Dave Kopel's Second Amendment Newsletter. October 25, 2005.

Dave Kopel's Second Amendment Project is based at the Independence

Institute, a free-market think tank in Golden, Colorado.

http://www.independenceinstitute.org

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Delivery of this newsletter comes courtesy of the Second Amendment Foundation, in Bellevue, Washington

http://www.saf.org

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Please visit Dave Kopel's website, containing articles on the Second Amendment and other freedom topics.

http://www.davekopel.org 

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To subscribe to this free e-mail newsletter, please send a request to kopelnewsletter@liberty.seanet.com  

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Table of Contents for this issue

1. Blogging by Kopel: VICTORY on abusive lawsuits; Brazil; Armed women in Kashmir and Jordan. Harriet Miers' pro-gun article.

Dangerous proposal to weaken Posse Comitatus Act.

2. New translations of Kopel articles: Encyclopedia articles on gun laws of Mexico (in Spanish); A World without Guns (in Portuguese).

3. Law and Lawsuits: NYC threatens Cops; FEMA Gun Ban; Legal Cases

4. International:  African and Arabian Small Arms Conventions; Armenian Presents; Canadian gun policies and culture; Dunblane Killer

5. States: Alaska; Brady Campaign Smears Florida; Michigan and Wisconsin CCR

6. Research: VPC Study; Canadian Statistics

7. Culture: Rifle 7th Most Important Tool; New Quigley Book; Nurse's RKBA Blog; Schumer and Feinstein Carry Concealed

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1. Blogging by Kopel

Dave's other blog entries can be accessed online off Kopel's Corner at:

http://www.davidkopel.org/Corner/Latest.htm

Brazil Gun Prohibition Referendum

David Kopel

The Volokh Conspiracy

October 23, 2005

http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_10_23-2005_10_29.shtml#1130104005

Brazilian voters today will decide whether to prohibit the commercial

sale or manufacture of all firearms and ammunition, except for police

and military use. Polling stations, which use computer voting, close at

5 p.m. First results are expected around 8 p.m., and final results

around midnight. Brazil's President Lula has strongly supported gun

prohibition, and pushed it through the legislature, only to have the

Brazilian Supreme Court declare the prohibition unconstitutional. Lula

has also proposed a United Nations tax on ammunition to pay for

"development" (that is, a UN-sponsored transfer of money to corrupt

governments such as his).

Various polls showed the referendum with as high as 76-83% approval

months ago. But a superb campaign, lead by "Vote Não" has educated the

public about the dangers of gun prohibition--including the fact that

citizens would be defenseless against criminals (who will keep their

guns no matter what the law says) and against totalitarian government.

The latest polls show the referendum failing by a 10-18% margin, and

Lula is now distancing himself from the referendum.

The referendum was strongly supported by the international gun

prohibition movement, which mobilized scores of celebrities and other

notables to campaign for the referendum. The prohibitionists made no

secret of their plan to use Brazil as a springboard for prohibition in

other countries--starting with the rest of Latin America, and South

Africa.

Even with a "Não" vote, Brazil's gun laws will remain extremely

repressive, as they are deliberately designed to make gun licensing

unaffordable to poor people.

Still, a victory for self-defense and civil liberties advocates in

Brazil would be a stunning repudiation of the international gun

prohibition movement. Although the Brazilian vote has received only a

little attention in the United States, its long-term significance for

the survival of the Second Amendment is enormous. It would be

difficult, and perhaps impossible, for a robust Second Amendment to

survive in the United States if the prohibition movement achieved its

goals in the rest of the world.

A law student or other scholar who can read Portuguese could write a

very interesting and important article on the subject of Brazilian gun

laws and the recent campaign for prohibition.

UPDATE: With 71% of polling places reporting, the "Não" votes are ahead

65%-35%. If no vote stays over 60%--a landslide--the damage to the

international gun prohibition movement will be especially severe.

The overwhelming public rejection of disarming innocent citizens may be

playing an important role in the development of rights consciousness in

Brazil. Consider this comment from an American working for a Brazilian

gun prohibition group:

"Their whole campaign (against the ban) was imported from the United

States. They just translated a lot of material from the NRA. Now, a lot

of Brazilians are insisting on their right to bear arms, they don't

even have a pseudo right to bear arms. It's not in their Constitution,"

said Jessica Galeria, an American who researches gun violence with the

Viva Rio think tank.

It's true that Brazil--unlike the United States, Guatemala, or

Mexico--does not have an explicit constitutional right to arms. But

various provisions of the Brazilian Constitution imply the right to

possess the means to defend oneself.

For example, Article 5, section 11 states:  

the home is the inviolable asylum of the individual, and no one may

enter it without the dweller's consent, save in the case of "flagrante

delicto" or disaster, or to give help, or, during the day, by court

order;

Note that the above provision is limited not limited to "state action."

The right to exclude burglars from the home is just as strong as the

right to exclude rogue police.

More generally, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes a

right to forcibly resist tyranny (a purpose of arms-bearing which was

repeatedly stated in the "Vote Não" campaign).

And the natural right of self-defense is one of the foundations of the

Western and Catholic traditions of natural law--recognized by Thomas

Aquinas and by the current Catechism of the Catholic Church (see, e.g.,

sections 2263-65). Surely the long Catholic tradition of the legitimacy

of forcible self-defense is of some relevance in the

rights-consciousness of an overwhelmingly Catholic nation. (I realize,

of course, that Brazilian Bishops urged a "yes" vote on the referendum;

the majority of the laity obviously disagreed with them, as the laity

has every right to do, according to Catholic doctrine, in prudential

matters of public affairs). Perhaps the referendum will encourage a

future Brazilian government to recognize the obviously strong respect

that Brazilians have for the right of self-defense, and to amend the

Constitution to provide more explicit protections against the invasions

of natural rights that might be attempted should a Lula-type ruler gain

power some day in the future.

MORE UPDATE: With 75% of the vote counted, Reuters has called the

election for "Não," and the prohibitionists have conceded.

ANOTHER UPDATE: With 92% of the vote in, the results are 64% to 36%.

For those of you who read Portuguese, two articles I've written, which

have been translated into Portuguese, are available here.

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Congress Bans Abusive Anti-Gun Lawsuits:

David Kopel

The Volokh Conspiracy

October 20, 2005

http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_10_16-2005_10_22.shtml#1129830865

At approximately noon, Eastern Time, the House of Representatives voted

to pass S. 397, 283-144. The bill, known as the "Protection of Lawful

Commerce in Arms Act," has been endorsed by the White House, and now

goes to the President for his signature.

The bill is the culmination a decade of tort reform work, aimed at

addressing the problem of abusive lawsuits against gun manufacturers.

The bill is an excellent exercise of the congressional power over

interstate commerce, for precisely the purpose for which Congress was

originally granted that power: the bill is necessary and proper to stop

local governments from interfering with interstate commerce, including

by attempting to use a verdict in a single state court to impose

national firearms controls which have been rejected by Congress and by

all state governments.

S. 397 is also a proper exercise of Congressional power under section 5

of the 14th Amendment, to prevent local governments, including local

courts, from infringing the Second Amendment rights (and the parallel

state constitutional rights in 44 states) which are guaranteed to all

law-abiding Americans.

In addition, the bill is also a necessary and proper exercise of the

Congressional war power, because the civilian firearms industry is now,

and always has been, essential to the production of firearms for the

military. Without a robust civilian firearms industry, manufacturers

who had to produce only for a military or police market would have to

charge much higher prices, and would innovate far less. Almost every

gun ever used by the U.S. military was originally developed for the

civilian market. Accordingly, the Department of Defense stated that is

"strongly supports" S. 397 because the bill "would help safeguard our

national security by limiting unnecessary lawsuits against an industry

that plays a critical role in meeting the procurement needs of our men

and women in uniform."

Thirty-four states had already enacted their own laws to prohibit such

suits, but Congressional action was necessary to ensure that a single

court in one of the hold-out states did not attempt to destroy the U.S.

firearms industry, or to impose the will of a single judge as a

national system of firearms restrictions.

The Brady Center, the instigator of the abusive suits, has already

expressed its intention to fight the new federal law in court.

Significantly, no court anywhere in the United States has ever ruled in

favor of similar challenges to the state statutes restricting abusive

lawsuits against Second Amendment rights.

The Senate added two unrelated items to S. 397, both of which have

caused concern among some Second Amendment activists:

First, the bill increases the already severe mandatory minimum

sentences for use of armor-piercing ammunition in a violent or drug

trafficking crime. Mandatory minimums are generally a bad idea, but

since actual armor-piercing ammunition, as defined by federal law, is

very rare, the practical effect of the new sentences will be very

small.

Second, the bill requires all licensed firearms dealers to include a

locking mechanism with each handgun they sale. Almost every American

manufacturer already includes a lock (either an internal lock or, more

commonly, a cable lock or trigger lock), with every new gun.

Accordingly, the main effect of S. 397's lock provision will be to

force sellers of used handguns to raise their price by several dollars

to provide customers an item that the customer may not need. (For

example, the customer may already own a gun safe, or may plan to keep

the handgun always ready for self-defense, so that it should not be

locked up.)

The bill also provides civil immunity for persons who use locking

devices. There have been a few state court cases in which guns were

effectively treated as ultra-hazardous products, and gun owners whose

guns were stolen and used in a crime were found civilly liable, even

though their guns had been stored in a safe.

Both of the extra provisions have slippery slope risks: Senator Kennedy

and a significant number of Senators favor expanding the definition of

"armor-piercing" ammunition so as to include the vast majority of

conventional rifle ammunition. And several states have enacted

dangerous laws which require handguns to be locked up, and thus

inaccessible for emergency self-defense.

However, the future dangers of slippery slopes are far outweighed by

the immediate threat posed by abusive lawsuits. On the whole, S. 397 is

an immense victory for constitutional rights.

For background on the abusive lawsuit issue, you may wish to read some

of the ten articles I've written on the subject, including the 1995

Seton Hall Legislative Journal article which argued that courts should

protect the Second Amendment from abusive lawsuits, just as they

protected the First Amendment from abusive lawsuits in New York Times

v. Sullivan. But even better than judicially-created protection is

legislatively-created protection. Today's bi-partisan vote is a

tremendous victory for the constitutional rights of citizens, and is

the result of Congress exercising its powers for precisely the

pro-freedom reasons for which those powers were granted to Congress by

the American people.

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Bellicose Women, Part XXX:

David Kopel

The Volokh Conspiracy

October 14, 2005

http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_10_09-2005_10_15.shtml#1129329839

Jordanian brigadier general Aisha Bint Al Hussein carries on a long and honorable tradition of expertise

at arms among Bedouin women. As reported by StrategyPage:

"In the 19th century, when firearms became common among the Bedouin,

women became even more lethal as warriors, because firing a rifle did

not require the muscle of the older weapons (swords, spears and bows.)

In Saudi Arabia...the older women still remember the freedom women had

as recently as the 1950s. During that time, Islamic conservatives began

imposing more restrictions on women as the Bedouin nomads settled down.

But in Jordan, the women still have much freedom, in the ancient

Bedouin tradition. This causes some friction, as the urban and rural

Arabs adopted a much more restrictive attitude towards women. However,

the old ways are remembered, and are increasingly being seen as the

future for women in the Middle East."

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Bellicose Women, Part XXIX, India:

David Kopel

The Volokh Conspiracy

October 14, 2005

http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_10_09-2005_10_15.shtml#1129321059

Since September 11, 2001, Glenn Reynolds has run at least 28 items

about "bellicose women" taking up arms to defend their families and

communities from terrorists. Thanks to the excellent pro-rights

newsletter "News from the Sight," I found that Muslim women in Kashmir

(many of the men are working in Gulf States) have founded a Village

Defense Committee to protect their towns from Islamic terrorists. One

mother explains, "It is an amazing feeling to hold a gun in one's hand

for a noble cause...I am proud to be fighting a jihad against these

marauders who cheated us of our dignity and honor."

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Miers on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms:

David Kopel

The Volokh Conspiracy

October 3, 2005

http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_10_02-2005_10_08.shtml#1128378033

The New Republic's fine &c blog points to a 1992 article she wrote for

the Texas Lawyer. In the article, she points to three infamous multiple

homicides in Texas: the 1966 Texas Tower Shooting, in which a man

climbed the clock tower at the University of Texas, and shot 14 people.

(He was finally stopped when two policemen and a civilian rushed the

building.) The second was the 1991 Killeen massacre, where a man

entered a Luby's Cafeteria, and methodically slaughtered unarmed 23

people. (The incident played a major role in Texas rescinding its ban

on carrying concealed handguns, and enacting a Shall Issue permit law.)

The third incident in Miers' article had taken place recently; a man

murdered two judges and two lawyers in a Fort Worth courthouse.

"How does a free society prevent" such crimes, she asked. She then explained:

The same liberties that ensure a free society make the innocent

vulnerable to those who prevent rights and privileges and commit

senseless and cruel acts. Those precious liberties include free speech,

freedom to assemble, freedom of liberties, access to public places, the

right to bear arms and freedom from constant surveillance. We are not

willing to sacrifice these rights because of the acts of maniacs.

Miers, however, rejected the notion that "precious liberties",

including "the right to bear arms," should be sacrificed in the name of

crime prevention. Quite obviously, she was referring to the "right to

bear arms" as an individual right.

It's technically possible that she was referring only to the Texas

Constitutional arms right, which clearly is individual, rather than to

the Second Amendment. However, the context of the quote does not seem

so constricted, and even to describe the Texas right a precious liberty

says a good deal about Ms. Miers' thinking.

She then explained the true solution to crime:  

We will be successful in solving our massive crime problems only when

we attack the root causes....

 

We all can be active in some way to address the social issues that

foster criminal behavior, such as: lack of self-esteem or hope in some

segments of our society, poverty, lack of health care (particularly

mental health care), lack of education, and family dysfunction.

I agree, and have argued in the Barry Law Review that much-improved

pre-school programs for at-risk boys would be far more effective, in

the long run, at reducing violent crime than would gun control or even

more draconian "conservative" federal criminal laws.

As far as I know, you have to go back to Louis Brandeis to find a

Supreme Court nominee whose pre-nomination writing extolled the right

of armed self-defense. (I'll fill in the details on him in a subsequent

post.) And even Brandeis had not specifically mentioned "the right to

bear arms" as one of the "precious liberties" that "We are not willing

to sacrifice."

Many web writers have raised legitimate questions about Miers. In terms

of the right to arms, however, Americans who love their precious

liberties need not hope about the unknown, but need only expect her to

be consistent with what she has already said.

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

Bush's Terrible Idea:

David Kopel

The Volokh Conspiracy

September 28, 2005

http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_09_25-2005_10_01.shtml#1127923525

President Bush and Senator John Warner (R-Vir.) are pushing to create

additional loopholes in the Posse Comitatus Act, the law that prohibits

use of the military in domestic law enforcement. The drug enforcement

loopholes created in the 1980s have already led to the deaths of

innocent Americans. A "disaster" loophole could be even more dangerous.

The fact that local, state, and federal governments bungled some of the

initial response to Hurricane Katrina is not a good reason to destroy

the principle of separation of the military from civil law

enforcement--a principle at least as important to civil liberties as

the separation of church and state.

Gene Healy of the Cato Institute is the leading spokesman for the

pro-liberty side on the Posse Comitatus issue. A chapter I wrote in a

Cato book a few years ago provides some historical background, and

details the terrible results of the drug war loophole in the Posse

Comitatus Act. You can also watch a RealVideo/Audio of a 2002 Cato

Institute panel on the PCA, in which Rep. Bob Barr, Stephen Halbrook,

Paul Schott Stevens, and I discuss proposals to weaken or eliminate the

PCA.

=============================

2.  Translations of Kopel

1. Mexican Gun Laws / Leyes del Arme de México.

For English:

http://www.davekopel.com/Espanol/Mexican-Gun-Laws.htm

Por Español:

http://www.davekopel.com/Espanol/México.htm

2. Imagine a World Without Arms:

Imagine um mundo sem armas.

Portuguese translation:

http://www.davekopel.com/Português/Imagine-um-mundo-sem-armas.htm

Spanish translation:

Un mundo sin armas de fuego

http://www.davekopel.com/Espanol/Un-mundo-sin-armas-de-fuego.htm

=============================

3.  Law and Lawsuits

Letter to Dan Young, U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Department of Justice

February 18. 2005

http://www.nysrpa.org/FOPA-DOJltrTSA.pdf

Very important letter from the US DOJ on the subject of NYC police

threatening to arrest law officers in transit at New York city airports

with arrest for illegal firearms possession. DOJ explains that federal

law exempts some transit of guns from NYC’s licensing laws.

Gun Possession Now OK at FEMA Housing

Associated Press (LA)

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/12988032.htm

Under pressure from SAF and NRA, FEMA abandons its  

ban on firearms at trailer parks established to house

Hurricane Katrina victims.

Suit Challenging County Gun Ban Can Proceed

Michelle Maitre

The Oakland Tribune (CA)

October 1, 2005

http://www.rsrgroup.com/opnindnews10_3_05.php 

A Federal judge ruled RKBA advocates can argue that their free-speech

rights are violated by an Alameda County ordinance that bans guns on

county property.

Court Reverses Previous Rulings, Throws out Challenges to Gun Law

Ryan Keith

Associated Press (IL)

October 6, 2005

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/gunlaws06.html

Under the court's previous reasoning, someone committing murder while

simply possessing a gun would get a lighter sentence than someone who

commits aggravated battery but actually uses a gun to do it.

Insurance Cases:

Taurus Holdings, Inc. v. U.S. Fidelity and Guaranty, Inc.

Justice Raoul Cantero, Supreme Court of Florida

September 22, 2005

http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2005/sc04-771.pdf

The Florida Supreme Court analyzed insurance coverage of a company sued

by cities over guns it made. The court held that there was no coverage

by the insurance companies for the costs of such suits.

Insurer Not Required to Defend Homeowner Who Shot Intruder

John Caher

New York Law Journal

September 16, 2005

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1126775114950

A man who killed an intruder in his home in self-defense is not

entitled to insurance defense in a wrongful death action, a divided

Albany appellate panel ruled in a case of first impression.

=============================

4. International

Africa

West African Draft Convention on Small Arms Out

Graphic Ghana

October 11, 2005

http://www.graphicghana.info/article.asp?artid=8485

A Draft convention on controlling small arms and light weapons prepared

by a coalition of anti-gun groups in West Africa has been

presented to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Arab World

Arab League, Germany Sign Agreement on Small Arms Control

Xinhua News Agency

October 10, 2005

http://english.people.com.cn/200510/11/eng20051011_213741.html

The Arab League and Germany signed an agreement on small arms and light

weapons control in the Arab world, Egypt's official MENA news agency

reported. Under the agreement, Germany will provide money to the league

for holding the first Arab meeting on small arms and light weapons

control among Arab countries.

Armenia

Embarrassed Markarian Promises 'Stricter' Gun Control

Astghik Bedevian

Armenia Liberty (Armenia)

October 6, 2005

http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2005/10/E25A0EBB-6057-4659-A07B-98ACE4EDE6AA.ASP

Prime Minister Andranik Markarian pledged late Wednesday to be more

careful in presenting government officials and friends with firearms

and effectively admitted that one of those "gifts" was used in a recent

high-profile murder. Guns are otherwise illegal in Armenia without

police permission.

Canada

"As I Please": Lorne Gunter's Web Log

Lorne Gunter

The National Post (Canada)

http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/comment/blog/gunter.html?p

Gunter is a journalist on the website of The National Post, one of

Canada's two national dailies. He often covers guns and crime issues

Fathers Under Fire

Candis McLean

June 13, 2005

http://www.equalparenting-bc.ca/testimonials/swanson_jeremy.htm 

Dads who own guns are increasingly being labeled "dangerous" by

therapists, cops and ex-wives who want to keep them from their kids.

European Union

EU Backs Need for Treaty on Global Arms Sales

Reuters News

October 3, 2005

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L03608916.htm

European Union foreign ministers have backed the idea of creating an

international treaty controlling the sale of small arms and called on

the United Nations to take the lead.

Japan

Brazen air-gun attacks shock 'safe' Japan

Mainichi Daily News (Japan)

October 7, 2005

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20051007p2a00m0na010000c.html

A recent spate of air-gun attacks, including the bold shooting of a

rear window of a car on an expressway in Wakayama Prefecture, has many

Japanese on edge.

Russia

Russia Tries to Outlaw the AK-47

James Dunnigan

The Strategy Page

August 30, 2005

http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/200583023444.asp

Russia wants the UN to pass rules outlawing unauthorized use of Russian

weapons designs. Russia hopes to piggyback this on a UN effort to limit

the illegal distribution of assault rifles in the hope of getting

patent royalties.

South Africa

Follow Brazilian lead and close the arms industry:  Opinion Column

Terry Crawford-Browne

Cape Times (South Africa)

October 13, 2005

http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=273&fArticleId=2944665

A South African pundit strongly urges the South Africans to follow

Brazil's lead on the subject of firearms control.  The expectation was

that Brazil would outlaw civilian arms ownership.

United Kingdom

Hunting campaigners lose appeal against UK ban

Reuters News (UK)

October 13, 2005

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?

type=topNews&storyID=2005-10-13T092841Z_01_MCC321300_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BRITAIN-HUNTING.xml&archived=False

Nine Law Lords on unanimously ruled against a legal challenge

in which the Countryside Alliance claimed that the Hunting Act, which

bans hunting with dogs, was invalid.

Secret Files Reveal Dunblane Blunders

David Lister

The Times Online (UK)

October 3, 2005

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1808640,00.html#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=Britain

The Dunblane killer Thomas Hamilton might have been stripped of his

firearms license had prosecutors heeded police reports about his

worrying behavior towards children, according to secret files to be

released today.  Reaction to the crime caused the ban of

handguns in the United Kingdom.

=============================

5. States

Alaska

New Anti-Gun Control Law Set for Alaska

Matt Volz

The Associated Press

Monday, October 17, 2005; 4:08 AM

http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2005/10/15/news/the_west/satwst02.txt

A new "anti-gun-control law" (usually called pre-emption legislation)

in Alaska will allow handgun owners to carry concealed weapons without

a permit in the seven Alaska cities where permits are now required.

Florida

Warning tourists about dangerous Floridians is cheap shot by Brady group

Tom Lyons

Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL)

October 11, 2005

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051011/COLUMNIST36/510110409/-1/OPINION04

"The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has people in Florida

handing out what purports to be an important warning to newly arrived

tourists. The literature tells the arrivals that Florida, thanks to a

new "Stand Your Ground" law, has become a far more dangerous place."

Brady Bunch Poster

Jeff Soyer

Alphecca:  An occasional blog by a libertarian, gay gun nut in Vermont

September 30, 2005

http://www.alphecca.com/mt_alphecca_archives/001663.html

Soyer offers samples of Brady Campaign literature about travel in

Florida and his and his readers' analysis of the Campaign's tactics and

message.

Statement on Public Relations Effort of the Brady Campaign to Use the Florida Tourism Industry to Gain Visibility for Their Views

Press Release

Business Wire

October 5, 2005

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20051005005705&newsLang=en

'Visit Florida,' speaking for the Florida Tourism community announces

its opinion of the Brady Campaign's tactics.

Brady Scare Tactics

Patricksemmens.com:  A web log

October 10, 2005

http://patricksemmens.com/2005/10/brady-scare-tactics.html

Semmens suggests similar warnings about the effects of gun legislation

for his own area, that being the District of Columbia.

Letter: Gun legislation seeks to support law-abiding Floridians

Marion P. Hammer

St. Petersburg Times (FL)

October 10, 2005

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/10/10/Opinion/Gun_legislation_seeks.shtml

Hammer, former President of the NRA, takes issue with the newspaper's

opposition to legislation to protect workers legally possessing

firearms from being fired by their employers.

Michigan

Gun Control Groups Take Aim at Mich. Bill

Associated Press (MI)

September 21, 2004

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0905/261953.html

"Earlier this year, gun control advocates failed to block a Florida

bill allowing people to use deadly force in the street to defend

themselves. The advocates vow not to let that happen in Michigan."

North Carolina

Council Considers New Gun Ordinance

Shawn Flynn

News 14 Carolina

October 11. 2005

http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/local_news/?ArID=104419&SecID=2

The Charlotte City Council is considering an ordinance that would crack

down on the display of small handguns in public.

Virginia

Virginia Gubernatorial Candidate Kilgore Panders to the Gun Lobby and its Reckless Disregard of Gun Trafficking

Press Release

U.S. Newswire (Brady Campaign)

October 7, 2005

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=54733

The Brady Campaign criticizes Gubernatorial Candidate Jerry W.

Kilgore's efforts to repeal Virginia's 'One Gun a Month' bill.

NRA Backs Democrat For Va. Attorney General

Chris L. Jenkins

The Washington Post

September 30, 2005

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/29/AR2005092902186_pf.html

The NRA supports Virginia Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, who is running for

attorney general. Deeds has a pro-RKBA legislative record.

Wisconsin

Bill Would Remove Hurdles to Youth Hunting

Jerry Davis

LaCrosse Tribune (WI)

October 6, 2005

http://www.rivervalleynewspapers.com/articles/2005/10/06/outdoors/01second.txt

Wisconsin law currently requires youth to be a minimum of twelve years

old before being introduced to hunting or hunting-related activities.

Gun Foes Ready for Fight: Concealed Weapons Bill is Back in Play

David Callender

The Capital Times

September 29, 2005

http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/index.php?ntid=55946&ntpid=0

"Opponents today pledged to step up their efforts to halt a bill that

would allow Wisconsin residents to legally carry concealed handguns."

=============================

6. Research

Annual Report When Men Murder Women

PR Newswire (VPC)

September 27, 2005

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?

ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-27-2005/0004132935&EDATE=

This annual report details national and state-by-state information on

female homicides involving one female murder victim and one male

offender.  The VPC releases the study each year to coincide with

Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. 

United Nations Report Validates Old Adage 'An Armed Society is a Polite Society'

Press Release

Illinois State Rifle Association

September 20, 2005

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=53648

"Based on a crime survey of the world's top industrialized countries,

the U.N. report indicates that a resident of the United Kingdom is

nearly 3 times more likely to become a victim of violent assault than

is a citizen of the United States."

Canadian Research

Suicides and the "Gun Deaths" Fraud

Gary Mauser

The Fraser Forum

September 2005

http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/shared/readmore.asp?sNav=pb&id=790

Canadian reporting claiming that 'gun deaths' have declined is the result of a meaningless statistic.

Letter to MP Garry Breitkreuz

Library Of Parliament (Canada)

June 27, 2005

http://www.garrybreitkreuz.com/publications/2005_lp_minsent_06_27.doc

"There is little research dealing with the effectiveness of mandatory

minimum sentences in Canada, particularly in the area of firearms

legislation."

E-mail to Lyne Casavant, Research Officer, Canadian Parliament

Kathleen Davis

Statistics Canada

June 27, 2005

http://www.garrybreitkreuz.com/publications/2005_statscan_min_06_27.doc

"We cannot measure the effectiveness of the mandatory minimum

sentencing provisions pertaining to firearms."

=============================

7. Culture

The 20 Most Important Tools: No. 7 The Rifle

David M. Ewalt

Forbes

August 23, 2005

http://www.forbes.com/personaltech/2005/08/23/technology-firearms-rifle_cx_de_0823rifle.html

"Forbes.com readers, editors and a panel of experts rank the rifle as

the 7th most important tool of all time, in terms of its impact on

human civilization."

Stayin' Alive: Armed and Female in an Unsafe World

Paxton Quigley

Merrill Press

2005

This book may be ordered from:

Merill Press

Post Office Box 1682, Bellevue, WA  98009

(425)454-7009, Fax (425)451-3959,

www.merrilpress.com or online at:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0936783435/002-5922671-5462406?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance

Merrill's description reads "The new bible of women's self-defense.

This important book dispels popular myths about guns and discusses the

pros and cons of means of self protection for women."

Paxton Quigley's new book, Stayin' Alive

Tiffany Lindsay

Merrill Press, Press Release

September 14, 2005

http://www.network54.com/Forum/33620/message/

1126736187/Paxton+Quigley's+new+book,+Stayin'+Alive 

"Paxton Quigley, both a liberal Democrat and advocate of women's gun rights says in her new book,

Stayin' Alive: Armed and Female in an Unsafe World (Merril Press, 2005), women who take their

guns out of their homes and legally carry them concealed reduce violent crimes, rape, and death."

Xavier Thoughts

"Xavier"

A Nurse with a Gun:  Web Log

http://xavierthoughts.blogspot.com/

Thoughts on gun ownership and shooting by an atypical blogger.

Second Amendment Hypocrites: Senators Schumer and Feinstein

Jim Kouri

American Chronicle:  California Political Daily

September 23, 2005

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=2553

"...there are outspoken opponents of gun ownership, such as Senators

Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Diane Feinstein (D-CA), who are carrying

concealed weapons, according to WABC Radio's Mark Levin."

Rosa Parks

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/24/AR2005102402053.html

Excerpt:

“As an adult, she recalled watching her grandfather guard the front

door with a shotgun as the Ku Klux Klan paraded down their road.”

[...]

"‘I thought back to the time when I used to sit up all night and didn't sleep,

and my grandfather would have his gun right by the fireplace, or if he had his

one-horse wagon going anywhere, he always had his gun in the back of the wagon…’"

==============================

This newsletter is compiled with help from Dr. Rob S. Rice.  Dr. Rice's

newest non-fiction will hit bookstores on November 1st, the naval section of

'Fighting Techniques of the Early Modern World,' from Amber Books.  Dr.

Rice is also a poet, novelist, and factotum of matters electronic to

Dave Kopel.

Al Qaeda delenda est!