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 Gov. Chet Culver said Monday that he plans to sign into law a measure overhauling the way concealed weapons permits are issued.
Currently, those seeking a permit to carry a concealed weapon must apply with their local sheriff, who has broad discretion on whether to grant the permit.
The measure Culver intends to sign would require sheriffs to issue permits to applicants who meet a set standard. It allows sheriffs to reject an application only for a list of specific reasons, such as being a convicted felon or convicted domestic abuser, being declared mentally incompetent or being addicted to drugs or alcohol.
The Democratic governor said he plans on signing the measure on Thursday, the final day he has to act on legislation approved by lawmakers this year.
“I’ve always been a strong supporter of the Second Amendment,” Culver told The Associated Press in an interview. “The people have spoken very loudly. It’s probably been running 10 to one in e-mails and calls in favor of signing this bill.”
Critics argue the current system essentially creates 99 sets of standards for issuing the permits, and it isn’t fair to those seeking to carry a weapon. Supporters say local sheriffs are closest to their communities and are in the best position to know who can be trusted to carry a concealed weapon.
The measure pitted the National Rifle Association, which favored the bill, against the organization representing county sheriffs, which lobbied Culver to veto the measure.
The measure requires those seeking concealed weapon permits to get training to ensure they know how to handle the weapon. That training must be updated every five years.
The measure also overhauls the appeals process for those denied a permit. Currently, the appeal has to go to district court, a costly process usually requiring a lawyer. The measure Culver plans to sign allows the appeal to go to the Department of Inspections and Appeals, a much quicker and cheaper process.
Culver said the bottom line is that those seeking a permit will face the same standards, regardless of where they live.
“This is really more about fairness,” he said.-[source]
New Mexico will no longer accept Utah’s gun permits because officials there think Utah’s training is inadequate.
State Public Safety Secretary John Denko says Utah licenses require significantly less training than New Mexico’s. But Clark Aposhian with the Utah Shooting Sports Council says Utah has the best training in the country.
“I’ll put up our training and our stats to show that it is as good if not better than any other state,” he says.
Aposhian also says Utah made close to $1 million in gun sales revenue last year. He thinks New Mexico wants to cash in on that.
“It is a component in the balance sheet of a state’s budget,” he says. “It’s all basically an excuse by saying that Utah’s training is not as good.”
Aposhian notes that Utah gun permits are very popular and are accepted in 35 states as opposed to about 21 for New Mexico gun permits.
He says there were reports that New Mexico gun trainers were urging gun owners to get Utah gun permits because they’re cheaper. Utah charges $35 for gun licenses while New Mexico charges $100. Still, none of this justifies banning Utah gun permits, according to Aposhian.
“Utah has the best background checks. We check backgrounds every 24 hours and New Mexico has background checks every four years,” he says.
The move to ban Utah gun permits is a bad move, says Aposhian, but he also believes gun owners should support the second amendment by buying gun permits from their own states.
Right now, New Mexico is working with 18 other states to ensure their gun permit requirements meet its strict state guidelines.-[source]
 Robert Hicks has died.
Who?
From The Times-Picayune:
Robert Hicks, a lion in the Louisiana civil rights movement whose legal victories helped topple segregation in Bogalusa and change discriminatory employment practices throughout the South, died Tuesday in his home. He was 81.
What does that have to do with the right of the people to keep and bear arms?
The Hicks family opened their home to white civil rights workers and national figures such as entertainer Dick Gregory and Congress of Racial Equality head James Farmer. Because of that, the family was targeted by the Ku Klux Klan, which in turn motivated the formation of the Deacons for Defense and Justice, an armed band of African-American men who stood guard at the Hicks’ home and protected civil rights workers in the city. The 2003 Showtime movie “Deacons for Defense” was loosely based on the group.-[source]
 About 75 gun rights supporters — most of them wearing side arms — gathered in a public park to exercise their Second Amendment rights Sunday, enjoying hamburgers and hot dogs as joggers trotted by and a small group of demonstrators gathered nearby.
Shane Belanger, a University of Southern Maine student who organized the display of guns, which included a machine gun mounted on a jeep, said the aim wasn’t to frighten anyone. Instead, he said, the goal was simply to show that people have a constitutional right to bear arms.
“A right unexercised is a right lost,” Belanger said as the gas grill warmed up on a sunny afternoon. “We’re law-abiding citizens, just having a barbecue.”
Dave Nelson, of Gorham, brought his restored olive drab 1951 Willys jeep with an operable .30-caliber machine gun mounted in the back and a box of ammunition. He said he doesn’t like what’s happening in the country when it comes to work ethic and government intrusion into people’s lives.
“Things are changing drastically,” said Nelson, who wore a 9 mm handgun in a holster. “The government owns too many things. It’s trying to control people.”-[source]
Hamburgers, healing hot dogs and baked beans weren’t the only items on hand at a Sunday afternoon picnic in Vandercook Lake.
The rainy weather didn’t prevent more than 20 gun-rights supporters from gathering in Vandercook Lake County Park for an “open-carry” gathering.
The picnic was sponsored by the nonprofit organization Michigan Open Carry. Organizers said they aimed to educate people of the legality of openly carrying a handgun in Michigan. A similar event was last summer at Sparks Foundation County Park.
“I believe any gun control law is unconstitutional, cheapest ” said Jackson resident and Michigan Open Carry member Gordon Cannon, information pills who carried a 9 mm handgun.
“I carry it to protect my children … We’re not just a bunch of hicks and rednecks.”
In Michigan, any person over age 18 without a criminal record may openly carry a registered firearm while holstered in most public places.-[source]
As a U.S. Government intelligence manager, information pills I receive a significant number of “Officer Safety” alerts generated by a wide variety of local, drug state and federal law enforcement agencies. One alert that regularly rears its ugly head focuses on the alleged “cop killer” 5.7x28mm round fired by the Five-seveN pistol manufactured by Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FNH) of Belgium. Given my innate curiosity, medical I decided to research this super duper cop-killing round and try to put it into perspective.
This is a .224 caliber rimless, bottlenecked, boxer primed, centerfire cartridge designed for use in semi-automatic arms. (Primarily pistols and sub-machineguns.) The cartridge overall length is 1.594 inches and it can be loaded to a maximum pressure of 50,040 psi.
Published reports indicate that as factory loaded the 5.7x28mm drives a 32 grain bullet, load #SS190-AP (armor piercing), at a muzzle velocity (MV) of 2350 fps with 390 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy (ME). The 28 grain spitzer bullet, load #SS195LF-JHP, has a muzzle velocity of 2350 fps and muzzle energy of 290 ft. lbs. The 40 grain Hornady V-Max bullet, load #SS197SR, claims a muzzle velocity of 1950 fps with 340 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy. Readers old enough to remember the obsolete .22 Remington Jet small game and varmint cartridge of 1960–40 grain bullet at about 2000 fps from a S&W Model 53 revolver–will be startled to hear that the slightly less powerful 5.7x28mm is a “cop-killer” round.
It is important to remember that the 5.7x28mm velocity and energy figures were derived from a 10.35 inch (sub-machinegun length) test barrel and that the Five-seveN pistol barrel actually measures 4.82 inches in length. Realistically, we can anticipate a substantial velocity loss of about 20% when the 5.7x28mm cartridge is fired from a pistol. This would mean an actual MV of approximately 1560 fps and ME of 216 ft. lbs. for the 5.7x28mm 40 grain bullet when fired from a handgun. Because it starts a heavier bullet at lower velocity, which maximizes energy and minimizes velocity loss, this should be the most effective load for a 5.7x28mm pistol.
A comparison of the performance of the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (WMR), introduced in 1959, and the 5.7x28mm is interesting. The .22 WMR shares the same bullet diameter (.224″) as the 5.7x28mm cartridge and their muzzle and energy figures are actually rather similar.-[source]
Westmoreland County Commissioners voted yesterday to change an ordinance to allow guns in all county parks.
Commissioners Tom Balya and Tom Ceraso, both Democrats, said they had no choice but to amend the county’s 1974 parks ordinance so it concurs with state law that allows firearms in public places, including parks.
“We would be foolish to try to keep an ordinance on the books that would not pass muster in court,” Balya said yesterday after a handful of county residents both for and against the proposed ordinance change addressed the commissioners.
Republican Commissioner Charles Anderson did not attend yesterday’s meeting and did not cast a vote.
The change approved removes wording from the original ordinance, which was amended in 1995, that banned firearms from specific areas of county parks. The revised law now carries no prohibitions of guns, but bans the discharge of firearms outside of designated hunting areas.
The county allows hunting in six parks: Mammoth, Twin Lakes, Cedar Creek, Northmoreland, Bridgeport Dam and Chestnut Ridge.-[source]
Two gun-rights groups have their sights trained on an amended House bill that lets handgun-carry permit holders go armed in restaurants selling alcohol but bans their weapons from establishments that derive less than 50 percent of their gross sales from food.
“We will not go along with it,” said John Harris, executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association, whose organization is urging members to call lawmakers about the bill. “Our thinking is these 50 percent rules that have been tried over the past 15 to 20 years have always failed.”
National Rifle Association spokeswoman Rachel Parsons said that, while NRA legal and legislative staffers haven’t completed their review of the amended bill, “on the surface of this amendment, it looks like a nonstarter for the NRA.”
The measure is intended as a compromise that would keep guns out of bars, nightclubs and honky-tonks while still allowing permit holders to bring their weapons into restaurants selling alcohol if restaurant owners so choose.-[source]
As some states consider bills to get more guns in the hands of gun owners, some states are considering bills aimed at banning open carry.
In California, the Democrat-controlled Assembly Public Safety Committee passed a measure banning “open carry.” The move is expected to draw opposition and will likely lead to a number of lawsuits.
Both sides are closely watching a Supreme Court case that challenges a Chicago ban on handguns kept in private homes for personal protection.
Justices are expected to issue their decision later this year, but the court earlier ruled that the District of Columbia could not impose similar limits without violating the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
The overriding question for California is whether the court will focus on the narrow issues pertaining to the Chicago case or answer broader questions, particularly whether state governments can enact gun controls.
In both Arizona and Oklahoma lawmakers are considering proposals of the pro-gun variety.
A bill allowing people with concealed-carry permits to openly carry weapons passed the Senate. House Bill 3354 passed Wednesday with no debate and now heads to the House. The vote was 33-15.
Sen. Tom Adelson, D-Tulsa, voted for it, saying he generally votes in favor of Second Amendment bills.
He said the state already has a concealed-carry law and that he didn’t think the measure was a “huge jump.”
Sen. Brian Crain, R-Tulsa, voted against the measure.
“I would not like to see 200 people carrying guns around Woodland Hills Mall,” which is in his district, Crain said.
In Arizona, Governor Jan Brewer has signed legislation allowing “open carry” without a permit. The law will take effect 91 days after the Legislature finally adjourns, something now scheduled for the end of the month.
“I believe this legislation not only protects the Second Amendment rights of Arizona citizens, but restores those rights as well,’ Brewer said in a prepared statement.
An issue that has always ignited the passions, changes in gun laws have become increasingly present in state legislatures. The move is partly due to an uprising of gun activists concerned over the current administration’s stances on the Second Amendment. To date, the Obama Administration has signed laws allowing guns in national parks and it will likely not seek another Assault Weapons Ban.-[source]
Bruce Lund, CEO of Lund & Co. Inventions, cemented his company’s reputation as the toy inventor that produced hit products, including Honey: My Baby Pony and Tickle Me Elmo. But through a curious chain of events, his company’s latest product is a nonlethal weapon for the military nicknamed the Big Hurt.
Lund’s enthusiasm for hydrogen combustion power led him to look at all sorts of unlikely applications, including a hydrogen-powered lawnmower and even power tools. But Lund made little progress with other combustion applications—until a friend alerted him to a Pentagon Small Business Innovation Research request for technology to power a nonlethal weapon. The problem with existing weapons firing rubber bullets, beanbags and other crowd-control rounds is their velocity. Anything that is effective at 50 yards may be lethal at 5 yards; anything that is safe at 5 yards won’t be fast enough to be effective at 50. Lund’s solution is a weapon that automatically measures the range to the target and varies the muzzle velocity accordingly. – [source]
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