Contemptuous Nagin Should Leave Bloomberg Coalition: The Second Amendment Foundation - which is suing Nagin over the post-Katrina gun seizures in New Orleans - today said Nagin should step down or be asked to leave Michael Bloomberg's "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" unless that group wants him as their poster child. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-14-2007/0004527820&EDATE= --- Colorado Rejects Two Anti-RKBA Measures: The Colorado senate has temporarily blocked a bill that would have required that holders of out-of-state concealed-weapon permits be residents of the issuing state. The house has approved a bill to extend the state's castle doctrine to businesses. Apparently still pending is whether the state's database of CWP-holders will be extended beyond its sunset base of July 1. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5349962,00.html --- Stand-Your-Ground Bill Passes North Dakota House: Opposition from prosecutors and law enforcement officers could not derail legislation giving North Dakotans the right to shoot a burglar or carjacker with protection from criminal prosecution or civil lawsuits if they do...The police and prosecutors are correct that North Dakotans already have a right to defend themselves. The problem, which this bill solves, is that before North Dakotans can exercise that right they must first try to flee their assailants under current law. http://www.kxma.com/getARticle.asp?ArticleId=94961 --- DC Reports 50% Increase In Firearm-Related Crime Over Six Weeks: The number of violent crimes committed with guns in the first six weeks of the year has increased by 50 percent compared with the same period last year, according to Metropolitan Police Department statistics..."It's a continuing problem," said council member Phil Mendelson, at-large Democrat. "There are far too many guns." (Maybe they're just in the wrong hands, thanks to DC's virtual ban on privately owned firearms.) http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20070214-101922-8138r.htm --- Meanwhile, In Tennessee...: Spurred by violent crime in Memphis and elsewhere, Tennessee legislators have filed several bills to expand the legal rights of people to use deadly force when threatened by would-be attackers. One would specifically allow people in motor vehicles to kill or "cause serious bodily injury" to attackers - both inside or outside the vehicle - who they believe are threatening to murder, rape, kidnap, rob or carjack the car's occupants. http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/midsouth_news/article/0,1426,MCA_1497_5349925,00.html --- Campus-Carry Bill Advances In Utah: A compromise between university leaders and legislators to create gun-free areas on campuses passed out of committee Tuesday but not without a parade of opposition from students and gun-rights advocacy groups. The 3-2 vote came after more than an hour of testimony against the bill by students who say they will feel unsafe if they are not allowed to carry guns and by citizens who say they are being stripped of their rights. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660195371,00.html --- Utah Mall Shootings Spur Debate, Interest In CCW: The debate between gun-control advocates and gun-rights supporters is a familiar aftermath to any outburst of gun violence in America...Aposhian noted that it is impossible to know whether a concealed-weapon holder could make a difference in every violent confrontation. "But we do know what happens when there is no one with a concealed weapon in these situations - people die." http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5219765 --- North Dakota Women Offered Firearms Safety Course: Women unfamiliar with the guns their hunter spouses and kids keep in the house will have an opportunity to learn more about them. A women's-only home firearms safety class is planned from 2 to 4 p.m. March 18 and March 25. It's sponsored by the Bismarck-Mandan Rifle & Pistol Association. http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2007/02/14/news/columnists/hinton/128780.txt --- Froman Rapped For Metaphor: The editorial board of The Stanford Daily does not like NRA president and Stanford alumna Sandra Froman's likening of California's safety-training test to purchase a handgun to Jim Crow voting laws that were used in the South. http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2007/2/14/editorialBoardMetaphorsAndGunsDontMix --- Oops, Wrong Store: A jewelry-store owner in Philadelphia took advantage of the distraction caused by his employee returning from lunch to grab his own gun and shoot two of three masked robbers who had decided to attend his Valentine's Day sale. The third suspect is still being sought. (Not enough information is furnished to assess whether a holstered gun might have been more readily accessible in this scenario.) http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=local&id=5021015 --- From AzCDL: Pro-rights bills to be debated by the full House and Senate on 02/15/07! Spread this message far and wide! We need to show the legislature that gun owners are politically involved and care about the legislative process. They need to feel YOUR pressure. On Thursday, February 15, 2007, the Committee of the Whole (COW) in both the House and Senate will debate and vote on bills that have passed out of committee. The House will decide on HB 2469 and the Senate will decide on SB 1250 and SB 1302. Information on these and other bills can be found at the AzCDL website: http://www.azcdl.org/html/legislation.html . The following is a synopsis of these bills: HB 2469 reduces the penalty for a concealed weapon permit holder failing to have their permit in their possession while carrying concealed. Under current law (ARS 13-3112.D), a person is guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor offense if they fail to present a concealed weapons permit upon the request of a law enforcement officer. The language of the current law does not clarify that a person must be a concealed weapons permit holder, or in possession of a weapon, or even if a weapon must be concealed. However, if they produce a legible permit that was valid at the time of the violation when they go to court, "they shall not be convicted." The proposed language in HB 2469: