An apparent organized flexing of Second Amendment rights last weekend was a bit too Wild West for some local citizens and business owners.
Police and deputies responded to a number of complaints about citizens packing sidearms at restaurants, stores and other public areas.
None of the gun carriers was cited.
Michigan's 2001 shall-issue concealed weapons law greatly increased the number of citizens packing handguns. The public, however, does not notice the guns because they are hidden under clothing.
But a shopper with a handgun on his hip in Target is another matter. Security officers followed the man Saturday and contacted city police.
“One of our officers had contact with the man in the parking lot, and that was the end of it,” Lt. Christopher Simpson said. “He was carrying legally.” Read more
Kenosha-area lawmakers are lining up behind a recent legal opinion confirming the legality of toting unconcealed firearms in public places.
Some even say it could be an entrée to revisit the controversial issue of concealed carry in Wisconsin, though the current political winds in Madison would make that prospect appear unlikely.
State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen last week issued a memo citing constitutional grounds allowing for the open carrying of firearms, so long as it is done without disturbing the peace and within specified restrictions, such as not taking a gun into a school.
Some have questioned whether that is possible in many settings, particularly in urban areas. Milwaukee authorities have said Van Hollen’s memo will not change the manner in which their officers approach people with guns.
Sen. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie, criticized the timing of Van Hollen’s opinion, but he was not about to argue with the content.
“I think the timing was poor, bringing it out right when the 10th anniversary of Columbine was out there,” Wirch said. “But I think that he’s on pretty solid legal grounds with this.” Read more
At the Terry Road Pawn Shop in Jackson, military-style long guns don't stay in the cases long. What's more, it has become increasingly difficult during the last few months for owner Kevin McDonald to stock his shop with auto-loading rifles such as AR-15s and SKSes.
“The demand has gotten so high, I don't think the manufacturers can make them fast enough to keep everybody supplied,” McDonald said. “Often when we get them, we go ahead and sell them online because we can sell them at retail price or better.”
Mississippi apparently is not immune to the national surge in gun sales in response to the election of Democratic President Barack Obama and widespread speculation over a possible reinstated federal ban on assault weapons, based on the latest Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics.
FBI gun checks, an indication of gun sales because they are required for purchases, numbered more than 181,000 in the state 2008 – the highest yearly total since 1999.
“The people in Congress and the presidential administration are too wishy-washy (on gun control). There is a perception there will possibly be a ban on guns like when (former President Bill) Clinton was in office,” said Randy Reeves, owner of Randy's Sporting Goods in Oak Grove. “At the present, people are buying all the guns they can get their hands on and all the ammo they can get their hands on.”
Reeves estimated his sales have shot up 50 percent in the last six months. Read more
In it's latest attempt to derail the concealing of permit holder information, the AP has come up with the worst that it could find about the Tennessee Handgun Carry permits. So far (unlike here in Arkansas) nothing has worked.
The latest is this, KTHV is only too happy to comply, “Nearly 1,200 Tennesseans have had their state-issued handgun carry permits revoked or suspended for running afoul of the law over the last four years.
Under a bill advancing in the Legislature, the public would be barred from finding out their names or the circumstances that caused them to lose their rights to carry loaded weapons in public.
The measure sponsored by Democratic Rep. Eddie Bass of Prospect and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris of Collierville would bar the release of any information related to “the issuance, renewal, expiration, suspension, or revocation of a handgun carrypermit.” Read more
Gun Digest is the source for firearms news, pricing and guns for sale. Readers benefit from in-depth editorial expert advice, show reviews and practical how-to instructions. Subscriptions are the First Amendment way to stand up for your Second Amendment rights. Click here to begin your subscription to Gun Digest.
Inside This Issue
– Accessorize your AK or Mini-14
– Performance Handloads: Long-range handgun loads
– Trends of Value: Browning rifles, Winchester shotguns and early Colt handguns
– Gunsmithing: Change out your AR-15 trigger
– Plus! Pages and pages of gun classifieds listings and auctions
Exploiting the tenth anniversary of the Columbine tragedy, perennial gun control advocate Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced his latest gun show bill. Lautenberg was joined at the press conference by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Jack Reed (D-RI). “The Hill” quotes Lautenberg as saying:
“There is no rational reason to oppose closing the loophole,” said Lautenberg, the bill’s sponsor. “The reason it’s still not closed is simple: the continuing power of the special interest gun lobby in Washington.”
The bill is S. 843: “A bill to establish background check procedures for gun shows.” What makes it a greater threat than other gun bills in the 111th Congress is the fact that Lautenberg has signed eleven powerful Democrats as cosponsors, including formerly pro-gun Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).
Although text of the bill is not available at the time of this writing, it is expected to be substantially similar to Lautenberg’s gun show bill of the last Congress, S. 2577.
Lautenberg went on to add still more to the “90% lie” being promulgated by both the Obama administration and Mexican officials:
“Thirty percent of the guns that go to Mexico are bought at gun shows. We don’t know whether they’re bought from unlicensed dealers, but logic would say let’s have some idea who it is that bought those guns and what their intentions might be.”
LIKELY DETAILS
“Gun show promoters” would have to register with the Attorney General of the United States “in accordance with regulations promulgated” by the AG. Given the predispositions of Eric Holder, one can only imagine what regulations he would “promulgate.” The AG would also set the registration fee at any level he or she wished.
All “vendors” would be registered. “Vendor” would include you if you wanted to sell even one firearm. You would have to present government identification to the gun show promoter, who would be required to retain that information.
All sales would be registered with the FBI. No private transfers would be allowed at shows, and would have to be processed, at unknown expense, through federally licensed dealers via the computerized National Instant Check System (NICS). Read below to find out why that creates a de facto gun registration system. Worse, Lautenberg notes that under the new bill, all guns sold, including model and serial number, will be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms via its national gun tracing center.
Attorney General Eric Holder says he is concerned that a law limiting the use of gun-trace data may be too restrictive.
Holder said at a congressional hearing that the so-called Tiahrt amendment the subject of a long-running legislative battle between opponents and supporters of gun control may limit evidence-sharing by state and local authorities. Read More
Mass public shootings are a horrific feature of modern life. Many of the bloodiest examples of this scourge have occurred on college campuses. As professors, we are particularly sensitive to this danger.
Despite this – no, because of this – we support a bill currently pending in the Texas Legislature that would permit the concealed carrying of firearms on college and university campuses in the state by holders of concealed-handgun permits.
Any public policy involving matters of life and death should be decided only after weighing carefully the competing risks. Examining the relevant facts and data indicates that permitting Texas permit holders to carry weapons on college campuses would improve safety because:
•The best available empirical evidence shows that concealed-carry laws reduce the incidence of mass public shootings.
•Mass public shootings occur almost exclusively in places – like universities – where concealed carry is proscribed.
•There are numerous examples of firearms owners acting to disarm would-be mass murderers, thereby saving lives.
•Concealed-handgun-permit holders are overwhelmingly law-abiding individuals. Read more
Daniel Scott Byrd, 22, of 115 Keith Street, Greer and Josh Duncan, 24, of 207 Church St., Wellford were each charged with one count of assault and battery.
Byrd's stomach was grazed by a bullet and Duncan was struck in the buttocks during a fight Monday night outside a Keith Street residence. Read More
Gun Digest is the source for firearms news, pricing and guns for sale. Readers benefit from in-depth editorial expert advice, show reviews and practical how-to instructions. Subscriptions are the First Amendment way to stand up for your Second Amendment rights. Click here to begin your subscription to Gun Digest.
Inside This Issue
• Where is the AR-15 market going?
• 18 Shotguns: Some 1956 prices
• The Walther PPK: Still reliable
• Why is the .270 still around?
• Rimfire autoloaders
• Looking good at the range
• A look at 12 new AR-15s available in Spring 2009.
On April 16, 2009, President Obama emerged from a meeting with Mexico’s President Calderón to announce his support for the “Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing and Trafficking in Firearms” treaty (CIFTA): an international gun control treaty signed by President Bill Clinton in 1997 but never ratified by the U.S. Senate.
Unlike Clinton, Obama has no plans to let the treaty languish without ratification. Thus he promised to push the treaty through the Senate quickly as a means of curtailing the border violence and arms trafficking in Mexico’s current drug wars. Yet the text of CIFTA indicates that the treaty would do very little to curtail violence in Mexico, unless creating a national gun registry in the United States is something that will cut crime south of the border.
For example, the preamble of the treaty describes “the urgent need for all states, and especially those states that produce, export, and import arms, to take the necessary measures to prevent, combat, and eradicate the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms.” To accomplish this, the preamble calls for the “exchange of information” and “effective control of firearms [and] ammunition” between nations that sign treaty.
The “exchange of information” implies that our government would not simply have a gun registry that is nationally accessible, but internationally accessible as well. Read More
BELLEVUE, WA – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today criticized Milwaukee, WI Police Chief Ed Flynn for his open defiance of the State Attorney General’s office in a controversy over open carry of firearms.
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has stated that it is legal in Wisconsin for citizens to carry guns openly in a peaceful manner. However, Chief Flynn is ordering his officers to “take down” citizens, “put them on the ground” and disarm them, and “then decide whether you have a right to carry it.”
The situation should alarm all Wisconsin citizens, whether they own guns or not, said CCRKBA Legislative Director Joe Waldron, because it places police officers and private citizens in a deliberately confrontational position. Also, he added, Flynn’s approach raises serious constitutional questions because of the state’s clearly defined “right to keep and bear arms for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any other lawful purpose” under Article I, Section 25 of the state constitution.
“Because Wisconsin does not allow concealed carry,” Waldron said, “the only way for citizens to exercise their constitutional right to keep and bear arms is to carry handguns openly. Chief Flynn should not assume he or his officers have the authority to decide who can and cannot exercise that right. His attitude is outrageous. Read More
Source: Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
When Jiverly Wong walked into a Binghamton immigrant services center this month and killed 13 people, he was legally permitted to have the 9 mm and .45-caliber handguns used in the rampage.
But that might not have been the case if state law had required him to periodically renew his gun license, contends two legislators proposing an end to what they call “New York's dangerous lifetime permit system.”
“That tragedy serves as a somber illustration of how critically important it is that our state licensing system be thorough, that the records be accurate and up-to-date and that handguns be accounted for,” said Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, who is sponsoring the legislation with Manhattan state Sen. Eric Schneiderman.
The legislation would require license renewals every five years, allowing law enforcement agencies to better consider criminal convictions, changes in mental-health status or other causes for concern that occur once a permit has been issued.
Paulin had proposed the measure three years ago and again in 2007, but it met opposition from the gun lobby and never got out of committee in the Assembly. Read More
MILWAUKEE COUNTY, Wis. — As WISN 12 News was interviewing a West Allis man about his past arrest for carrying a gun in the open, police confronted him again Tuesday night — one day after the state's attorney general ruled it's legal.
“Somebody called the police that somebody was walking around with a gun on their hip,” a West Allis police officer said.
“I would fit that description,” Krause said.
“That would be you,” a West Allis police officer said.
Police arrived up to investigate Krause while 12 News was interviewing him about his previous arrest for carrying a holstered gun on his hip outside his home.
One officer saw Krause's gun and asked what agency he's affiliated with.
“I'm the same guy I was when you arrested me the last time,” Krause said. Read more
Gun Digest is the source for firearms news, pricing and guns for sale. Readers benefit from in-depth editorial expert advice, show reviews and practical how-to instructions. Subscriptions are the First Amendment way to stand up for your Second Amendment rights. Click here to begin your subscription to Gun Digest.
Inside This Issue
• The Gun Grabbers are here!
• Handguns: Desert Eagle
• Safety check the M1 Carbine
• Look inside the Model 74
• Great books for spring
• Keep it simple when reloading
• Leupold light shines on
• Obama lied! What a shock.
• For its 25th anniversary, the Desert Eagle is moving to Minnesota.
Marlin Model 39M Article II Comm. Rifle (NIB). Sold for $520
An auction was held March 21 at Kramer Auction Service in Prairie du Chien. Sales were strong on guns and demand for ammunition was heavy. Here's an overview of some of the firearms sold, and prices realized.
Early Ruger Flat Gate Single Six in Nice Condition. Sold for $605
Remington Model 77 Apache Rifle. Sold for $465
Steyr Zephyr 22 cal rifle w/ half stock. Sold for $1265
Marlin Brace of 1000 Comm. Rifle Set of Matching engraved model 336 and 39. Sold for $1760
Set of Matching Ruger Engraved “Cowboy” Vaqueros NIB. Sold for $2,090
Plus:
The Top Winchester Model 61 Rifle. Sold for $935
The Top Winchester Model 62 Rifle. Sold for $770
Top Winchester Model 63 Rifle. Sold for $800
Nice but heavily used Winchester Model 97 Trap Gun 12 ga. w/ plain bbl. Sold for $1,325
2 NIB Ruger Single Sixes (Limited Production Run w/ Case Colored Receivers). Sold for $440 each
Early Ruger Flat Gate Single Six in Nice Condition. Sold for $605
Set of Matching Ruger Engraved “Cowboy” Vaqueros NIB but missing the Glass presentation case. Sold for $2,090
Winchester Model 1892 Rifle 32 WCF good condition w/ gray to brown metal. Sold for $1275
Winchester Model 425 Air Rifle w/ original Box. Sold for $440
Browning Limited production Model 53 Rifle in 32-20 (NIB). Sold for $955
Marlin Model 39A Article II Comm. Rifle (NIB). Sold for $520
Remington Model 77 Apache Rifle. Sold for $465
Marlin Brace of 1000 Comm. Rifle Set of Matching engraved model 336 and 39 Rifle; Guns were excellent but the original Luggage style case needed repair. Sold for $1760
Steyr Zephyr .22 cal. rifle w/ half stock. Sold for $1265
Freedom Arms Premier Grade .44 Mag Revolver (NIB). Sold for $1180
For more information, contact Kramer Auction Service, Prairie du Chien, WI 53821 (608) 326-8108
Discuss your gun collection or recent auction purchases in the Gun Digest Collecting Forum.
Looking to go armed, but are stuck in the weeds as to what to arm yourself with? Here are 20 excellent concealed carry gun options that will keep you on the defensive.
