafft
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"It never fails. What better event than a massacre to bring on debate over the Second Amendment? The gun hasn't even cooled from being fired and people from both sides of the ring have put on their boxing gloves and began to duke it out. ..." ...
"There are typically three kinds of people when it comes to the infamous gun debate: those who want all guns confiscated, melted down and banned; those who want so much control that the law-abiding have no chance of getting them; and those who are happy with the status quo, but wouldn't mind a few tweaks here and there. These three types of people need to base their reasons on reality and logic, not on the way things should be or the way they want them to be. That won't get us anywhere." ...
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Submitter's Note: If by "a few tweaks here and there" Kasey means 'repealing every single law and regulation restricting or limiting the manufacture, purchase or possession of firearms', I have to agree. |
Not time for revisiting Second Amendment
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..."But almost immediately after the [VA Tech] shooting, talking heads on TV began the knee-jerk reaction process of addressing underlying conditions and causes of the completely senseless murders of more than 30 people."
"And, of course, one issue they grabbed hold of was gun control. But let�s take a look at what gun control did in this situation." ...
"What I�m trying to say here is that we have a system of gun control in place, one that in my opinion violates the Second Amendment, and it doesn't work."
"If a law abiding citizen like me can be denied a purchase and a psychotic man can get one, there�s something completely wrong with the system." ... |
In Cho's case, a collision of basic rights
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"This is about mass murder and the U.S. Constitution. The massacre at Virginia Tech may prompt an attitude adjustment toward two parts of this great document � not only the Second Amendment covering the right to bear arms, but the First Amendment protecting freedom of speech."
"America is a land of gaping social cracks. The cults of anonymity and open expression make it easy for the homicidal to walk among us unmolested. Cho Seung-Hui, Virginia Tech's mad killer, was one such individual."
"I won't spend much time here on the gun-control debate. Before the latest carnage, history's worst school shooting was in Germany, where gun laws are very strict, and before that in Scotland, same story." [emphasis added] ... |
Gun Control Wouldn't Prevent Shootings
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"Most Americans don't believe that stricter U.S. gun control policies would help prevent tragedies such as last week's shootings at Virginia Tech. A new MSN-Zogby poll shows that while 59% don't think stricter gun control policies would help, 36% believe they could make a difference by helping to prevent future shootings."
"More than 69% felt the Virginia Tech shootings were the actions of a deranged man determined to inflict mayhem and could not have been prevented. Only 16% believe stricter controls of guns and ammunition would have prevented the tragedy." ...
"Even if more people were allowed to carry guns for protection, 54% of Americans don't believe it would help prevent tragedies ... But overall, 38% believe more armed Americans could prevent future tragedies." ... |
Gun Control Kills
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"In light of the tragedy at Virginia Tech last week, it might come as a shock to some people that many of their fellow citizens are calling for more guns in the hands of college students. Only this time, they want them in the hands of the law abiding folks who go out of their way to study and practice safe and responsible firearms use before picking up their license to carry a gun and their God-given right to self defense." ... |
American people tell politicians to cool it on firearm controls, notes United States gun law expert
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New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
Website: http://www.nysrpa.org
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"Public opinion polls following the Virginia Tech massacre last week should caution politicians about toughening firearm controls for law-abiding citizens."
"Hopefully, this message will strike home with politicians now facing ill-advised attempts to use the tragedy as an excuse for promoting additional anti-gun owner legislation at the federal level."
"Although a duo of New York gun grabbers, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, claimed over the weekend there was support for more gun controls, recent polling data hardly supports them."
"A FOX News poll last week found that only 19 percent of Americans believe tougher gun laws can help stop shootings like the one at Virginia Tech. A 71 percent majority disagrees." ... |
Safety should trump the abstract right to own guns
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..."Given the fact that Britain has not posed a threat to our nation almost 200 years, and that the threat of foreign invasion in general is quite slim, does the second amendment really apply the way in which it was originally intended, especially since the muskets and firearms in the 18th-century were not as accessible, portable, or lethal as artillery used today?"
"Though Americans are divided over the extent to which a citizen should have the right to arm himself we can learn from the recent gun-related tragedies, such as the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, the Washington sniper shootings in 2002, and last week's Virginia Polytechnic Institute shootings, what happens when individuals arm themselves. ..." ... |
U.S. Support for Gun Control Rises
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New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
Website: http://www.nysrpa.org
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"This week's shooting rampage at Virginia Tech is focusing new attention on Americans' relationship with guns."
"Internationally, critics have decried America�s 'gun culture,' and gun-control advocates are trying to seize the momentum. Supporters of gun rights have pointed to the dangers of abridging the constitutional right to bear arms."
"But quietly, American attitudes toward firearms have shifted. Gun ownership is at the lowest level in three decades, and support for the regulation of firearms, which has always been high, has reached a new peak, according to one new poll." ... |
Massacre also example of violence at workplace
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Bruce W. Krafft
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"The Virginia Tech massacre ruled the news last week. Many people, including myself, were stunned at the horrific mix of violence and innocence."
"One detail that seems to have been overlooked in reporting the event is that not only did the killings take place in a school of learning, but also a workplace."
"As administrators and teachers came to the campus that day to begin their workday, little did they know that a mentally unstable student armed to the hilt was ready to strike." ...
"Reaction by the Florida House this past week was swift and decisive when discussion on a bill that would have forced businesses to allow employees to keep guns locked in their cars in company parking lots came up." ... |
Debra West: After the smoke clears, it's still about the guns
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New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
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"The cell phone images recorded by Virginia Tech graduate student Jamal Albarghoutis and replayed on television all day Monday, as the scope of the tragedy at the school unfolded, were jumpy and hard to make out. The video's sound track, however, was clear. One by one the gunshots from inside Norris Hall rang out: ordered, methodical, efficient."
"There is no mistaking that awful sound. There has been, and will be, plenty of second-guessing on other aspects of the tragedy." ...
"But while these questions are scrutinized and discussed, the most direct cause of the 33 deaths at Virginia Tech this week - lax gun-control laws that made it easy for Cho Seung-Hui to buy his weapons - are likely to go unchallenged." ... |
Tougher Gun Laws Could Have Prevented Virginia Tech Tragedy (Coalition to Stop Gun Violence)
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New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
Website: http://www.nysrpa.org
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"As details continue to emerge about Cho Seung-Hui, the shooter who took 33 lives including his own in a shooting at the Virginia Tech campus on April 16, it is clear that there were numerous, documented warning signs that indicated he was a danger to both himself and others around him. Nonetheless, Cho was able to purchase a handgun on two separate occasions in Virginia in 2007, passing a computerized background check each time."
"'What is clear in this case,' said Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Executive Director Josh Horwitz, 'is that even a rudimentary screening process could have revealed that this young man was a ticking time bomb. Put simply, Cho Seung-Hui never should have been able to purchase a handgun or any other firearm.'" ...
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KABA Note: Just as the rigorous checks required in Great Britain should have revealed that Thomas Hamilton and Michael Robert Ryan were both "ticking time bomb[s]". |
Relaxed gun laws won't prevent violent crimes
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"Daniel Martinez must be very ignorant to believe that freedom to carry guns on campus will somehow protect students, rather than endanger their lives. If we are allowed to carry guns to campus, the mayhem that occurred at Virginia Tech on April 16 would have been far worse. How does a professor teach a class knowing that his students carry loaded weapons to the classroom? Is it possible to give an F to a student with a loaded gun? Will the financial aid officers sit behind bulletproof glass?" ...
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Submitter's Note: Wild West! Shootoouts over parking spots! Fender-bender gunplay! Road-rage shootings! All these and more are the Chicken Little predictions of the hoplophobes and none of them have come true. |
Gun Country
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Bruce W. Krafft
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"You can imagine lots of countries where a candidate for the presidency might lie about owning a gun so as not to alienate the voters, but only in the United States would he lie and say he does own a gun when he doesn't. That was Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney�s sin earlier this year � and he compounded it by claiming that he was a lifelong hunter. ..."
"The notion that the voters might punish a candidate for not owning a gun would seem simply bizarre in most jurisdictions, but it is a serious political reality in the United States. That�s why hardly anybody in the US is using the latest mass slaughter by some enraged loser (33 dead at Virginia Tech) to argue for more gun control. ..." ... |
Giuliani soft-pedals own positions
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Bruce W. Krafft
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... "Giuliani tries to finesse the [gun] issue. When I asked him about it, he talked about his respect for the Second Amendment and for 'reasonable' restrictions on guns. And then he says about Virginia Tech that laws may not have been followed and that 'there were other laws that made it a gun-free zone, even for adults. All of that has to be looked at.'"
"This is the same Giuliani who has said that getting rid of guns in New York is what helped cut the crime rate, whose administration sued gun companies for negligence, who has blasted states (like Virginia) for lax gun laws, who has said 'anyone wanting to own a gun should have to pass a written exam ..." He's the man who stood with Bill Clinton when he signed the Brady Bill." ... |
McCarthy gun bill gaining ground
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Bruce W. Krafft
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"The Virginia Tech shooter's ability to buy handguns despite a judge's ruling that he had mental illness is giving new impetus to a stalled House bill to improve state reporting of ineligible gun buyers to the national background check system." ...
"McCarthy and gun-control advocates say they believe Seung-Hui Cho should not have passed the FBI's national background check for buying guns because a Virginia judge in 2005 found him mentally ill and ordered him treated."
"McCarthy said Virginia should have reported that court order and treatment, but it didn't because of its interpretation of the law. McCarthy said her bill would let fewer ineligible buyers slip through the cracks." ... |
Legislative Push on Guns Raises Privacy Concerns
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New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
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"An effort in Congress to enhance federal gun background checks is raising concerns among leaders in the mental health community, who worry that a legislative push could unfairly target the mentally ill and deter troubled people from seeking treatment."
"The officials also cited concerns about protecting the confidentiality of patient records and questioned the wording of the current federal law, which they said was outdated and even pejorative. 'The focus on the mentally ill is a distraction from the issues surrounding gun control,' a past president of the American Psychiatric Association, Paul Applebaum, said." ... |
McCarthy Pushes Legislation to Improve Criminal Background Checks
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New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
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"Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) today called on the U.S. House of Representatives to pass H.R. 297, the NICS Improvement Act. The bill would make improvements to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), the database used to check potential firearms buyers for any criminal record or history of mental illness."
"'Since its inception in 1994, NICS has been a success,' said McCarthy, alluding to the more than 700,000 individuals denied a gun for failing a criminal background check. 'But, the system is only as good as the information states provide.'" ...
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KABA Note: What the article fails to mention is that the vast majority of those 700,000 denials were erroneous. |
VA: Va. governor says he may close loophole that armed Tech shooter
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"Virginia's governor said Tuesday he may be able to close the loophole that allowed a mentally disturbed Virginia Tech student to acquire the guns he used to kill 32 classmates and faculty last week."
"Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said in a radio interview that it might be possible to use an executive order to make changes in how courts report to a background check database when someone is found to have mental problems." ...
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Submitter's Note: How about closing the 'loophole' that disarmed Mr. Cho's victims? |
PA: Gun supporters denounce state lawmaker at rally
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"Gun supporters at a Capitol rally today waved a sign saying a state legislator who proposed a contentious gun control bill should be 'hung from the tree of liberty for treasonous acts against the Constitution.'"
"The sign denounced Rep. Angel Cruz, a Philadelphia Democrat who sponsored House Bill 760, which would charge gun owners $10 for each weapon they own and allow state police to confiscate guns that aren't registered. The legislation, which would require people to annually register weapons, is pending in the House Judiciary Committee." ... |
NJ: Prosecutors cheer mayors pushing for info on guns
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"The County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey is backing Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy and a coalition of 214 mayors in their call for repeal of a law that restricts law enforcement access to federal gun trace data." ...
"The Tiahrt Amendment restricts the [BATFE] from sharing data about the origin of illegal guns. ..."
"... Jersey City Police Chief Tom Comey said the law also prohibits local police departments from sharing the data with one another."
"In fact, according to the ATF, the amendment blocks the agency from providing one jurisdiction with information from another jurisdiction but those local law enforcement agencies can share the information with each other." ... |
MO: Missouri latest state to bar police from taking guns
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"In the chaos after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, police confiscated guns from some people and removed them from homes, hundreds in all."
That action spurred gun-rights groups - led by the National Rifle Association - to embark on a nationwide campaign to keep the situation from happening again."
"It appears to be working. Missouri recently joined 12 other states in passing a law in the past two years to prevent government from taking people's weapons during an emergency, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The first was Louisiana. Another dozen are considering the idea, and similar efforts are under way at the federal level." ... |
NJ: Prosecutor: Police Chief, Wife Steal Thousands From Charity
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FULL TEXT BELOW:
A South Jersey police chief and his wife were arrested for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from a charity.
Prosecutors said a company owned by Frank and Bernice Winters received $150,000 from Mothers Against Drunk Driving to produce promotional items.
The work was never done, MADD officials said.
Winters is the chief of police in Clayton.
Community members NBC 10 spoke to were stunned by his arrest.
The Winters are both former chairmen of the New Jersey state chapter of MADD.
Frank Winters is also a councilman in Newfield. |
AZ: U.S. border cop charged with murdering migrant
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"A U.S. Border Patrol agent was charged with murder on Monday for shooting dead a Mexican immigrant last January in a case that prompted condemnation and increased tensions with Mexico."
"The Cochise County Attorney's office filed four charges including first-degree murder against agent Nicholas Corbett." ...
"The Border Patrol had said that Corbett shot the immigrant in self defence after he had been threatened with a rock."
"Cochise County Attorney Ed Rheinheimer said physical and other evidence corroborated statements by three witnesses that suggested there was no imminent danger to the agent�s life." |
VA: Legal loophole gives mentally ill access to guns
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"When a judge deemed Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho a danger to himself due to mental illness in 2005, that ruling should have disqualified him from buying a handgun under federal law."
"It didn't." ...
"Under federal law, anyone who has been judged to be a danger to himself or others because of mental illness, as Cho was, should be prohibited from buying a gun. ..." ...
"But, in Cho's case, his mental status never went in the system."
"That's because the federal government relied on Virginia to provide the information, and Virginia law disqualifies a person from buying firearms only if they have been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital." ... |
FL: College shooting hasn't triggered rush for guns
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NOTE:
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"Most Treasure Coast gun dealers surveyed Tuesday said they haven't seen an increase in firearm purchases following the Virginia Tech killings."
"They say the carnage at Blacksburg is not the kind of event that causes the masses to go buy guns."
"'Catastrophes. You know, when they see looting on the TV, like in New Orleans,' said Jay Valderrama of Guns, ETC in Stuart. 'That was a typical example.'"
"Valderrama said that with a case like Virginia Tech the problem is not criminals but the mentally challenged." ... |
PA: Packing heat in plain view
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"The security guards at Park City mall don't carry guns, but Patrick Miller packs heat on his hip in plain view when he strolls amid the shoppers with his family."
"Miller ... has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, but he has worn his loaded semi-automatic 9 mm handgun in the open to dozens of restaurants, sporting events, his church, movies � almost everywhere he goes in his leisure time."
"Most people who even notice the gun on his waist assume he's a law enforcement officer."
"Most don't know � and many likely will be shocked � to learn that any law-abiding citizen over the age of 18 in Lancaster County can wear a loaded firearm in public."
"No permits are required � you only need one if you plan on concealing your gun." ... |
CA: Move the gun shows
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"Dear Solano County Fair Officers and Board of Directors:"
"I am writing you in regards to something that has bothered me for quite some time. In light of recent events I can hold back no longer. I am speaking about the use of the fairgrounds here in Vallejo for gun shows. Considering the magnitude of the problems regarding gun violence in Vallejo it makes no sense to host such shows in our community."
"Gun shows of the past catered to outdoorsmen by selling firearms meant for sport. Today's gun shows are filled with military style weaponry that has no worthy use other than the killing of human beings. ..." ... |
NY: Why not self-defense?
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"Every time there is a widely publicized shooting like Virginia Tech, I remember that several years ago while I worked for the post office we had a 'safety' meeting of employees where the postmaster told us we had a stalker."
"Some old fellow was following carriers on the route and hanging around and the postal 'authorities' were afraid he had plans to do some harm to us. ... Some of the carriers asked about protection and were told we could get no police or security guards."
"It was asked if we could bring our own guns to protect ourselves, and the boss told us no and we could be fired if we brought them in. The office was full of trained military retirees (often with carry permits from the state), but they were not trusted ..." ... |
CA: Time for more talk about guns
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"That there is a slew of deadly killing machines - sniper rifles, grenade launchers, assault rifles ... guns - out there in our communities hardly qualifies as a news flash. We featured the topic on April 15 ('Vallejo cops try to empty criminals' arsenal'), just a day before the horrific tragedy at Virginia Tech University."
"It would appear that, just as was the case after the rampage at Columbine High eight years ago, we have hit another watershed moment in our destructive relationship with firearms. If nothing else, it would appear time for another national conversation on this frustrating topic." ... |
IN: Editorial: 'Assault Glock' is oxymoronic
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"The Kokomo Tribune ... recently published an editorial that described the Glock 19 used by the killer in the Virginia Tech massacre as 'an assault weapon.'"
"The Tribune's editorial writer said, 'What reason does a college kid have for buying an assault weapon? Why does anyone need one?'"
"'These guns are not designed for hunting rabbits or shooting cans off a fence. They're designed to spit out a lot of bullets in a hurry. They�re designed to kill.'"
"So many errors, so many misinterpretations, and another example of how frustrating it can be to defend the Second Amendment, because many of those who oppose it are ignorant."
"Another clarification: Ignorance is a lack of knowledge. Ignorance can be fixed. ..." ... |
MO: Gun ownership (letters)
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" hear gun advocates argue that all we need to do is keep guns away from 'the bad guys.'"
"Does this mean that some people are born 'good guys' and should have guns, and others are born 'bad guys' and should not? If so, do we have a test to be administered at birth?" ...
"Predictably, the reaction about the Virginia Tech shooting from the left is to effectively abolish the Second Amendment."
"Correctly, many people have pointed out that if some students or teachers had been armed, the killing may have ended sooner."
"It's amazing that people, with little or no thought, would cavalierly wipe away the right to bear arms." ... |
Canada: Failure of US gun law (letter)
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"Yes Clare, your right to bear arms has done an excellent job of protecting Americans from the British (Write Back, April 20)."
"However, it has failed miserably in protecting Americans from Americans. With every right comes the responsibility not to endanger anyone while exercising that right."
"There are 3,000 deaths per month from guns in the US. That is a 9/11 every month." ...
"It seems a little perverse to treasure your Second Amendment when it is responsible for 3,000 deaths per month."
"Anti-Gunner Toronto" |
Switzerland: Ban on army firearms at home wins support
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"A survey shows a majority of the Swiss want to ban army weapons from homes � scrapping a long-standing tradition of the country's militia army."
"Centre-left political parties and pacifist groups are preparing a plan to force a nationwide vote on the issue as parliament considers alternative options."
"Nearly two thirds of the people interviewed came out against storing personal assault rifles and guns in private households."
"Under Swiss law all able-bodied men are issued with a rifle and 50 rounds of ammunition which they can keep after completing their compulsory military service."
"An estimated 1.6 million firearms are in circulation in Switzerland and about 300 people are killed every year by standard issue weapons." ... |
UK: Dunblane Distorted
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"It is deeply unfortunate that in the decade since the Dunblane massacre and the handgun ban that followed it, gun crime in the UK has risen. It is even more unfortunate that some in the US have sought to use this fact since last week's killings in Virginia to bolster their case against tighter US gun controls. Worse than that, it is an abuse of the memory of the Dunblane victims, and highly misleading."
"Gun violence has gone up in Britain, according to one prominent US politician, 'because criminals end up buying illegal guns but the law-abiding, honest citizen is in effect disarmed.' ..." ...
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Submitter's Note: The author conveniently ignores the UK's overall violent crime rates which are more than twice the US rates. |
UK: US gun lobby blames Dunblane law for big rise in shootings
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"Supporters of gun ownership rights in the US are claiming that strict controls introduced in Britain after the Dunblane massacre have increased violence because people are unable to defend themselves."
"The American gun lobby has been put on the back foot by last week�s shooting of 32 students at Virginia Tech but is still preparing to defend itself against any effort to impose tighter restrictions."
"Newt Gingrich ... told ABC News that if students and teachers had been armed at the Virginia Tech they might have been able to stop Cho Seung Hui�s slaughter."
"In countries that have had absolute bans ... gun violence has actually gone up because ... the law-abiding, honest citizen is in effect disarmed,' he said." ... |
UK: Murder trial told of hammer blows
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"An aunt and her nephew whose bodies were found yards apart in a Glasgow flat had been hit on the head and face by a claw hammer, a court has heard."
"Glasgow High Court was told Bernadette Johnstone, 39, and John Park, 25, had multiple fractures to their facial bones and skulls."
"They also had a mass of bruises and lacerations on their arms, hands, legs and bodies."
"Gerald McLeish, 21, denies murdering the pair and raping Mrs Johnstone."
"It took Glasgow University pathologist Dr John Clark two hours to outline the multiple injuries Mrs Johnstone and Mr Park had suffered."
"He said many of the wounds may have been caused as they tried to defend themselves from an attack." ... |
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TO REMEMBER |
| Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American... The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state government, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people. � Tench Coxe, Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788. |
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