California Governor Signs Anti-RKBA Bills: Bucking pressure from the gun lobby, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an unprecedented law Saturday requiring that certain pistols sold in the state be equipped to mark each cartridge when fired so police can more easily trace the weapons. Another signed measure also opposed by the interest group will ban the use of lead ammunition in the habitat of the endangered California condor. (I recall one list member asking me several years ago if I would return to California if Arnold were elected governor.) http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bills14oct14,1,3575703.story?coll=la-headlines-california --- Misleading Legal Analysis from Mississippi: Among my disagreements with this lawyer's analysis is her view of the castle-doctrine and stand-your-ground concepts. Not all states have afforded the presumption of reasonableness, much less insulation from lawsuits, to people who repel violent attacks in their own homes. While the NRA may blur the distinction between "castle doctrine" and "stand your ground," in my mind the latter deals primarily with removing a duty to retreat before resorting to deadly force when you are threatened outside your home. http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007710140319 --- What Really Happens In A Gunfight: The mentally ill man who shot and wounded a Flagstaff police officer was hit 17 times by the 42 rounds fired at him by five officers...According to the Coconino County Medical Examiner's autopsy report released Friday, Steiger was shot in the foot, the legs, the arms, the shoulder, the abdomen and the chest. (Note the discrepancy between the total of 42 shots in one part of the article and 46 shots fired if you add up the figures in the breakdown, a difference between a 40 and 37% hit ratio. I would expect that the higher-than-average "score" was due to the use of three long guns.) http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2007/10/13/news/20071013_front%20page_3.txt --- From John Farnam: 10 Oct 07 South African Police are sheepishly acknowledging that 3,856 firearms are currently missing from their own inventory. This is just what they've been forced to admit to. The actual figure is, in all probability, much higher. This is what we can look forward to with universal gun "registration" and "control" by government: "Police lost many additional firearms during the past year than they did during the one before, says SA's Auditor General. He went on to say that firearm control registers are not properly maintained. Further, compulsory, bi-annual firearms inspections are only rarely actually performed. The audit also found substantial 'inventory discrepancies' between what the police actually have in their stores and what are shown in their records." Comment: SA AG's own data clearly shows that the very governmental agency that is tasked with the responsibility of controlling legal firearms in civilian hands, itself losses firearms at a rate nearly five times higher than do average, gun-owning citizens! When naive Liberals flippantly pontificate about "sensible restrictions" of privately-owned firearms, this is the kind of tragi-comical catastrophe we can all logically expect. How would any reasonable person expect anything else? /John (In this country we have certainly seen our share of gang members enlisting in the military for the tactical training and of firearms and related equipment being stolen from military bases.) 12 Oct 07 From a friend just returned from the AUSA Show in DC. Yes another indication of the wrong direction in which Western military thinking is currently directed: "... just returned from the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) exhibit in DC. On display was an 'Advanced Combat Helmet,' which includes a 'mandibular-protection' feature. It protects the soldier's lower jaw while still allowing him to shoot from prone. It also features a visor that replaces goggles. Seasoned NCOs who saw the helmet all commented positively its frightening/intimidating look. Conversely, O5/O6 staff officers were horrified that the helmet's look was 'too intimidating!' They were concerned that it might frighten people and went on to point out that it would never be adopted, just for that reason. It became rapidly apparent to me that NCOs universally understood the concept of winning the fight, while staff officers understood only PR, accounting, and 'career-management.'" Comment: "Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most quickly pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened." Churchill /John (I think that there is room to debate whether "Darth Vader" full battle regalia is counter-productive to the role of "winning the hearts and minds" of local people, which is an integral part of unconventional warfare. If our troops could predict when they would likely come under attack, it would be easier to set up guidelines for the use of equipment such as this helmet. We have to give thanks to those who volunteer to put themselves in harm's way for the rest of us.) -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info