Protestors Disagree Over Texas Shooting: Protesters critical of a homeowner who fatally shot two suspected burglars were confronted by hundreds of the man's supporters during a rally on the street where the killings occurred. Yard signs declaring support for Joe Horn, 61, lined nearby streets Sunday in the Pasadena neighborhood where Miguel Antonio DeJesus, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30, were killed Nov. 14...Horn's attorney has said his client believed the two men had broken into his neighbor's home and that he shot them only when they came into his yard and threatened him. But that description is partly at odds with Horn's call to 911 in which Horn threatens to kill the men despite the dispatcher's urging that Horn stay inside his house. http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/214525.php --- Utah Dealer Gets Probation For Gun Sale: A man who sold a gun used in February's Trolley Square shooting was sentenced to one year of probation in federal court Friday for failing to fill in one line on a 33-line form required when a gun is sold... Earl Xaiz, Hill's defense attorney, told the judge that Hill had done the required background check on Talovic when selling the gun, including calling the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and providing an alien identification number for Talovic. "He went through the procedure required to get approval for the sale," Xaiz said. What Hill failed to do was fill in a line that documents a secondary form of identification, which is required for non-citizens who buy guns. http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695232322,00.html --- Minnesota Prohibitionists Press For Gun-Show Infringements: Protect Minnesota, the coalition working to prevent gun violence, includes the Brady Partner group the Million Mom March of Minnesota. The coalition is holding its second annual benefit to launch a public education and radio advertising campaign to advocate for background checks to be conducted on all gun sales in Minnesota. The event will also honor law enforcement officials, community leaders, advocates and gun violence survivors who have dedicated themselves to efforts to reduce and prevent gun violence. Gun owners and non-gun owners will be present at the event, illustrating the fact that the issue of background checks for gun sales is one of common ground that brings Minnesotans together in agreement. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-30-2007/0004714572&EDATE= --- Michigan Editor Wants National Firearm Registration: ...It makes sense to me that police should have access to a national database of gun owners. If I'm rolling up to a house where there's a reported burglary in progress or some kind of assault going on, I'd want to know if guns are registered for the premises. Wouldn't that advance warning protect gun owners, too, from police reacting badly to the presence of a firearm? Seems as if it'd be safer for both. (In Michigan, police can run a computer check to see if a person has a permit to carry a firearm, if they have a name; license plate checks for vehicle ownership do not include such information.) http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071202/COL32/712020554/1068/OPINION --- Massachusetts Editor Sees Second Amendment As Academic: ...As much as the ideologues and constitutional scholars enjoy it, the Second Amendment issue is only academic anyway. For there are tens of millions of handguns and long guns in private possession in the country, they don't wear out quickly, and no legislation is going to get many of them back. Only still more oppressive government could accomplish that. Indeed, the more that government tries to outlaw guns, the more that people might see the need to keep them... http://www.projo.com/opinion/contributors/content/CT_powguns2_12-02-07_RJ800BL_v8.2a75586.html --- Finland Shooting Spurs Prohibitionists: ...People like Rebecca Peters say that civilian ownership of firearms needs to be restricted in order to keep us safe. But everywhere you look, the evidence shows that even the worst gun control doesn't reduce the illegal trade in firearms, and the laws don't stop criminals from using their illegal guns. Look at South Africa, where civilian ownership of firearms has been legislated nearly out of existence. They had more than 19,000 murders last year. Does that sound like gun bans work? http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=341 --- The Ideal Self-Defense Weapon: ... A friend of mine, a South Korean tae kwon do master and a former member of South Korean intelligence, was laughing one day about kung fu schools, which teach students the use of the broadsword and the halberd. "Who is going to walk around carrying a broadsword?" he said. "Besides, if your life is in danger, use a gun." http://www.lewrockwell.com/reese/reese418.html Related Commentary: ...I can foresee a future where our rights to bear arms will be taken away. It will be a sad time in our country because, at that moment, those of us who chose to defend ourselves with guns will be criminals. While England allows no personal firearms, the criminals seem to be able to find them without much trouble. With individual ownership against the law, the criminals have no particular fear of their targets... http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071201/OPINION/712010301/1014 --- Better I Should Not Be Able To Defend My Child: A man carrying a semiautomatic handgun approached a group of San Francisco police officers Saturday afternoon and, with a smile, handed over the pistol in exchange for $150 in gift cards. "I used to fire it at bottles or do some plinking in the woods," said the gun's owner, 48-year-old Bruce Bourne. "But I have a 6-year-old daughter now and my wife was uncomfortable with it being in the house. http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=643643 --- Wedding Ring Deflects Bullet: Donnie Register has a new reason to be thankful he's married - police say his wedding band deflected a bullet and probably saved his life. Two men walked into Register's shop at The Antique Market on Saturday and asked to see a coin collection, police Sgt. Jeffery Scott said. When Register retrieved the collection, one of the men pulled a gun and demanded money. A shot was fired as Register threw up his left hand, and his wedding ring deflected the bullet, police said. (No word on the caliber of the round fired.) http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2007/12/03/news/national/20071203_us_news_12.txt --- Trigger Control "Fallacy"?: Thousands of articles and reams of paper have been wasted on the fallacy of trigger control and how allegedly important it is to shooting skills. Numerous "shooting gurus" have gone on record as stating that trigger control is the number one problem when it comes to shooting a handgun. That's a bunch of hogwash! Trigger control may be important to target shooting skills, but not to the type of shooting we do as law enforcement officers. As police officers we are combat shooters, or at least we better be... (I see trigger control as part of the same continuum as overcoming anticipation or "pre-ignition push." In fact, post-ignition push can also divert the shot from its point of aim. I find Mr. Rayburn's argument reminiscent of the 1990's debate over point shooting versus sighted fire, which generally also failed to appreciate that both are part of one continuum.) http://www.policeone.com/training/articles/1635353 --- R.L. Wilson, Firearms Writer, Facing Fraud Charges: The evidence will look like a prop list from a John Wayne movie when three antique gun enthusiasts go on trial Monday on charges of bilking a millionaire collector...The grand jury also named R.L. Wilson, one of the world's leading authorities on antique firearms, who appraised the weapons at inflated prices, federal officials said. Wilson, who describes himself on his Web site as "the most published author in the history of arms collecting," faces several counts of fraud. http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/214493 -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info