Don't Worry, Be Happy: ...An expert on U.S. colonial law at Washington University in St. Louis who consulted on the recent Second Amendment case argued before the Supreme Court says that the right of the people to keep and bear arms most likely will not be an issue that Obama will address as president early in his term - if at all. "My sense is that Obama does not want to interfere with an issue that will, for the time being, be left up to the states," says David T. Konig, Ph.D., professor of history and director of the Legal Studies Program, both in Arts & Sciences, and professor of law. "The issue will turn to controls, such as sales at gun shows or other limited restrictions on purchases." ... ("Limited restrictions on purchases" could easily include an outright federal ban on private-party purchases, as well as the death of gun shows, as we now know them. As I have said before, I'd rather see Big Brother tip his hand early, to facilitate a reversal of the Democratic majority in Congress in 2010.) http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/13171.html --- NRA, SF Housing Authority Near Settlement: The National Rifle Association says the San Francisco Housing Authority is preparing to drop its blanket handgun ban in public housing. NRA lawyer CD Michel (MEE-shell) says the agreement, which settles a federal lawsuit, hasn't been finalized. But he says if the settlement is approved as expected, the housing authority will allow public housing tenants to keep legally obtained handguns. In exchange, the housing authority won't be required to pay any damages or attorney fees. The NRA sued the housing authority a day after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a gun ban in Washington D.C.and ruled that individual citizens have a right to keep handguns. (This is one of the suits that could conceivably have led to the incorporation of the Second Amendment against the states.) http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11380699?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com --- Lieutenant Governor Opposes Expansion of Georgia RKBA: ...The lieutenant governor was emphatic about one issue in particular. A bill to expand the public areas in which a permitted, concealed weapon can be carried will be going nowhere. State Sen. Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg) has been working on the measure to revamp the state code so as to permit concealed weapons licensees to pack heat in churches and on university campuses. "Let me be very clear. I have no appetite for it," Cagle said... http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/politicalinsider/entries/2009/01/05/holster_that_gun_bill_says_cag.html ...Seabaugh acknowledged that Cagle has the "right and authority to be able to dictate a lot of the agenda that goes on in the Senate," but said the lieutenant governor has always respected each senator's right to pursue specific issues... Only two bills dealing with firearms have been filed so far for the 2009 legislative session, which begins Monday. One would end the requirement that concealed weapons be kept in a holster. The other, sponsored by Sen. Ronald Ramsey (D-Lithonia) would require all handgun ammunition to be individually coded for identification... http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2009/01/05/cagle_georgia_guns.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab --- Common Sense?: You hear a lot about anti-gun pundits wanting "common sense" gun control. But what exactly is common sense about some of the laws they want? Ohio is known for having some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country, but what are they accomplishing? Are they really making us safer? Take, for instance, one of my pet peeves, the restrictions placed on concealed handgun license holders when it comes to patronizing a place serving alcohol... Last week, I visited the state of Idaho and brought along my handgun under the Ohio/Idaho reciprocity agreement. While there, I carried my firearm in several restaurants. Some served alcohol, some didn't. Oddly enough, not one person was injured the whole time I was there... http://www.examiner.com/x-2206-Cleveland-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m1d5-What-is-common-sense-about-that --- Oops, Wrong Jeweler: The 61-year-old owner of a Phoenix jewelry store shot and wounded two would-be robbers who walked into the business and pepper sprayed him in the face, police said. The men entered the store near 32nd Street and Bell Road Monday afternoon and attempted to sell a watch, said Detective Cindy Scott of the Phoenix Police Department. The owner said he could not purchase the watch and both men left the store, Scott said. "About ten minutes later, the suspects returned and pepper sprayed the victim in the face," Scott said. One of the men then removed a metal baton and began to smash the glass to the jewelry display cabinet, Scott said. "Fearing for his life, the victim removed a handgun from his pocket and fired several rounds at the suspects, striking them each of them one time," Scott said. The victim then held the suspects at gunpoint until officers arrived... http://www.kpho.com/news/18416609/detail.html#- --- Tangentially Related: President-elect Barack Obama began stocking the new Justice Department today, announcing the nominations of four well-known players to key posts, including deputy attorney general, the department's No. 2 spot. That nod went to Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr's David Ogden, a former head of the department's Civil Division under President Bill Clinton who has been overseeing the DOJ transition work for Obama. Ogden's nomination had been seen as preordained by Washington lawyers and insiders for weeks. His deputy on the transition team, Thomas Perrelli, managing partner of Jenner & Block's D.C. office, was tapped for the Justice Department's No. 3 slot, associate attorney general. Like Ogden, Perrelli served in several positions in the Clinton Justice Department, leaving in 2001 as the head of the Civil Division's Federal Programs Branch. The bigger surprises came in Obama's selection of Elena Kagan, dean of Harvard Law School, to serve as solicitor general and Dawn Johnsen, a law professor at Indiana University School of Law, to head the Office of Legal Counsel, the high-profile arm of the Justice Department that provides legal advice to the president and all executive branch agencies. Kagan and Johnsen too served in the Clinton administration. Conservatives were quick to make the association... http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubArticleDC.jsp?id=1202427217795&hub=TopStories -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .