VA-ALERT: VCDL Update 6/27/13

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VA-ALERT: VCDL Update 6/27/13


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Not yet a VCDL member? Join VCDL at: http://www.vcdl.org/join
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VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings
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Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html
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1. Justice denied in Henrico. A VCDL member falsely convicted of brandishing - financial help needed
2. Hampton carnival canceled after 5 shot, 1 killed
3. Who needs a gun on the campus of UVa?
4. Kindergartener interrogated over cap gun until he pees his pants, then suspended 10 days
5. Texas passes bill to train teachers as armed marshals
6. Police confiscate military veteran's AR-15 after he fired warning shot into ground at burglar
7. Lawmakers facing recall bids over strict gun laws in Colorado
8. 62 percent of Americans want Senate to drop gun control
9. Mike Bloomberg's gun accident
10. Backlash! Gun-control laws nullified
11. Another gun ban carve-out, this time in Texas
12. Neighbor shoots, kills robbery suspect in northwest San Antonio
13. US gun debate overlooks daily violence
14. Obama's "Fast and Furious" gun-running scandal grows
15. Homeowner tells burglar: 'If you move, you're gonna go to the morgue'
16. Libertarians enter the gun control debate
17. "Consumer Reports" CEO is former head of Handgun Control
18. Washington Post investigation: Guns in America
19. GE's hypocrisy when it comes to guns
20. Gunwerks: Demonstrating how Coriolis effects bullet drop at 1000 yards [Video]
21. How many guns made in U.S. in 2012?


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1. Justice denied in Henrico. A VCDL member falsely convicted of brandishing - financial help needed
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The unthinkable just happened in the Henrico County General District court: a VCDL member, Graham Corry, has been convicted of a Class 1 misdemeanor for brandishing a firearm while simply moving the gun from one location in his vehicle to another location in his vehicle. That move was observed by a bus driver, who then called the police to say that Graham had brandished a firearm at him. (Brandishing requires an element of intent, which Graham did NOT have).

The descriptions of the trial that I'm seeing is nothing more than an anti-gun judge ruling against a gun owner, ignoring the conflicts and contradictions in the bus driver's story. (There was no jury, just a judge.)

Graham had an excellent lawyer, but I guess you can't win when the deck is stacked.

The conviction is being appealed, but Graham could face jail time and his job is probably in jeopardy. He is certainly going to have some legal fees to pay.

Here is a link to information on donating to help cover Graham's legal fees:

http://tinyurl.com/nwn4vcj

Hopefully the appeal will clear Graham's name and record.


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2. Hampton carnival canceled after 5 shot, 1 killed
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Who needs a gun at a carnival?

Bill Watkins emailed me this:

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From Daily Press: http://tinyurl.com/pvhq5j5

By Sarah Pawlowski
May 27, 2013

HAMPTON - The Hampton Coliseum Spring Carnival has been canceled following nearby shootings Saturday night that killed at least one teen and injured four others.
Hampton police officers and members of the Hampton Fire and Rescue Division found 16-year-old Ralphael Davis Jr. lying in the road in the 1900 block of Coliseum Drive shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday, according to Hampton police spokeswoman Mary Shackleford.

Davis, who suffered a gunshot wound to his upper torso, was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead at 11:14 p.m., Shackleford said.

Officers located four additional victims in parking lots adjacent to hotels in the 1900 block of Coliseum Drive, who were also transported to a local hospital.
A 14-year-old male from Hampton suffered a gunshot wound to his back. Hampton police reported he was in critical condition Sunday morning.

An 18-year-old male from Hampton and a 17-year-old male from Newport News both suffered gunshot wounds to their legs. A 16-year-old female from Newport News suffered a gunshot wound to her ankle. All three were treated and released from the hospital.

Shackleford said a preliminary investigation indicated a verbal altercation took place between two groups of individuals. The altercation escalated when the suspect or suspects displayed a firearm, discharging multiple rounds, which struck the victims.

No suspect information was available Sunday, Shackleford said.

This year's shooting wasn't the first for the Hampton Coliseum Spring Carnival, Hampton police spokesman Jason Price said.

Shots were fired as the carnival was closing for the night one evening last year, but no one was shot, he said.

Price said he was unable to verify Sunday if there were any shootings at the carnival before last year. He said it is the first year the carnival has been closed due to violence.

Price said he is not aware of any other incidents at the carnival this year before Saturday night's shootings.

The 10-day annual carnival, which has been held for more than 35 years, opened Thursday and was scheduled to run through June 2.
Coliseum Director Joe Tsao said annually the carnival draws from 25,000 to 30,000 visitors, and is a revenue generator for the city both in terms of direct spending at the carnival and indirect spending with the area merchants.
Tsao said it's unclear how much the city will lose as a result of closing the carnival early this year.

Coliseum and city staff and area stakeholders are discussing whether or not to hold the carnival in future years, Tsao said.

"Public safety is of paramount importance to us all," he said.

Tony Claire was surprised to find the carnival was closed when he arrived shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday. He said he had planned to let his 5-year-old son, Tony Claire Jr., spend the rest of the day at the carnival.

"Today was supposed to be his main event, the day to ride all the rides," he said. "Maybe we go to another city."

A candlelight vigil is planned for 7 p.m. Monday in the Hampton Coliseum parking lot.

Anyone with information that will assist police is encouraged to contact the Hampton Police Division at 727-6111 or Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.


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3. Who needs a gun on the campus of UVa?
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Ed Martin sent me this:

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From: Michael Gibson, Chief of University Police
Date: Thu, May 30, 2013 at 11:05 AM
Subject: Police Alert: Robbery Reported to City Police

To the University community:

Information about a robbery incident involving a Charlottesville resident was issued Thursday by the Charlottesville Police Department. City police issued the press release provided below, regarding this incident.

CHARLOTTESVILLE POLICE PRESS RELEASE

On May 30 at approx. 3 a.m. in the 400 block of 14th St. N.W. a 21-year-old female was approached by an African-American male described as approx. 5'9", wearing a plaid shirt and light colored pants. The subject grabbed the victim and stole her purse with content. The suspect was last seen running south on 14th St. N.W. Anyone with any information is asked to call Crime Stoppers (434) 977-4000.

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The University Police Department believes that the Charlottesville-Albemarle-University area is a safe community, but crime does happen. We encourage you to be aware of your surroundings, especially if walking alone after dark.

We want to remind you of some of the things you can do to protect yourself and your friends if faced with a similar situation.

During a robbery:

1. DO NOT RESIST! Cooperate. Give the suspect(s) whatever he or she asks for: wallet, keys, jewelry, credit cards or whatever. Your life is more valuable than replaceable possessions. [PVC: What do YOU tell YOUR wife or daughter to do if a criminal wants to rape them, Chief? Just give in and pray the criminal doesn't murder them anyway?]

2. Be the best witness you can be by getting a good look at the suspect(s) so you can describe him or her later. Try to note clothing, scars, marks, tattoos, facial hair and last direction of travel.

3. Don't make any sudden, unexpected moves. A nervous criminal may think you are reaching for a weapon. [PVC: I'll take my chances on reaching for my gun.]

4. If the suspect claims to have a gun, knife, razor or whatever, never try to force the bluff.

5. Never try to be a hero and apprehend the criminal yourself.

6. Notify police immediately by calling 911.

Please remember that there is safety in numbers. If possible, walk with a companion, either male or female, especially after dark and in the early morning hours. An armed robber is less likely to confront two or more than a lone individual. [PVC: This is hardly a guarantee, though.]

Michael A. Gibson, Chief of University Police


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4. Kindergartener interrogated over cap gun until he pees his pants, then suspended 10 days
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Schools are turning into nothing more than indoctrination centers. Children are being raised in a system that is insanely anti-liberty and, as Americans, we need to start taking our public schools back.

This incident happened in Maryland, but we need to be ever vigilant here in Virginia. I know I'm fed up with all of it. Perhaps some school administrators need to be fired and schools picketed following the next event of this type in the Old Dominion.

From The Daily Caller: http://tinyurl.com/lavagkk

By Eric Owens
May 31, 2013

In the latest incident of anti-gun hysteria to erupt in a school setting, a kindergarten boy has been suspended from school for 10 days because he showed a friend his cowboy-style cap gun on the way to school.

The incident happened on Wednesday morning at about 8:30 a.m. on a school bus in Calvert County, Maryland, reports The Washington Post.

The kindergartener had brought the toy gun because his friend had brought a water gun the previous day. He later told his mother than he "really, really" wanted his friend to see it.

The suspended boy had acquired the menacing, plastic, orange-tipped weapon at Frontier Town, a western-themed campground with a water park, mini golf and the like.

School officials at Dowell Elementary School in the town of Lusby proceeded to question the five-year-old for over two hours before finally calling his mother, whom The Post also does not name.

The principal eventually called the boy's mother at 10:50 a.m. By that time, the five-year-old had wet his pants (which the mother called highly unusual).
The principal told the boy's mother that the boy had simulated shooting someone on the bus with the offending novelty. However, both the boy and his older sister, a first-grader, say the principal is not telling the truth.

The Post explains that the principal - Jennifer L. Young, according to Dowell Elementary's website - told the kindergartener's mother that things would have been even worse had the toy gun been loaded with caps. In that case, the school would have regarded the plaything as an explosive and called the police.

"I have no problem that he had a consequence to his behavior," the mother told the Post. "What I have a problem with is the severity."

The mother is also upset about the trauma her son experienced without her knowledge.

"Why were we not immediately contacted?" she asked

The 10-day suspension is officially for possessing a look-alike gun, notes the Post. If the suspension is not lifted, the kindergartener won't be able to go to school the rest of the year. The suspension will also be part of his permanent academic record.

The family has hired an attorney, Robin Ficker, who has managed to become something of a national legal expert in amazing overreactions by school officials over things that aren't actual guns.

Ficker appealed the suspension on the family's behalf on Thursday. On Friday, there will be a disciplinary conference.

The attorney noted that the the boy's age is an essential factor when considering the punishment and the school's actions.

"Kids play cowboys and Indians," Ficker told The Post. "They play cops and robbers. You're talking about a little five-year-old here."

This incident is the second incident of anti-gun hysteria to erupt in a school setting in as many weeks. There have been many others over the course of this academic year as well.


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5. Texas passes bill to train teachers as armed marshals
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Walter Jackson emailed me this:

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From Breitbart.com: http://tinyurl.com/qhesc3s

By AWR Hawkins
May 25, 2013

Texas legislators have sent a bill to Governor Rick Perry that allows schools to train and maintain teachers as "armed marshals" on campuses.

The bill, which had already passed the Texas house, enjoyed a bipartisan passage of 28-3 in the Texas senate.

According to the Associated Press, the bill enjoyed the strong support of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who "pushed lawmakers to help school districts provide teachers or other employees with special weapons and tactical response training." Dewhurst's pleas were echoed by smaller school districts that could not afford to hire police and other security forces for their schools.

Under the bill, trained teachers would keep a firearm in a lockbox "within immediate reach." It allows one armed marshal per 400 students and contains provisions to hide the name of that marshal from public record, to keep him or her from being purposefully targeted in an attack.

Teachers' groups opposed the bill, arguing that protection ought to be left to security professionals. Yet because Texas already allows teachers to carry guns where school boards approve, the arguments against the bill did not prevail.

Senator Brian Birdwell (R) said the concern over law-abiding citizens possessing guns on campus is misdirected: "The Second Amendment is not about the gun, it's about the right to self-preservation."


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6. Police confiscate military veteran's AR-15 after he fired warning shot into ground at burglar
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DO NOT FIRE WARNING SHOTS!

Robert Dean emailed me this:

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From wbzt.com: http://tinyurl.com/l6nvmwp
May 30, 2013

An Oregon man has had rifle confiscated and is facing criminal charges after he attempted to stop a wanted felon from breaking into his home by firing a warning shot.

Police in Medford, Ore., say the incident occurred at around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday. Officers responded to an apartment complex in the area after receiving a disturbance call. During their investigation, cops heard a gun shot and a man running away toward the complex's parking lot.

Authorities say 40-year-old Jonathon Kinsella, a wanted felon, was attempting to flee the scene when he was arrested on outstanding warrants, including for burglary and assault.

Military veteran Corey Thompson, 36, told KDRV-TV that the wanted felon was trying to beak into his home via the back door. Defending his property, Thompson said he warned the criminal that he was armed and he was giving him his one and only warning shot.

"This is the end result. You break into someone's house, there's consequences," Thompson said.

Wielding his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, the veteran made good on his threat and fired one warning shot. The bullet did not strike the suspect or anyone else.

"When I'm dealt with a stressful situation, being a veteran from Iraq and the Afghanistan war, it's natural. I just jump into combat mode. I told him, 'I'm going to give you a warning shot'," Thompson explained.

However, police later determined he wasn't justified in firing his weapon. Medford Police Lt. Mike Budreau said "there was nothing that the suspect was doing that was aggressive enough to justify the shooting."

Apparently, for police in Medford, a wanted felon trying to break into a law-abiding citizen's home isn't enough to justify a warning shot.

Thompson was charged with unlawful use of a weapon, menacing and reckless endangering. The veteran's AR-15 was seized by police because they claim it was used in the commission of a crime.


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7. Lawmakers facing recall bids over strict gun laws in Colorado
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The anti-gun lawmakers in Colorado are trying all kinds of dirty tricks to save their worthless hides from a recall. We need to get a law passed so we can do recalls like this in Virginia!

Bill Watkins emailed me this:

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From Fox News: http://tinyurl.com/pyow464
May 28, 2013

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A Democratic campaign office here usually would be quiet this time of year, a few weeks after the state's legislature wrapped up work and lawmakers headed off to summer vacations.

But even though it's not an election year, the office is in full campaign mode, with volunteers working the phones and reviewing maps in anticipation of a new front of modern campaigning -- the recall phase.

A handful of Democratic state lawmakers in Colorado face recall petition efforts in what looks to be the first wave of fallout over legislative votes to limit gun rights. In an era in which recall efforts are booming, from governor's offices down to town councils and school boards, the Colorado efforts will serve as the first test of gun-rights groups' ability to punish elected officials who expanded gun control laws after last year's Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn., shooting massacres.

In Colorado, gun-rights activists wasted no time seeking recalls to oust state Senate President John Morse and three other Democratic lawmakers. The targeted lawmakers weren't necessarily the main advocates for ratcheting back gun rights, but all come from districts with enough Republicans to give opponents hope they can boot out the Democrats and replace them with lawmakers friendlier to guns. Colorado is the only state outside the East Coast to have adopted significant statewide gun controls this year.

"Colorado seems to be the testing ground for some of the gun measures, so this has national implications," said Victor Head, a plumber from Pueblo who is organizing a recall attempt against a Democratic senator.

Two of four recall efforts in Colorado already have evaporated from lack of support. But in Colorado Springs, Morse opponents are piling up signatures in gun shops and outside libraries and grocery stores. The National Rifle Association sent a political mailer saying it was coordinating the recall effort with local groups, though the local recall petitioners have denied that. The NRA did not return calls for comment on their involvement in the Colorado Springs effort.

Morse has mounted a campaign to urge voters not to sign petitions. In an indication of the national stakes, that push is largely funded by a $20,000 contribution from a national progressive group called America Votes. The Morse campaign said the donation came through the group's local Colorado office.

The recall group's main funding comes from a $14,000 contribution from a nonprofit run by a local conservative consultant, Laura Carno. She said that contribution was made possible by some out-of-state donors.

"People in other states that are further down this road, like New York and Massachusetts, are calling up and saying `What can we do to help?"' Carno said. "This isn't what Colorado stands for."

In an interview, Morse seemed resigned to facing a recall vote after signatures are verified. He believes national gun-rights supporters are using his district to make a national statement about the political peril officials face if they take on gun control.

"That's what's going on here. They want to take out the Senate president," Morse said.

The organizer of the Morse recall effort, Anthony Garcia, didn't disagree. Garcia doesn't live in Morse's district but in the northern Colorado town of Brighton. Garcia said Morse was targeted not just because of his votes for gun control but because he's a prominent Democrat from a competitive district.

"It's as much about saying Colorado is angry as it is about getting one guy out," Garcia said. "Legislators need to know when citizens are outraged that they can't ignore the people."

Immediate accountability seems to be a common thread in recall attempts, said Joshua Spivak, who tracks recall elections nationwide at the Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform at Wagner College in New York. Technology makes it easier to organize, Spivak said, and modern-day voters watching political activity in real time on Twitter and TV aren't content to wait until another election to show their displeasure when they feel ignored.

Spivak said at least 169 officials at all levels of government faced recalls last year, up from 151 the year before. The number this year could go even higher, he said.

Technology isn't the only explanation.

"The other reason," Spivak said, "is that they succeed."

Most recalls actually fail, as in the case last year of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican who survived a recall election after attacking collective bargaining rights for state employees. But compared with re-election campaigns, when incumbents face up to 75 percent likelihood of winning, Spivak said recall elections have a much lower rate of success for incumbents.

In Colorado last year, seven recall efforts made it to ballots, all local races, Spivak said. Of those seven, two officials were ousted and two more resigned.

Nationwide, 108 recalled officials last year lost or left office after a recall. That makes the recall a powerful tool -- and one likely to be used more often, Spivak said.

Back in Colorado Springs, a couple of Morse opponents defended the recall attempt as the best way for citizens to keep their representatives accountable.

"I believe in gun rights. And he didn't listen. He's supposed to represent the people, and when he doesn't do that, what are supposed to do? Nothing?" asked Bianca McCarl, a 40-year-old merchandiser who is supporting Morse's recall.

Assuming the Morse recall goes to ballots, with an election to be held by late summer, the incumbent holds a slight party registration advantage in the district. He believes most voters liked his gun votes.

He's counting on the support from voters like Joan Muir, a retiree who placed a pro-Morse sticker on her car bumper after seeing other cars carrying messages calling for his ouster. In an interview, Muir said she was dismayed by the recall campaign.

"I live here. I'm for gun control," Muri said. "I don't care for guns, period, so they don't speak for all of us when they say Morse didn't listen to the people."


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8. 62 percent of Americans want Senate to drop gun control
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From Reason.com: http://tinyurl.com/nou7w93

By Emily Ekins
May 29, 2013

President Barack Obama has vowed to keep pushing for new gun control measures and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the failed gun vote in the Senate was "just the beginning." However, the latest Reason-Rupe national poll finds just 33 percent of Americans feel the "Senate should debate and vote on gun control legislation again," while 62 percent want the Senate to "move on to other issues."

This data is surprising given earlier polls finding what appeared to be overwhelming support for expanding background check for firearm purchases. For instance, Gallup found that 83 percent of Americans favored a law requiring background checks for all gun purchases. The Washington Post/ABC poll found that 86 percent of Americans support a law requiring background checks on people buying guns at gun shows or online.

Understandably the media punditry expected public outrage when the Senate voted down gun control legislation. However, a Pew Research Center poll found that 39 percent of Americans were relieved/very happy the "Senate vot[ed] down new gun control legislation that included background checks on gun purchases" while 47 percent were disappointed/angry. But then again, Gallup found that 65 percent thought the Senate "should have passed the measure to expand background checks for gun purchases."

Subsequent to these polls Reason-Rupe asked Americans what they wanted the Senate to do next, finding that nearly two -thirds of Americans prefer the Senate to move on to other issues rather than continue to debate gun control.
Eighty-three percent of Republicans want the Senate to move on, as well as 66 percent of Independents; however, a majority (51 percent) of Democrats want the Senate to debate and vote again.

Women are far more likely than men to want the Senate to debate and vote again on gun control. While 72 percent of men want the Senate to move onto other issues, 54 percent of women agree, while 40 percent want the senate to vote on gun control again. This gender gap is not strongly correlated with marital status, age, or race, meaning that there is likely a true gender gap on this issue.

Support for the Senate voting on gun control again increases with educational attainment, particularly among those with post-graduate degrees. The Northeast is narrowly divided 46 to 52 while nearly three-fourths of Americans in the West want the Senate to move on to other issues.

Nationwide telephone poll conducted May 9-13 2013 interviewed 1003 adults on both mobile (503) and landline (500) phones, with a margin of error +/- 3.7%. Princeton Survey Research Associates International executed the nationwide Reason-Rupe survey. Columns may not add up to 100% due to rounding. Full poll results found here. Full methodology can be found here. Demographics and detailed tables are available here.

Correction: An earlier version of the table in the article had the numbers for Independents and Democrats reversed.


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9. Mike Bloomberg's gun accident
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From Pruden & Politics: http://tinyurl.com/lecjfc3

By Wesley Pruden
May 28, 2013

He threw a tantrum after Barack Obama's gun-control bill crashed and burned in Congress, stamping his polished wingtips on his Persian carpets, nursing a pout and behaving like a 3-year-old with a broken toy. This was excusable in a 3-year-old, but it's not the behavior you expect of the nanny.

When the wah-wah and the bitter tears subsided, the mayor of New York set out to fix everything with his billions. His money fixed the election laws in New York, so why couldn't his billions similarly manipulate a few elections in flyover country? His honor, the fourth (or fifth) richest man in the world (not that there's anything wrong with that), is nevertheless a man of the people who rides the subway to work, although according to the New York Times two police department SUVs take him to a station some distance from his manse on East 79th Street so he can take the express train downtown. Doesn't everyone commute that way? He has other houses, in London, Bermuda and Vail, one or two closer to the streetcar line. Doesn't everyone?

His Honor just doesn't like guns. Guns, like a 16-ounce bottle of soda pop, frighten him. That's why he has a police detail to shadow him everywhere he goes, lest a wild Slurpee lunge at him from the shadows. Doesn't everyone?

The nanny, like the shadow, knows the evil that lurks in the hearts of men, so he set out to punish several congressmen who he thinks particularly deserve a good spanking. One of them is Mark Pryor, the Democratic senator from Arkansas who is threatened by the Republican wave that has transformed the politics of the last state of what was once the Solid South, and only yesterday the most reliable redoubt of the Democratic Party.

The mayor put out $350,000 - a mere tip for the men's room attendant at the Hotel Carlisle for the fourth-richest man in the world - to produce a television commercial telling Arkansas voters what they already knew: Mark Pryor voted against the Obama gun legislation. Pryor likes guns! Pour it on! With an enemy like Mike Bloomberg, who needs a friend?

The lugubrious Bloomberg commercial shamelessly exploits the death of Bill Gwatney, the popular chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party, who was shot and killed in 2008 by a deranged man who walked into his office in downtown Little Rock, shook his hand, pulled out a revolver and shot him three times in the chest. He died several hours later. This, the Bloomberg commercial suggests, is just the grim future Mark Pryor's vote for guns assures everybody.

This was the unexpected break the senator was praying for. Only the terminally timid are frightened by guns in Arkansas, where a boy typically anticipates getting a .22-caliber rifle for his 12th birthday (and the stern lecture from his father that goes with it). The senator, who voted for separate legislation to strengthen funding for mental health programs, gave it back harder to the mayor: "Mike Bloomberg didn't know Bill Gwatney," he said. "I knew Bill Gwatney. He was my friend and he was killed by someone with severe mental-health issues. The mayor's bill would have done nothing to prevent his death because it fails to adequately address the real issue and common thread in all these shootings - mental health."

The man most likely to run against Mark Pryor is a freshman congressman, Tom Cotton, who really, really does like guns. He's rarely photographed without one. He looks too good to be true. He grew up in small-town Arkansas, went to Harvard, gave up the law after 9/11 to join the Army, disdaining a posting as an Army lawyer to lead an infantry company in Iraq and then Afghanistan, where he received a Bronze Star for heroism in combat. He has run in 11 marathons and earlier this year was named "the fastest man in Congress" after he won a three-mile congressional minimarathon in under 18 minutes. At 36 and 6 foot 5 inches tall, he looks like a candidate consultants dream of.

He's a nightmare for Mark Pryor, the son of a senator and trying to survive as a Democrat in a newly Republican state. He has a long slog to re-election, but a genius from New York City just made it a little easier.


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10. Backlash! Gun-control laws nullified
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A lot of the country is not in the mood for more gun control and a lot of law enforcement officers are not going to enforce anything new. If the Democrats want to be the party of gun control, they had best start listening or they will pay for that blunder at the polls.

Craig Smith emailed me this:

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From wnd.com: http://tinyurl.com/mkrodnv

By Drew Zahn
June 1, 2013

ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Efforts at the national and state level to pass new gun-control laws have stirred up an unintended backlash - local officials who are not only rejecting the new legislation, but actively "nullifying" gun-control laws already in place.

Police Chief Mark Kessler of Gilberton Burough, Pa., is among more than 200 law enforcement officers, state lawmakers, county officials and concerned citizens who gathered Friday at the annual convention of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, or CSPOA, in St. Charles, Mo.

Among the hot topics at the conference: examples of local and county officials who have declared gun-control laws already on the books null and void in their communities.

On Jan. 3 of this year, Kessler drafted a "Second Amendment Protection Resolution" for his little town of roughly 800 residents, which, when passed by city officials a few weeks later, Kessler told the conference, "nullified every single gun-control law in the nation."

"I have a very unique view," Kessler said. "If you want to own a firearm, carry a gun under your jacket or over your jacket, the Second Amendment is your concealed carry permit, period. ... It has nothing to do with self-defense; it has to do with [freedom from] tyranny."

Kessler told the conference, "Nullification is the key. We just have to tell them, 'That's it.' I drew my line in the sand back on Jan. 3. ... One person can make a difference; you just need to do something about it."

But apparently, Kessler is not alone.

Michael Peroutka of the Institute for the Constitution, an attorney and former Constitution Party candidate for president, also told the conference about Carroll County, Md., which on May 22 adopted a resolution declaring it a "Second Amendment sanctuary county."

The resolution declares the Maryland Firearms Safety Act of 2013, or MFSA - which reportedly bans the sale of 45 types of rifles and magazines and requires law-abiding citizens to submit to licensing fees, background checks, fingerprinting and renewal fees - clearly violates the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution along with Article 2 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights.

The resolution further declares that the unconstitutional provisions of the act will not be enforced in Carroll County.

The resolution quotes Alexander Hamilton in Federalist Paper No. 78: "No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid. To deny this, would be to affirm, that the deputy is greater than his principal; that the servant is above his master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people themselves; that men acting by virtue of powers, may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid."
The Board of County Commissioners then resolved, "Carroll County Government will not authorize or appropriate government funds, resources, employees, agencies, contractors, buildings, detention centers or offices for the purpose of enforcing any element of the MFSA that infringes on the right of the people to keep and bear arms."

After making a few exceptions for provisions affecting felons, the mentally ill and so forth, the resolution also states, "The Board herein declares null and void within Carroll County, elements of any and all international treaties, including the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (UNATT) that infringe on the rights of citizens to keep and bear arms."

Peroutka argued that far from undermining the rule of law, the local police and county officials taking these stands are actually supporting constitutional law and fulfilling their oaths to defend the founding document.
"When a peace officer refuses to enforce an unconstitutional act," Peroutka said, "the peace officer is not breaking the law, but upholding the law."

Peroutka quoted the 1886 Supreme Court decision Norton v. Shelby County: "An unconstitutional act is not law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties, affords no protection; it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation, as inoperative as though it had never been passed."

He further quoted the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison: "All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null and void."

"These [gun-control measures] are not laws," Peroutka concluded. "They are unconstitutional acts. You have the authority and duty to nullify this."

"It's a start. They're to be saluted," Larry Pratt, president of Gun Owners of America, told the CSPOA conference. "The county of Carroll - among many others in the nation now, happily - is pointing out you have very limited authority, federales, and if you're going to do a bust here, you're going to need local authorities, and it isn't going to be available in Carroll County, Md., and I'll bet from what I hear here today, its not going to be available in a lot of other counties either."

As WND reported, the purpose of the conference is to equip sheriffs, peace officers and public officials with information and public support to carry out their oaths of office - specifically, to uphold the U.S. Constitution - recognizing that in the case of federal overreach, the county sheriff may be the last line of defense in protecting Americans' constitutional rights.

"We are going to train and vet them all, state by state, to understand and enforce the constitutionally protected rights of the people they serve, with an emphasis on state sovereignty and local autonomy," explained CSPOA Founder and Executive Director Sheriff Richard Mack. "Then these local governments will issue our new Declaration to the Federal Government regarding the abuses that we will no longer tolerate or accept. Said declaration will be enforced by our Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers.

"In short," Mack said, "the CSPOA will be the army to set our nation free."
Mack is more than familiar with fighting federal overreach. The former sheriff of Graham County, Ariz., in 1994 Mack joined six other sheriffs in challenging a provision of the federal Brady Bill placing the burden of its background checks on local sheriffs. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to strike down the provision.

Police Chief Larry Kirk of Old Monroe, Mo., told WND, "In the past few years we have seen many of the citizens of this country become concerned over the direction it has taken. We have watched personal rights being eroded and a disconnect developing between citizens and officers working in law enforcement.

"I wanted to find other officers that shared my concerns," he continued. "I wanted to be able to work with our sheriffs and other peace officers in educating the citizens and others in our career field on the powers of the sheriff's office and what is needed for us to stand on guard to protect our rights and those of our fellow citizens. The CSPOA is the organization at the front of this movement.

"The people of my state are seeing the overreach of government at the federal level and want to know where their sheriffs will stand," he concluded. "The people of this state need to hear this message, and the sheriffs of this state need to hear it. Sheriffs and officers need the support of their communities, and we need to support them. This is the organization that can help educate us all on the proper roles that we should play and what we can do to stop the encroachment on our liberties and unalienable rights."

"We already have hundreds of police, sheriffs and other officials who have expressed a desire to be a part of this holy cause of liberty," Mack explained.

In fact, CSPOA maintains a growing list of - at last count - 18 state sheriffs associations and more than 450 sheriffs across the country already taking a stand against what they perceive as attempts by the Obama administration to enact unconstitutional gun-control measures.

As WND reported, Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio is among those after telling a local radio host the federal government is "going to have a problem" if they expect him to confiscate guns from private citizens.

"I took [multiple] oaths of office, and they all say I will defend the Constitution of the United States," Arpaio told Mike Broomhead of KFYI Radio in Phoenix, Ariz. "Now if they're going to tell the sheriff that he's going to go around picking up guns from everybody, they're going to have a problem. I may not enforce that federal law."

Broomhead pushed the man sometimes called "America's toughest sheriff" even further, asking Arpaio if the feds passed a law banning ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, would his deputies confiscate such magazines?
"No," Arpaio said. "My deputies, I said before, I'm going to arm all my deputies - a month ago I said before this - with automatic weapons and semi-automatic weapons. We're going to be able to fight back. ... I don't care what they say from Washington."

Larry Pratt told WND he supports sheriffs taking a tough stand.
"The county sheriffs need to act and make new deputies to stop federal authority in the counties," Pratt said. "There is a misconception in our time that the court somehow is the arbiter of what is constitutional; that's not true! Every official that raises their right hand and says they're going to adhere to the constitution, seek to protect it to the best of their ability, 'so help me God' - that's something that they're all obligated to do."


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11. Another gun ban carve-out, this time in Texas
**************************************************

Some hypocrites in the Texas legislature want to carry guns everywhere THEY go, while continuing to restrict everyone else. Gun control isn't about reducing crime, it is about controlling the masses. Elitists make sure that THEY are exempted.

From The Truth About Guns: http://tinyurl.com/odv5e9x

By Robert Farago
May 26, 2013

New York legislators are set to exempt ex-cops from the SAFE Act's unconstitutional provisions. Texans may scoff at Empire State politicians trampling on their residents' natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms, but Lone Star state pols are no less guilty of enacting a two-tier legal framework for gun owners. To wit this from trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com:

"Earlier this week, lawmakers added language into a bill that was designed to levy penalties for keeping guns out of public buildings where they should be allowed. The new language said the nine statewide elected officials and all 150 members of the Legislature who held concealed handgun licenses could carry their guns anywhere in Texas." And then it got worse . . .

Under state law, CHL holders are prohibited from carrying guns into a handful of public places, including bars, sporting events, schools and federal buildings. Also excluded are privately-owned buildings that have a no-weapons sign posted.

When the bill author, Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, [above] came back with the bill, some of his colleagues were upset, including [Rep. Kenneth] Sheets.

Guillen took the bill into a conference committee with senators. It was reported back on Saturday, but instead the only major change was that more elected officials - this time Congress - was added to the exemption.
OK, hold it. Why should ANY politicians have ANY different treatment than ANY Texas taxpayer when it comes to exercising their gun rights? Ready?

Guillen said no members of Congress had requested the provision, but that he's heard from many elected colleagues about numerous threats they've received and that the provision is meant to increase their safety.

More to the point, public servants packing heat should adhere to same laws that apply to their constituents. To suggest otherwise is to undermine the rule of law. And guess what? I'm not the only one who's pissed off at these perfidious pols.

Sheets said he's heard from plenty of people since The News first reported the provision.

"The news cycle over the past 48-hours has made it very clear that our constituents don't like the notion of lawmakers giving themselves special privileges and putting ourselves in an elite class above our constituents," Sheets said.

Once again, gun rights are not a right - left issue. It just looks that way. The struggle against gun control is a fight between individual liberty and government tyranny. Period.


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12. Neighbor shoots, kills robbery suspect in northwest San Antonio
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From ksat.com: http://tinyurl.com/lvpn76f

By Katrina Webber
May 23, 2013

SAN ANTONIO - A box found in the car of a robbery suspect who was shot and killed by the neighbor of a man he tried to rob caused even more alarm in a Northwest Side neighborhood early Thursday morning.

San Antonio police said shortly after 1 a.m., a firefighter found the box, which was marked "Anthrax Inside," inside the trunk of the suspect's car.

Neighbors in the 8900 block of Hambledon Drive were ordered to remain indoors while a hazardous materials team examined it.

"It was scary," said Crystal Lozano, who lives across the street. "Seeing the guys in the HazMat suits down the street, and suiting up and walking down. I mean, it was really scary."

Investigators tested a powdery residue in the box, but determined it was not harmful, police said.

Officers and firefighters originally were on the scene for a report of a shooting.

Police said the suspect in his 20s followed a man home with plans to rob him.

As the resident was handing over his TV and other valuables to the suspect in his garage, his next-door neighbor showed up with a shotgun and shot the suspect three times, police said.

"Large booms, yeah, pops go off," said Matthew Lozano, who was describing the shots that woke him up. "I looked outside through my window and saw the commotion. Things like this don't happen here. It's a quiet neighborhood."

Detectives said they found the would-be robber, dressed in a bullet-proof vest with a gun at his side, lying dead on the floor of the garage.

As of noon Thursday, authorities had not released his name.

Police said the man who fired the shot gun blasts most likely will not face charges because he was protecting his neighbor.


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13. US gun debate overlooks daily violence
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Yes, if more people could defend themselves legally, a lot of the violence (that perpetrated against innocents) would disappear.

This article is still blaming inanimate objects for the acts of murderers in the gun control haven of Maryland. Yet, Virginia has 310,000 citizens carrying guns almost everywhere they go and our violent crime rate is significantly lower than it is in Maryland.

Bill Hine emailed me this:

--

From wtop.com: http://tinyurl.com/kcmujaf

By Steven R. Hurst
May 29, 2013

LARGO, Maryland (AP) -- Florena Carter's shattered life didn't make national news.

Her son was killed on his 28th birthday in 2009. Carter's brother pulled the trigger. Her father shot himself soon afterward.

The horrifying family tragedy became one more private story in America's plague of gun violence. That year, 9,146 other people nationwide lost their lives in shootings.

The vast majority died in the type of daily gun violence that does not grab national headlines in the same way as the December massacre of 20 young children and six teachers at an elementary school in Connecticut, or the mass shooting last July in a Colorado movie theater that killed 12 people and wounded 70.

Those attacks became the focus of a bitter national debate over guns, which culminated with the defeat in the Senate of several proposals backed by President Barack Obama to tighten gun control laws, including banning military-style assault weapons and expanding background checks to stop criminals and the mentally ill from buying firearms.

Often lost in America's divisive gun control politics are the stories of people whose urban communities suffer the most from shootings every day. Although violent crime has been declining in the United States, it still far outstrips the rate of other developed countries. FBI figures show 8,583 people were killed by guns in 2011, the last year for which numbers were available.

That is nearly 24 people a day.

The figure is far higher when counting the number of people who kill themselves with guns. The federal Centers for Disease Control listed 19,392 gun suicides in the United States in 2010, the latest figures available.

Among the hard-hit places is Prince George's County, the Washington D.C. suburb where Stefan Carter was killed by his uncle 3 1/2 years ago. The county in the state of Maryland has long suffered under a reputation for violent crime, even though the U.S. Census Bureau lists it as the wealthiest majority African-American county in the country.

Support for gun control tends to run high in places like Prince George's County. In other parts of the country, particularly states with large rural populations, people say firearms are essential for hunting and personal safety, a right that has been protected by the Second Amendment of the Constitution for more than 200 years.

As the American frontier expanded westward, gun ownership became culturally entrenched, and for many citizens, it remains a way of life. But other Americans believe the Second Amendment, adopted in 1791, no longer makes sense in modern urban settings like Prince George's County, where shootings tear at society.

Florena Carter, a 24-year veteran police officer, has concerns about the easy access to handguns for civilians. She is convinced that simply owning a gun made her brother more likely to use it.

Her son and her brother had been out on the town celebrating Stefan's birthday. When they were heading home, she said, her son tried to stop her brother from driving because the older man was intoxicated. They fought and Carter's brother pulled a handgun and shot Stefan.

Carter was at a loss to explain how the dispute escalated. The two men had been close; neither was prone to violence, Carter said.

"All I can think is that it was the alcohol and that he had a gun," she said.

That argument goes counter to rhetoric often cited by U.S. gun advocates who say that gun restrictions can't stop people who are determined to misuse guns. What's more, they argue, such shootings among family members should not deny law-abiding citizens from owning guns for self-protection.

Since the Connecticut school shooting, many gun- rights activists have insisted the solution is for more people to own guns, not fewer. Politicians in some states have proposed laws allowing school teachers to carry guns, arguing that shooters will be less likely to target public places where they know people are armed. Supporters argue that restricting firearms rights will only prevent people from defending themselves from criminals who will find a way to get guns no matter what.

But in Prince George's County, Carter doesn't buy the argument that guns make people safer. Last year, she worked with a county program known as Gift Cards for Guns, which allows people to anonymously turn in their weapons in exchange for a $100 gift card.

Carter said she had not known her brother owned a handgun but was told by police that he had bought it legally.

Maryland recently passed a law that will make it tougher to buy such guns. One of the toughest gun control measures in the country, Maryland's law requires licensing, fingerprinting, and safety training to purchase a handgun, bans the sale of 45 types of assault weapons and limits ammunition magazine capacity to 10 rounds.

The National Rifle Association, the most powerful gun rights lobby in the country, is expected to challenge the Maryland statute in the courts, delaying its going into force.

Maryland is among several states that passed tougher gun control measures in response to the Connecticut school shooting, even as the push for stricter federal laws died in the Senate. Among them was Colorado, a state with a proud frontier tradition where gun ownership is common.

That has given hope to some advocates that gun control might be gaining ground despite fierce opposition by the deep-pocketed NRA, which spends heavily in U.S. elections. Although Republicans and a handful of Democrats in the Senate defeated the push for expanded background checks, polls at the time showed that about 90 percent of Americans favor such a measure.

Maryland has routinely had the 2nd highest homicide rate per 100,000 residents of all 50 states, despite also having the 5th highest per capita income. It had a gun deaths rate of 6.8 per 100,000 in 2011, more than 2 percentage points higher than the national average of 4.7 per 100,000.

That is due in large part to crime in Prince George's County and the economically hard-hit city of Baltimore, according to the FBI and Census Bureau. Gun deaths have fallen dramatically in Prince George's as the county government implements aggressive policies to build up the six most troubled neighborhoods, from programs to keep students in school to better street lighting, road repairs and demolition of abandoned buildings. The number of homicides has fallen from a high of 169 in 2005 to 64 last year.

Homicides are dropping similarly in other U.S. cities, prompting some to argue stricter gun measures are not needed to combat daily violence. But Prince George's police chief Mark Magaw has welcomed Maryland's tough new gun law as a strong crime-fighting tool in his still-violent county.

So does Carter, who told her story at a gathering of other women coping with the loss of family members to gun violence. They have all been counseled by a group known as Community Advocates for Family and Youth.

Carter, now a board member of the organization, said she was still suffering despite sessions with police department psychologists when she found CAFY. Her husband had died of leukemia just five months before her son was killed.

"I thought, 'my God couldn't do that to me,'" she said.

Carter dabbed away tears as she recalled the early December morning 3 1/2 years ago when the phone rang with the news of her son's death.

"My son was my only child. I don't have any grandchildren, and now I don't have hope of any," she said. "My son was two classes short of graduating with a dual degree."

In the passing weeks, Carter said she noticed that her father appeared increasingly depressed. She figured it was a natural reaction to the tragedy - until he killed himself.

Her brother will be out of prison in about two years, serving a sentence shortened because he accepted a plea deal. Carter doesn't know if she can forgive him.

"I love my brother. I've known him longer than my son. I changed his diapers," she said. But when he's released, "I just can't see us having a relationship."


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14. Obama's "Fast and Furious" gun-running scandal grows
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Walter Jackson emailed me this:

--

From The New American: http://tinyurl.com/mlkcsst

By Alex Newman
May 28, 2013

As if there were not already enough scandals plaguing the Obama administration, the federal "Fast and Furious" operation that armed Mexican drug cartels is back in the news after the Justice Department Inspector General released a report blasting a government leak intended to smear a key ATF whistleblower. The leaked memorandum was apparently aimed at discrediting Special Agent John Dodson and contradicting his explosive testimony before Congress, which blew the lid off of a federal program that put thousands of high-powered weapons into the hands of deadly criminals in Mexico.

The latest twist in the scandal surrounds disgraced former U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, one of the officials at the center of the administration's lawless gun-trafficking scheme. The ex-prosecutor, who resigned in August of 2011 along with acting ATF boss Kenneth Melson, was furious after learning that brave whistleblowers had gone to Congress and the media, documents show. He was particularly upset because Dodson, one of the crucial figures in exposing Fast and Furious, had written a memo outlining a plot to let guns "walk" across the border into Mexico - and into the hands of known criminals.

Special Agent Dodson, however, said he had been alarmed about the idea from the start, only putting the plot down on paper in an effort to show superiors how preposterous it really was. When the ATF agent went to Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and CBS News to blow the whistle, Burke wanted desperately to protect his reputation. The then-U.S. attorney, who worked in Arizona, learned that Fox News reporter Mike Levine was working on a story about the issue. Burke then leaked the Dodson memo to Levine.

"We also concluded that Burke's disclosure of the Dodson memorandum to Levine was likely motivated by a desire to undermine Dodson's public criticisms of Operation Fast and Furious," the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) said in its report. "Although Burke denied to congressional investigators that he had any retaliatory motive for his actions, we found substantial evidence to the contrary."

Official sources, for example, told the OIG that "Burke disclosed the document to help the U.S. Attorney's Office defend against what were considered hypocritical criticisms being made by Dodson," the report explains. "That disclosure occurred less than two weeks after Dodson's public testimony before Congress." Others interviewed during the investigation also confirmed that Burke was "frustrated" with the whistleblower's "highly critical" congressional testimony about Fast and Furious.

Burke refused to be interviewed for the investigation. However, he admitted in his own account of the conversation with Levine that he believed the Fox reporter was working on a story that would expose what Burke considered to be Dodson's "hypocrisy," the OIG noted. As such, the former U.S. Attorney claimed that he simply released the memo in question - a violation of Justice Department policy at the very least - in an innocent but misguided effort to provide "context" for the story.

Neither Dodson nor the inspector general bought those excuses. "We believe that this explanation, taken together with the other evidence cited above, demonstrate that Burke's conduct in disclosing the memorandum to Levine was likely motivated by his desire to undermine Dodson' public criticisms," the OIG report said, adding that the ATF whistleblower had raised very serious concerns about Fast and Furious.

Among the most interesting findings in the Inspector General investigation was Burke's sense that he was being sacrificed by the administration. Quoted in the OIG report, Burke explained that "several U.S. Attorneys [...] commented to me that the Department was throwing my office under the bus." The Inspector General report noted: "Burke's statements to the Department reflected a belief that he could not rely on the Department to respond to criticism of his office's handling of the Fast and Furious investigation, and we found that he responded to this belief by deciding to defend the office himself through, in part, the unauthorized disclosure of information to the media."

The report savages the former U.S. attorney in its conclusions, stating that Burke violated Justice Department policy by leaking the memo and that his excuses "were not credible." The OIG also "rejected" Burke's explanations, adding that the former U.S. attorney took "calculated measures" to reduce the chances of being caught: sending the document from a private e-mail account to a friend who passed it on to the Fox reporter.

"First, regardless of whether Burke in fact believed Levine or Congress already had the memorandum, that belief would not excuse his failure to comply with Department policy," the report said, citing DOJ policies on media relations that were violated. "Second, we found that Burke disclosed the Dodson memorandum despite knowing he was under investigation at the very same time by OPR for virtually the same alleged misconduct."

The misconduct described in the report is "particularly egregious," the OIG continued, "because of Burke's apparent effort to undermine the credibility of Dodson's significant public disclosures about the failures in Operation Fast and Furious." In the end, the actions were found to be "inappropriate for a Department employee and wholly unbefitting a U.S. Attorney." As such, the problem will be reported to state Bar associations where Burke is licensed to practice law.

In an August 2011 memo to his staff at the U.S. Attorney's office about his resignation, Burke, who previously worked for current Homeland Security boss Janet "Big Sis" Napolitano, claimed that it was time to move on. "My long tenure in public service has been intensely gratifying," he said. "It has also been intensely demanding. For me, it is the right time to move on to pursue other aspects of my career and my life and allow the office to move ahead."

The latest OIG report is not the first time Burke has come under fire for his controversial handling of the press after the Fast and Furious scandal emerged. In December of 2011, for example, the administration was forced to release more than 1,300 pages of documents related to the gun-trafficking program. The subpoenaed records revealed frantic e-mail communications between senior officials about how vigorously to defend the operation, as well as concerns about the veracity of some of the proposed defenses.

The documents showed that DOJ officials were worried that if the administration were to cooperate with the congressional investigation, Congress would press for even more information. Others highlight the general fear among those involved that exposure would damage the image of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (still known as ATF).

One of the most explosive e-mails was actually from Burke, who recommended sending a "stern missive" to the Arizona Republic newspaper for exposing the scheme. "Just baffling that they refuse to engage even just to protect the integrity of the agency," he wrote in a February 1 e-mail to Justice Department Criminal Division boss Lanny Breuer, as if the media's job were to protect government rather than expose its shady dealings. In another e-mail, Burke complained that congressional investigators were acting as "willing stooges" for defenders of the right to keep and bear arms.

Burke, of course, was also not the only top official who has been caught trying to retaliate against the whistleblowers. After the scandal was publicly exposed, the ATF retaliated against the brave agents who told Congress and the media. The agency got caught, but its new acting chief subsequently released a video threatening other agents not to blow the whistle again. Lawmakers were outraged, yet the lawlessness continues.

Meanwhile, the establishment press has continued to ignore the most important elements of the scandal, pretending that Fast and Furious was simply a "botched" operation in which low-ranking administration bureaucrats inadvertently "lost" the weapons. In reality, multiple White House officials had been briefed about the scheme, the supposed "targets" of the alleged "investigation" were drug lords already on the FBI's payroll, and top administration officials have been caught lying repeatedly - resulting in disgraced Attorney General Eric Holder being held in criminal contempt of Congress for the ongoing cover up.

Incredibly, the violence from Fast and Furious - U.S. law enforcement officers killed, hundreds of Mexicans massacred, and more - was used to push more gun control in the United States, official documents showed. The e-mails exposing the administration's scheme to use the bloodshed to assault the Second Amendment backed up assertions made by the numerous analysts and experts including the National Rifle Association. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who led the investigation in the U.S. House, was also proven correct.

Finally, evidence continues to emerge that Fast and Furious was in fact much bigger than the press and the administration have admitted. Mexican drug lords, for example, have said that the U.S. government was shipping weapons to their cartels and allowing them to bring drugs across the border in exchange for information. The CIA's involvement also continued to be largely concealed. However, with Fast and Furious seemingly taking a back seat to other major scandals - Benghazigate, spying on journalists, IRS abuse, and more - justice for the Fast and Furious victims may never be truly served.


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15. Homeowner tells burglar: 'If you move, you're gonna go to the morgue'
**************************************************

The bad guy needs to move from Ohio to Maryland, where being a criminal is a whole lot safer.

Charles Losik emailed me this:

--

From The Blaze: http://tinyurl.com/lb37c28

By Madeleine Morgenstern
June 1, 2013

An Ohio woman held a would-be burglar at gunpoint until police arrived, warning him, "if you move, you're gonna go to the morgue."

Tammy Takach of Steubenville was sleeping Thursday morning when a noise in her home woke her up. She told WPXI-TV she grabbed her gun and went downstairs to find an intruder who'd entered through a window holding an air conditioning unit. He begged her not to call the police.

"He stood up and put his hands up," Takach told WTOV-TV. "He said, 'I'm just going to go. I'm sorry,' and I said, 'The only place you're going to go is jail, and if you move, you're gonna go to the morgue, because I'm going to blow your f-ing head off."

Takach kept the gun aimed at him the entire time until police arrived. Upstairs, Takach's son was still asleep, completely unaware of what was happening.

Ryan Geary, 23, was arraigned Friday on charges of burglary and possessing criminal tools. If convicted, he could face up to nine years in prison.
Homeowner Tells Burglar: If You Move, Youre Gonna Go to the Morgue

Takach's husband, Anson, said the family owns multiple firearms but that it was the first time his wife ever had to use one in a situation like that.

"We go to the range as much as we can. We own a lot of firearms," Anson Takach told WTOV. "I've had extensive training with firearms, so I teach her and my son how to be responsible and to remain calm in situations like that."


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16. Libertarians enter the gun control debate
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From The Washington Times: http://tinyurl.com/lx2wwsd

By Jennifer Harper
May 31, 2013

Former Libertarian presidential hopeful Gary Johnson has entered the gun rights arena, taking on a new Colorado law that places strict limits on the size of ammunition magazines. He is now honorary chairman of Save Our Shotguns, a nonpartisan group circulating a referendum petition to place Colorado's HB 1224 on the statewide ballot in 2014.

"Despite what some, including the Colorado legislature and Gov. John Hickenlooper would have us believe, the Second Amendment is crystal clear. Placing an arbitrary limit on the capacity of a gun magazine is an unacceptable restriction on the rights of gun owners, manufacturers and sellers," Mr. Johnson says.

"I am confident that the wisdom of the people will ultimately overturn an action by the legislature that might be well-intentioned, but which was ill-advised," he adds.

"Restricting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens does not make anyone safer. It simply empowers those who have no regard for the law and who wish to do us harm."

The Libertarian Party itself has already specified where it stands on the gun control issue, meanwhile.

"Why Libertarians support equal rights for America's gun owners: Libertarians, like other Americans, want to be able to walk city streets safely and be secure in their homes. We also want our Constitutional rights protected, to guard against the erosion of our civil liberties. In particular, Libertarians want to see all people treated equally under the law, as our Constitution requires. America's millions of gun owners are people too," the Party says in a formal policy statement.

"Law-abiding, responsible citizens do not and should not need to ask anyone's permission or approval to engage in a peaceful activity. Gun ownership, by itself, harms no other person and cannot morally justify criminal penalties."

The Party also notes, "Gun control advocates would declare all gun owners guilty without trial, simply for owning guns, even though millions of them have never used their guns to harm another person. Such blanket condemnation is immoral, unfair and contrary to the principles on which America was founded."

"Gun control advocates are much like the prohibitionists of the early 20th Century. By making liquor illegal, they spawned organized crime, caused bloody, violent turf wars and corrupted the criminal justice system. Today's war on drugs has exactly the same results."


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17. "Consumer Reports" CEO is former head of Handgun Control
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Member Tom Ariel sent me this:

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Looks like Consumer Reports is subtly weaving guns into its recent reporting. In the past 5 months, there have been 4 firearms-related pieces.

Their first reporting appears to be in 2011 where they suggest having a firearm in the home is a mistake.

Some quick research reveals that James Guest, president and CEO of Consumer Reports, was formerly head of Handgun Control and Center to Prevent Handgun Violence.

--

Recent Consumer Reports weighing in on guns.

From our president: Dead first (May 2013) http://tinyurl.com/mqsgarv

Referencing the Institute of Medicine report "U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health," James Guest states:
"The report gives plenty of reasons˘individual and systemic˘why the U.S. is at the bottom. We eat more, weigh more, and are more apt to use guns violently."

I did a quick search of the report, and there's very little of actual substance regarding firearms. http://tinyurl.com/m27ujd3

-

Gun accidents down, but other home accidents on the rise (Feb 8, 2013)

http://tinyurl.com/a8rus9r

I'm surprised to see this more balanced pieced slipped in.

Could owning a gun affect how much you pay for homeowners insurance? (Jan 16, 2013) http://tinyurl.com/lt7lckz

"In recent weeks, some commentators have suggested that insurance could play a role in mitigating gun violence. Insurers could offer discounts
for gun owners who indicated they use gun locks and other safety features, suggests Marsha N. Cohen, a law professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law. Another option: Consumers would have to show proof of coverage before buying guns."

-

America's health: we're not number one (Jan 10, 2013) http://tinyurl.com/aaw7x9f

"We die violently much more often than people in these other countries. Our murder rate is almost seven times higher, and our rate of gun homicides almost 20 times higher. In fact, 80 percent of all firearms deaths in rich countries occur in the United States."

Note how they distinguish between "murders" and "gun homicides."

---------------------------------------------

The following appears to be the first instance of any actual firearms coverage in Consumer Reports.

Home Security (June 2011) http://tinyurl.com/3le67fv

The article has a list of errors people make regarding home security. Among the clearly legitimate mistakes people make, it slides in this passive/aggressive paragraph:

"Thinking a gun is your best defense

"Gun ownership is a controversial topic, but research has shown that homeowners with guns increase the risks in their home. Homeowners might make the mistake of not getting proper training and not securing their firearms. Thirty-two percent reported having a gun as a security measure. And 73 percent of gun owners thought it was very good or excellent for protection."

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Consumer Reports: Our Leadership Profiles http://tinyurl.com/l43x4ze

"After graduating from Harvard Law School and completing a Woodrow Wilson fellowship in economics at MIT, he worked as legislative assistant to Senator Ted Kennedy. In the early 1970s, Mr. Guest moved to Vermont where he served as Banking and Insurance Commissioner, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Development and Community Affairs.

Over the last 20 years, he has headed several public policy and advocacy groups including Handgun Control Inc. and the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, as well as Planned Parenthood of Maryland"

------------------------------------

Some media quotes of Jim Guest

Gun Lobby Targets Clinton (1996) http://tinyurl.com/kaxw6yr

"Meanwhile, two gun control groups demonstrated outside the Dallas convention center. Declares Jim Guest of Handgun Control Incorporated: "They are representing an extreme pro-gun position that is out of touch with efforts that could really have an impact on reducing gun violence (132K WAV sound) http://tinyurl.com/mqwsd25

Top Court To Decide Legality Of Brady Gun Law (1996)

http://tinyurl.com/lna66xu

"The gun lobby, obviously, is totally opposed to even reasonable laws to prevent gun violence," said Jim Guest, president of Handgun Control Inc. "We knew they would challenge it, and we expected it would end up in the Supreme Court."


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18. Washington Post investigation: Guns in America
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From CATO Institute: http://tinyurl.com/lbylb9m

By Tim Lynch
May 29, 2013

Today's Washington Post has a lengthy article about crime and firearms in the District of Columbia and in neighboring Prince George's County, Maryland.
Here is the most important sentence from the article: "In the national gun-control debate, a salient fact often has been overlooked: Legislative efforts aimed at curtailing the availability of the most lethal weapons merely play at the margins of this huge gun population." It hasn't been overlooked here, but, yes, overlooked by Obama, Biden, Bloomberg, and others pushing gun control proposals that will not really address homicides.

Here are a few other points from the Post analysis:

* Only a small fraction of the firearms seized by the police might fall within a definition for so-called 'assault weapons.': "Far more typical for local police is the matter-of-fact recovery of a handgun, which passes with little or no public notice. Handguns account for about eight of every 10 firearms confiscated in the analysis period. Nearly 70 percent of the handguns seized were semiautomatic pistols, most often 9mm models, with magazines of varying capacity.

* "Homicides by gun in the city and the county are down by about 70 percent over the past six years." Recall that city officials were alarmed when the Supreme Court ruled the city's strict gun control laws unconstitutional five years ago. Then-Mayor Fenty said he was "outraged" that the courts ruled that his constituents would be able to keep a handgun in the home for self-defense. Fenty said crime would be going up.

* "The vast majority of the millions of guns in circulation nationwide will never become crime guns."

* According to the ATF, the firearms that do become crime guns have been on the streets over a dozen years. "Recovered guns have often changed hands multiple times." These black market transactions are going to take place-even if there are new regulations concerning background checks. The Post article relates an incident where the police were executing a warrant at a residence and a man "sprinted from the yard, tossing guns from his pants: a Cobray M11, a 9mm semiautomatic machine pistol, a .45-caliber minimax Llama handgun, and a Glock 19. Police arrested the man, a felon on probation, and found a rusted handgun and rifle at his home." The legal code said he wasn't supposed to have those guns, but he did.

Bottom line: Gun control proposals have no significant impact. They generally restrict the actions of persons who care about staying within the rules. After controls are enacted, some politicians are surprised by the fact that criminals are able to obtain guns and use them to commit crimes. Jerome Earles, a felon quoted in the story, said he carries a gun around even though he knows it is illegal to do so. "It ain't right, but I carry my gun" he said.


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19. GE's hypocrisy when it comes to guns
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Jon Flores sent me this in response to VCDL Update 5/21/2013, item #18 "GE Capital cuts off lending to gun shops"

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This absolutely slays me.

Most MOST people are completely unaware of one important fact. The people that are aware of this are Military, usually Helicopter Door Gunners or pilots.

General Electric IS a Firearms Manufacturer. The most notorious being the M134 Mini-gun one of the fastest firing guns made. Hi cap magazines?? We don't need that. We have belt fed.

From Wikipedia: http://tinyurl.com/l65zelb


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20. Gunwerks: Demonstrating how Coriolis effects bullet drop at 1000 yards [Video]
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For those of you who love ballistics:

From The Gun Wire: http://tinyurl.com/krkmfj5


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21. How many guns made in U.S. in 2012?
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Member Walter Jackson sent me this:

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ATF list of firearms manufactured in the US in 2011. Released January 2013.

Click on the link in the second sentence to open the list.


From Extranosalley.com: http://tinyurl.com/kkxntr9
May 27, 2013

Someone came by searching for "how many guns made in us during 2012."
Unfortunately, the latest data available from the ATF is for 2011, released in January, 2013.(pdf) http://tinyurl.com/knay7jg

As a result, we will perforce discuss 2010 and 2011 numbers - and then go to an estimate of 2012 gun production.

The 2010 report shows a total of 5,459,240 guns made and 241,977 were exported. That leaves a total of 5,217,263 guns manufactured and sold in the United States during 2011.

The 2011 report shows a total of 6,541,886 guns were manufactured during 2011 and 296,888 guns were exported. That leaves a total of 6,244,998 guns manufactured and sold in the United States during 2011. In addition, there were 3,252,404 guns imported into the United States for a total of 9,497,402 NEW guns available for sale in the United States during 2011.

Obviously, American gun manufacturers increased their production by 1,027,035 units "available for sale in the United States" between 2010 and 2011. While numbers will not be out until 2014, there are strong indications that American gun production increased by at least two million units a year between 2011 and 2012.

However, to be conservative, production of new guns during 2012 was at least 7,500,000 guns over and above those exported. In addition, it appears the number of imported guns also rose in 2012, to a conservative total of approximately 3,900,000 guns imported.

So a total of 11,400,000 guns manufactured or imported into the United States during 2012 is defensible - and conservative.

And, if you think back to the empty dealers shelves last Christmas, it appears certain that virtually every gun made or imported was sold.





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VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization
dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to
Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.

VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org [http://www.vcdl.org/]