Trojan-Horse Gun Group Endorses Sotomayor: Ray Schoenke, the President of the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA), expressed support for Judge Sonia Sotomayor as Supreme Court Nominee. Schoenke made the endorsement in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Schoenke, a life long hunter, and gun-owner stated his firm belief that gun owners have nothing to fear from Sotomayor: "Based on the available case history, it appears that Sotomayor honors precedent. Now that D.C. v Heller is precedent, gun-owners should feel secure that their rights are safe. After sending the letter, Schoenke stated, "As with most issues involving the Second Amendment, concerns about Sotomayor are being stoked by groups who benefit financially from the politics of fear. At AHSA, we believe strongly that the Second Amendment is an individual right, as determined in the landmark case, D.C. v. Heller. We know are gun rights are secure and look forward to the expansion of those rights to the states..." (Schoenke ignores the fact that Sotomayor has already ruled that Heller is not binding on the states.) http://www.huntersandshooters.com/ Tangentially Related: For the fourth time in six cases, the Supreme Court of the United States has reversed a decision for which Judge Sonia Sotomayor voted on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. If this nominee were a white male, would this not raise questions about whether he should be elevated to a court that has found his previous decisions wrong two-thirds of the times when those decisions have been reviewed? Is no one supposed to ask questions about qualifications, simply because this nominee is Hispanic and a woman? Have we become that mindless? Qualifications are not simply a question of how long you have been doing something, but how well you have done it. Judge Sotomayor has certainly been on the federal bench long enough, but is being reversed four out of six times a sign of a job well done? ... http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2009/07/01/equality_on_trial?page=full ...The court's term avoided the blockbuster decisions that at one point seemed inevitable. But its path was clear: a patient and steady move to the right led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., one that is likely to continue even if President Obama is successful in adding Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the high court - and perhaps two others like her... While there were lopsided majorities on some high-profile cases near the end of the term, the court remained extremely divided, deciding nearly a third of its cases by 5 to 4 votes. Liberals won a few, although sometimes in cases where ideology seemed it should not matter... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/30/AR2009063004170.html?hpid=topnews --- F Troop, One House at a Time: In front of a run-down shack in north Houston, federal agents step from a government sedan into 102-degree heat and face a critical question: How can the woman living here buy four high-end handguns in one day? The house is worth $35,000. A screen dangles by a wall-unit air conditioner. Porch swing slats are smashed, the smattering of grass is flattened by cars and burned yellow by sun. "I'll do the talking on this one," agent Tim Sloan, of South Carolina, told partner Brian Tumiel, of New York. Success on the front lines of a government blitz on gunrunners supplying Mexican drug cartels with Houston weaponry hinges on logging heavy miles and knocking on countless doors. Dozens of agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - sent here from around the country - are needed to follow what ATF acting director Kenneth Melson described as a "massive number of investigative leads." ... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/breaking/6505651.html --- The Beat Goes On: Jackie Poynter surveys the row of handguns on the metal table and picks out a silver .22-caliber Smith & Wesson. With protective ear muffs on, the 31-year-old Independence woman waits for the firearms instructor to give the signal before squeezing off a series of shots... Across the Kansas City area, record numbers of people like Poynter are applying for permits to carry concealed weapons. The surge reflects the fears of rising crime in a down economy and concerns that the election of President Barack Obama might bring new limits on gun rights. Clay County has seen the biggest increase. From Jan. 1 through the end of May, 801 Clay County residents applied for permits to carry a concealed weapon - compared with 863 in all of 2008... http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1294877.html ...More and more Ohioans are carrying concealed weapons, with an enormous increase this year alone. Most officials attribute that increase to the fear that Barack Obama's administration in the White House will take away guns, coupled with the struggling economy and an increase in crime. Through March, Ohio reported 159,000 residents with concealed carry licenses, which represents about 1 percent of the population. Of that number, 16,323 were new licenses issued in the first three months of the year, a number that continues to climb at a high rate. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives estimates 25 percent of the U.S. population owns a gun of some type, and half the households in the country have at least one gun inside... http://www.limaohio.com/articles/carry-38789-concealed-law.html --- NICS Now Requires Place of Birth: Beginning June 29, 2009, the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) section is requiring that place of birth be provided for all FBI-initiated transactions. This will be a valuable and efficient addition to the NICS process for the following reasons: Currently, place of birth is a mandatory field on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Form 4473 and is therefore readily available for inclusion in the NICS check. There are no additional information disclosures for the potential purchaser or data collection requirements for Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs). Being a name-based search, having additional data points such as the place of birth helps to increase the accuracy and efficiency of firearm eligibility determinations. Place of birth is either a mandatory or optional field for entry of records into all three of the databases that the NICS searches against: the Interstate Identification Index (III), the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), and the NICS Index... http://www.ammoland.com/2009/06/29/nics-now-requires-place-of-birth/ --- Kansas to Recognize Non-Resident Permits: Kansas Attorney General Steve Six today concluded that the State of Kansas will now recognize 'non-resident' right-to-carry permits issued by any of the 22 states already recognized. "NRA has maintained for years that language in the Kansas statute indicates that 'non-resident' right-to-carry permits should be recognized," said Chris W. Cox, NRA chief lobbyist. "This decision is a victory for gun owners as it expands right-to-carry laws and provides permit holders additional freedoms in Kansas to protect themselves and their families." At NRA's urging, Six re-evaluated the language and determined that the statute indeed supports 'non-resident' permit recognition. The training, safety and proficiency standards and process required by applicable states are equal to or greater than the standards imposed by Kansas, therefore, it is possible to extend recognition. States affected by this allowance include: Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, South Carolina and Texas... http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-nra-applauds-kansas-recognition-of-non-resident-carry-permits-r-1246400052 --- Arizona Man Gets New Trial in Self-Defense Shooting: A state appeals court on Tuesday ordered a new trial for a 62-year-old retired teacher convicted of murder in the shooting death of a hiker in northern Arizona five years ago. Harold Fish claimed he shot Grant Kuenzli in self-defense during their encounter in the Coconino National Forest, but a jury convicted him and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. The case galvanized gun-rights supporters, who said Fish's conviction represented a threat to their right to protect themselves, and prompted the Arizona Legislature to change the law to shift the burden of proof in self-defense claim cases from the defendant to the prosecutor... In a 3-0 ruling, the appeals court said the trial judge's jury instructions inadequately described the law of self-defense. The trial judge also may have erred in barring evidence of the victim's prior acts of violence related to dogs, the appeals court ruled... http://www.fox11az.com/news/topstories/stories/arizona-20090630-new-trial-self-defense-case.21c41321.html ...His case was sent back to Coconino County Superior Court because the trial court judge had not given adequate instruction on what constituted self-defense. The panel of appellate judges scolded Superior Court Judge Mark Moran for not answering a jury request to define the word "attack." The panel remarked that the jury may not have understood that someone can commit aggravated assault on another person without actually touching the person... The panel also noted that the lower court had "sanitized" evidence of prior incidents in which Kuenzli had become enraged and had frightened people during encounters with the dogs. That opens the door for defense attorneys to bring into evidence prior bad behavior of victims, especially if they corroborate a defendant's story when there are no witnesses. Many times, in criminal trials, such "prior bad acts" are excluded... The court also said Moran could have allowed the defense to classify dogs as potentially "dangerous instruments," furthering the self-defense claim... If the case is retried, a bill under consideration by the Arizona Legislature could affect Fish's trial. It would make the state's revised self-defense law retroactive to Fish's case... (Former governor Janet Napolitano twice vetoed bills that would have made the self-defense law retroactive to Fish's case.) http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2009/07/01/20090701selfdefense0701.html --- Arizona Restaurant-Carry Bill Passes: With lawmakers scrambling to resolve the budget crisis, they left many of the more than 70 bills on Tuesday's agendas untouched. Lawmakers introduced more than 1,200 bills this session, but only about 130 have made it through both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Legislators had hoped to end the session by Tuesday, the end of the fiscal year. But it's possible both chambers could continue work today on non-budget-related bills to move as many as possible to the governor. In one of its brief sessions Tuesday, the House passed a key gun-related bill: In a 40-19 vote, it approved Senate Bill 1113, which would allow concealed weapons in establishments licensed to serve alcohol, unless the owner displays a sign prohibiting guns. Gun carriers would not be allowed to drink... (Note that for the weapons to be concealed legally, the carrier must have obtained a permit. The initial bill was intended only to cover eateries that serve alcohol but the reference to an on-site kitchen was deleted at the request of the liquor industry, which apparently thought that would kill the bill.) http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2009/07/01/20090701budget-bills0701.html http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/299287.php --- Memphis Entertainment District Readies Metal Detectors: Later this month, Beale Street will break out the hand-held metal detectors at the entrance points and use other security measures to keep guns out of the three-block area day and night. The new measures are a reaction to the Tennessee Legislature's passage of a law permitting those who legally own handguns to carry them concealed in places that serve alcohol as long as they aren't drinking... Guns, even those legally owned, will be confiscated if they are found in the district - inside and outside the clubs, Elkington said. And signs notifying patrons of the gun ban are going up at the entrance points to the district as well as outside each business... http://www.memphisdailynews.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=43407 --- Don't Be a Slob: The lowlands corridor along Interstate 90 some 38 miles east of Seattle which runs through the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest is being closed to recreational shooting starting this weekend and continuing for at least 12 months, while the Forest Service determines whether the closure should become permanent. The problem: Slob shooters. The bane of all responsible gun owners, these people are responsible for other such closures on public lands all over the map. For years, they have brought their garbage onto public property, shot it to pieces, and left it as an eyesore. On rare occasions, they accidentally shoot one another while ricocheting bullets off of boulders against which they have propped a target... (In my neck of the woods, the biggest slobs appear to be the shotgunners who don't bother to pick up their empty hulls after practice sessions in the national forest.) http://www.examiner.com/x-4525-Seattle-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m6d30-Careless-slobs-jeopardize-recreational-shooting-for-everyone --- Oops, Wrong Store: A Clarksdale, Miss. convenience store owner shot and killed an armed robber Wednesday evening. According to Captain Robbie Linley with Clarksdale Police, 31-year old Joey Barron held up a store with a handgun on the 1600-block of N. State Street. Barron took cash and some prescription drugs, and was then shot once by the store's owner. Barron was transported to the Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center where he later died. The store owner will not face any charges. (If it was not a licensed pharmacy, I suspect it would have been nonprescription drugs that were stolen.) http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/local/061809_Clarksdale_Store_Owner_Kills_Robber --- Rule Four Reminder: Police say they got to 26-year-old Jill Ulmer's Fayetteville apartment Friday night as the suspect was stabbing her. Officers said they were trying to stop 41-year-old Ricky Anderson from killing his ex-girlfriend when they opened fire into the apartment. Monday, the Fayetteville Police Department said one of those gunshots fired by an officer actually hit Ulmer and is listed as her cause of death, along with multiple stab wounds. Police also confirmed that Ulmer was pregnant... (Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it.) http://www.4029tv.com/cnn-news/19902903/detail.html --- Flying with Firearms: ...The Federal Government, primarily in the form of the Transportation Security Administration, sets forth a series of guidelines and policies concerning how passengers my fly with firearms. For the most part, these standards are rather loose. The government leaves it up to the airlines to specify any additional considerations that they see fit. That can sometimes be an issue (that is a topic which we will cover shortly) and while I'm never a champion of government interference with private entities, I wouldn't be averse to one single "armed passenger's rights" standard imposed across all airlines. As common carriers, they are subject to some regulation. Keeping all parties in line with the bare minimum of rules as specified by the TSA would be a fine thing, in this author's opinion... (This fairly lengthy article provides a lot of detail. I am unable to offer further comment because I gave up on commercial aviation in June 2000.) http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig10/ollam1.html --- Tangentially Related: ...The problem with this is not so much the voice quality - that is merely an annoyance for the person speaking with them - but the fact that these little computers using the Windows or Symbian OS (and, according to the ads, BlackBerry) are apparently very easily hacked. We do not know any smartphone user who has bothered to install anti-malware software, which is surprising considering that there sure is a lot of software designed to allow you to hack smartphones. You can look at http://utilities.flexispy.com/checkphones.jsp?p=0 to see one vendor's list of phones they can compromise. So, what can the spy do? Worst case listen in to every call you make, realtime, and get copies of your text and e-mail messages, as well as activate the phone to hear what is being said near it. For the iPhone, the worst that can be done that we have found is to get copies of all SMS, e-mail, GPS locations, and the logs of all phone calls made. We suspect that real-time listening to conversations are available now, or will be available soon... http://www.lubrinco.com/ejournal/ej200905.pdf --- From AzCDL: We need volunteers for Crossroads of the West gun show on July 11 & 12, 2009, at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix. If you can spare a few hours we would deeply appreciate your help. AzCDL's phenomenal growth is primarily because of the hard work of our gun show volunteers. Gun shows provide a great opportunity to educate other gun owners about our hard won successes. Come on down and spend some time observing the other volunteers. When you feel ready, step on in. If pro-active interactions are not your forte, we still need volunteers to manage the table, help hand out flyers and brochures, and keep an eye on things. Volunteers who work the AzCDL table for a few hours get into gun shows FREE! If your membership is coming up for renewal soon, stop by the table and renew at the "gun show special" rate ($10 off!). Sustaining memberships get a FREE AzCDL T-Shirt. Not a member? Not a problem! You can join AzCDL at the gun show! Interested? Send an email to John: john.rosado@AzCDL.org . These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. Renew today! AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html Copyright © 2009 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved. -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .