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TX: Citizen group criticizes state ethics commission
Submitted by: serinde
Website: http://www.progunwomen.com

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- 3rd story on page -

"The Texas Ethics Commission has failed to be the watchdog group needed to police Texas politicians because its structure and restrictions hamstring its enforcement, a group of organizations said Wednesday."

"While the staff and the commissioners have tried hard, bad law has handcuffed them. The law we have on the books was designed by politicians to protect politicians," said Tom Smith, director of Texas' chapter of Public Citizen.

Australia: Law Puts Schoolboy Flower Seller Out of Business Submitted by: John Fansler	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"An entrepreneur schoolboy trying to save up for a skateboard by selling flowers has fallen foul of local laws by failing to take out a A $5 million ($2.70 million) public liability insurance policy." --Drive the enteprenurial spirit out of 'em while they're still tykes. That's the socialist way.

UK: Boy, 11, in court for 154th time Submitted by: John Fansler	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"The boy was due to be sentenced for 24 charges of burglary, theft and car crime but magistrates are unable to sentence him until he reaches his 12th birthday next month."

Government Gorges on Pork while You Bring Home the Bacon
Submitted by: LFA Editor
Website: http://www.libertyforall.net

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"And yet, government continues to gorge itself with pork pilfered from taxpayers' labor while some members of Congress caution citizens that the President's proposed tax cuts are ill-advised due to the fiscal valley in which we find ourselves..."

"In other words, the people should cut back on their spending and continue to cheerfully bring home the bacon for the State so that the already bloated Beast of Bureaucracy can flourish and continue to grow thanks to the pork produced by the governed."

OH: Rep. Seitz Speech Before The Ohio Senate Civil Justice Committee (CCW)
Submitted by: Ohioans For Concealed Carry
Website: http://www.OhioCCW.org

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Rep. Bill Seitz spoke before the Ohio Senate committee dealing with House Bill 274. Proponent testimony for HB274 will likely be "mixed in" with any interested party, for one hour sessions at a time, when the committee decides to schedule another hearing.

The Senate is currently using our lawsuit (appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court) to stall progress on this legislation.

Please Write & Call your Senator: If you click here it's fast!

UK: Blair calls up crisis team to beat the muggers and "crack gun culture" Submitted by: John Fansler	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"TONY BLAIR has decided to treat the surge in street crime, including big increases in muggings and mobile phone thefts, as a national emergency." --Perhaps the foolish Brits might consider permitting their citizens to carry. You know, the opprotunity to defend themselves against the barbarian hords they have welcomed. Also see: Blair: "We'll crack gun culture"

AZ: "Safety" advocates push bill to trace guns
Submitted by: Michael Lewis

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"It doesn't take long for safety advocates at the state Capitol to realize they're fighting an uphill battle. But after years of defeat, they're pinning their hopes on a bill that would require police to trace the origin of guns used in crimes."

"...the vote will be close next week and must overcome a likely rush of closed-door lobbying and e-mail canvasses by the National Rifle Association. "This is a state where they apparently like to flex their muscles, and they can," Gullett said.

Italy: Rise in gun sales and home invasions
Submitted by: Blacksnake

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"Sometimes I'm scared witless," says Stefania, not wanting to give her last name. "I sleep with a gun under my pillow."

"Sales of handguns have risen sharply in the area, according to the owner of one of two gun shops that now service the tranquil lakeside town of Como just down the road."

"The collective fear is that armed and violent gangs of illegal immigrants will break into their comfortable homes in the middle of the night and rob them."

OH: Concealed-carry bill holstered
Submitted by: Doug Charette

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"Ohioans hoping for a law to allow them to carry concealed weapons will have to wait for the Ohio Supreme Court."

"After the bill's first hearing in a Senate Judiciary subcommittee Wednesday, Senate President Richard Finan, R-Evendale, said more hearings could be useless until justices weigh in on a Hamilton County court decision that called Ohio's gun laws unconstitutional."

�I want to see what the courts are going to do,� Mr. Finan said.

NRA lawyer Attacks Assault-Rifle Ban Submitted by: Doug Charette	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"A 1994 federal law that restricts access to assault rifles is riddled with loopholes that allow similar semi-automatic weapons to stay on the market, a National Rifle Association lawyer said yesterday." "Lawyer Jim Warner told a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the federal ban should be struck down as unconstitutional because of the confusion it creates."

AZ: Mandatory sentences; Firearms possession (SB1445)
Submitted by: Michael Lewis

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"1. IF THE PERSON POSSESSED THE FIREARM BUT DID NOT DISCHARGE THE FIREARM, A SENTENCE THAT IS TEN YEARS LONGER THAN THE SENTENCE IMPOSED BY THE COURT OF JURISDICTION FOR THAT VIOLATION."

"2. IF THE PERSON DISCHARGED THE FIREARM BUT DID NOT INJURE ANOTHER PERSON, A SENTENCE THAT IS TWENTY YEARS LONGER THAN THE SENTENCE IMPOSED BY THE COURT OF JURISDICTION FOR THAT VIOLATION."

"3. IF THE PERSON DISCHARGED THE FIREARM AND INJURED ANOTHER PERSON, A SENTENCE OF LIFE IMPRISONMENT."

WA: Officers Confess To Using Sub-Machine Gun In Suncrest Shooting Submitted by: Doug Charette	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"Their admission is outraging many residents, some of whom are wondering how they obtained that type of weapon in the first place. Both Clark and Cravens face charges including reckless endangerment and possession of an illegal firearm. Another officer from the Department of Corrections, Chris Spurlock, turned himself in earlier this week and is expected to appear in court Friday."

IL: Daley says gun-rights group will be liable
Submitted by: Doug Charette

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"Firing a warning shot Wednesday at the gun-rights group Concealed Carry Inc., Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said the city will hold the group responsible for any deaths caused by handguns the organization wants to distribute."

"If you can just give guns out and someone goes out, injures or kills somebody, you better have a good lawyer because they're going to come right after you," Daley said at a news conference at the Fulton Carroll Center, 2023 W. Carroll Ave.

CO: Gun-permit privacy removed from bill
Submitted by: Doug Charette

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"A Senate committee stripped a personal privacy bill of language that would have made it harder for the public to get the names of those issued a concealed weapons permit."

"House Bill 1147, sponsored by Rep. Mark Cloer, R-Colorado Springs, was amended by the Senate Judiciary Committee by eliminating all references to concealed weapons permits. "It is my opinion that this is something that ought to be addressed in separate legislation," said Sen. Bob Hagedorn.

CO: Concealed gun bill misfires on issue of local rule Submitted by: Doug Charette	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"OK, he's the speaker. He's pro-gun. Way pro-gun. He wants uniformity in concealed weapons -- meaning anyone who's not a felon or crazy can get one -- and he wants uniformity in where you can carry."

KY: Lt. Gov. Henry states case for gun safety Submitted by: Doug Charette	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"Harper Renee French is 9 months old, and the last thing her father wants is for her to come across a live firearm. That is one of the major factors behind why Kentucky Lt. Gov. Steve Henry has been traveling across the state distributing free gun locks since this past September as part of Project HomeSafe, a national effort to distribute 3 million gun locks nationwide."

NYC: Firearm Deaths Show Complex Link To Drug Use and Race
Submitted by: Doug Charette

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"More than half of those killed by firearms in New York City between 1990 and 1998 tested positive for drugs, but shooting deaths overall declined as the decade drew to a close, according to a new study to be released Tuesday in the Journal of Urban Health, published by The New York Academy of Medicine. Despite the decline, African-Americans and Latinos remained three times more likely than whites to be victims of shooting violence."

KABA NOTE: If true, it serves to further prove that the "war on drugs" only perpetuates crime and violence.

In Their Own Words: 'The Myth of Ownership' reveals the Left�s true colors Submitted by: FWiedner	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Columnist Stephen Moore critiques a liberal diatribe titled "The Myth of Ownership". What made me think that this is of interest here is what I consider to be a logical but missing endcap to the final statement in the piece: "Will someone please tell these writers that our nation was founded by patriots armed with mindless anti-tax soundbites" (AND GUNS).

MI: Living in a Police state
Submitted by: Scott Rogerson

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"The state Legislature has given police power to search your home without telling you why."

"If you think the police did secretive work before, just wait," defense attorney William Cataldo said. "It gives more power to the ignorant and more power to those who would take your rights."

Defense lawyer Walter Piszczatowski said: "This is nuts, this is beyond nuts. What happened to the Fourth Amendment? We're living in a police state."

Airport Insecurity: Passengers strip-searched without removing clothes
Submitted by: Anonymous

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"Bryan Allman of Rapidscan Security Products points to a scan revealing a hidden handgun during a demonstration of new screening devices at the Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida, March 14, 2002. The device shown is the Secure 1000, a low-energy full body x-ray scan. Photo by Joe Skipper/Reuters"

KABA NOTE: The airport insecurity agents are going to have lovely views of women's private parts, even without the "random strip-searches."

TX: Officer, gunman killed in standoff in White Settlement
Submitted by: Lyndell Rottmann

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"A police captain was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon when he entered a residence where a man had been holding a woman hostage. Capt. Scott Monier, who was not wearing a bullet-proof vest, was shot three times in the chest, officials said. He died later at a Fort Worth hospital."

"Police went to the residence about 10 miles west of downtown Fort Worth after receiving a 911 call that a man was holding a woman hostage, police spokesman John Clapp said."

TX: Argentine Envoy seeks reversal of death sentence
Submitted by: Lyndell Rottmann

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"The ambassador of Argentina will ask Gov. Rick Perry to overturn the death sentence of an Argentine citizen whose case became "racially charged" ... "Saldano should have his death sentence commuted to life in prison," the ambassador said.

"Saldano was convicted in the abduction, robbery and shooting death of a man from a Dallas grocery store in 1995. He later confessed to the murder. But after review, the Court of Criminal Appeals allowed the death sentence to stand."

NRA: Democrat giving keynote for first time since 1991
Submitted by: Doug Charette

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"Georgia Sen. Zell Miller will be the first Democrat in more than a decade to give the keynote address to the National Rifle Association's annual meeting, a constituency he says his party doesn't always understand."

"When Miller takes the stage this weekend as the first keynote speaker of his party since before ex-President Bill Clinton was elected, he also will be delivering a message from disaffected Southern Democrats."

MO: 'Giving voters no respect' on Concealed Carry
Submitted by: Doug Charette

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"STATE LAWMAKERS who purportedly respect the wishes of voters apparently don't respect them enough when it comes to carrying concealed weapons. In 1999, a majority of voters rejected Proposition B, the statewide concealed-carry referendum. Yet 87 members of the Missouri House decided Monday to support concealed-carry legislation, including a bill sponsored by Rep. Frank Barnitz, D-Lake Spring. The legislation could be voted on as early as today."

KABA NOTE: That is why this isn't a democracy, but a republic. America is supposed to be protected against mob rule.

OH: Ashcroft-Metzenbaum vs. NRA
Submitted by: Doug Charette

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"A blistering battle over gun control, set for a showdown in a federal courtroom in Ohio next week, has created one of the oddest alliances in American history."

"The Justice Department of U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, a life member of the National Rifle Association, has quietly enlisted a lifelong enemy of the gun lobby, retired Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, in the government's fight against assault weapons. So quietly, in fact, that Metzenbaum didn't even know about it."

Federal Gun Industry "Immunity"
Submitted by: Doug Charette

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"The Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee held hearings last week on the "Protection in Lawful Commerce in Arms Act" (HR2037), also known as the Gun Industry Relief Act. This Act, sponsored by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) and backed by the gun lobby, intends to make gun manufacturers and dealers immune from lawsuits filed as a result of their negligent sale and/or distribution of guns which are then used in gun crimes."

Leftists Eliminated Security Protections for Americans
Submitted by: Doug Charette

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"Loose immigration policies played a major role in the terrorist attack on American soil."

"Ex-leftist David Horowitz reminds us that the 100 or so Arabic operatives who participated in plotting the Sept. 11 attacks entered the United States "with and without passports seemingly at will.� Moreover, they received training in airliners in American facilities "despite clear indications that some of them might be part of a terrorist campaign.�

OH: Rifles Stand as Symbols
Submitted by: Charlie Seitz

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"A professor of journalism at the University of Ohio was recently ordered to remove a Civil War relic from his office wall, but has protested because he thinks the university's policy is silly and unrealistic. Some school administrators and liberal professors are upset because he has opinions different from theirs, and they've found a way to get even with him. They've set out to "get him," and sadly, it appears they have the power to do it."

Bellesiles insinuates professor forged emails in his name
Submitted by: Rick Schwartz

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"The fact Bellesiles now accuses a reputable scholar of fabricating an e-mail ... is an admission of how significant his previous lies have been," Barnett wrote in an e-mail to the Wheel. "Were these trivial matters, Bellesiles would not have to invent such desperate accusations. This latest incident should reveal much about Professor Bellesiles' character to anyone who previously harbored any illusions."

Bill Would Make Feds Consider Privacy
Submitted by: Doug Charette

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"Federal agencies would have to assess the privacy impact of the new regulations they propose, taking public comments into account in the process, if legislation introduced Wednesday by Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., becomes law."

"The Federal Agency Protection of Privacy Act, backed by diverse political interests, would require that a privacy impact statement be issued whenever a notice of a new regulation -- or a new interpretation of tax law -- is published."

Also see: Right, left join privacy campaign

OR: Women Prepare for Armed Self Defense Training
Submitted by: Doug Charette

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"The Portland Firearms Training Team (PFTT) announced plans for the first annual WED (Women Empowered for Defense) training event to be presented in Portland on Saturday, May 11 from 9 AM to 6 PM."

"Forty women will each participate in a Refuse To Be A Victim seminar and a separate NRA FIRST Steps Pistol Orientation. In addition, the women will attend a workshop on the legal and ethical issues raised by the use of lethal force."

TX: Psychologist says man who killed daughters mentally ill
Submitted by: Lyndell Rottmann

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"An accountant was found guilty of capital murder Wednesday for shooting to death his two young daughters while their anguished mother listened on the telephone."

"Battaglia [has] a history of domestic violence before the shootings... Battaglia's defense attorneys rested their case Tuesday without calling witnesses and said they planned to turn their attention to saving his life. He faces life in prison or the death penalty."

KABA NOTE: Mental illness is not an excuse for murder.

FL: Cell phones still out in schools (Sheriff afraid of hidden guns) Submitted by: Anonymous	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"Andrews, who works for the Broward Sheriff's Office, hotly contested any altering of the present cell phone policy. She brought in a sheriff's sergeant who showed a video about a fake cell phone that actually was a small gun." "Although such weapons have not been found in Broward County, the Sheriff's Office fears if a student were to obtain something like that, it could be a problem."

Most Deaths Of Children Preventable
Submitted by: Lyndell Rottmann

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"Motor vehicle injuries and drowning topped the latest list of death causes among Texans ages 1-17, according to an analysis of the 3,783 child deaths recorded in 2000."

"For youths ages 10-17, accidents, suicide and homicide are the leading causes of nonnatural death."

"homicides and deaths by firearm are less common than a few years ago ... other causes -- suffocation, burns and poisoning -- rose in 2000 compared with previous years."

KY: Plan to use driver photos in lineups dropped Submitted by: Doug Charette	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"The Kentucky State Police and Transportation Cabinet have dropped a plan to include pictures of licensed drivers in photo lineups shown to crime victims and other witnesses." "The decision came after privacy advocates and some state lawmakers criticized the idea as an invasion of privacy in a story yesterday in The Courier-Journal."