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“A California lawmaker has stepped into a growing gun rights debate by introducing legislation that would essentially outlaw what’s called the ‘open carry’ of unloaded weapons on public property. The measure, which was first introduced last month but is not expected to have its first hearing until April, is meant to address the growing ‘open carry’ movement, in which some gun owners have taken to meeting in coffee shops, parks and restaurants while wearing holstered weapons to raise awareness about gun rights. ‘People should be free from the fear and the potential for violence firearms represent,’ said Democratic Assembly Member Lori Saldana of San Diego, in a statement. ‘These displays of firearms can create potentially dangerous situations.’” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ydzsqsh | |
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“An 18-year-old Madison man comes home to find an intruder in his house and has no idea if his sleeping parents are OK. When instincts take over he doesn’t wait for police. It’s one of those situations that doesn’t leave you with a whole lot of time to think. When it happened to a high school student earlier this week he says he ‘did what he had to do.’” (03/09/10) Link: http://www.nbc15.com/news/headlines/87111457.html | |
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“A South Bakersfield, California grandfather reportedly held an intruder at gunpoint while his wife called the police. Police say that the 70 year old homeowner, who has health issues, was at home with his wife and grandson during the early afternoon, when the 9 year old boy noticed that a light was left on unexpectedly. The grandmother reportedly found signs of a burglary, at which point the grandfather grabbed his handgun. Upstairs, the couple found an armed intruder hiding in the bathroom, police say. The intruder is said to have pointed a rifle at the grandfather, at which point the grandfather fired a shot that missed but caused the intruder to give up and lay on the floor.” (03/06/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yeyour2 | |
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“Coffee chain Starbucks Corp. is sticking to its policy of letting customers carry guns where it’s legal and said it does not want to be put in the middle of a larger gun-control debate. The company’s statement, issued Wednesday, stems from recent campaign by some gun owners, who have walked into Starbucks and other businesses to test state laws that allow gun owners to carry weapons openly in public places. Gun control advocates have protested.” (03/03/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yl975ms | |
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“A Pueblo West intruder was shot in the leg early Wednesday and has been transported to a Denver hospital for treatment, according to sheriff’s investigators. … ‘A male party was in the home, (he was) not known by the residents there. He was on the couch. We don’t know what happened in the house, but they confronted the man and a family member of the homeowner shot the man in the left leg with a 40-caliber handgun,’ Deputy Laurie Kilpatrick of the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office said this morning.” (03/03/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yak4jzl | |
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“During spirited arguments Tuesday, the Supreme Court appeared ready to rule that the Second Amendment right to bear arms covers gun regulations in states and cities. Several key justices, including Anthony Kennedy, signaled they believe the right to firearms is sufficiently ‘fundamental’ that it should cover people challenging state and local gun laws, as well as federal laws.” (03/02/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yzspuad | |
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“Dale Welch recently walked into a Starbucks in Virginia, handgun strapped to his waist, and ordered a banana Frappuccino with a cinnamon bun. Welch’s foray into the coffeehouse was part of an effort by some gun owners to exercise and advertise their rights in states that allow people to openly carry firearms. Even in some ‘open carry’ states, businesses are allowed to ban guns in their stores. And some have, creating political confrontations with gun owners. But Starbucks, the largest chain targeted, has refused to take the bait, saying in a statement this month that it follows state and local laws and has its own safety measures in its stores.” (03/01/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yekypt3 | |
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“Police say a man tried to break into a home in the 4000 block of Haverstraw Drive around 4 p.m. this afternoon. When the residents wouldn’t let him in, police say he went to the back of the home and broke a window. A fight ensued with the residents, who then shot the suspect twice. He was transported to Bethesda North where he is listed in stable condition.” (02/28/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yzfv6yl | |
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“A couple worries that burglars who tried to break in when the wife was home alone will return. A retiree fears the drug dealers and junkies just outside his window will attempt — again — to steal what he spent a lifetime earning. And a businessman wants to protect himself as he could when he was a police officer. Together, they are the face of the most serious challenge yet to Chicago’s 28-year-old handgun ban.” (03/01/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yllx8bv | |
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“The U.S. Supreme Court is about to take dead aim at the fierce debate over gun regulations in cities and states across the country, with California’s strict gun-control laws squarely in the cross hairs of the legal showdown. The justices on Tuesday will hear arguments in a challenge to a Chicago area ban on handguns and semiautomatic weapons, weighing for the first time whether the Second Amendment right to bear arms applies to local and state gun regulations. For a state such as California, which has long been a target of gun rights advocates for a slew of firearms regulations, a Supreme Court ruling extending Second Amendment protections to cities and states could open the floodgates to a new generation of lawsuits.” (02/28/10) Link: http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14489424 | |
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“When Michael Allsop heard his bedroom window shatter, police said, he ran into his bathroom and called 911. But when he saw two hands reach into his house, he put down the phone and picked up his 9mm pistol. The 59-year-old homeowner opened fire Wednesday morning, wounding a would-be burglar.” (02/25/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yahfguk | |
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“A 33-year-old female intruder was shot in the chest this weekend and jailed when she broke a house window and stuck her head through the hole after the resident had warned that he had a gun, San Bernardino County sheriff’s officials say. The gunfire erupted Saturday along the 10300 block of Maple Lane. The resident had phoned deputies, saying someone was trying to break into his home, investigators said in a written statement.” (02/22/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ye9gph3 | |
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“Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Department deputies are looking for a man who shot a Monroe Township dog, burst into a home and then evaded the owner’s return gunfire early Monday morning. The dog, a German shepherd, was shot three times but survived the attack, deputies said. The owner wasn’t injured, and deputies are unsure if the other man was wounded.” (02/16/10) Link: http://www.starbeacon.com/local/local_story_047193255.html | |
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“A King County Superior Court judge has ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by the Second Amendment Foundation and National Rifle Association, striking down a ban on guns in city parks because it violates Washington State’s long-standing preemption statute. Judge Catherine Shaffer ruled from the bench that the gun ban, adopted under former Mayor Greg Nickels, violates Washington’s law, which placed sole authority for regulating firearms in the hands of the State Legislature.” (02/15/10) Link: http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=3843 | |
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“A Douglas County man who was watching a home for a friend shot at an intruder in the home as he fled but missed, authorities said. The man arrived at the house, southeast of Bridgeport, to find the door open and burglars inside, said Douglas County Sheriff Harvey Gjesdal. … When deputies arrived, they searched the home and found a 20-year-old Bridgeport man hiding in the bathroom. He had injuries from a saw he pulled on top of himself when the other suspect fled, he said. He was treated by an ambulance crew, the sheriff said.” (02/13/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ycenywz | |
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“Officers were called around 11 p.m. Wednesday to a house in the 1200 block of Magnolia. The homeowner told them he shot three times at two would-be burglars. Not long after that a man showed up at a fire station on 36th Street with three gunshot wounds.” (02/11/10) Link: http://bit.ly/akWagB | |
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“A Modesto, California woman reportedly used her gun to fend off a burglar. Police say the woman walked into her home, and found a burglar. She reportedly feared for her safety, grabbed her gun, and fired a shot at the burglar, causing him to flee. The burglar, who was apparently not hit, fled the scene, leaving the woman unharmed, police say.” (02/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yz88har | |
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“Columbus police were called to the 1100 block of McCarley Drive at about 12:49 p.m. on reports of a shooting. Officers found 18-year-old Ronnie P. Dowell inside his Southwest Side apartment with a gunshot wound to the head. … Investigation indicated a male suspect forced his way into a rear door of the residence and confronted the victim and two other residents, according to a police report. The report said shots were exchanged and the suspect fled the apartment.” (02/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ygn3nym | |
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“The United States has made its first response to a lawsuit filed in federal district court in Missoula to test the Montana Firearms Freedom Act (MFFA), passed by the 2009 Legislature and signed into law by Governor Schweitzer. The MFFA declares that any firearms, ammunition or firearms accessories made and retained in Montana are not subject to federal regulation under the power given to Congress in the U.S. Constitution to regulate commerce ‘among the several states.’” (02/08/10) Link: http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=3800 | |
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“Three intruders fled from an Oklahoma City home this morning after being shot at by the home owner, police said. … The intruders forced the residents into a back bedroom when the homeowner shot one of the intruders. The intruders fled in a dark-colored SUV, police said. Police said the homeowner said he recognized one of the suspects. Subsequently police arrested 30-year-old Eric Kutz as well as a 14-year-old male. Police said Kutz was transported to an area hospital to receive treatment for his injuries.” (02/02/10) Link: http://www.news9.com/Global/story.asp?S=11918427 | |
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“Fueled by a deep resentment of the federal government and Tea Party fervor, lawmakers advanced a pair of bills Tuesday aimed at enabling Utah to opt out of national health-reform efforts and federal firearms laws. Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, would exempt firearms manufactured and sold entirely within Utah from any federal regulations, including criminal background checks and bans on certain types of weapons and ammunition.” (02/02/10) Link: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14320224 | |
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“The ray gun is real … or at least it will be soon. The U.S. Army is betting big on laser warfare — designing, testing and perfecting ultra-precise weapons based on devastatingly powerful beams of light. And given recent developments, it’s only a matter of time until the military has in its arsenal a weapon that until now has been the staple of science fiction — the ray gun. Set your phasers to kill. Boeing, one of the Pentagon’s top contractors, already has a laser weapon that will improve the military’s ability to counter artillery, mortar, drone aircraft and even rockets, a spokesman tells FoxNews.com.” (01/21/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ygbfwxj | |
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“Police said a convenience store clerk shot a would-be robber early Friday morning. According to investigators, a man armed with a rifle walked into a convenience store in the 5900 block of Leavenworth Road just after midnight. The clerk was not behind the counter. Police said he was in a back room and spotted the man with the gun when he came out. Police said a shot was fired, and they believe the man armed with a rifle was wounded. The man fled the store.” (01/15/10) Link: http://www.kmbc.com/news/22245555/detail.html | |
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“The homeowner said she and her 11-year-old son were in bed when she heard banging coming from the front door. She got up to check and she saw two Hispanic males men wearing masks and armed with handguns walking towards her. She quickly closed the bedroom door but one of the men allegedly tried to force it open. … the home invaders shot through the door and hit her son on the left hip area. Her son had a 22 cal. Rifle and shot back at the alleged robbers. … Deputies found blood all over the floor and noted that the front door had been knocked down.” (01/15/10) Link: http://www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=402271 | |
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I have been unable to post since January 10. There are a few stories on the website posted by our other editors. One of my dogs, my Irish setter Ginger, suddenly became very ill Jan.9 and was diagnosed with lymphoma, she has been in a canine oncology hospital since Wed and I have barely been able to keep my household (animal and human) and day job going, so Rational Review gave me ‘time off’. I hope to be able to return to posting this week. Link: http://rationalreview.com/2am | |
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“A 22-year-old was killed late Sunday after he and an accomplice broke into a house in the 5700 block of Sussex Street. … Willie Lee Baker told police he arrived home during the robbery and confronted the suspects. Taylor shot Baker, 29, in the leg as the two began to fight, police said. Baker managed to take the gun and shot Taylor once in the head.” (01/11/10) Link: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20100111/NEWS03/100111011/1062 | |
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“Charges are pending against a man who was shot in the chest by a Jarales resident while allegedly trying to break in.Valencia County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Trujillo said the shooting occurred shortly after midnight on New Years Day at a house on Mill Road.According to the deputy, the homeowner, whose name has not been released, heard someone trying to break into his home and called 911. When the suspect entered the house, the homeowner shot him once in the chest, Trujillo said.” (01/06/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ybkq58j | |
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“He crossed the wrong clerk. Merced police say a robbery attempt at a neighborhood market went awry Wednesday, after the store clerk fired upon the robber. The robbery attempt was reported around 3:45 p.m. at the Food Center store, located at 1150 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, according to Lt. Andre Matthews. A masked gunman entered the store, demanding cash from an employee, Matthews said.Meanwhile, another employee who was standing in another part of the store observed the gunman. That clerk armed himself with a handgun and fired one shot. The robber, who wasn’t hit, fled the scene on foot.” (01/07/10) Link: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/168/story/1261133.html | |
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“Philadelphia police were continuing ther investigation on Wednesday afternoon of the fatal early-morning shooting of a robbery suspect by an off-duty officer. Authorities say the traffic cop was driving his own car near 7th and Willow Streets, just north of Callowhill, about 3:30am when a man jumped in, demanded cash and jewelry, and hit the officer with a gun: ‘During the course of the confrontation, the officer was able to get to his weapon. It was discharged, and the male was struck.’ Lt. Frank Vanore says 23-year-old suspect Altariq Hutchinson of Edgewater Park (Burlington County) NJ, was pronounced dead a short time later at the hospital.” (01/06/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ycotp5q | |
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“A Gastonia man who heard a robber in his house said he confronted the intruder with a shotgun Sunday night. Preston Jeter, 17, is the man victim Kenneth Watson said he found in his home. Brandon Cobb, also 17, was arrested as Jeter’s alleged accomplice. The two are also suspected of breaking into and robbing the home of one of Watson’s neighbors before coming to his home. Watson was in his home off Bethany Road when he heard glass breaking and said he saw Jeter coming in the door with a hammer. ‘I said ‘this guy came to rob me,’ so I grabbed my gun,’ Watson said. Watson said Jeter waved the hammer at him, but dropped it and fled when the homeowner raised his shotgun.” (01/04/10) Link: http://www.wsoctv.com/news/22122338/detail.html | |
Commentary
jump to News Section | jump to Events and Movement News Section
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“The current Supreme Court has a golden opportunity to set the record straight with regards to individual guns rights under the 2nd Amendment. The debate over the years has been very contentious with both sides misquoting the Founders’ statements about gun rights to suit their purposes. The Founders made a lot of statements about gun rights and how they apply to citizen militias. Understanding that at that time citizen militias meant ‘all citizens capable of military service’ it is easy to come to the conclusion that the 2nd Amendment bestows a right to gun ownership to all individual Americans. Fortunately for America, it appears the Supreme Court will come to the same conclusion later this year.” (03/11/10) Link: http://www.nolanchart.com/article7495.html | |
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“Madison writing in the Federalist Papers knew that no matter how many weapons systems are in service to protecting the establishment powers, nothing can prevent the people from eventually reaching a point where merely by refusing to cooperate the system collapses in on itself. It’s not just guns that would come out in the streets when that happens. It would be SUV’s, iPhones, IEDs, and — in general — the indignation and ingenuity of millions of people who have their garages, attics, and basements filled with so much lethal junk that even I — a science-fiction writer — can’t imagine the havoc they could create if the Middle Class American ever really got pissed off. The Supreme Court of the United States is the mediator between a nation of potential revolutionary maniacs and an establishment that exists — no shit, really — only by their sufferance.” (03/10/10) Link: http://jneilschulman.rationalreview.com/2010/03/a-bad-case-of-liberty/ | |
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The trouble with “incorporating” the Second Amendment
Source: Campaign For Liberty Author: Jack Hunter “When the City of Chicago banned all handguns recently, countless Americans rightly cried foul. When it looked like the Supreme Court might overturn the ban, gun-rights advocates cheered the decision. But while their heart is in the right place, their enthusiasm is not, as what gun-rights advocates are really cheering is the federal government assuming even more power.” (03/10/10) Link: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=678 | |
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“What could be better for rabid Walmart-hating lefties than a shooting at Walmart? On Sunday an off-duty sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a man who burst into a Walmart during a gunfight with police in Commerce, Texas (60 miles northeast of Dallas). What could be better for rabid gun-hating lefties than a shooting anywhere? On Monday a man wounded a father and son in a Dallas office building and then shot himself in the head when police arrived. There just has to be a way to spin this to the benefit of the Kill Zone-creating self-defense deniers on the political left.” (03/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yf372ta | |
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“McDonald v. City of Chicago, a Supreme Court case in which oral arguments took place Tuesday, is perhaps one of the most important cases since the end of the War for Southern Independence. The case deals with a patently un-American handgun ban in Chicago. Fortunately, it appears the court is going to rule the ban unconstitutional and return a little bit of freedom to the American people.” (03/07/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ylhzas4 | |
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“Over the years the distinction between public and private spaces has become obscured. Which is why Starbucks is finding it so difficult to insist that customers do not carry weapons while in their establishment. It is because over the last several decades a doctrine of public accommodation has developed in the law such that when some area is adjacent to a public sphere — a street or road or park — it no longer enjoys private property rights, the authority to determine what happens there.” (03/04/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ydcdyky | |
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Have your next Tea Party at Starbucks!
Source: J. Neil Schulman @ Rational Review Author: J. Neil Schulman “In an age when Tea Party is supposed to describe a political movement, I’ve often wondered at how few actual beverages are involved. I mean, the actual Boston Tea Party was a minor bit of terrorism to protest a tax on tea. It was a one-time deal. Nobody was going out every weekend dumping tea in Boston Harbor. It’s no wonder the focus of a movement that started out with Ron Paul supporters looking for something else to do when the 2008 candidacy of Ron Paul ended quickly lost its focus, then becoming targets for hostile takeovers by establishment Republicans and neocons. But Starbucks — which does actually sell real cups of tea — now finds itself, willy nilly, at the center of a controversy that would be of interest to many real grassroots Tea Party activists.” (03/06/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yarpfvg | |
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“Scalia asked Gura early in his 20 minutes of argument time on Tuesday: ‘Mr. Gura, do you think it is at all easier to bring the Second Amendment under the Privileges and Immunities Clause than it is to bring it under our established law of substantive due … process? … Why are you asking us to overrule 150, 140 years of prior law, when — when you can reach your result under substantive due — I mean, you know, unless you are bucking for a — a place on some law school faculty …?’ Scalia, reputedly a constitutional originalist, flashed some ugly colors with that laugh-provoking comment: He’d rather go with the easy precedential flow — even given a substantive due process argument that he openly admits he thinks is wrong but which he’s ‘acquiesced’ to — th[a]n vindicate the actual intentions of the framers of a very important constitutional amendment.” (03/04/10) Link: http://reason.com/archives/2010/03/04/guns-for-all-privileges-and-im | |
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WA: Supreme Court Justice authors significant gun rights ruling
Source: Liberty For All Author: Alan M. Gottlieb “The Washington State Supreme Court has issued a precedent-setting opinion in the case of State v. Christopher William Sieyes which holds that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights ‘applies to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment.’ This outstanding opinion was authored by Justice Richard B. Sanders, a Supreme Court veteran who clearly understands the history of both the state and federal constitutional right to keep and bear arms.” (03/04/10) Link: http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=3930 | |
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“Where in the Constitution is the U.S. Supreme Court even authorized to ‘interpret’ that same document? And if numerous rulings by that same body have held the the amendment in question guarantees an individual right to both keep and bear arms, doesn’t and shouldn’t that make all further discussion moot? If it is generally and historically accepted that self-defense is a right of all individual human beings before the sheer lunacy of government-creation even begins, doesn’t it qualify, rather, as mere common sense (partial apologies to Thomas Paine) rather than something that must be legislated and then endlessly challenged, interpreted, and intersticed with myriads of exceptions and special qualifications?” (03/03/10) Link: http://c4ss.org/content/1976 | |
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“Bearing arms in DC,” featuring Tom G. Palmer. [MP3] (03/03/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/cato030310 | |
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“Imagine you are a visitor from another planet reading the U.S. Constitution. You come to the 14th Amendment, where it says: ‘No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.’ Might you not think this must be a pretty important provision? Now suppose you are told that, for over 135 years, the Supreme Court has, with one exception, entirely ignored that language. Might you question whether Supreme Court justices were bound by the written Constitution? Had you been seated in the Supreme Court yesterday to hear oral arguments in McDonald v. Chicago, your suspicions might well have been confirmed.” (03/02/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ycblehh | |
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“In the 2008 Heller decision, the Supreme Court struck down Washington, D.C.’s handgun ban and gunlock requirements. Unsurprisingly, gun control advocates predicted disaster. They were wrong. What actually happened in our nation’s capital after the Heller decision ought to be remembered tomorrow as the Supreme Court hears a similar constitutional challenge to the Chicago handgun ban. … Armageddon never arrived. Quite the contrary, murders in Washington plummeted by an astounding 25 percent in 2009, dropping from 186 murders in 2008 to 140. That translates to a murder rate that is now down to 23.5 per 100,000 people, Washinton’s lowest since 1967.” (03/01/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ybfzdle | |
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“In the landmark case District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court found that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. Because the District is a federal enclave, however, the court stopped short of deciding whether the Second Amendment applies to the states — and whether individuals can assert its protections against gun regulations in places like Chicago, New York and San Francisco.” (03/02/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yfdjegf | |
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“At the end of the day, McDonald is likely to be a repeat of the Heller decision, incorporating the Second Amendment in a narrow 5-4 decision. However, the decision presents the thorny question of how far lawyers should go in advocating particular ideological views that may detrimental to their clients. The most clean-cut and powerful argument for incorporation of the Second Amendment is undoubtedly based on the decades of Supreme Court precedent incorporating various Bill of Rights protections under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. However, application of the Privileges or Immunities Clause might result in a broader and more unrestricted right to bear arms. This is the tension at the heart of the McDonald case.” (03/02/10) Link: http://spectator.org/archives/2010/03/02/guns-before-the-court | |
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“Why McDonald matters,” featuring Timothy Sandefur. [MP3] (03/02/10) Link: http://preview.tinyurl.com/cato030210 | |
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“He’s like a playground bully — on steroids! According to a recent poll, only 23% of the American people want Congress to pass the anti-gun ObamaCare bill. And the President’s response to this? He believes Americans are just too stupid to understand what geniuses like him, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid are trying to do for us.” (03/01/10) Link: http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=3903 | |
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“When the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on March 2, 2010 in the landmark gun rights case McDonald v. Chicago, the Second Amendment won’t be the only thing on the justices’ minds. That’s because when it comes to protecting constitutional rights from the depredations of state and local governments, the Court must obey the 14th Amendment, which commands: ‘No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.’ McDonald will therefore turn on whether the right to keep and bear arms applies to Chicago via the 14th Amendment’s Privileges or Immunities Clause or via its Due Process Clause.” (02/26/10) Link: http://reason.com/archives/2010/02/26/getting-the-14th-amendment-rig | |
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A brief history of British gun control (or, how to disarm the law abiding populace by stealth)
Source: The Libertarian Enterprise Author: PA Luty “In 1900 the British government trusted the people with firearms and to be their own guardians. Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, the Marquess of Salisbury said he would ‘laud the day when there was a rifle in every cottage in England.’ However in 1903 Britain passed its first ever ‘gun control’ law, a minor one requiring a permit to carry a handgun and restricting the age of purchasers. It was the first toe over a slippery slope towards complete firearms prohibition. In 1919 the British government, in fear of communist insurgents and domestic and foreign anarchists, passed its first sweeping anti-gun laws (under the smokescreen of crime control) even though gun related crime was almost non existent in the England of the day. British subjects could now only buy a firearm if they could show ‘a good reason’ for having one and the firearm certificate system that we have today (implemented and abused by police) was introduced.” (02/21/10) Link: http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2010/tle558-20100221-07.html | |
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“Among the many groups that opposed Barack Obama’s presidential race, few were more certain or vehement than gun rights organizations. ‘Barack Obama would be the most anti-gun president in American history,’ the National Rifle Association announced. ‘Obama is a committed anti-gunner,’ warned Gun Owners of America. So it’s no stunner that after a year in office, the president is getting hammered by people who have no use for his policy on firearms. The surprise is that the people attacking him are those who favor gun control, not those who oppose it.” (02/15/10) Link: http://reason.com/archives/2010/02/15/obama-spurns-gun-control | |
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“Many opponents of gun control support the war on drugs, and many critics and reformers of America’s drug laws tend to believe in gun control. Conservatives tend to fall into the first category and liberals into the second. In reality, these two issues are more similar than many people might think.” (02/11/10) Link: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=592 | |
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“1.Assume all guns are always loaded … Self explanatory. Everytime you pick up a gun, always treat it as if it were loaded. Check to ensure that it is in the desired condition. Be certain that it’s loaded before placing on your nighstand/holster; or at the range always take a sec to be sure you’re loaded and [have] one chambered before the start of a drill. Conversely, always double check to see that it’s empty before disassembling for cleaning or dry practice. When you get distracted or put your down for even a sec re-check it once you pick it up again. You have nothing to lose by double checking it’s status but to cut corners even once is to invite unnecessary tragedy.” (02/07/10) Link: http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2010/tle556-20100207-06.html | |
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“Alan Gura, lawyer for the Chicago plaintiffs whose right to effectively defend their lives in their own homes has been abridged by the city’s ban on handgun possession, previously won 2008’s D.C. v. Heller, the case establishing that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess weapons against federal encroachment. Gura is responsible, then, for the rehabilitation and revival of one constitutional amendment already. In McDonald, rather than merely extending the Second’s reach, he is aiming to rehabilitate and revive the 14th Amendment as well. However, the Supreme Court’s decision in late January to grant 10 of Gura’s 30 minutes of oral argument time to the National Rifle Association (NRA) seems likely to hurt chances that the Court will take the more dramatic route laid before them.” (02/10/10) Link: http://reason.com/archives/2010/02/10/the-nra-muscles-into-mcdonald | |
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“Around the country, twenty two states are currently considering a bill known as the ‘Firearms Freedom Act.’ This bill declares that guns, accessories, and ammunition made within a state, sold within that state and kept in that state are not subject to federal laws or regulations under the ‘Interstate Commerce Clause’ of the Constitution. Montana and Tennessee passed a Firearms Freedom Act into law in 2009, and a number of states are moving that direction in the 2010 legislative session.” (02/08/10) Link: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=591 | |
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Cartoon. (02/06/10) Link: http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=3787 | |
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Reason number 97 why you should never comply with a law requiring you to register anything
Source: Disloyal Opposition Author: JD Tuccille “I’ve never understood the urge that some people have to ‘register’ allegedly dangerous objects, substances or creatures with the government. Fans of registration act shocked that anybody could object — after all, we get to keep our dogs, guns, cars and what have you — without acknowledging that their preferred policies fail to minimize the supposed risks of whatever they’ve targeted while maximizing the dangers inherent in forcing public interaction with law-enforcement. Take the case of Joe Fiorito. He’s a columnist for the Toronto Star and a citizen of the land up north where ownership of anything that goes ‘BANG’ is tightly regulated by the government. A generally reliable fan of the expansive state, Fiorito has acquired a new-found skepticism toward gun registration after a recent run-in with the law.” (02/04/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/y9ldu7o | |
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“Give me your tired (of liberty-haters) …”
Source: Albuquerque Libertarian Examiner Author: Kent McManigal “Comparing America and England, and the respective dominant ‘cultures’ of each, gave me an idea. Why not encourage all the gun-haters and otherwise self-hating, socialism-loving people to emigrate to England where guns are illegal and where self-defense is now routinely punished more harshly than aggression? Then there would be plenty of room to encourage all the freedom-loving people of England to immigrate, with or without government ‘permission,’ to America.” (02/01/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/y8z9s2f | |
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“Mr. Mitchener handed over his driver’s license and a concealed carry permit. ‘Officer Rogers immediately asked if I had a weapon on me, to which I replied yes. She asked me to turn around, spread my legs and place my hands behind my back, to which I complied. As she attempted to handcuff me, she said that she was doing this because she ‘wanted everyone to be safe.’ …’ The officer was so short she had to keep asking Charlie to bend his knees to make himself ’shorter’ as she struggled to get the job done.” (01/31/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/y9a4xm3 | |
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“A rash of recent letters to the Post-Dispatch supported the unfettered, fundamental Constitutional right to keep and bear arms (2nd Amendment). One letter suggested that if more people were armed, people might think twice about doing bad things. Curiously, however, the author went on to say: ‘I don’t mean that everyone should be able to carry a gun, just the folks who have applied for a concealed-carry permit and have completed the proper courses.’ Now, I’m confused. Do 2nd Amendment supporters believe in restrictions or not?” (01/21/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yz7bbzv | |
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“The New York Times has another silly editorial on gun control. The paper’s editorial board is calling for a renewal of the assault-weapons ban, which expired in 2004. The paper’s justification? ‘A survey of more than 130 local police chiefs and officials found 37 percent reporting an increase in assault weapons in street crime,’ along with other evidence indicating an increased criminal use of assault weapons.” (01/19/10) Link: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=537 | |
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“The Albuquerque theater negligent discharge incident has some very instructive lessons for those of us rational enough to pick them out. This case, making the unfounded assumption that the media reports are correct, concerns a man who had his revolver slip out of his pocket during a movie, hit the floor and discharge, striking a woman in the foot. Of course, this has the hoplophobes wriggling with scarcely-concealed glee. They see it as an opportunity to further criminalize guns and gun owners. Even the police are calling the shooting ‘accidental’ yet are charging the man in connection with the shooting.” (01/18/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yznvlwg | |
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“By the end of the month, President Barack Obama is expected to give the State of the Union address. Oh, what a year it’s been. It was almost a year ago that President Obama took his oath of office. But soon after he raised his right hand and promised to ‘preserve, protect and defend’ the Constitution, Americans became engaged in the fight of their lives to safeguard their liberties. The extremist Obama administration began pushing an anti-gun, socialistic agenda of the kind that most Americans have not seen in their lifetimes.” (01/18/10) Link: http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=3692 | |
Events and Movement News
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NH: 2009 National 4th Annual Live Free Or Die Rally
Source: Live Free or Die Rally Event Date(s): 08/21/09 - 08/23/09 “The All Free, Only TRUE First Amendment Rally in the U.S. AUGUST 21, 22, 23, 2009 …. The National Annual N.H. State Live Free Or Die Rally is a non partisan, non aligned, non profit, all free true First Amendment event advocating freedom of speech, rights to redress with gathering and providing opportunity for the public, appropriate advocacy groups, legislators, politicians of all parties to come together on Common ground under one tent with tolerance once a year to discuss, share or review controversial topics.” Link: http://livefreeordierally.com/node/1 | |
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Alan Gottlieb, founder of The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arm, joins host Kenneth John. 9-10am Central on WRMN 1410 AM, Elgin, IL or live on the web. [live radio or stream] (07/27/09) Link: http://freedomrings.net/ | |
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Mike Hammond, a consultant for Gun Owners of America, joins host Kenneth John. 9-10am Central on WRMN 1410 AM, Elgin, IL or live on the web. [live radio or stream] (01/26/09) Link: http://www.freedomrings.net/ | |
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Is the Second Amendment an Individual Right?
Source: Independent Institute Event Date(s): June 9,2008 Last year, a federal appeals court overturned the District of Columbia’s ban on handguns. Now the U.S. Supreme Court will decide the case after nearly seventy years of silence on the Second Amendment. Observers expect the Court to finally settle the legal question of whether the constitutional ‘right of the people to keep and bear arms’ is an individual right held by all, or a ‘collective right’ of the state governments to maintain militias. What did the Founders intend when they drafted the Second Amendment? Please join us as constitutional legal scholar and Independent Institute Research Fellow Stephen P. Halbrook and George Mason University Law School legal historian Joyce Lee Malcolm examine these issues. Wine & Cheese Reception 5:00 pmProgram 6:00-7:00 pmQ & A to follow The Independent Institute,1319 Eighteenth Street, N.W.Washington, D.C. (06/04/08) Link: http://www.independent.org/events/detail.asp?eventID=137 | |
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“A gunman has opened fire with a rifle in a shopping centre in the US state of Nebraska, killing eight people before fatally shooting himself, police say. A further five people were wounded — two critically — in the shooting at the Westroads Mall in Omaha. Police have identified the gunman as Robert Hawkins, 19, from Bellevue, close to Omaha. They said a suicide note had been recovered. Hawkins struck as the centre was crowded with Christmas shoppers. Witnesses spoke of shoppers screaming and scrambling to find safe shelter as the gunman struck.” [editor’s note: Naturally, no witnesses spoke of the armed citizen who put this animal down BEFORE he had time to shoot 13 people and himself. Why? Because there were almost certainly “no guns” signs posted at the entrances to the mall pursuant to the idiotic agenda of declaring such places to be free-fire zones for people who don’t obey such signs - TLK] (12/06/07) Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7129906.stm | |
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“On April 16, 2007, twenty-seven students and five faculty members at Virginia Tech lost their lives to a madman who possessed one distinct advantage over his victims — He was not concerned with following the rules. Undeterred by Virginia Tech’s status as a ‘gun free zone,’ this mentally unstable individual carried two handguns onto the university campus and indiscriminately opened fire. During the week of October 22-27, 2007, college students throughout America will attend classes wearing empty holsters, in protest of state laws and campus policies that stack the odds in favor of armed killers by disarming law abiding citizens who are licensed to carry concealed handguns virtually everywhere else.” (10/09/07) Link: http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/article3989.html | |
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“In honor of the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic ‘March on Washington’ for civil rights, The Firearms Coalition is joining with other gun rights groups to declare August 28 ‘National Exercise Your Rights Day.’ Reverend Jesse Jackson is calling on citizens to exercise their First Amendment rights by participating in anti-gun/anti-violence protest marches in 25 cities nationwide on that day. The Firearms Coalition echoes that call to supporters of the Second Amendment, encouraging them to exercise their rights by purchasing a firearm or ammunition on August 28.” (08/26/07) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2loz6f | |
