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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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Thanks to Matthew Cuddy and Brandy Polinowski for helping compile today’s update.
1. VCDL membership meeting in Annandale on Thursday, July 17
2. Reminder: VCDL membership meeting in Virginia Beach on Wednesday, July 30
3. Bloomberg is not afraid of the NRA, but he is afraid of gun owners.
4. New study by John Lott with excellent information
5. A look at the progressive guide to gun-control, #1
6. “Every Jew a .22” - a talk by a progressive Rabbi
7. Beloved pharmacist shot during attempted robbery
8. Robbery near ODU off-campus housing
9. Press Release: Democrats pushing for ban on imported "military-style" firearms
10. A year after background check defeat, modest goals
11. Harry Reid calls BLM opponents "domestic terrorists"
12. FBI Investigating "Activist FFLs"
13. LTE: Former Supreme Court Justice wrong on 2nd Amendment
14. Bloomberg spending $50 million to challenge NRA
15. Bloomberg's hypocritical stance on gun
16. United States of SWAT?
17. How Americans Die
18. [WV] Local gunsmith to appear on "Sons of Guns"
19. [PA] QVC host's frightening struggle with stalking
20. [NY] NY gun owners shrug off tough new rules
21. [CT] What is it like to be a gun owner in Connecticut? [VIDEO]
22. [IL] Chicago robbery stopped with lethal force [VIDEO]
23. [IL] 4 Dead among at least 36 shot in Chicago in 36 hours
24. [ID] Idaho legislature overwhelmingly passes campus carry
25. [CO] Woman shot during 13 minute 911 call
26. Horrific Mass Murder in Calgary [VIDEO]
27. Worst mass murder in Calgary's history committed with a knife
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1. VCDL membership meeting in Annandale on Thursday, July 17
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VCDL will have its regular monthly meeting in Annandale on Thursday, July 17, at the Mason District Government Center. Fellowship starts at 7:30 PM and the meeting is called to order at 8:00 PM.
The meeting is open to the public, so bring along some friends and family!
Directions:
http://vcdl.org/node/486
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2. Reminder: VCDL membership meeting in Virginia Beach on Wednesday, July 30
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VCDL will have a membership meeting on Wednesday, July 30, in Virginia Beach at:
Virginia Beach Orberndorf Central Library
Auditorium
4100 Virginia Beach Boulevard
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
Fellowship starts at 6:30 PM and the meeting is called to order at 7 PM and runs until 8:30 PM.
The meeting is open to the public, so bring your friends, family and co-workers. As a public library, carry is allowed.
Thanks to Carl Bare for making the arrangements.
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3. Bloomberg is not afraid of the NRA, but he is afraid of gun owners.
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Ignoring what Bloomberg thinks of the NRA, in my limited experience with Mr. Bloomberg, I can say he seems to be quite afraid of gun owners:
1. In 2007 Bloomberg held a conference on gun control for U.S. mayors in a Washington, D.C. hotel. VCDL members, unarmed because of D.C.’s draconian gun laws, gathered outside his hotel with signs saying, “Keep your gun-control schemes in New York,” and “NO to NYC gun control.” This so shook up Bloomberg that he secretly moved the entire conference to another location at the very last second just so we couldn’t picket it!
2. A little later in that same year, Bloomberg did a joint press conference with Jeannemarie Devolites-Davis at an airport hotel in Northern Virginia. The purpose of the press conference was for Bloomberg to show his support for Ms. Davis’s reelection as an anti-gun Virginia state senator. (Thanks to both Bloomberg’s support and the VCDL-PAC supporting her opponent, Chap Petersen, Ms. Davis lost handily.) A contingent of VCDL members carrying anti-Bloomberg signs was picketing outside the hotel. In order to avoid even driving by a group of gun owners carrying signs, Bloomberg’s entourage drove the WRONG WAY down a one-way street by the hotel. (In true Bloomberg control-freak style, this press conference was NOT open to the public, it was only open to members of the press who could present their press credentials.)
Here is a story about Bloomberg and the NRA. It includes an interview with His Majesty:
From the rollingstone.com: http://tinyurl.com/k4v7xxk
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4. New study by John Lott with excellent information
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John Lott has an excellent document on concealed carry in the U.S., including the number of CHP holders in each state. In the U.S. we now have way over 11 MILLION permit holders! And here comes a migraine for the gun controllers: the number of permits has increased 130% since 2007 and the violent crime rate has fallen 22% during that time.
Board member Dale Welch sent me the link:
http://tinyurl.com/p5ul22t
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5. A look at the progressive guide to gun-control, #1
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There is a progressive’s guide to gun control - what to say and how to say it to support more gun control.
Here is a link to the guide:
http://tinyurl.com/nnr5qyy
Every now and then I’ll take one of their talking points and “examine" it more closely.
In acknowledging that the gun control movement is failing, the guide suggests that gun controllers change their terminology to try to get some traction. It can’t be that gun control is simply stupid and nobody wants it, it must be the terminology used!
So gun controllers shouldn’t say things like “gun control,” “stricter gun laws,” or that “I oppose the Second Amendment.”
Oh, heavens, no! That would be telling the truth. So, instead gun controllers are supposed to say “preventing gun violence,” “stronger gun laws,” and “support for the Second Amendment goes hand-in-hand with keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people.”
Of course, to gun controllers all gun owners are dangerous people.
The paper acknowledges that people don’t react favorably to “gun control” or “stricter laws.” It also acknowledges that Americans have a positive feeling about the Second Amendment and also about the NRA. If attacking the NRA, gun controllers should attack its “out-of-touch leadership” or its “lobbyists.”
Of course the gun controllers don’t have out-of-touch leaders or lobbyists! Hey, wait a minute…
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6. “Every Jew a .22” - a talk by a progressive Rabbi
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On this item, please keep in mind that I am not familiar with Jewish law. Dr. Michael Broyde discusses Jewish law and traditions (NOT American law and traditions) dealing with self-defense in the video below. He discusses the two opposing extremes in Jewish traditions of self-defense. One extreme basically says each person’s right to live trumps everyone else’s right to live. So if a person accidentally kills another innocent during an act of self-defense, it is not murder as there was no INTENT to kill the innocent person. The other extreme says if there is a chance that a person defending themselves could kill an innocent person during an act of self-defense, then it is better for that person to not defend himself.
Based on the video, under Jewish law the legality of self-defense centers around “murder,” which is defined as the taking of an **innocent** life. A person trying to kill you is NOT considered an innocent life and self-defense is mandatory under Jewish law in that case.
The problem comes if you kill an innocent person who you THINK is a danger to you, but isn’t. According to the Rabbi that would be considered murder. BUT two of the examples given in the video make that situation not so clear.
In one case the Rabbi gives an example of a father, who in an act of self-defense, shoots his daughter’s boyfriend, who is sneaking into the father’s house late at night. The Rabbi says that would be murder since the boy wasn’t actually there to harm anyone and is therefore an innocent life. Yet, in another example that dealt with friendly fire, a soldier mistakenly firing on his brethren isn't attempting murder, but just operating under a “mistake-of-fact.” For me that begged the question: wasn’t the father in the first example operating under a similar "mistake-of-fact" when he shot the boyfriend, and therefore not guilty of murder either? Certainly in most places in the United States that would be true.
Another interesting item on Jewish laws dealing with murder. In my opinion the Rabbi is mixing self-defense and self-preservation, two very different concepts: if a person dies because of something that another person does passively, that is not murder. The example is given of two people lost in the desert, and only one of them has some water. If the person with the water decides not to share his water for whatever reason and the other person dies for lack of water, that is not murder because the death was caused passively. The person with the water, in my opinion is practicing self-preservation, not self-defense. But if the person without the water kills the one with the water, that would be murder, as he actively killed an innocent person simply to survive. In that case, it seems to me, the person with the water could practice self-defense as the person without water is no longer innocent.
While the Rabbi seems to be anti-gun, I found the discourse interesting, thought provoking, and not too far out of balance, nonetheless.
From torahcafe.com: http://tinyurl.com/ox392jh [VIDEO]
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7. Beloved pharmacist shot during attempted robbery
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Who would need a gun in a pharmacy?
Ruslan Ketenchiev emailed me this:
--
From wvec.com: http://tinyurl.com/lsc4aj4
Man accused of murdering pharmacist denied bail
by 13News now
April 14, 2014
UPDATE: 4/15 Walter Hubbard appeared in Virginia Beach General District Court Tuesday afternoon for his video arraignment. Hubbard was granted a court appointed attorney and the judge denied bail. Hubbard's preliminary court appearance will be May 22.
Hubbard is charged with first degree murder, robbery, attempted robbery, and three counts of use of a firearm.
*****
VIRGINIA BEACH -- Police arrested and charged 55-year-old Walter Lane Hubbard for the murder of pharmacist David Kilgore Monday.
Officers said Hubbard, whose home is in the 2600 block of Bernadotte Street, tried to rob Beach Pharmacy at 501 Laskin Road at about 11 a.m. During the attempt, he allegedly shot Kilgore.
Janet Chenman was near the pharmacy at the time of the shooting and told 13News Now she saw Kilgore being taken out of the business on a stretcher by emergency crews.
"He was surrounded by a team and they were doing chest compressions. And his family had come up. They would not let his wife in the door. It was very upsetting," Chenman said.
Chenman says Kilgore was beloved by customers and was an important member of the community.
"He's a wonderful man. He's very young, has a young family," Chenman said. "It's very tragic that on a beautiful day, in a beautiful city, and here we are. I can't believe this is happening. It's very shocking, very shocking."
A spokesman for Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital said Kilgore died at the hospital at 11:57 a.m.
Kilgore opened Beach Pharmacy on Dec. 29, 2011.
Customers have been posting messages of prayer to the store's Facebook Page.
"It's just squeezing my heart. It hurts so bad, because David is probably one of the greatest young men that my husband and I ever knew," said Robbie Lecompte, a long-time customer.
Dottie Wharton was among the people who left flowers outside Beach Pharmacy Monday.
"I'm just sick, because he did this for us," offered Dottie Wharton, referring to the pharmacy Kilgore opened after the Rite Aid where he worked closed. "He did it for us, the local people here, because we supported him, so we are just continuing to support him."
Master Police Officer Tonya Borman said Hubbard robbed Barr's Pharmacy in the 1700 block of Atlantic Avenue after the shooting at Beach Pharmacy.
Workers at Barr's told 13News Now the robber came in with a gun and demanded a specific dosage of Oxycontin. He left with a variety of pain killers.
Witnesses were able to help police find the robber after he left. Officers chased him on I-264 through Virginia Beach. Police said the pursuit spanned 5 to 8 miles and that the robber (later identified by police as Hubbard) was shooting at officers. No one was hurt during the chase, but several cars were hit by bullets.
Police laid out spike strips, which flattened the tires of the blue SUV police said Hubbard drove.
The chase ended at the intersection of Witchduck Road and Virginia Beach Boulevard where officers took Hubbard into custody.
People in Hubbard's neighborhood told 13News Now the husband and father had surgery a while ago and they believe he began abusing prescription pain medicine.
Although it appeared Hubbard addressed the issue at one point, neighbors say he seemed to relapse.
They went on to say Hubbard was no longer living at the home he shared with his wife and children.
Hubbard is charged with first degree murder, attempted robbery, robbery and three counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
He is in the Virginia Beach Correctional Center with no bond set. Hubbard is expected to be in court Tuesday.
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8. Robbery near ODU off-campus housing
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Who needs a gun around ODU?
Member Ruslan Ketenchiev emailed me this:
--
From WVEC.com: http://tinyurl.com/kt2ylfa
Person robbed near off-campus ODU housing in Norfolk
by 13News Now
April 17, 2014
NORFOLK -- A man was robbed near off-campus housing for Old Dominion University students.
An alert was sent out around 6:20 a.m. Thursday about the Wednesday night robbery near the Village 3 apartments, which are off Killam Avenue and 45th Street. The alert said the person was walking alone and was approached by four men who took items from him and ran off.
Norfolk Police and Old Dominion University are investigating; the victim wasn't hurt.
Anyone with information can call Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.
ODU SAFETY TIMELY WARNING:
Norfolk Police and Old Dominion University are investigating a robbery that was reported to have occurred on Wednesday, April 16 at approximately 9:45 p.m., near the Village 3 apartments. The victim was walking alone when four males approached him and demanded personal property. The suspects took the property and fled on foot towards 40th Street. The suspects did not display any weapons and the victim was not physically injured.
The suspects are described as four black males, in their early 20's, last seen wearing:
Suspect #1: red hoody with black pants
Suspect #2: black hoody with yellow pants
Suspect #3: white hoody with black pants
Suspect #4: black hoody, no further information provided at this time
Old Dominion University Police encourage the campus community to follow personal safety practices:
• Walk along well-lit pathways and in pairs when possible
• Promptly report suspicious persons and activity to the police
• Maintain tracking software on your personal electronic equipment
• Carry a gun for self defense [PVC: JUST KIDDING! The University would NEVER suggest that you be able to protect yourself in an emergency. They don’t believe that you aren’t qualified to save your own life. Better you just die.]
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9. Press Release: Democrats pushing for ban on imported "military-style" firearms
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Virginia Congressmen Moran, Scott, and Connolly signed on to this abomination.
From democrats.judiciary.house.gov: http://tinyurl.com/n3osohr
Conyers, Engel & 80 House Members Urge President to Stop Import of Military-Style Firearms
April 9, 2014
(WASHINGTON) – Today, Representative John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Representative Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led an 82 member letter to President Barack Obama urging him to renew enforcement of the ban on imported military-style firearms that was previously enforced during the H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations. Enforcing this ban would serve the dual purpose of improving public safety in the U.S. and reducing drug-related violence in Mexico, where there have been approximately 70,000 organized-crime related deaths since December 2006. Imported military-style firearms have been used in recent mass shootings in the United States and are frequently trafficked into Mexico where they fall into the hands of the country’s brutal drug trafficking organizations. [PVC: Thanks to the federal government's Fast and Furious gun-running program.]
Enforcing the import ban would require no congressional action as the President has very broad authority under the 1968 Gun Control Act to prohibit the importation of firearms and ammunition unless they are “generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes.”
Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.): “We must do all we can to reduce the unacceptable level of daily gun violence in America, and I believe we can do more to address the problem of military-style assault weapons imported into this country. I ask that the President and the administration take steps to update and reinvigorate this ban and help keep more of these weapons from getting to our streets.”
Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.): “Military-style firearms should have no place in our communities. Restoring the import ban is a no-brainer that would require no legislative action, would make our nation safer and would support neighboring Mexico where drug violence is fueled by firearms flowing south from the United States.”
The full text of the letter and signatories are below:
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Dear Mr. President:
We write to urge you to renew enforcement of the ban on imported military-style firearms – including those that are fully manufactured abroad as well as those that are imported as parts – which was previously enforced during the administrations of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Enforcing this ban would serve the dual purpose of improving public safety in the United States and reducing drug-related violence in Mexico where there have been approximately 70,000 organized-crime related deaths since December 2006.
The Administration has very broad authority under the 1968 Gun Control Act to prohibit the importation of firearms and ammunition unless they are “generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes” (18 USC §925(d)(3)). The George H.W. Bush Administration first used this provision to halt the importation of many foreign-made military-style rifles after Patrick Purdy used an imported AK-47 rifle to kill five children and wound 30 at Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, California in 1989. The Clinton Administration reviewed and improved the ban in 1998 in response to gun industry efforts to evade it. Unfortunately, the George W. Bush Administration abandoned enforcement of the import ban, and it remains unenforced. We urge you to once again fully enforce a ban on the import of military-style firearms and to expand the ban to include newly developed AK-type pistols that combine the firepower of a rifle with the concealability of a pistol. This new breed of pistol has absolutely no “sporting purpose” and presents a clear threat to public safety.
Acting to prohibit the import of military-style firearms would build on action already taken by your Administration to deny requests to import U.S. surplus military firearms, a step the Administration took to “help keep military-grade firearms off our streets.” A broader import ban would significantly reduce the availability of military-style firearms smuggled to and used by Mexican drug traffickers.
Imported military-style rifles and AK-style pistols are top weapons of choice for international gun smugglers. The Violence Policy Center analyzed 136 federal gun trafficking prosecutions involving illegal smuggling to Mexico and other Latin American countries. There were more than 700 Romanian AK-47 variant rifles (representing just one make/model of imported military-style rifle).
In that same investigation, the Violence Policy Center found an increasing percentage of military-style firearms imported into the United States. There were 2,214 firearms identified in prosecutions filed in the United States from 2008 through 2010. Of those 406 or 18 percent were military-style firearms that were imported into the United States. There were 2,528 firearms identified in prosecutions in the United States in 2011 and 2012. Of those, 1,615 or 64 percent were military-style firearms that were imported into the United States.
As just one example, imported WASR-10s – which are AK-47 variants – have repeatedly been found in the arsenals of top drug kingpins and their associates and were used in May 2008 to kill eight police officers in Culiacan, Mexico. An analysis conducted by the Center for Public Integrity found that, over the last four years, WASR-10 rifles comprised more than 17% of the firearms recovered at Mexican crime scenes and successfully traced back to the United States.
Imported AK-47 variant firearms have been used in recent mass shootings in the United States, including: outside an IHOP in Carson City, Nevada in 2011 in which four were killed and seven were injured (the semiautomatic MAK-90 used in the shooting had been illegally converted to fully automatic after import); a workplace shooting at an ABB industrial plant in St. Louis, Missouri in 2010 where three were killed and five were wounded; and, a shooting at a shopping mall in Omaha, Nebraska in 2007 that left eight dead and five wounded.
We urge the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to take the following steps to prevent the importation of non-sporting firearms into the United States and to close loopholes that have been exploited by importers in the past. Specifically, we request that the Administration:
Prohibit importation of all non-sporting, semiautomatic rifles, regardless of caliber, that can accept or be readily converted to accept any large-capacity ammunition magazine of more than 10 rounds. The standard should not be dependent on the military pedigree of the gun nor should it make arbitrary distinctions based on the configuration of a specific gun’s magazine well. Such a standard will prevent importers from making slight variations in a gun’s design that in the past would make it eligible for import.
Prohibit the import of non-sporting semiautomatic rifles with fixed magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds. A new standard should anticipate the potential development of fixed-magazine rifles with high-capacity ammunition magazines.
Prohibit the import of the frame or receiver of any prohibited rifle whether or not the frame or receiver is incorporated into a fully manufactured firearm. The “frame or receiver” of any firearm is its major working component and is defined by the Gun Control Act of 1968 as a “firearm.”
Prohibit the practice of importing military-style, non-sporting rifles in parts and then constructing them into fully functioning weapons once they are in the country by adding a requisite number of U.S.-made parts.
Prohibit importers from circumventing any new restrictions by “sporterizing” their weapons (for example, making slight cosmetic changes to the guns while still retaining their firepower and capacity, such as incorporating “thumbhole stocks” in place of pistol grips on rifles).
Prohibit the import of AK-type pistols in addition to AK-type rifles, as they also fail the sporting-purposes test.
We urge you to take action to aggressively enforce the “sporting purposes” test to halt the importation of all military-style weapons. By describing military-style weapons in terms of specific parts and components, one can lose the overall point that we continue to import powerful weapons which clearly have no sporting purpose. This must end. We must instead focus on the broader danger posed by these weapons. By restoring these important restrictions, we will be able to help reduce violence in the United States and in neighboring Mexico. Thank you for your attention to this urgent issue.
Sincerely,
[PVC: Only Virginia signatories shown]
17. Jim Moran (D-VA)
60. Bobby Scott (D-VA)
80. Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA)
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10. A year after background check defeat, modest goals
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Not modest enough.
EM Dave Hicks emailed me this:
--
From huffingtonpost.com: http://tinyurl.com/pbly25h
Democrats Have Modest Goals A Year After Background Check Defeat
by Alan Fram
April 16, 2014
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic worries about this November's elections, a lack of Senate votes and House opposition are forcing congressional gun-control supporters to significantly winnow their 2014 agenda, a year after lawmakers scuttled President Barack Obama's effort to pass new curbs on firearms.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., recently said he needs additional votes before revisiting a proposed expansion of gun sale background checks that the Senate derailed last April. That has left advocates of tighter gun curbs hoping Reid will allow votes on more modest proposals, such as one by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., to add convicted stalkers to the list of criminals barred from acquiring guns.
But with Reid wary of exposing Democratic senators facing tight re-election contests in some conservative and Western states to politically risky votes — and the Republican-run House showing no appetite to restrict guns anyway — people aren't holding their breath waiting for proposed gun restrictions to reach the Senate floor before Election Day.
"This kind of change doesn't happen overnight," said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "There are obviously a lot of other considerations and variables in play here, like elections."
Klobuchar's bill on stalkers would play into Democrats' campaign-season theme of pushing legislation that appeals to women, a key Democratic voting bloc. She said Tuesday she has discussed her legislation with Reid but didn't ask about holding a vote because she's first trying to round up Republican support to make the measure bipartisan.
Democratic caution on the gun issue has been displayed several times recently, even as the December 2012 killings of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., that fanned interest in firearms restrictions fade further into the past.
The September 2013 shooting deaths of 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard and this month's slaying of three people outside Jewish community centers in Overland Park, Kan., were greeted with no fresh Democratic legislative pushes. And in the face of National Rifle Association opposition last month, the White House paused its effort to push its surgeon general nominee through the Senate — Dr. Vivek Murthy, a Harvard Medical School physician, Obama political organizer and gun-control supporter.
"They're waiting for another tragedy to exploit," Chris Cox, the NRA's chief lobbyist, said of the Senate hiatus on gun activity. "The question is, do they want gun owners across this country to be more enraged this election cycle than they're already going to be?"
White House officials say they've not abandoned the issue. They cite 23 executive orders Obama issued last year, including restarting federal research on gun violence, plus additional steps like starting to close a loophole that let some felons get machine guns by registering them to trusts or corporations.
"We're just going to keep pushing until Congress does the right thing," presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett told gun-control activists last week.
As the issue has ebbed in Congress, it has accelerated in the states, where legislatures are debating hundreds of gun-related bills, some weakening and others strengthening restrictions.
Meanwhile, powerful groups are revving up for the fall elections.
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire and advocate of firearms curbs, plans to spend $50 million this year setting up a new group that will mix campaign contributions with field operations aimed at pulling gun-control voters to the polls.
The new organization, Everytown for Gun Safety, will focus on women, especially mothers, and work on state and federal elections, the group said Wednesday.
Bloomberg said Wednesday on NBC's "Today" that his group will reward candidates "who are protecting lives, and make sure that those who are trying to keep people from being protected lose elections."
Also planning campaign activity this year is Americans for Responsible Solutions, a gun-control group headed by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and her husband, ex-astronaut Mark Kelly. The group reported late Tuesday that its political committee has raised nearly $14.5 million since it was founded in January 2013, and it plans to spend its money on federal and state races, said spokesman Mark Prentice.
Giffords was severely wounded in a Jan. 8, 2011, shooting rampage that killed six people.
The National Rifle Association spent nearly $20 million on federal campaign activity in 2012 races. Its true strength is viewed as its claimed 5 million members, many of whom consider gun issues strongly when voting.
One area where fights over gun policy seem likely is in the annual bills Congress must pass to finance federal agencies.
Those bills traditionally contain more than a dozen longstanding, gun-related provisions. These include language making it easier to import antique guns and harder for the government to get gun-tracing information from licensed firearms dealers.
When lawmakers consider those spending measures, Republicans could try blocking requirements that gun dealers in states bordering Mexico report multiple purchases of shotguns or rifles to one buyer, an effort the Democratic-led Senate thwarted last year. Democrats could try requiring dealers to conduct annual inventories and report the results to the government.
A year ago, Reid fell five votes short of the 60 needed to bust a GOP procedural blockade against the background check measure. He and others have said they've not yet lined up any additional votes.
Also defeated were Democratic efforts to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, tools used by some assailants in recent mass shootings.
The background check provision, written by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., would have required such checks for all commercial firearms purchases at gun shows and online. Currently, background checks — aimed at preventing criminals and the mentally ill from acquiring weapons — are required only for sales handled by licensed federal gun dealers.
In a sign of how times change, Toomey and Manchin are working again this year on background check legislation — aimed this time at making sure teachers and others who work with children are not sexual predators.
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11. Harry Reid calls BLM opponents "domestic terrorists"
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From lvsun.com: http://tinyurl.com/n6t7p9v
Harry Reid calls rancher’s gun-toting backers ‘domestic terrorists’
Associated Press
April 17, 2014
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is calling armed backers of a Nevada rancher "domestic terrorists" for using guns in a grazing rights battle with the federal Bureau of Land Management.
The Democrat was speaking at an event hosted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Thursday when he referred to Saturday's armed confrontation between BLM agents and self-described militia members supporting Bunkerville rancher Cliven Bundy.
No shots were fired.
After the confrontation, the BLM released almost 400 of Bundy's cattle that had been rounded up. The BLM says its action was spurred by Bundy's failure to pay more than $1 million in grazing fees on federal land.
Bundy says he doesn't recognize federal authority on the land his family has used since the 1870s.
Reid says a federal task force is being formed to resolve the dispute.
[PVC: My guess is that the feds will ultimately resolve it with bullets. I hope I am wrong about that prediction.]
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12. [National] FBI Investigating "Activist FFLs"
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Uh, so Big Government is investigating gun shops and citizens who talk about Big Government?
EM Pat Webb emailed me this:
--
The FBI is reportedly sending agents to investigate Gun Shops who talk about "Big Government":
From activistpost.com: http://tinyurl.com/ok9wccf
FBI Visiting gun shops to investigate "People talking about Big Government"
by Brandon Turbeville, Activist Post
April 15, 2014
In keeping with the tradition of the FBI’s position on gun rights, it appears the Bureau is working overdrive to monitor and harass gun owners and the gun shops that sell to them.
While government surveillance of gun purchases and gun owners is nothing new, a recent visit by an FBI Counterterrorism agent to a Columbia, South Carolina gun shop has only reinforced the knowledge that the U.S. government is growing more and more concerned by the prospect of a well-armed populace – particularly one that prefers to live without constant government interference in their personal lives.
While the narrative surrounding “counterterrorism” operations used to eviscerate civil liberties after 9/11 was initially based upon the threat of Muslim fundamentalists, that narrative has clearly shifted to a focus on gun owning, law-abiding American citizens - both those who are politically active and those who are blissfully ignorant of current events.
For many, this shift of focus has been quite the surprise. Thus, when the Columbia, South Carolina gun shop in question was approached by an FBI counterterrorism agent on Monday, April 14, the individuals who spoke with him were somewhat alarmed to realize that the agent's concern was not fundamentalist Muslims but Americans who promote small government.
According to an individual who was present during the visit (this person will remain anonymous for obvious reasons), the agent pulled up in a regular vehicle in plain clothes and took a look around the shop as if he were considering a purchase before approaching the staff and announcing that he was with the FBI Counterterrorism unit.
“Never in a million years would I have thought this guy was a fed,” said the witness. “He was in a completely normal vehicle. Regular clothes. Everything. I would have thought this guy was just some downhome country boy.”
After showing proper identification, the agent told the shop owners that he was tasked with all the gun shops in the general area and that he was charged with investigating “suspicious purchases” in accordance with counterterrorism operations.
The suspicious purchases he mentioned, however, were completely normal transactions. This included, paying with cash, purchasing long guns, and other similarly innocuous behavior.
However, what surprised the owners the most was his statement regarding what he was most interested in tracking.
According to the witness, the agent stated, “If you see some Middle Eastern guy come in. You don’t have to be so worried about that. What we’re really looking for are people talking about being sovereign such as sovereign citizens or people talking about Big Government.”
The agent also mentioned that he had a spreadsheet of all the gun shops in the area.
After this brief chat, the agent left a flyer with the shop that listed some of the more generic and normal behaviors which they were expected to view as suspicious.
Some of these trigger behaviors are:
-Payment in cash or someone else’s credit card.
-Reluctant or unwilling to produce valid I.D.
-Large purchases or unusual inquiries into buying in bulk
-Lack of knowledge involved in firearms or product usage
-Hints at illegal or misuse of explosives
-New or unknown customers
-Nervousness or evasiveness
In the end, while the visit to a local gun shop by an FBI Counterterrorism agent is no surprise, it should serve as a stark reminder that the U.S. government is vastly concerned about a well-armed populace. Gun rights have been gradually eroded in the United States for decades but the assault on gun rights has been ratcheted up to a new level by the Obama administration.
Still, those expecting a public declaration of total gun illegality and martial law confiscation will be wringing their hands in anticipation for a very long time. Of course, while they wring their hands and anticipate the declaration of outright war against gun owners, their guns are being slowly stripped from their hands in an incremental fashion. Slight rule changes and isolated confiscations will continue to take place over time until the public has been properly acclimated to them as a fact of life, at which point the public’s line in the sand will be moved slightly forward once more. Again, the line will be crossed, but only slightly. Eventually, Americans will wake up to find themselves completely disarmed and neutered in a land in which they once believed they were free. At that point, with a completely defenseless population, the thin veneer of freedom will be lifted.
It is time for gun owners and gun rights activists to go on the political offensive. In 2014, it is no longer a legitimate mode of activism to be content to defend your already attenuated freedoms. It is time to make demands. It is time to throw compromise out the window.
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13. LTE: Former Supreme Court Justice wrong on 2nd Amendment
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Member James Durso emailed me this:
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From washingtonpost.com: http://tinyurl.com/psd23rx
Justice Stevens was wrong on 2nd Amendment
Letters to the Editor
April 16, 2014
Regarding former Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens’s April 13 Outlook book excerpt, “A second opinion on the Second Amendment”:
Justice Stevens wrote that legislative bodies, not the courts, are best suited to determine appropriate firearms regulations. But does he truly believe in that doctrine?
The Heller (2008) and McDonald (2010) rulings were expansions of gun rights with which Justice Stevens disagreed. Quoting from his piece: “I dissented in both of those cases and remain convinced that both decisions misinterpreted the law and were profoundly unwise. Public policies concerning gun control should be decided by the voters’ elected representatives, not by federal judges.”
However, the 1939 Miller decision, which Justice Stevens endorsed, limited gun rights. Why didn’t Justice Stevens likewise state that Miller was “profoundly unwise” and that elected representatives should decide gun policy?
Justice Stevens seems to favor legislatures when he disagrees with the courts, while favoring the courts when he agrees with the courts.
Steve A. Brown
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Former justice John Paul Stevens offered a truly radical proposal to amend the Constitution. He would limit gun rights to persons serving in the militia and only during their times of service. So, the District again would be able to tell my ex-clients, who justifiably feared for their safety in their drug-infested neighborhoods, that they could not keep a handgun at home for self-defense. Responsible citizens who are concerned about extremist views on gun rights should condemn Justice Stevens’s foolishness.
Robert A. Levy
The writer represented Dick Heller in the Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller.
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Former justice John Paul Stevens called for adding the words “when serving in the militia” to the Second Amendment to correct the court’s misreading of the Constitution. But the phrase is not necessary because the issue is addressed in another part of the Constitution. Article 1, Section 8 grants Congress the power to “provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States.” Thus, unless a person is a member of the militia as established by Congress, Congress has every right to regulate gun ownership by those individuals not in that militia.
The Second Amendment then reinforces that concept by specifically beginning with the words, “A well regulated militia.?.?.?.” No amendments are necessary. And I am a gun owner.
Matthew Murguia
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Former justice John Paul Stevens’s five-word fix for the Second Amendment would make it clear that only active military have the right to keep and bear arms. But this is the Bill of Rights. What right would such an amendment protect? How would it limit the power of government? Why would the Founders have bothered to protect the military’s right to be armed? Such a guarantee would be a silly waste of ink, paper and time.
Nancy J. Rice
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With all due respect to John Paul Stevens, I disagree that the intent of the Second Amendment was limited to the right of the people to bear arms only when engaged in active militia service. Writing in Federalist 29 on Jan. 9, 1788, Alexander Hamilton stated, “If circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people, while there is a large body of citizens?.?.?. who stand ready to defend their rights and the rights of their fellow citizens.”
To me, this is proof that the intent of the framers was that the right to bear arms was an individual right, not a collective one associated only with militia service. It is proof that their thinking centered on the ability of the people to defend their rights from an oppressive and corrupt government, should one arise. This interpretation is consistent with recent Supreme Court rulings, and it is also consistent with the position espoused by the NRA. Adding the words “When serving in the militia” would eviscerate the Second Amendment of its true purpose.
Willis J. Mann
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14. Bloomberg spending $50 million to challenge NRA
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Member Craig Faunce emailed me this:
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From cnn.com: http://tinyurl.com/p7etqvo
Bloomberg to spend $50 million to challenge NRA on gun safety
by Leigh Ann Caldwell, Kevin Bohn, and Ed Payne, CNN
April 16, 2014
(CNN) -- Michael Bloomberg is investing a chunk of his personal fortune to minimize the influence of the National Rifle Association.
The former New York City mayor pledged $50 million to his new group Everytown for Gun Safety, an umbrella organization for his two other gun control groups: Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. It aims to make the political climate more supportive of gun control.
The new organization plans to compete against the NRA by adopting its playbook. The NRA has built an impressive and effective organization that touts millions of members, a robust lobbying organization and a massive campaign arm.
"You've got to work at it piece by piece," Bloomberg told the The New York Times.
In its grass-roots operation, Everytown plans to increase its membership from 1.5 million to 2.5 million this year to implement its education and mobilization efforts. The group will focus on 15 states that have liberal gun laws, including Texas, Montana and Indiana. States that have advanced gun control initiatives will also receive attention, including Colorado and Washington.
"The NRA should be afraid," said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. Women, and more particularly mothers, will be the key demographic in the outreach to curb gun violence.
"Moms are afraid that our children will be taken away. In the end, that's the emotion that's going to win."
But influencing those in charge of writing gun policy will be the ultimate goal of the organization, which is also creating a political action committee to elect gun safety candidates to office and a 501(c)(4), an IRS classification used to raise unlimited amounts of money to influence voters. It aims to motivate a million pro-gun safety voters to go to the polls in November.
In addition, like the NRA, the organization will submit a gun safety questionnaire to candidates and keep a score card of how elected officials vote on gun-related issues.
"If the candidate doesn't support gun reform, we won't support you," Watts said.
With an infusion of cash from Bloomberg, matching the NRA's financial heft will be a little less daunting. The NRA has spent more than $30 million lobbying elected officials since 1998. Its efforts have been very successful in Congress over the past decade, defeating attempts to ban assault weapons and expand background checks.
On the electioneering side of the influence game, the NRA's political action committee has spent nearly $150 million on campaigns since 1990. Already in the first two months of this midterm election year, the powerful gun group raised $14 million, according to public data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
President of Everytown, John Feinblatt, said the group's 34,000 donors will also play a critical role in rivaling the NRA.
"I don't want to lay blame anywhere, but it is a reality that the gun lobby has an incredible amount of political influence with members of Congress in Washington," Mark Kelly, a prominent gun control advocate, told CNN in December. Kelly's wife is former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was severely wounded in a shooting in Arizona in 2011.
"I mean, it's very clear that many members take their cues on this issue from the gun lobby," he said.
The NRA has little to say about Bloomberg's pledge, for now.
"See you in Indianapolis next week. We'll have a lot more to say then," spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told CNN. He was referring to the group's annual conference, which takes place next week in Indianapolis.
Bloomberg's activism for gun safety increased after repeated mass shootings. His efforts to expand background checks after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School failed to pass either the House or the Senate, despite pressure from the Obama administration.
The organization wants to expand background checks, keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, crack down on gun trafficking and educate parents about the safe storage of guns.
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15. Bloomberg's hypocritical stance on guns
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This article contains numerous links to other articles, studies, & events, so you may want to read the actual article by clicking on the link below.
From foxnews.com: http://tinyurl.com/n7ylfvx
What the press is missing in Bloomberg's anti-gun push
by Dr. John R. Lott, Jr.
April 17, 2014
Gun control has largely been a top down effort. Michael Bloomberg’s latest announcement that he will spend another $50 million to push gun control – 2.5 times the amount spent by the NRA annually on political activities – is all too typical. Last year, gun control groups, largely due to Bloomberg’s money, outspent gun rights groups by about 7.4 to 1 on TV advertising.
With a net worth of $31.2 billion, Bloomberg can afford round-the-clock armed bodyguards, but he doesn’t recognize the need for others to have armed protection.
Despite his money, mayors belonging to Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns represent only about 2.5 percent of America’s cities and towns (885 out of over 35,000) and most of these members represent very small towns.
Since December, Bloomberg has merged with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense, but despite frequent prominent media appearances and Bloomberg’s funding, as of today, Moms Demand Action has 18 thousand followers on Twitter. No membership information is available and if you want to donate to their cause you are told to write the check to Bloomberg’s Mayors organization.
By contrast, the NRA has over 5 million members, with 219,000 Twitter followers.
But this $50 million is not all the money Bloomberg is spending on the gun issue as it doesn’t even count all the other money that he is putting into the issue. While the precise amount isn’t known, Bloomberg is also spending tens of millions on “public health” gun research (here is one study that he supported).
For example, last year Bloomberg announced a $250 million gift to Johns Hopkins that would fund 50 new professorships, some of which will be in the Bloomberg School of Public Health to study gun control. He also regularly funds activities such as a gun violence summit at Johns Hopkins.
The big concern is not the funding per se, but how incredibly biased and poorly done the research is.
Bloomberg’s dollars also go a lot farther than money spent by the other side. For example, a deeply flawed report released in February from Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action on school shootings was covered in more than 2,000 news stories.
When an equally flawed study in early 2013 from Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns claimed: "As a result, peer-reviewed research on gun violence has sharply declined. A review conducted by Mayors Against Illegal Guns showed that academic publishing on firearm violence fell by 60% between 1996 and 2010. ... Academics working in the field describe how constricted federal funding for firearm research has discouraged research in the area," some 2,340 news stories repeated this claim.
The announcement that Bloomberg was going to spend $50 million this year was itself greeted with uncritical coverage, from appearances on the Today Show to the New York Times.
Bloomberg’s push is just the tip of the iceberg. Literally hundreds of millions from not only Bloomberg but also from George Soros, many large foundations, and the Obama administration are starting to fund gun control research.
Jim Steyer, another billionaire, is also promising a big push on gun control during this election year.
Democrats are apoplectic about the $30 million that the Koch brothers have spent so far this year on campaigns, but Bloomberg’s $50 million or the millions that he has give to Harry Reid’s Senate Majority PAC aren’t mentioned. Let alone the $100 million that billionaire Tom Steyer pledges to back Democrats on Global Warming (half his own personal money).
Bloomberg points with pride to his work on gun control, obesity and smoking. “I am telling you if there is a God, when I get to heaven I’m not stopping to be interviewed. I am heading straight in. I have earned my place in heaven. It’s not even close,” he happily told Jeremy Peters at the New York Times.
When Bloomberg gets the chance, he should ask God why his life deserves to be protected by guns, while others shouldn’t get the same protection. [PVC: I believe that Bloomberg would answer that he is better than everyone else and deserves to be protected. He has already claimed that he has bought and paid for his ticket into Heaven. That might be news to God, though…]
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16. United States of SWAT?
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I harp on this subject a lot, but I’m by no means the only one.
Walter Jackson emailed me this:
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From nationalreview.com: http://tinyurl.com/lnj4rt7
The United States of SWAT?
Military-style units from government agencies are wreaking havoc on non-violent citizens.
by John Fund
April 18, 2014
Regardless of how people feel about Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s standoff with the federal Bureau of Land Management over his cattle’s grazing rights, a lot of Americans were surprised to see TV images of an armed-to-the-teeth paramilitary wing of the BLM deployed around Bundy’s ranch.
They shouldn’t have been. Dozens of federal agencies now have Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams to further an expanding definition of their missions. It’s not controversial that the Secret Service and the Bureau of Prisons have them. But what about the Department of Agriculture, the Railroad Retirement Board, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Office of Personnel Management, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service? All of these have their own SWAT units and are part of a worrying trend towards the militarization of federal agencies — not to mention local police forces.
“Law-enforcement agencies across the U.S., at every level of government, have been blurring the line between police officer and soldier,” journalist Radley Balko writes in his 2013 book Rise of the Warrior Cop. “The war on drugs and, more recently, post-9/11 antiterrorism efforts have created a new figure on the U.S. scene: the warrior cop — armed to the teeth, ready to deal harshly with targeted wrongdoers, and a growing threat to familiar American liberties.”
The proliferation of paramilitary federal SWAT teams inevitably brings abuses that have nothing to do with either drugs or terrorism. Many of the raids they conduct are against harmless, often innocent, Americans who typically are accused of non-violent civil or administrative violations.
Take the case of Kenneth Wright of Stockton, Calif., who was “visited” by a SWAT team from the U.S. Department of Education in June 2011. Agents battered down the door of his home at 6 a.m., dragged him outside in his boxer shorts, and handcuffed him as they put his three children (ages 3, 7, and 11) in a police car for two hours while they searched his home. The raid was allegedly intended to uncover information on Wright’s estranged wife, Michelle, who hadn’t been living with him and was suspected of college financial-aid fraud.
The year before the raid on Wright, a SWAT team from the Food and Drug Administration raided the farm of Dan Allgyer of Lancaster, Pa. His crime was shipping unpasteurized milk across state lines to a cooperative of young women with children in Washington, D.C., called Grass Fed on the Hill. Raw milk can be sold in Pennsylvania, but it is illegal to transport it across state lines. The raid forced Allgyer to close down his business.
Brian Walsh, a senior legal analyst with the Heritage Foundation, says it is inexplicable why so many federal agencies need to be battle-ready: “If these agencies occasionally have a legitimate need for force to execute a warrant, they should be required to call a real law-enforcement agency, one that has a better sense of perspective. The FBI, for example, can draw upon its vast experience to determine whether there is an actual need for a dozen SWAT agents.”
Since 9/11, the feds have issued a plethora of homeland-security grants that encourage local police departments to buy surplus military hardware and form their own SWAT units. By 2005, at least 80 percent of towns with a population between 25,000 and 50,000 people had their own SWAT team. The number of raids conducted by local police SWAT teams has gone from 3,000 a year in the 1980s to over 50,000 a year today.
Once SWAT teams are created, they will be used. Nationwide, they are used for standoffs, often serious ones, with bad guys. But at other times they’ve been used for crimes that hardly warrant military-style raids. Examples include angry dogs, domestic disputes, and misdemeanor marijuana possession. In 2010, a Phoenix, Ariz., sheriff’s SWAT team that included a tank and several armored vehicles raided the home of Jesus Llovera. The tank, driven by the newly deputized action-film star Steven Seagal, plowed right into Llovera’s house. The incident was filmed and, together with footage of Seagal-accompanied immigration raids, was later used for Seagal’s A&E TV law-enforcement reality show.
The crime committed by Jesus Llovera was staging cockfights. During the sheriff’s raid, his dog was killed, and later all of his chickens were put to sleep.
Many veteran law-enforcement figures have severe qualms about the turn police work is taking. One retired veteran of a large metropolitan police force told me: “I was recently down at police headquarters for a meeting. Coincidently, there was a promotion ceremony going on and the SWAT guys looked just like members of the Army, except for the police shoulder patches. Not an image I would cultivate. It leads to a bad mindset.”
Indeed, the U.S. Constitution’s Third Amendment, against the quartering of troops in private homes, was part of an overall reaction against the excesses of Britain’s colonial law enforcement. “It wasn’t the stationing of British troops in the colonies that irked patriots in Boston and Virginia,” Balko writes. “It was England’s decision to use the troops for everyday law enforcement.”
There are things that can be done to curb the abuses without taking on the politically impossible job of disbanding SWAT units. The feds should stop shipping military vehicles to local police forces. Federal SWAT teams shouldn’t be used to enforce regulations, but should focus instead on potentially violent criminals. Cameras mounted on the dashboards of police cars have both brought police abuses to light and exonerated officers who were falsely accused of abuse. SWAT-team members could be similarly equipped with helmet cameras.
After all, if taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill and cede ground on their Fourth Amendment rights, they have the right to a transparent, accountable record of just what is being done in their name.
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17. How Americans Die
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Member James Kiser emailed me this:
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From monderno.com: http://tinyurl.com/mdd74ng
How Americans Die
by Brandon at Monderno.com
April 17, 2014
Bloomberg released a data visualization tool today that is pretty fascinating and well worth your time to check out. It’s called How Americans Die, and shows an interactive analysis of what has killed Americans over the past 30 years.
There are many things in the tool that stood out to me, one of which is the screenshot below:
The yellow line is the “murder by firearm” category, and as you can see, it’s at or near an all-time low here in the United States (also worth noting is that accidental death by firearms has hardly changed over the past 30 years).
If you read Monderno, you probably already knew this, but consider the source for a second: this tool was created by Bloomberg Visual Data, a team within Bloomberg News that creates “editorially-driven interactive data products for the global business consumer.” Bloomberg News, the company co-founded by the anti-gun Michael Bloomberg himself.
I wonder if he has seen this tool?
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18. [WV] Local gunsmith to appear on "Sons of Guns"
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EM Chip Fetrow emailed me this:
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Former EM's company gets famous
From journal-news.net: http://tinyurl.com/mxfxhcx
Local gunsmith to appear on ‘Sons of Guns’
by Samantha Cronk, journal-news.net
April 15, 2014
INWOOD - While following his passion of gunsmithing led Inwood resident Michael Meador to open a firearms business with his wife, it also led him to another surprising destination - television.
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19. [PA] QVC host's frightening struggle with stalking
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Member Deborah Jane Anderson emailed me this:
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A popular QVC host, Lisa Robertson, has been the repeated victim of stalking. Since Ms. Robertson happens to live in Pennsylvania (as opposed to some anti-gun jurisdiction like NJ, NY, etc.), l would hope that she'll come to realize she should get herself some firearms, firearms training and a concealed carry permit. That way, she could be armed and ready to confront an attacker, instead of just locking herself inside her house. Relying on her locks and alarm system isn't going to do anything to help her should a stalker actually break into her home, nor will those measures protect her wherever else she travels.
From aol.com: http://tinyurl.com/o4kn5pt
QVC host reveals frightening struggle with stalking
April 17, 2014
QVC queen Lisa Robertson revealed a frightening and deeply personal inner struggle on "Good Morning America."
"Robertson is known for her warm, bubbly personality and making viewers feel like they know her, but she says, over the years, some have taken that much too far."
"I lock myself in my house everyday," she reportedly wrote.
The personable former beauty queen is best known as a beauty expert and the host of her own show on QVC.
Despite her happy persona, Robertson has been fighting a deeply personal battle. The Daily Local News obtained court documents from her fourth and most recent stalker case in December 2013. She said,
'I check my alarm constantly. It is on when I am home. I watch my rear view mirror when I go home at night and take different routs [sic] if I think anyone might be following me. If there is a sound at night I lay awake wondering. I haven't felt safe in a long time.'
HLN reports four people who have stalked the former beauty queen have been convicted over the past few years.
Robertson's most recent stalker not only went to her home, but also followed her to a movie theater where he sat so close he could 'smell the popcorn she was eating.'
One man sent Robertson more than 30 gifts totaling roughly $3,400. Another had two boxes of engagement and wedding rings strapped to his chest when he was arrested. Yet another sent Robertson emails and thought she was telling him he loved her on-air.
Upon hearing the news, fans everywhere took to Robertson's Facebook page to share well wishes.
One user wrote, 'You are always so cheerful and I enjoy your shows. I am so sorry to hear about your personal struggles. Wishing you the best for a resolution to the problem.'
Despite her stalker trouble, Robertson told ABC she truly enjoys the connection she has with viewers.
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20. [NY] NY gun owners shrug off tough new rules
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What if you threw a gun ban and nobody complied?
Member James Durso emailed me this:
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From csmonitor.com: http://tinyurl.com/muy2g9z
New York gun owners shrug off tough new rules: What happens now?
The SAFE Act, passed in New York last year, had an April 15 deadline for owners of assault-style weapons to register their guns with the state. Some 1 million residents have refused to abide.
by Patrik Jonsson, Staff Writier
April 16, 2014
With some tearing up gun registration forms in public protest on Tuesday, some 1 million New York gun owners shrugged off an April 15 deadline to register assault-style weapons under a tough post-Sandy Hook gun control law.
The rebellious stance is being taken by a subgroup of Americans who often make a show of being “law-abiding.” But it’s now set off a possible standoff with the New York State Police over registering assault-style weapons – a sore subject in a country simmering with gun-confiscation fears after myriad high-profile shootings.
For now, gun rights experts say, the outcome in New York is uncertain. Will the state take the initiative to seize unregistered weapons? If it doesn’t, will the new gun controls be exposed as toothless, even meaningless?
“The line in the sand has been drawn, and if Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to send state police out on house-to-house searches and put hundreds of thousands of people in prison, they can do that,” says Dave Kopel, research director at the Independence Institute, a free-market think tank in Denver.
Tuesday’s protests were another sign of New York emerging as a battleground on gun issues. In late 2012, The Journal News in White Plains, N.Y., drew heavy criticism after publishing addresses of pistol permit holders in the county. Just this week, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged $50 million toward a national effort called Everytown for Gun Safety, focused on improving background checks.
As for the legislation in question, the SAFE Act, it bans semiautomatic rifles that can take detachable magazines and those with military features like pistol grips, folding stocks, second hand grips, bayonet mounts, and flash suppressors.
New York residents who already own those guns can legally keep them so long as they register them with the state – the failure of which is punishable as a misdemeanor and, possibly, a felony.
In December, a federal judge in Buffalo, William Skretny, upheld the SAFE Act, which was spurred by the Sandy Hook massacre in neighboring Connecticut. Judge Skretny ruled in essence that the state has a right to curb and regulate ownership of certain weapon styles because they pose a legitimate threat to public safety.
Nevertheless, New York gun owners argued Tuesday that the entire law is a fallacy. They say the weapons it targets are basically semiautomatic sporting rifles and are no more or less deadly than those rifles.
Creating a registry on such an allegedly false pretense is seen by many as a setup for what they call SAFE Act II: an all-out assault-style weapon ban.
On Tuesday, hundreds of gun owners rallied in New York, some carrying signs that said, “We Will Not Comply.”
To be sure, gun control groups are pointing out that the same gun owners who proclaim to be responsible and “law-abiding” are now putting their guns at risk by refusing to abide by the law.
“No guns are being taken away unless you fail to register your military-style assault weapon, if you happen to own one,” Leah Gunn Barrett, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, told The Buffalo News. “If you register it, you can keep it.”
New York isn’t saying how many gun owners refused to register by the April 15 deadline, partly because state police, given the lack of a central registry up until now, don’t really know. Some estimates put the total at about 1 million people.
A similar bill in Connecticut also demanded that those who own certain kinds of guns register them. An estimated 300,000 gun owners refused. The state so far has done nothing, and technically, the state has “very likely created tens of thousands of newly minted criminals,” The Hartford Courant’s Dan Haar wrote earlier this year.
It’s far from clear what law enforcement will do if they encounter unregistered guns on the beat. As they have with other recent gun control laws, many sheriffs have been skeptical, calling many of the laws unenforceable.
Eric County Sheriff Timothy Howard told The Buffalo News that “theoretically,” law enforcement could report somebody during an investigation, but whether they actually will is another question, he said.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I am not encouraging them to do it. At the same time, their own consciences should be their guide. I am not forcing my conscience on them. That is a decision they should make.”
Notably, there’s a loophole that gun owners who don’t register could use for potential legal cover: The law allows owners to remove offending features such as pistol grips and, thus, remain within the law.
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21. [CT] What is it like to be a gun owner in Connecticut? [VIDEO]
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This is comical but accurate:
From thefederalistpapers.org: http://tinyurl.com/lm5796s
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22. [IL] Chicago robbery stopped with lethal force [VIDEO]
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Bad guys, one with a gun, learn a valuable lesson from a good guy with a gun. Well, one of them is through learning forever.
CAUTION - STRONG LANGUAGE
From youtube.com: http://tinyurl.com/kn4kbvl
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23. [IL] 4 Dead among at least 36 shot in Chicago in 36 hours
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“...we continue to be challenged by lax state and federal gun laws,” says a Chicago Police spokesman, Adam Collins.
I don’t even know where to being addressing the total and complete stupidity of that statement. Illinois has LAX GUN LAWS?
No, Chicago and Illinois need more gun laws like a drowning man needs more water.
Just another attempt by a buffoon to pass the buck at any cost.
Stalin would be proud of Mr. Collins! Personally, I’m disgusted by him.
Mark Shinn emailed me this:
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From ChicagoTribune.com: http://tinyurl.com/ppwxbbk
4 dead among at least 36 shot in Chicago in 36 hours
by Stephanie K. Baer and Peter Nickeas, Tribune Reporters
April 13, 2014
At least 36 people were shot in Chicago, four of them fatally, in as many hours over the weekend, with more than half of the shootings occurring over a half-day period stretching into early Sunday.
Officers responded to at least 27 incidents, starting at 3:30 p.m. Friday in the West Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side involving an attack that left a 17-year-old girl dead and two other people wounded, police said. There were also fatal shootings in the South Shore neighborhood Friday night and the Washington Park neighborhood early Sunday, both on the South Side.
Late Sunday, police announced charges in one of the killings.
Chicago Police Department spokesman Adam Collins declined to comment on whether the weekend's temperatures — Saturday reached 80 degrees, the city's warmest day so far this year — contributed to the number of shootings, though criminologists have said that weather does play a role in violent crime.
“While the city continues to see reductions in crime and violence, there's obviously much more to be done, and we continue to be challenged by lax state and federal gun laws,” Collins said, reiterating a position that police Superintendent Garry McCarthy has expressed when discussing the department's crime-fighting efforts.
“No one will rest until everyone in Chicago enjoys the same sense of safety,” he said.
Shontell Brown, mother of the 17-year-old girl killed Friday, called the situation on the city's streets “an ongoing war,” saying that her daughter Gakirah Barnes was not the first teen from the South Chicago neighborhood to die violently.
“This is something that has become all too normal to everybody, and it needs to stop,” Brown said in a phone interview. “We need to come together as a community and just unite to get our children and our streets back.”
Barnes, of the 8000 block of South South Shore Drive, was pronounced dead at 5:43 p.m. at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the Cook County medical examiner's office said. An autopsy done Saturday determined that she died of multiple gunshot wounds and her death was ruled a homicide, the office said.
Barnes was a distant cousin of 13-year-old Tyquan Tyler, who was shot to death in June 2012, but the two were close enough that Barnes referred to Tyquan as her brother.
Tyquan's "mother is related to me through marriage so we’ve kind of raised our kids together once her family married my family," Brown said.
Barnes has four siblings, two older brothers and a younger brother and sister, her mother said.
About two hours before she was fatally shot on a porch in the 6400 block of South Eberhart Avenue, Barnes was leaving home to meet up with friends at a barbecue, her mother said.
“I told her that I loved her and to be careful — which is something that I told her every day when she went out on the Chicago streets,” Brown said.
Nearly 34 hours later, a 20-year-old man was fatally shot outside a home in the 3000 block of West 53rd Place in the Gage Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side. He was identified by the Cook County medical examiner's office as Joshua Martinez, of the 4900 block of South Karlov Avenue.
Shards of glass from the home's front door littered the steps early Sunday morning. Martinez's body lay facedown on a sidewalk in front, covered by a white sheet, his feet resting on the bottom steps of the bungalow, a home that is common to Gage Park.
Police said Sunday night that a 17-year boy has been charged with first-degree murder in the killing around 1 a.m. that day, noting it stemmed from an argument during which the suspect retrieved a handgun from his residence and shot Martinez several times.
An hour and a half later, two people were shot in the 6000 block of South Indiana Avenue in Washington Park, police said. A 32-year-old man was hit in the chest and died at Stroger Hospital. A 27-year-old woman was shot in the leg and also was taken to Stroger.
The medical examiner's office identified the man as Corey Brownlee, of the same block where he was shot. He was pronounced dead at 3:26 a.m.
Friday's second fatal shooting occurred on the porch of a frame home in the 6800 block of South Crandon Avenue. Shannon Mack, 34, of the same block, was pronounced dead at 10:45 p.m. An autopsy determined that he died of multiple gunshot wounds, and his death was ruled a homicide.
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24. [ID] Idaho legislature overwhelmingly passes campus carry
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Our General Assembly continues to drag its heals while other states are showing the way.
Member James Dinger emailed me this:
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From bearingarms.com: http://tinyurl.com/kq6okao
Idaho legislature overwhelmingly passes campus carry
by Bob Owens
March 7, 2014
Despite the emotional outcry from faculty and college administrators, the Idaho House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a law enabling citizens with an enhanced concealed carry permit to carry handguns on college campuses.
Idaho lawmakers on Thursday approved a measure allowing concealed guns to be carried onto university and college campuses.
The legislation, which cleared the state House of Representatives by a 50-19 vote and was overwhelmingly approved by the state Senate last month, now heads to Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter for his signature.
If the Republican governor signs the bill into law as expected, Idaho will be the seventh U.S. state that allows guns on college campuses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The passage of the Idaho bill comes amid a tense debate on the extent of gun ownership restrictions in the United States, which has seen a string of recent shootings at schools, movie theaters and other public places.
Under the legislation, those who gain a so-called enhanced concealed-carry permit in Idaho can carry firearms on campus except in such places as residence halls and public entertainment facilities like football stadiums.
The law is expected to be signed by Governor Otter and should be in effect for the next academic year.
It’s a common-sense gun law that allows students, faculty, and staff with enhanced permits to carry concealed handguns in classroom and administrative buildings, and parking facilities. As these are the areas on campus where most dangerous violent crimes take place, this makes sense.
The law exempts areas such as dormitories and sporting events.
Perhaps as important as the physical security that the law will provide is the opportunity it gives to typically anti-gun faculty and administrators to learn to “coexist” as they so often preach from Prius and Volvo bumper stickers to others.
Among those I look forward to learning tolerance is Boise State University Biology Professor Greg Hampikian will have an opportunity to learn to coexist with concealed carriers, instead of acting like such a drama queen. Bearing Arms sent an email to Hampikian this morning suggesting that he take the 8-hour class needed to earn the enhanced carry permit to help mitigate his fears.
Legislation allowing some degree of carry has passed in six other states.
A student with a concealed firearm recently stopped and assault with a deadly weapon on the campus of Eastern Florida State College by shooting and wounding one of his attackers.
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25. [CO] Woman shot during 13 minute 911 call
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Member Clayton Rhoades emailed me this:
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When seconds count, the police are minutes away.
From foxnews.com: http://tinyurl.com/ornlrjf
Denver woman shot dead while on phone with dispatcher for 13 minutes
Foxnews.com
April 16, 2014
Denver police are investigating if a 911 call was handled properly after they say a woman was fatally shot Monday by her husband during a 13-minute call with the operator.
KDVR.com reported that Kristine Kirk, a mother of three, was shot after her husband, Richard, was talking about the end of the world and asking her to shoot him. She refused, and police said he shot her.
"Any time a person dies while communicating with Denver's emergency services, we examine the circumstances to ensure that the incident was handled properly and we look for areas to improve upon," said police spokesman Sonny Jackson.
A judge ordered her husband, Richard Kirk, 47, held without bond after his first court appearance Wednesday. Kirk wore a grey jail uniform and showed no emotion. He faces first-degree murder charges and was being represented by a public defender, who declined to comment.
Sources told the station that her husband may have ingested edible marijuana. He had no violent history, the report said.
"My heart goes out to those three boys and Kris’ family. Mom, dad, sister and brothers. This is a terrible thing," Lance Kirk, Richard's brother, said. One of the children may have witnessed the shooting, a source said.
Police officials said their internal investigation will focus on the time it took for officers to respond to the home and whether dispatchers properly prioritized the woman's call, which is characterized in court paperwork as a "domestic disturbance."
Denver police have struggled with slowing response times in recent months as the department's ranks have shrunk due to retirements, departures and budget cuts.
Officials have refused to release the 911 call or dispatch records, citing the open investigation.
Kirk's father, also Richard Kirk, said the family is shocked, as the couple had shown no signs of marital distress. He visited the family in January and was unaware of any drug use by his son.
"It was a great family," he said. "He seemed very happy."
Kirk said police had not given him any information about how the 911 call was handled.
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26. Horrific Mass Murder in Calgary [VIDEO]
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Mass murders can most definitely be done with a knife. Yet another example and this time from Canada. Too bad one of the victims didn’t have a gun, eh?
Member Mark Shinn emailed me this.
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From calgaryherald.com: http://tinyurl.com/mls8jhf
Police Officer's son charged in city's worst mass murder.
Victims targeted 'one by one' during house party
By Jason Van Rassel, Calgary Herald
April 17, 2014
Like many local students, Matthew de Grood got off work Monday night and headed out to celebrate the end of the semester at the University of Calgary.
But shortly after being welcomed into a Brentwood house party, de Grood would be strapped to a stretcher and under arrest, accused of fatally stabbing five others at the gathering — the worst mass killing in Calgary’s history.
"Everybody is so shocked right now. I saw his picture. At first I thought, ‘Oh, my God, maybe he’s the one who got hurt. Then I read underneath. My heart just dropped," said a former high school classmate of de Grood’s, who also knew him at U of C.
The victims — Lawrence Hong, Josh Hunter, Kaitlin Perras, Zackariah Rathwell and Jordan Segura — were, by all accounts, celebrating like everyone else when they became the subjects of an unprovoked attack just after 1 a.m. Tuesday.
Police Chief Rick Hanson said the victims were "targeted one by one" during a house party at 11 Butler Cres. N.W.
"These were all good kids. There’s no question about that. They did nothing wrong, and nothing that they did contributed to what happened to them," Hanson said.
Police have a suspect — the son of a well-regarded senior officer from their ranks — and the names of the victims quickly spread among grief-stricken family members, friends and classmates as Tuesday wore on.
But the question police have yet to answer is shared by the wider community as the investigation heads into its second day: why?
"It is natural to speculate when these types of events occur. We want to know what happened, who was involved and why the outcome was so horrific," Mayor Naheed Nenshi said in a statement posted to his Facebook page.
While the police have yet to specify a precise motive, they charged de Grood with five counts of first-degree murder — a charge that indicates evidence of planning and deliberation.
Two of the victims, Josh Hunter and Zackariah Rathwell, were members of a popular local band, Zackariah and the Prophets.
Hunter, 23, was also an accounting major at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business. Rathwell, 21, was a first-year student at the Alberta College of Art and Design.
"They were amazing, they were really creative and they inspired me," said Eric Grant, a friend of the bandmates who attended a candlelight vigil for all five victims at U of C on Tuesday night.
"Today has been the hardest day of my life."
Segura, 22, was a religious studies student at the University of Calgary. Perras was 23; Hong was 27.
Investigators were still trying to sort out if any of the victims lived at the rented house that hosted the party, but police said it was mainly a gathering of University of Calgary students celebrating Bermuda Shorts Day, a long-running tradition to mark the last day of classes.
"Our thoughts and condolences go out to the families who have lost their loved ones in this senseless tragedy. The university community has lost a part of its family, and this is a very difficult time for all of us," U of C president Elizabeth Cannon said.
Authorities confirmed de Grood also attended U of C. Friends posted congratulatory messages on de Grood’s Facebook page last December, when he announced he had been accepted into the faculty of law and would begin attending classes this fall.
A status update posted on de Grood’s Facebook profile Monday night, hours before the stabbings, read: "Dread and the fugitive mind — the world needs a hero."
The first phrase is the title of a song by the heavy metal band Megadeth; the second phrase is the name of the 2001 album it appeared on.
De Grood had worked a shift at the Crowfoot Safeway store prior to arriving at the party, and police have no evidence he was impaired by drugs or alcohol, but Hanson added that finding was preliminary.
Hanson said de Grood was an invited guest at the party and none of the witnesses questioned by police saw any kind of confrontation that hints at a motive behind the killing spree.
"Was there anything that precipitated the event? Was there something that anyone had done that could have been taken as an insult or an affront to this individual?
"And to the best of our knowledge right now, there’s nothing to indicate anything like that happened earlier in the day that led to this," Hanson said.
Multiple sources said the investigation is now focusing on de Grood’s mental state — though Hanson wouldn’t specifically comment on that avenue of investigation.
"At this point in time, it’s very preliminary and can’t say for sure," he said.
As investigators try to piece together the events that led up to the killings, detectives have also sought answers from de Grood’s parents.
His father, Insp. Doug de Grood, is 33-year veteran who has held several senior posts during his time with the police department.
"He’s heartbroken, as his wife is. He said, can you please pass on to the families our total and complete sorrow and condolences as to what happened," Hanson said.
"They’ve been incredibly co-operative with this investigation. They have told the investigators everything."
There were about 30 people at the house at the party’s height, but neighbours said there were no signs things were ever out of hand.
"They were just were kind of hanging out, had a fire pit going, having a few beers. They weren’t loud at all, whatsoever," said neighbourDoug Jones.
The numbers had dwindled to about 20 when the suspect struck without any outward warning, police said.
"The suspect arrived at the party, obtained a large knife and targeted the victims one by one, stabbing them several times," Hanson said.
Someone at the party called 911 at about 1:20 a.m. Tuesday. When police arrived, they found three men dead inside the house. Officers found a fourth man, suffering from critical stab wounds, on the front lawn. Perras, who was also critically injured, was found inside the house. Paramedics took both victims to hospital, where they died.
"There was a witness there, right away, that gave very good information to the responding officers that pointed them in a direction where the suspect was last seen," Hanson said.
Officers arrested de Grood a short distance away, near the intersection of Brentwood Boulevard N.W. and Charleswood Drive.
"There was a struggle and he had to be subdued," Hanson said.
De Grood was injured by a police K9 dog during the arrest. He was taken to Rockyview Hospital for treatment, where he remained Tuesday night.
Back at the house, crime scene investigators searched the area for evidence. "The scene was horrific. It’s extremely difficult, regardless of who the perpetrator is, to go into a scene like that with young people who have been killed," Hanson said.
Police recovered a weapon from the street, but it’s not immediately known if it was used in the killings. Hanson said de Grood was armed with "an instrument" from his job at the grocery store, but the knife used in the killings was allegedly taken from inside the house.
The killing is the worst mass homicide in Calgary’s recorded history.
In 2008, a Calgary architect named Joshua Lall killed his wife, their two daughters and a tenant renting a basement suite in their Dalhousie home before killing himself. The couple’s infant daughter survived the attack.
A precise motive for the crime was never known, but Lall, 35, was struggling with mental illness prior to killing his wife Alison, 34, daughters Kristen, 5, and Rochelle, 3, and Amber Bowerman, a 30-year-old journalist who rented the basement suite.
With files from Clara Ho, Eva Ferguson, Jamie Komarnicki and Tony Seskus, Calgary Herald
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27. Worst mass murder in Calgary's history committed with a knife
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Member Timothy Wise emailed me this:
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From johnrlott.blogspot.com: http://tinyurl.com/lbwpqno
"Worst murder - mass murder - in Calgary's history" committed with a knife
April 16, 2014
Of course, mass stabbings aren't just limited to China and the US. Here is a case were five people were killed in Canada, none wounded. From CBS News:
A University of Calgary student was charged in the fatal stabbing of five people at a house party Tuesday that the police chief called the worst mass slaying in the western Canadian city's history.
Matthew Douglas de Grood, the son of a 33-year veteran of the Calgary police force, picked up a large knife shortly after arriving at the party and stabbed the victims one by one, said police Chief Rick Hanson.
De Grood, 22, was charged with five counts of murder late Tuesday.
"This is the worst murder - mass murder - in Calgary's history," Hanson said at a news conference Tuesday. "We have never seen five people killed by an individual at one scene. The scene was horrific." . . .
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VA-ALERT: VCDL Update 7/15/14
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OakRidgeStars
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