From SAF: Following the dismissal of a second lawsuit against the District of Columbia by Dick Anthony Heller in U.S. District Court (his first lawsuit resulted in the 2008 Heller ruling), the Brady Campaign for the Prevention of Gun Violence was a little too quick on the trigger in its press release applauding Judge Ricardo M. Urbina's decision. Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke, who has garnered quite a bit of self-created publicity lately in his war against Starbucks Coffee, admitted quite by accident that his organization still believes in banning entire classes of firearms, despite the 2008 Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller that such bans would not pass constitutional muster... The Brady Campaign has been disingenuous at best over the years. It was on the losing side in the Heller case, but subsequently turned around and claimed that since there is an individual right to keep and bear arms, and the door has been left open to "reasonable regulation," then it is reasonable, in their opinion, to essentially regulate gun ownership into extinction. The right would still exist, but exercising it would become a regulatory nightmare. The Brady Campaign is not now, nor has it ever been, to "prevent gun violence." Their campaign has always been to prevent gun ownership. http://www.saf.org/viewoe.asp?id=317 --- Heller 2 and Intermediate Scrutiny: This news is a couple of weeks old, but I don't think anyone here has discussed it yet: Last month a federal judge upheld the firearm regulations that Washington, D.C., enacted after the Supreme Court overturned its gun ban in the 2008 case D.C. v. Heller. Dick Heller, the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, challenged the new rules, arguing that D.C.'s onerous gun registration requirements, its ban on "assault weapons," and its prohibition of magazines holding more than 10 rounds violate the Second Amendment. U.S. District Judge Richard Urbina disagreed, saying all of the regulations are "substantially related to an important governmental interest," as required by "intermediate scrutiny." ... Urbina's application of intermediate scrutiny in this case amounts to asking whether D.C. officials claim to have good reasons for their regulations. He is not at all skeptical of their assertion that the District's complicated, frustrating, time-consuming requirements for gun ownership, which he notes "are more burdensome than those of most cities and states," will promote public safety. Likewise, he uncritically accepts the District's claims that "assault weapons are disproportionately likely to be used by criminals" and "are not generally recognized as particularly suitable or readily adaptable to sporting purposes," even though Heller refuted both of those assertions. Because the D.C. Council "held extensive hearings and heard from numerous witnesses," Urbina is not interested in considering the evidence on these issues... http://reason.com/blog/2010/04/07/dc-gun-regulations-upheld --- More States to Join FFA Lawsuit: The attorneys general for Utah and Wyoming said Wednesday that their states and South Dakota will join a federal lawsuit pending in Montana in which pro-gun groups are seeking to protect that state's sovereign right to regulate guns. The attorneys general confirmed that they plan to file a "friend of the court" brief in the Montana case this week, and that South Dakota also plans to join them. All the states involved have enacted "firearms freedom" laws that seek to exempt guns made and sold within their borders from federal regulation. Montana was the first state to pass such a law. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sparked the current legal fight when it wrote to all licensed gun dealers in the state last year telling them they were still bound by federal gun regulations. The Montana Shooting Sports Association and others then sued the federal government, which argued that Montana lacked authority to exempt guns from national gun control laws... http://cbs4denver.com/wireapnewswy/Utah.Wyoming.South.2.1617593.html --- Why Your Spouse Should Get Licensed to Carry: ... O.K. Now you've made up your mind, and you're going to go get the training you need to apply for an Ohio concealed handgun license (CHL). You may even have talked to me about one of my spring classes. If you've talked to me, you know I've mentioned this to you. If you have talked to some of the other people who are offering classes and training, chances are they did not mention the most important person in your life. That person is your spouse, your spouse-to-be in a coming wedding, your significant other, or just a close companion living in the same house with you. Have you ever stopped to think the potential ramifications of your having and holding a CHL and their not having one? Let's take a couple minutes to look at this seriously... (While the scenario depicted involves a Rule Five violation [not maintaining control of one's firearm], the same situation might apply in some states if the couple is together and the licensed spouse slips an unholstered handgun into a glove compartment or console for a quick trip into a school or a post office.) http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/7212 --- Is Your Physician Qualified to Advise on Firearm Safety?: In yesterday's Gun Rights Examiner column, we looked at a common practice among many physicians, particularly those associated with HMO/PPOs: Counseling patients who own guns to store them locked and separated from ammunition... Ten years ago or so, I read two articles that defined a unique approach for countering doctors counseling patients on guns,"Risk Management Advice to Physicians and their Insurers: Don't Borrow Trouble,"and "Physicians, Don't Borrow Trouble, Part II". They were written by Joe Horn*, a retired Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff and risk management consultant. He raised some points that intrigued me... Well, that's an interesting thought to add to the mix. I contacted Joe and asked if I could take his thesis and distill it into a form. He agreed, and working together, this is what we produced... (The only firearm questions my physician asks me is whether he made a wise choice in a purchase.) http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2010m4d7-Is-your-doctor-qualified-to-give-gun-safety-advice --- Empty-Holster Week: In the wake of campus tragedies such as the Virginia Tech shootings, students across the nation support concealed guns on college campuses. Texas A&M's chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is participating in the Empty Holster Protest this week. "The Empty Holster Protest is something that is done nationally every year with Students for Concealed Carry on Campus," said Lisa MacIntyre, a junior psychology major and public relations officer for the A&M chapter. "Basically, it's to raise awareness for the cause of concealed carry on campus. We're wanting to get people asking questions that way we can discuss it with them and tell them what we're all about, what we're fighting for." The A&M chapter of the national organization is expecting about 900 students to be on campus this week with empty holsters. The group serves as the lead organization for the state... "A&M is leading because the event is more than a protest for the organization," said Texas State Rifle Association Executive Director Charles Cotton... http://www.thebatt.com/news/students-protest-silently-with-empty-holsters-this-week-1.1307653 Members of a relatively new student group at Oakland [MI] University are walking around campus this week wearing empty holsters to promote their view that students should be able to carry concealed weapons on campus. The demonstration by OU Students for Concealed Carry on Campus - and an informal one that individuals from a non-campus group might stage today at an OU Board of Trustees meeting - prompted university police to alert the campus community Tuesday. The university put out a separate announcement last week. State law allows residents with permits to carry concealed weapons. But most state universities ban weapons on campus, permit or not... http://www.freep.com/article/20100407/NEWS05/4070331/1320/OU-students-protest-ban-of-guns-on-campus As previously reported, a group of Oakland University students is lobbying for the right to carry concealed weapons on campus despite a universitywide ban on civilians with guns. The group, OU Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, is led by student Jeffrey Lamkin. Reid Smith is the state director for SCCC. Lamkin and Smith believe that students should be able to carry a concealed firearm on campus to defend themselves from potential attacks. As expected, guns + college students = potential for heated debate. Scoping the Web, here's a smattering of what people are saying about the group's effort... http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2010/04/five_things_people_are_saying_2.html --- Louisiana Park-Carry Bill: A state lawmaker who describes himself as a strong Second Amendment supporter says there's no reason for special restrictions on individuals with concealed carry permits inside the Louisiana state parks system. State Sen. Troy Hebert of New Iberia has proposed a plan that would give state residents the right to get permits for concealed carry in state parks, a right they already have in national parks in the state. "Recently guns were prohibited in national parks and state parks," said Hebert, who filed SB 534. "There was an amendment put on a bill in Congress that struck down that law that banned guns in the national parks and it was signed by the president. So what we want to do is put the state parks in line with the national parks where law-abiding citizens can take their guns into the parks," he said... (I had been under the erroneous impression that carry in national parks was only legal if it was legal in state parks in that state but that condition does not appear to in the statute. NRA-ILA has links to the firearm regulations of the various national parks at http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?id=259&issue=003.) http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=137665 --- Meanwhile, in Maine...: A concerted effort in Maine to draw the line on national park visitors arming themselves has fallen short of the original goal. But the measure Governor John Baldacci signed this week will at least outlaw open carry in Acadia National Park. Among the groups seeking a complete ban on visitors carrying weapons in all national park units in Maine was the Friends of Acadia, a non-profit park advocacy group that never saw the wisdom in the weapons legislation that U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, deftly wielded through Congress by attaching the rule change to a popular credit card bill. While the initial intent behind the senator's amendment was to allow the carrying of concealed weapons in national parks - if the surrounding state's laws provided for concealed carry by permitted gun owners - the measure wound up allowing open carry as well. For years the Park Service had allowed legally licensed weapons owners to bring their firearms through parks, as long as they were broken down and out of reach. Many Second Amendment supporters railed against that provision, and the National Rifle Association helped Sen. Coburn rewrite the rules... http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2010/04/updated-effort-maine-restrict-guns-national-park-units-falls-short-goal5666 --- While in "Paradise"...: The government would not be allowed to seize legal firearms in emergencies under a measure that has passed both chambers of the Hawaii Legislature. The House approved the measure Tuesday, sending it to a conference committee for final negotiations. The proposal gained momentum after February's tsunami warning, when lawmakers said their constituents asked if their weapons could be taken in an emergency situation. Gun-rights activists have pursued this kind of law since Hurricane Katrina, when New Orleans police confiscated guns in an attempt to restore order. The bill prohibits the seizure of firearms or ammunition when the government invokes emergency powers during a disaster. (This is amazing for a state that is otherwise so unfriendly to the RKBA. Hawaii's governor, at least nominally, is a Republican; I hope this means she will sign the bill.) http://www.kpua.net/news.php?id=19983 --- Oops, Wrong House: A man in his 70s shot an intruder at inside his home here early Wednesday morning. The intruder was hit twice and flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. His injuries were described as non-life threatening. King County [WA] Sheriff spokesman John Urquhart said the homeowner heard someone outside his home just before 6 a.m., and when he opened a door to confront him the man burst inside the house. Urquhart said the intruder hit the homeowner on the head, and the older man went into another room, got a pistol and shot the intruder. The homeowner was being treated for a minor head injury.... (All's well that ends well but, aside from whether it made sense to open the door to confront a prowler, it certainly did not make sense to do so with the firearm in another room.) http://www.seattlepi.com/local/418043_shot07.html?source=mypi http://www.examiner.com/x-18149-SelfDefense-Examiner~y2010m4d7-Elderly-homeowner-shoots-violent-home-invader-in-self-defense --- Rule Four Reminder: A Transylvania County [NC] jury acquitted a man accused of involuntary manslaughter after he shot and killed a man while hunting in 2008. After Kyle Keith heard the verdict on Wednesday, he put his head in his hands and began to hug family and friends who filled several rows behind the defense table. Keith testified earlier in the day that he was certain he saw a deer through his rifle scope as he pulled the trigger on Dec. 13, 2008. "I waited until I was sure it was a deer," the Henderson County man said after taking the witness stand in his own defense. "That's when I fired. I was sure or I never would have taken a shot." The shot struck and killed Luciano Martinez, a 50-year-old Marshall man, who was picking galax on steep, densely wooded terrain in the Turkey Pen Gap area of Pisgah National Forest. On cross-examination in a Transylvania County courtroom, Assistant District Attorney Doug Mundy questioned Keith's assertion there was no doubt in his mind he was firing at a deer. "So you're saying Mr. Martinez looked like a deer?" the prosecutor asked. "No sir," he replied... (Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it.) http://www.citizen-times.com/article/2010304080020 After listening to his neighbors complain last night about his backyard target shooting, Mark Demas wanted to set one thing straight. "It has stopped," he told a reporter. Demas said he never intended for any bullets to travel beyond his property in eastern Delaware County on March 12 when one apparently hit his neighbor's home. "It wasn't as random and unsafe as they're making it out to be," said Demas, who agreed to have his name published. His neighbor Don Pearse and several others who live near Demas attended a Trenton Township trustees meeting to push for stricter oversight of target-shooting ranges on private property. Pearse's home was hit by a bullet last month for the second time in two years. Last night, he asked the trustees the same question he has posed to the county sheriff, prosecutors and state lawmakers. "When will it be safe? When someone gets killed?" Trustee Mark Almendinger said he sympathizes, but the township doesn't have the power to change the state law that allows rural Ohioans to fire guns on their own land. Almendinger urged Pearse and others to call the sheriff's office if they hear shots... http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/04/08/property-owner-says-he-no-longer-uses-shooting-range.html? --- Freedom Group Deciding Where to Build Marlin Firearms: The Freedom Group has said it is evaluating several relocation options and will announce the future production site of Marlin firearms when a final decision is made. Freedom Group announced last week that it will close the Marlin Firearms facility in North Haven, Conn, but hadn't committed to the line's continuation. "As competition in today's global marketplace remains intense, consolidation of our manufacturing processes and operating systems allow us to provide Marlin customers with the highest quality products at competitive prices," said Ted Torbeck, Freedom Group CEO. "We are committed to the Marlin brand, its core product offerings and bringing innovative new Marlin firearms to our customers." (Freedom Group is a division of Cerberus Capital Management. Initial reports suggested that Marlin production would shift to the Remington plant in North Carolina.) http://www.gunreports.com/news/news/Freedom-Group-Marlin-Firearms_1969-1.html?ET=gunreports:e683:183810a:&st=email --- Tangentially Related: A battle is intensifying in the Senate over the appeals court nomination of Goodwin Liu, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley whom some Democrats consider a potential nominee one day to the Supreme Court. Democrats vowed Wednesday to press ahead with plans for an April 16 Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A day earlier, the GOP demanded a delay and suggested that Liu's nomination might be in jeopardy because he had not provided enough information to the panel. Activists on both the left and right view Liu's nomination as a practice run for the next Supreme Court vacancy, which could come as soon as this year if Justice John Paul Stevens retires [emphasis added]... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/07/AR2010040703034.html --- From AzCDL: The latest word from the Capitol is that, even though it is not yet on the legislature's web site, the Constitutional Carry bill will receive its final House vote TOMORROW, 4/8/10. SB 1108 is the Senate version of the Constitutional Carry bill. Since the House has already voted for an identical bill, HB 2347, during their Committee of the Whole (COW) debate, we are expecting SB 1108 to be substituted for HB 2347 during the House Third Read. This will be "the" final vote on Constitutional Carry to determine if it will be sent to the Governor! Your Representatives need to hear from YOU. We expect this vote is to be very close and it is not guaranteed. Only your pressure can insure its passage. We need to make sure that every pro-rights Representative is at the Capitol, in their seat, and ready to vote for this historic bill! AzCDL's Action Center letter has been updated to reflect tomorrow's scheduled vote. If you haven't sent your letter already, this is your last chance to really make a difference. If you have already sent your letter, feel free to send the updated version: http://azcdl.capwiz.com/azcdl/issues/alert/?alertid=14824091 Stay tuned! When critical legislation moves, we will notify you via these Alerts. If you want to get legislative news as it happens, follow AzCDL on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AzCDL_Alerts . AzCDL "tweets" from the Capitol with committee votes and breaking news as it happens. You can also follow AzCDL on Facebook:http://tinyurl.com/FacebookAzCDL . AzCDL's Political Action Committee (PAC) is also onFacebook: http://tinyurl.com/FacebookAzCDLPAC . These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens DefenseLeague (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassrootsorganization. Join today! http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html . AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom http://www.azcdl.org/html/accomplishments.html .