LaPierre, 2010 and the RKBA: The Second Amendment faces a decisive year in 2010. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has called for new semi-automatic gun bans - despite their decade-long record of fraud and failure, and despite his own Justice Department's failure to fully or even half-heartedly prosecute federal firearm felonies. Mr. Holder and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have demonstrated their willingness to use cooked statistics to blame Mexico's violent drug war on Americans and their Second Amendment rights... Meanwhile at the United Nations, global citizen-disarmament nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and freedom-fearing dictatorships worldwide maneuver to impose their will on you through international treaties. But it is a new year. And, in a very crucial way, 2010 may be a year unlike any other in American history - when the Second Amendment could, finally and truly, be recognized as a right for all Americans... In the past, the U.S. Supreme Court has seen fit to incorporate nearly all of the Bill of Rights, and as the most fundamental, natural right of them all, the Second Amendment right to arms to protect your life deserves incorporation every bit as much. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/04/new-years-gun-threats/ --- Drugs, Gangs and Homicide Rates: Just when it looked like Buffalo had a chance to begin a trend of fewer homicides, gang violence derailed the possibility. City and police officials began last year buoyed by 2008's near-record low of 37 homicides, and they predicted the city was headed in the right direction. But deadly quarrels among gang members fighting over drugs, money and turf pushed the number of homicides to 60 during the last 12 months. That represents a 62 percent increase over 2008. "Buy a gun," a member of a recently busted inner-city gang told The Buffalo News last week when asked what could be done to curtail homicides. "Hey, I'm just being honest. You asked." Tall and good looking, the young man half smiled, shrugged and seemed to disappear into his oversized winter coat. Twice the victim of gunfire - a fact a street cop confirmed - the young man said he views self-protection as the best means of avoiding death on the streets... http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/910802.html --- Hmm: A Roanoke man is suing city police over an altercation with officers that he said began as an argument about his permit to carry a concealed firearm. Aaron A. Stevenson filed a lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke alleging that his constitutional rights were violated during a May 6 traffic stop. He named two officers, Chief Joe Gaskins and the city as defendants... he lawsuit gives this account of Stevenson's encounter with police: Stevenson was driving along Williamson Road to pick up his daughter from church when Roanoke police Officer Jamie A. Kwiecinski stopped him. Stevenson was given a summons because his registration had expired. Kwiecinski learned that Stevenson had a concealed carry permit and asked if he had a gun. Stevenson declined to answer. Kwiecinski called for backup, and Officer Dwight W. Ayers arrived on the scene. Stevenson said the officers ignored his repeated invocation of his right to remain silent, and to have an attorney present during questioning. The officers pulled Stevenson from his vehicle, the lawsuit said, took the .45-caliber handgun he wore in a belt holster, and put him in handcuffs in the back of a police car. Stevenson said he was threatened with loss of his permit, confiscation of his gun and indefinite detention while police investigated whether he was involved in anything criminal... (If I were an attorney, I don't think I'd take this case on a contingent-fee basis.) http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/231422 --- Nebraska to Consider Stand-Your-Ground Bill: It's been dubbed the "make my day" bill, after the oft-quoted line from a 1985 Clint Eastwood movie. Others have called it a new version of Nebraska's 1969 "shoot your neighbor" law. State Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial prefers to talk about the "castle doctrine" and about Nebraskans being able to defend themselves without fear of prosecution or lawsuits. If someone is breaking into your home, he argues, you shouldn't have to wonder whether the law thinks you are justified in shooting that person. And, he said, you shouldn't be subject to civil liability if you kill or injure that person. "If I break into your house, I'm a threat," he said. "Why should I have any rights if I break into your house?" Christensen plans to introduce a bill early in the 2010 legislative session to tip the scales toward people who shoot in self-defense... (I prefer to distinguish between stand-your-ground and castle doctrine in that the former is of broader scope. Historically, castle doctrine refers to one's own home while the concept of standing one's ground is that one should not be required to attempt to retreat anywhere one is legally before reasonably resorting to deadly force.) http://www.nptelegraph.com/articles/2010/01/03/news/60005132.txt --- Georgia Bill Would Reduce Infringements: Rep. Tim Bearden is once again pushing legislation that would expand the number of places in Georgia gun owners can carry firearms, joining a host of other lawmakers trying to modify the state's gun laws. Bearden, R-Villa Rica, joins a group of other gun rights advocates planning a push to build on a 2008 measure that allowed those with permits to carry firearms into state parks, restaurants that serve alcohol and mass transit facilities. Following its passage, the new law was met with a handful of legal challenges, with a federal judges ruling in late 2008 that officials representing Hartsfield- Jackson Atlanta International Airport could ban guns from the premises. Later, in a separate case, a federal judge ruled that the Atlanta mass transit system had the legal right to stop and question a passenger believed to be carrying a firearm, though the passenger in question claimed protection under the 2008 law. Bearden has in the past condemned these rulings as "legislating from the bench," saying the 2008 gun bill clearly allows law-abiding residents to carry a firearm while a passenger on mass transit... http://www.times-georgian.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Bearden+to+push+gun+rights+legislation%20&id=5414497&instance=home_news_top --- Argument for Church Carry?: Video clip describes and discusses the recent gunpoint abduction of two women from the church where they work. North Carolina does not appear to ban carry at places of worship. The woman who expresses confidence in leaving work with companions seems to ignore the fact that one man with a gun had no trouble kidnapping two women at a time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MEjbBcs4ZA --- Oops, Wrong Liquor Store: A New Bloomfield man was fatally shot while he apparently attempted to rob a beverage distributor in Carroll Township, Perry County [PA] Saturday night, state police said. Perry County Coroner Michael Shalonis said he pronounced Jeffrey Thomas Harless, 25, dead at Shermans Dale Beer & Beverage at 10:55 p.m. Saturday from a single gunshot wound to the chest. At about 9:44 p.m., an alarm sounded at the 4946 Spring Road beverage distributor and an employee arrived at the store to find the front door's glass broken out, a news release from the state police said. The employee entered the store and confronted Harless, an apparent burglar, police said. A confrontation ensued, police said, and the employee shot Harless once in the upper chest with a pistol. Harless was also armed, police said... http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2010/01/03/news/local/doc4b4128fe667f6375511312.txt http://www.examiner.com/x-18149-SelfDefense-Examiner~y2010m1d3-Commercial-burglar-shot-by-armed-employee --- Rule Four Reminder: Marquel Peters was seated with his parents inside a church in Decatur, Georgia, when a bullet came through the roof and struck his head. The toddler collapsed at the feet of his parents, who had no idea what caused a gaping wound in his head. It was only after doctors removed the bullet as they tried in vain to save his life that they realised he had been shot. Kelly Fite, a former ballistics expert at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's state Crime Lab, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper that the bullet had most likely been fired from an AK-47 assault rifle. The shooter could have been as much as two to three miles away, Fite told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But most likely, the shooter was about a half mile away and the gun was tilted at about 30 or 40 degrees, not straight up, he said... The boy's mother called for the shooter to come forward, but Mr Fite said it was unlikely that the person knew what had happened... (Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it. I will defer to those more familiar with Soviet-design weapons to comment on whether one can easily distinguish between a bullet fired from an AK-47 clone or an SKS. In parts of the South, SKS rifles are commonly used to hunt deer.) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6927917/Boy-killed-by-bullet-fired-three-miles-away.html --- CCW Standoff in California County: An effort by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to make it easier for residents to carry concealed firearms isn't likely to change policy, the Sheriff's Department said. In a 3-1 vote in November, supervisors passed a resolution asking the sheriff to consider applications for permits based solely on "personal defense." Supervisor Jeff Stone, author of the resolution, pegged the issue to the potential release of thousands of California inmates as part of a plan to meet a federal mandate to reduce the state's prison population. "I want to make sure that our citizens have the opportunity to protect ourselves with the release of 27,000 very dangerous people," Stone said. Supervisor Bob Buster was the lone vote against the resolution. He said he believed that existing regulations were adequate. Applicants must show they need a concealed carry permit. That could mean they have a job that requires travel to dangerous areas, or an order of protection against a stalker or assailant. Stone's resolution would allow Riverside residents to get a permit for "personal protection." A Moreno Valley man who spoke in favor of the resolution during the meeting said he never considered getting a gun until he was savagely beaten last year... (Many California counties are so large that it's difficult to make CCW a viable issue when the sheriff comes up for re-election.) http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_S_concealed04.3e6ce76.html --- California Instructors Target New Gun Owners: A run on guns and ammo over the previous year has local firearms experts pitching self-defense training to new gun owners. Some instructors have even set up tables outside gun stores, offering discounts on firearms classes. Martinelli & Associates, a Temecula-based company that typically trains law enforcement officers, is teaching "Street Safe Defense," a series of classes targeted at private gun owners in the Inland area... Ron Martinelli, a former police officer and founder of Martinelli & Associates, said gun store owners told him they have been selling to people who know nothing about guns. But he said even those who are skilled at target practice might not be prepared to defend themselves in a life-threatening situation. His class is specifically designed to train civilians to use a handgun in defense of their lives - which is very different from target practice, he said. The instructors try to condition people to keep their wits about them when they're scared and when the target might actually be a person who shoots back, Martinelli said... (A few things don't ring true in this article. California requires a weapon-specific safety test to purchase a handgun and virtually all private-party transfers are banned in the state, meaning that California DOJ should have very specific statistics. True, demonstrating that one can safely load and unload a handgun or even shooting a small group on a paper target is not training in its use in self-defense.) http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_N_guns03.4794bea.html --- US Army Upgrades M16/M4 Magazines: After years of being shown up by superior M-16 magazines from commercial firms, the U.S. Army is issuing an improved magazine of their own. Already, over half a million of the new magazines have been issued, mostly to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and those headed there. The oldest magazines are being turned in right away, and replaced by the new model. The new magazine is mainly designed to prevent jams when the round comes up from the magazine and into the firing chamber. This is accomplished with a new follower (a tab at the top of the magazine) design, as well as a new, corrosion resistant, spring. But the new design is still behind some commercial designs, which are built mainly to keep the crud out. A big problem with the M-16 type rifle is that the fine sand and dust found in Iraq and Afghanistan can slip past the magazine and into the magazine well, and lead to a malfunction. So commercial firms have come out with several generations of magazines that try to seal the magazine well to keep the talcum powder like crud out of the rifle. For example, there is the Advanced Reliability Combat magazine, that includes a soft gasket that creates a dust proof seal when the magazine is inserted in an M-4, or similar weapon (like the SOCOM SCAR). These magazines cost $30 each (about 70 percent more than a standard magazine.) These high end magazines also, like the new army magazine, have better springs and a follower that minimizes jams. Troops will still buy commercial magazines, with their own money, just to be on the safe side. (Not mentioned is that the ARC magazine [http://tangodown.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=126] is OEM for the SCAR Light Rifle; it will function reliably in any firearm that accepts M16 magazines and is also available in a 20-round version, for those who prefer a shorter magazine. Disclosure statement - I currently use free samples of the latter on my home-defense carbine.) http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htweap/articles/20100104.aspx --- British Sniper Speaks: It was like a bloodcurdling video game for sniper Steve Lewis as he saw a Taliban hand clutching an RPG appear over a wall 50 yards away. The army's best shot watched in delight down the sights of his L96A1 rifle as the launcher bobbed along for 20 yards behind the wall... and paused. The point of the rocket dipped and aimed towards him. The enemy's face bobbed up into the crosshair. And Steve squeezed the trigger. He saw the face wobble with the impact. Half of it blew away. The grenade launcher fell back over the wall and disappeared... but only briefly. Seconds later it was back up, bobbing along the wall. Steve watched it until it stopped, and fired again as a second Taliban face appeared. "Looked like someone bounced a football off his head, the way it snapped backwards," says the L Cpl. Throughout that day Steve shot dead another five insurgents from the snipers' nest he shared with fellow crackshot Frank "The Yank" Ward. Steve, 29, says it's their "job to kill people and there's no other way of saying it"... http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/657842/Sniper-29-says-Wersquore-glad-when-we-get-a-kill-mdash-itrsquos-what-we-do.html --- Help Promote Self-Defense: Each week, I discuss a few of the many self defense cases that have occurred. In each of those cases, a citizen has defended themselves against an act of violence, often defending their loved ones at the same time. Society benefits as well, since a criminal who has been fatally shot, shot and apprehend by the police, or held at gunpoint until the police arrive will be taken off the streets. Sadly, there is no shortage of cases where a violent criminal is able to harm an innocent person. When that happens, the immediate victim suffers, and a violent criminal often remains free to harm additional citizens. So what factors separate the self defense cases from those where the criminal prevails? It isn't age, as both the young and old can use a gun in self defense. Nor is gender at issue, since both men and women successfully defend themselves every day. Instead, preparedness seems to be what tends to separate the citizens who defend themselves from those who become victims. For that reason, I would like to encourage everyone to not only be personally prepared for self defense, but to also encourage their loved ones to similarly prepared. While there is no magic formula for preparedness, here are some suggestions... http://www.examiner.com/x-18149-SelfDefense-Examiner~y2010m1d3-Help-promote-self-defense --- General Safety Recommendations: As I kick off my ninth year of writing "Staying Safe" columns, I think it's a great time to think about your safety and security for the New Year. It's common today to hear about all the new high-tech wonder gadgets that will make our lives safer and more secure in the future. Everything from biometrics, digital CCTV to smart cards will have a role to play in our personal security. However, here are 10 simple and easy to implement ideas, suggested by some security and safety folks, that may help make your life safer starting right now... (From time to time I have students challenge some of the recommendations I give in my CWP course. The challenge that amazed me the most was from a couple who could see no need for the added expenditure for each of them to carry a cell phone. It appeared inconceivable to them that they would ever need to communicate with each other, at a distance, outside the home. On a related note, if you would need to contact relatives following a disaster in which the government does not opt to block cell phones, you and the relatives should be capable of sending and receiving text messages. The bombings of the London subway system a few years ago showed that voice frequencies become overwhelmed much more quickly than text frequencies; voice communication requires continual use of the frequency while text messages go as instantaneous "packets.") http://newsmax.com/US/Mandelblit-security-crime-law/2010/01/04/id/345271 --- Tangentially Related: ...Within hours, video of the altercation popped up all over the Internet (including from Reason.tv's Dan Hayes, who was on the scene). By the morning of December 20, anyone with an Internet connection could see from multiple angles shot by multiple video cameras and cell phones that not only did Det. Baylor wave his gun, he also admitted it. Baylor is now under investigation. He's been stripped of his badge and gun, and may lose his job... In the aftermath of the infamous LAPD arrest of Rodney Glenn King, cops were advised to assume that everything they say is being recorded and everything they do is being video'd. How many people today still carry cell phones that don't contain video cameras? Consider this the next time that some chairborne ranger in your favorite internet forum suggests that if you ever have to use your gun, make sure that the other guy is dead, so he can't testify against you.) http://reason.com/archives/2010/01/04/the-dc-snow-job -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. The tactics and skills to use a firearm in self-defense don't come naturally with the right to keep and bear arms. http://www.spw-duf.info