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Not yet a VCDL member? Join VCDL at: http://www.vcdl.org/join
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VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings
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Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html
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This update was compiled by member Chuck Young and EM Brandy Polanowski
1. VCDL membership meeting in Charlottesville on Tuesday, October 21
2. Threatening letters sent to schools in three cities, security increased but who's watching after all the other schools continuously?
3. D.C. Mayor signs temporary legislation for issuance of CHPs
4. Sunday hunting is going strong in Virginia
5. "Expert" - Requiring background checks in all gun sales would improve safety
6. Man charged in attempted abduction of woman in Woodbridge
7. Guns bind women-only club together
8. Restaurant Operations Watch: Walking into the gun-debate crosshairs
9. Brady Campaign lawsuits against online ammo dealer aim to cripple 2nd Amendment
10. Onerous ATF rules threaten to put gun dealers out of business
11. Busting the top 3 myths about the second amendment
12. [OH] Infant, parents pistol whipped during south Toledo armed robbery
13. [MS] 'Shoot the idiots' then call the coroner's office says Mississippi coroner
14. [IL] Seven charged in CTA Brown Line machete attack
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1. VCDL membership meeting in Charlottesville on Tuesday, October 21
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The next VCDL meeting in the Charlottesville Area will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the Rivanna Rifle and Pistol Club (rrpc.org). We will precede the meeting with a potluck dinner at 6:30 pm, followed immediately by the meeting. Those of you who can bring a dish to share, please do. The main course and drinks will be provided. If you can't bring a dish, please don't let that stop you from joining us for dinner...there is always plenty! ***If you are attending the dinner please be sure to RSVP with the number of people who will be eating!****
Our topics will be the upcoming legislative session, the recent ruling by the State Attorney General on the legality of Tannerite and other firearms related topics. This will be our final meeting in the area for 2014 so you won't want to miss it!
For those of you who have never been to RRPC, this is a great opportunity to check out the facilities. You need not be a member of RRPC or VCDL to attend this meeting. In fact, we encourage you to bring a friend.
Also, please note that RRPC is having their annual FUN DAY on Saturday, October 25th from 9:00 - 4:00. This event includes shooting activities like Cowboy Action, Shotgun, tactical rifle, a .22 shooting gallery, and archery. There will also be a swap meet as well as food and drinks. It is a family oriented event. They have graciously offered VCDL a table at the event. If you would like to volunteer to help at the table please contact brandy.polanowski@vcdl.org. Please do not use this email to RSVP for the 10/21 meeting! It is only for the 10/25 Family Fun Day event!
Details:
When: Tuesday, October 21
Dinner 6:30 p.m.
Meeting 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Where: Rivanna Rifle And Pistol Club
Clubhouse
1570 Old Lynchburg Road
Charlottesville, VA
Directions: From Interstate 64, take exit #120 SOUTH (5th Street Exit). Travel 4 miles to range on right
RSVP: By email to Pat.Webb@vcdl.org
Include the number of people attending dinner (e.g. 10/21 meeting, 3 for dinner)
No need to RSVP if you are only attending meeting
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2. Threatening letters sent to schools in three cities, security increased but who's watching after all the other schools continuously?
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With the growing threat from groups like ISIS and al qaeda to strike in America, and strike hard, we continue to keep our schools as "gun free zones." Really? So trained ISIS fanatics on a suicide mission to behead children in a school are going to stop at the "no guns" sign and turn away? Or be turned away because they don't have "proper ID" to get in the locked down building?
No. When they attack it will be with a level of brutality and violence that will take our collective breaths away. The "locked down" building won't last 10 seconds during a professional attack.
There aren't enough police to watch all of our schools all the time. But there are 12 MILLION CHP holders in the United States and over 360,000 in Virginia.
We need to change laws across the country to allow CHP holders, including teachers and staff, to be able to carry on school grounds in order to protect our children.
The true "first responders" are the people who are at the site of an attack at the moment it happens. One of those responders might well be a resource officer. But he's going to alone and unsupported in his attempt for repel any invaders for precious minutes. With more than one armed good guy in the building, the odds of stopping such an attack can increase considerably.
The longer the General Assembly dilly-dallies, the more they court disaster.
While I suspect the letters in the story below aren't really from ISIS giving us a polite "heads up," the real clock is ticking and there won't be any warning letters when it happens. There were no warning letters about 9/11.
VCDL is going to be working to move the ball forward on school carry. Lobby Day is Monday, January 19th, 8:30 AM at the General Assembly, plan on being there.
From ijreview.com: http://tinyurl.com/kuqeo35
Threatening Letters Sent to Elementary Schools Warn of ISIS-Style Murder of Schoolchildren
By Kyle Becker
Three letters sent to elementary schools in the Warwick, Cranston, and Johnston districts in Rhode Island threaten schoolchildren and contain the chilling words "beheading is planned."
The incident was reported by the Providence-Journal and the letters have instantly garnered the attention of the FBI.
The Warwick Police Chief Stephen M. McCartney cautioned parents not to panic and assured them that police and FBI were on the case.
"While the words are very chilling," McCartney said. "I certainly would want to emphasize that the safest place right now is in school. I've got a police officer in every school and so the other [sic] jurisdictions."
The police have increased security and surveillance around Rhode Island schools, but that hasn't stopped some from questioning the move to keep the schools open. Opposing Views reported:
"School should be cancelled in those cities tomorrow until they figure out if it is a real threat. Why risk kids and teacher's lives?" read one of the comments.
As a heightened security measure, elementary school children in all three cities will have indoor recess and gym. Furthermore, all school doors will be locked throughout the day, and an I.D. will be required to gain entry. Police officers, both undercover and uniformed, will reportedly be present in elementary schools for the remainder of the week.
Police Chief McCartney has done his utmost to reassure parents in the community, and has pointed out one possible motive behind the letter.
"We are providing the security that is necessary," he said. "We know that whoever did this decided to create the most chaos he could by picking on the most vulnerable."
Nonetheless, a significant number of parents have elected to not send their children to school, and demand evidence that the threat has passed. As the Inquistr reported, WPRI 12 said that "at least one-third of Cranston students were absent from school, and 40 percent of the students in Johnston stayed home."
If these letters prove to be authentic, the United States government will have further explaining to do about why it refuses to vigorously prosecute a war against an enemy that is bringing war upon Americans, whether the politicians admit it or not.
Recent reports confirm there are a growing number of Americans sympathetic to ISIS and are even willing to join and fight alongside the murderous terrorist group abroad.
If ISIS and its sympathizers, like the Moore, Oklahoma beheader, continue targeting innocent civilians on the homeland, Americans will no longer be able to stand for the complacent politicians who do little else besides sit on their hands while it happens.
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3. D.C. Mayor signs temporary legislation for issuance of CHPs
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Attorney Alan Gura is working to have this new law put on hold because it doesn't even come close to what a judge ordered the city to do in respect to having "shall issue" CHPs.
NOTE: There is a hearing on the new law on Oct. 16 at the John A. Wilson Building. A DC pro-gun organization, C.A.F.E, is trying to coordinate those who want to speak about fixing new law to be "shall issue." If you are interested, send an email to: GunSafetyCafe@yahoo.com with "I want to testify in DC" in the subject line.
From washingtonpost.com: http://tinyurl.com/p7hyunj
D.C. mayor signs into law emergency legislation on new gun carry permits
By Peter Hermann October 10
D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) on Friday signed into law emergency legislation allowing residents who are properly registered to seek permits to carry concealed firearms in the District.
The law, passed unanimously by the D.C. Council last month, is designed to address a federal judge's ruling in July that rendered the District's ban on carrying guns unconstitutional. The judge stayed the ruling until Oct. 22, giving the city time to either appeal or enact legislation that conforms to the judge's order.
District officials said they will craft regulations so that people can start applying starting Oct. 22. The emergency legislation is in effect for 90 days, which officials said gives them time to refine the law through a more comprehensive legislative process, including public hearings.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier and D.C. Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan said in a statement on Friday that the law "cures the alleged constitutional flaws in the District's licensing laws."
But an attorney with the Second Amendment Foundation, which sued to overturn the ban, has already said that law is too restrictive . The law is drafted similar to Maryland's, which requires applicants to show good reason. The chairman of the D.C. Council has said he would be surprised if more than 200 people in the District qualified.
The attorney, Alan Gura, has called the legislation "something of a joke" and said "it's not much progress to move from a system from where licenses are not available to where licenses are only available if the city feels like issuing them."
Gura and others involved the suit have filed a motion in U.S. District Court to bar the District from enforcing the law.
A public hearing on permanent gun legislation is scheduled for Oct. 16 at the John A. Wilson Building.
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4. Sunday hunting is going strong in Virginia
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Member Walter Jackson emailed me this:
From HamptonRoads.com: http://tinyurl.com/p5vh84x
Sunday hunting is going strong in Virginia
by Lee Toliver
September 17, 2014
With the third weekend of dove season rapidly approaching, it appears that everyone is behaving themselves in Virginia – where hunters are allowed for the first time to hunt Sundays on private land with owner permission.
We all know this law was about deer, but the dove season easily could be seen as a testing of the waters.
Reports from several groups are that there so far have been no issues.
The biggest reason likely is that the new law only allows participation on private land. Hunters have been killing dove on private game preserves on Sundays for a long time. So this actually is nothing new.
Hunters must stay farther than 200 yards from a church, so that's helping as well.
The test continues Oct. 5, the first Sunday of early archery season. Bigger tests follow on Nov. 1, when a majority of the state opens to muzzleloaders, followed by the grand finale during firearms season, which generally starts on Nov. 15.
Check state regulations before you go, because they vary from area to area.
But so far Virginia's new law appears to be going so good.
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5. "Expert" - Requiring background checks in all gun sales would improve safety
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And another "expert" pushes for Universal Background Checks (UBC) that will ultimately lead to Universal Registration and then confiscation. There is nothing to show that UBCs will do anything noticeable to stop determined criminals and madmen from getting their hands on a firearm. This isn't about safety, it's ultimately about registration and confiscation.
Member Ric Bergstrom emailed me this:
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VCU and UVA team up to publish "Close the loophole." It all seems so simple...."just run down to the store and do a background check"...but even more simple is that criminals, defacto lawbreakers, don't follow the law!
From news.virginia.edu: http://tinyurl.com/ll24rye
Expert: Requiring Background Checks for All Gun Sales Would Improve Safety
by Dan Heuchert
September 16, 2014
Given the U.S. Supreme Court's majority stance against efforts to regulate gun availability and ownership, many policies aimed at lessening gun violence have had at best a minimal impact, according to an article by a criminologist in the current issue of the Virginia News Letter, published by the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.
But one policy not used in Virginia and 33 other states would clearly make it more difficult for criminals or unqualified users to obtain guns, writes Thomas Baker, assistant professor in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University: requiring a background check for anyone buying from an unlicensed private seller, including those at gun shows and flea markets.
This could be accomplished simply by the seller contacting a federally licensed firearm dealer to run a check before the transaction and would not be an undue burden on anyone, Baker writes.
Under current law, "Criminals who want to buy guns can simply do so from private sellers, avoiding the background checks that the majority of law-abiding citizens are subjected to when purchasing a firearm," he writes. "It is difficult to defend this lapse in the purchasing and transfer of firearms. Certainly gun rights advocates and gun control advocates can agree that criminals should not have any easy path to acquiring guns."
Under Baker's proposal, the private seller and private purchaser would go to a federally licensed dealer, who would conduct the background check; the purchase could be approved or not based on the outcome of the check. Although some collectors say they worry about the potential difficulty of transferring their entire collections this way, the transfer of multiple firearms to a single buyer could be conducted with a single background check, Baker adds.
All federally licensed dealers at gun shows are legally required to conduct background checks for the sale or transfer of firearms, but unlicensed private citizens use the venues to buy and sell privately owned guns without background checks, Baker notes.
There are more than 4,400 federally licensed dealers in Virginia, and their names, names of their businesses and addresses are easily accessible from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms website.
Virginia's laws governing the sale and transfer of firearms closely mirror the requirements mandated by federal law and are similar to the regulatory situation in many other states, Baker writes. Like 39 other states, Virginia does not mandate a waiting period between purchase and possession. Virginia, like 29 other states, allows the open carrying of firearms without a permit.
Among Baker's recommendations for Virginia policymakers are that efforts to reduce gun violence should have a clear rationale for how they might be successful and should contain provisions for continued evaluation. Many law-abiding owners fear restrictions on firearms, he writes, so having meaningful data about reducing crime and violence and about the causes of violence is crucial, he concludes.
His article covers only gun violence associated with criminal behavior. Statistics on gun deaths in Virginia show that suicides account for more than double the number of firearm deaths from homicides. The article also does not speculate on the causes of gun-related deaths in the United States nor does it compare gun-related deaths in the U.S. to other countries with more restrictive firearm policies.
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6. Man charged in attempted abduction of woman in Woodbridge
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Upon reading the article below, member Paul Kent sent me this:
Ladies,
This woman, according to the report, was standing next to her car, in the parking lot, minding her own business.
What went wrong?
The next part of the report says, a man asked her for directions.
How close did she allow this man to approach?
Too close, apparently.
The next part of the report has him choking her, demanding her keys, attempting to car jack her.
The good news, is she was ornery enough, that he ran away. In other words, she didn't give up.
What would you do?
Much better, if you don't have anywhere else to go, to at least circle around the car to keep him on the other side, kind of like a squirrel does in a tree. And it is easy enough to give directions from a safe distance.
What if that isn't enough? You need to be aware of your surroundings, and have a way out, BEFORE someone approaches. And when all else fails, being armed is the single best equalizer.
From washingtonpost.com: http://tinyurl.com/o5xwhqz
Man charged in attempted abduction of woman in Woodbridge
By VICTORIA ST. MARTIN
September 17, 2014
Prince William County police arrested a 33-year-old man in an attempted abduction in a Woodbridge parking lot several months ago, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Officer Jonathan Perok said investigators arrested Victor Alberto Serrano on Golansky Boulevard some time Tuesday. Serrano, who authorities said was linked to the March 20 incident through DNA collected at the scene, was charged with abduction with intent to defile and strangulation.
On March 20, police said an unknown man tried to abduct a 34-year-old Lorton woman in a lot in the area of Potomac Mill Circle and Nazarene Way.
The woman told authorities that she was standing near her vehicle that evening around 9:30 p.m. when a man asked her for directions. At some point, police said the man began choking the woman — even after a struggle forced them both to fall to the ground.
Authorities said the man demanded the victim's car keys and tried to force her into the back of her vehicle. After a struggle, police said the suspect fled on foot.
The victim had minor injuries, authorities said, and investigators used a police K-9 dog to search for the man.
Perok did not reveal how investigators obtained Serrano's DNA to link him to the crime. Serrano was being held without bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 10.
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7. Guns bind women-only club together
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From hamptonroads.com: http://tinyurl.com/pqtzpkb
Guns bind women-only club together
By STACY PARKER
September 14, 2014
Heat has nowhere to go when it's trapped by plywood walls and concrete floors. It fills the air of this small shooting range in Norfolk and takes a back seat only to gun blasts and the clink of shells hitting the ground.
Jessica Abbott is in the lane to the right loading her new .22-caliber single-shot rifle for newcomer Wendy Antolin to try. They work at the same insurance agency and came together from the office. Antolin is wearing a black pencil skirt and pumps with 4-inch heels.
Abbott is short, but she's not dainty. Proactive and political, she's a stickler for range rules and a crackerjack at breaking down a gun.
Stepping confidently up to another lane, Sirikit Taduran, nicknamed "Sid" by the other ladies, slings her purse over the dividing wall and plunges spongy plugs into her ears. She's 32 and wears large silver-hoop earrings, a floral shirt, skinny jeans and high heels. This is not her typical daywear. She's dressed to go to a comedy show after shooting practice.
Taduran squeezes the trigger of her .40-caliber Smith & Wesson. She squeezes it again. And again. Hits her target each time.
"I'm trying to get better with my accuracy," she said.
Practice makes perfect?
"Every time I load it, I'm getting better."
These are the Bad Brass Women, a female-only shooting club that meets every month at Superior Pawn in Norfolk. Its members' backgrounds and ages vary. Most of them are Virginia Beach residents. Guns draw them together.
"We share that fundamental interest: being able to protect yourself," said Abbott, 25, the president.
Many say the camaraderie attracts them, too.
Members pay $25 annually to offset the cost of training classes and range time. They prefer shooting with other women than by themselves at local ranges, where, traditionally, men have taken up post.
"It's intimidating to go to the range," Abbott said.
She founded Bad Brass in 2013 after a man tried to attack her in a grocery store parking lot. It was the middle of the day. He was much larger than she was. He tried to get into her car.
Abbott managed to drive away unharmed, but it prompted her to seek ways to protect herself.
Now she owns a 9 mm Beretta that she wears in a hip holster.
"It levels the playing field," she said.
As more women have become interested in shooting, Bad Brass and other clubs have formed to give a night at the range the flair of a girls' night out. One club, The Well Armed Woman, started in 2012 and now has 188 chapters in 43 states. The Richmond chapter holds monthly classes on gun safety, cleaning and storage. They held a "show-and-tell" meeting where each woman spoke about her handgun and why it was special to her. Colonial Shooting Academy, a new range with dozens of shooting lanes in Virginia Beach, hosts ladies nights and classes geared toward women.
At Bad Brass practices in Norfolk, Abbott is one of the best shooters in the group, but that wasn't always the case.
"I started at zero just like everybody else," she said.
Over the past year, she worked on her posture. She built up her confidence.
"It's muscle memory. It's like riding a bike, like playing an instrument," she said. "You do something in repetition, you're going to get better."
Most of the club members bring their own firearms to the range. Mary Mladinich used her Valentine's Day present: a 9 mm Smith & Wesson.
Dena Espenscheid of Norfolk loaded the magazine of a Glock 19 from Superior Pawn's gun case and fired at the target.
"I don't own one yet," she said. "I come here to try things."
Six months ago, she had never fired a gun.
Taduran is the firecracker of the group. She had some experience with guns before joining the club last year. She also shoots with her fiance. Her idea of a fun night out with him includes dinner, a movie, gun shopping and time on the range.
She completed a concealment class and has bought several holsters. One is designed to go in front of a woman's chest and can be hidden in a bra.
"There's this lady that hand-makes these corsets and puts pockets in the front of it," Taduran said. "I might buy one."
Chest holsters aren't for every gal, though. Abbott finds them uncomfortable and stopped wearing hers. For it to be a worthwhile purchase, she said, "you have to be relatively well-endowed."
At times, carrying a gun on a belt holster can be a challenge for women. Take going to the restroom, for example.
"Usually, when you remove your holster, you hold it in your lap," Abbott said. "My biggest concern would be it falling in the toilet. I wouldn't want to go after it."
She prefers not to carry her gun in a purse.
"It would be so easy for someone to pick it up and walk away with it," she said.
While firearm schooling is at the core of Bad Brass, the club also offers training in other styles of self-defense.
One of Abbott's insurance clients is Antwain Britt, a former professional mixed martial arts fighter who now owns a gym and teaches self-defense to women.
Abbott scheduled one of Britt's classes for Bad Brass members in July. Welcoming the group, she described that day when she narrowly escaped the assault in the parking lot.
"I never want any woman to feel the vulnerability I felt," she said. "I didn't have my cellphone, I wasn't armed and I was alone. It was a terrifying experience."
Britt shared a chilling statistic: One in three women, at some point in their lifetime, will be a victim of assault.
Be aware of your surroundings, he said. "Minimize the threat as much as you can, as quickly as you can."
They practiced strikes - the left-jab, right-cross combination - and how to fend off a chokehold. Britt demonstrated how they could make a move for their gun or pepper spray.
When they finished the session, Abbott thanked him. He'd shown them what to do if they find themselves in a vulnerable situation, she said.
"If you are, you'll be able to kick some ass."
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8. Restaurant Operations Watch: Walking into the gun-debate crosshairs
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From nrn.com: http://tinyurl.com/os5gm9z
Restaurant Operations Watch: Walking into the gun-debate crosshairs
by Ron Ruggless
September 17, 2014
Restaurants continue to serve as scrimmage grounds on the fringe of the larger constitutional gun control debate in the United States.
In late spring, restaurant brands were pulled into the debate with responses to open-carry gun proponents protesting at such brands as Chili's Grill & Bar and Sonic Drive-In. The brands addressed the incidences with policy statements urging patrons not to display guns on their properties, and they were loudly criticized on social media platforms.
On Sept. 8, Panera Bread stepped into the crosshairs of the gun debate when it said it was asking customers not to bring firearms into any of its 1,818 restaurants in 45 states.
Ron Shaich, Panera Bread's chief executive, told CNBC that the voluntary move was made after "months of discussions" with the advocacy group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
Panera said in a statement provided to Nation's Restaurant News: "Within our company, we strive to create Panera Warmth. This warmth means bakery-cafes where customers and associates feel comfortable and welcome.
"To this end," the statement continued, "we ask that guns not be brought into this environment unless carried by an authorized law enforcement officer. Panera respects the rights of gun owners, but asks our customers to help preserve the environment we are working to create for our guests and associates."
Shaich told CNBC, "we recognize everyone's rights, but we also recognize that we are building communities in our cafes and are where people come to catch a breath."
The Christian Science Monitor said that the move by Panera, which joined a list of companies that includes Target, Chipotle, Starbucks and Jack in the Box in making policy statements, indicates where the gun debate is going.
"The move is the latest indication of how gun-rights politics has moved uncomfortably into eateries and other public places," the Monitor observed. "Gun-rights enthusiasts have sought to celebrate 'open-carry' firearm laws by walking into businesses like Target and Starbucks with guns strapped to their belt or back. Not all the patrons feel comfortable with that."
Social media reaction to Panera's move ranged from "DO NOT EAT PANERA" from @libertyhacking on Twitter to a posted thanks from the advocacy group @MomsDemand.
DO NOT EAT AT PANERA. They are part of the problem "Customers should leave their guns at home" http://t.co/pv6Tw7OPQb #BoycottPanera
— Ima Patriot (@libertyhacking) September 10, 2014
Tully: Thanks, Panera, for ban on guns http://t.co/quCPBVNauu via @indystar #MomsDemand #GunSense pic.twitter.com/irhSbHceon
— Moms Demand Action (@MomsDemand) September 12, 2014
CNBC embedded an unscientific survey in its story that showed strong disapproval of Panera's move. In answer to the question "Does this decision change your opinion on Panera?," more than 86 percent of the voluntary respondents said, "Yes, for the worse."
Leading up to the gun-policy announcement, Forbes reported that Panera sought advice from Michael Bloomberg-backed Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
In his CNBC interview, Shaich noted that "this industry has attempted to figure out how it stands out of 'make a point' political battles by advocates on either extreme."
And Shaich continued: "I think what we feel is we're trying to be respectful of people's rights, while at the same time ensuring that Panera isn't the battleground for political statement."
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9. Brady Campaign lawsuits against online ammo dealer aim to cripple 2nd Amendment
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The Brady Campaign is trying desperately to remain relevant, pretty much at any cost. This silly lawsuit is just another example. Ammunition dealers don't know, cannot know, and aren't required to know who their customers are or what the customer intends to do with the ammunition.
Member Walter Jackson emailed me this:
From www.examiner.com: http://tinyurl.com/ofdykrm
Brady Campaign lawsuits against online ammo dealers aim to cripple 2nd Amendment
by Kurt Hofmann
September 18, 2014
The Brady Campaign announced Tuesday that it is suing four online retailers of ammunition, firearm accessories, and body armor, for their ostensible culpability in the murder of 12, and injuries to scores of others, in the Aurora, Colorado theater massacre in 2012. Neither Lucky Gunner, Sportsman's Guide, BulletProofBodyArmorHQ.com, nor BTP Arms pulled any triggers in this atrocity, of course, nor have they been charged with any criminal wrongdoing, and nor is there even any indication that any of them are or have been under investigation for any such crime. What, then, is this about?
"A crazed, homicidal killer should not be able to amass a military arsenal, without showing his face or answering a single question, with the simple click of a mouse," said Jonathan Lowy, director of the Brady Center's Legal Action Project and co-counsel for Sandy and Lonnie Phillips. "If businesses choose to sell military-grade equipment online, they must screen purchasers to prevent arming people like James Holmes. Sandy and Lonnie Phillips have brought this lawsuit to make sellers of lethal arms and military equipment use reasonable care. "
Of course, when Lowy says that, "A crazed, homicidal killer should not be able to amass a military arsenal, without showing his face or answering a single question, with the simple click of a mouse," what he means is that no one should be able to do so (at least no one who is not a government "Only One").
Interestingly, although the lawsuit notes that the guns and some of the ammunition were bought at two Gander Mountain stores and a Bass Pro Shop, none of those businesses face the Brady Campaign's litigious wrath--presumably because they all subjected the sales to precisely the FBI-administered National Instant Criminal Background Check (NICS--commonly called a "Brady background check") that the Brady Campaign is so proud of. In every case, of course, the checks proved no obstacle to the killer's intent to acquire weapons.
One would assume that the Brady Campaign would not expect sellers of ammunition, gun accessories and body armor to subject prospective purchasers to any more rigorous a pre-purchase screening than prospective firearms purchasers are subject to (and there is no legal mechanism or infrastructure for them to do even that much), so it is very difficult to not be quite puzzled as to what such retailers are to be expected to do.
Another remarkable (but not a particularly polite remark) aspect of this lawsuit is that it repeatedly claims that the four retailers' actions were unlawful--a demonstrably false claim.
173. The Defendants' conduct in creating, operating and maintaining websites which facilitated the sales of ammunition, high capacity magazines, body armor, and tear gas to unlawful purchasers created a foreseeable risk of injury or death and facilitated, enabled and caused this criminal attack.
Get that? The sales of these items caused the attack (this is only one of several places in the lawsuit in which the retailers' actions are said to have been the cause of the atrocity). Lucky Gunner made him do it, we are to believe.
234. BulletProofBodyArmorHQ.com's sale of a torso/neck protector, bulletproof arm protector, Kevlar groin protector and cup groin protector to Holmes was unlawful and negligent in several respects, including, but not limited to, the fact that Holmes, a private citizen, purchased large quantities of bullet proof body armor; that there were other indicia that Holmes posed an unreasonable risk of harm to others, and that BulletProofBodyArmorHQ.com did not design its website to screen for unlawful purchasers.
So not only is the company to be held liable for crimes committed by someone using strictly defensive body armor (and note that the alleged killer was never shot, so the body armor did nothing to make the attack more deadly), but the sale was not "unlawful," because the alleged killer had no criminal history that would make him ineligible to purchase body armor. This is becoming an increasingly popular gambit among the mandated defenselessness fanatics. And that's not the worst part. On what evidence should the company have realized the purchaser was up to no good? Because he was a private citizen, and buying "large quantities" (enough to cover part of one person's body) of body armor. Yep--wanting to buy body armor is apparently evidence that one should not be able to buy body armor.
All four of the retailers are accused of wrongdoing for selling these items to an alleged user of illegal drugs--with exactly zero mention of how they were supposed to have been aware of that. Then again, we have seen before that the Brady Campaign believes that gun and ammunition dealers should be punished for their lack of psychic powers.
At the very least, this suit is intended to lay the groundwork for making it impossible to buy ammunition online. Shoot any "oddball" calibers, that are unlikely to be found at any local shops? You're out of luck . . . and out of ammo. And that is the whole idea.
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10. Onerous ATF rules threaten to put gun dealers out of business
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ATF is far more concerned about paperwork mistakes than going after real criminals. Why going after real criminals could be dangerous! Nah - better focus hard on those paperwork mistakes. Ignore MS-13, but pound the hell out of dealers making innocent mistakes.
From washingtontimes.com: http://tinyurl.com/lsrpytn
Onerous ATF rules threaten to put gun dealers out of business
by Kelly Riddell
September 18, 2014
Doug Stockman always has had a passion for firearms, so 20 years ago he made a business out of it.
Today, his shop, SSG Tactical, is one of the largest gun dealers in Virginia, with 10 employees, training classes and concealed-carry fashion bags.
Mr. Stockman and co-owner Curt Sebastian are part of an industry that adds $31.8 billion to the U.S. economy — roughly equivalent to Nigeria's national budget.
But Mr. Stockman and others in the industry worry that heightened federal scrutiny and government regulations will put them out of business.
Last year, when an inspector from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives dropped by SSG Tactical's Fredericksburg shop for an unannounced audit, Mr. Stockman thought he was prepared.
Each of the roughly 7,500 guns his business sold that year required a Form 4473, the federal document that the purchaser and seller must complete, in addition to a background check.
The Form 4473 asks questions such as where the purchaser lives and whether the person has ever committed a crime.
Leaving one of the 132 items on the six-page questionnaire blank, or filling it in incorrectly, is an ATF violation. One violation can lead to a license revocation, which would put Mr. Stockman out of business.
Out of SSG Tactical's 7,500 guns sold, the company could have made as many as 990,000 mistakes from the Form 4473 alone.
Turns out, Mr. Stockman's team made about 180 errors — a 99.98 percent accuracy rate.
The majority of the violations were on the 4473 and included incorrect information on ethnicity, wrong dates and leaving a box empty when the city and county go by the same name, Mr. Stockman said.
"These mistakes were anything but willful — they were simply human error," he said. "Now, if anything more turns up, in any future audit, we could lose our license — our business."
Federal law obligates licensed firearm dealers to record all transactions so guns connected to crimes can be traced. In addition to 100 percent compliance on the Form 4473, dealers must log all "acquisitions and dispositions" by manufacturer, purchaser, model, serial number and caliber, and the date the dealer bought and sold each gun.
All paperwork needs to be kept for 20 years and be made available for inspection. Mr. Stockman's audit took about seven months to complete and required him to make one of his full-time employees available to help ATF's compliance officer sift through the shop's records.
"The government is making it virtually impossible to grow a business," said Mr. Stockman. "The amount of oversight and regulations has only grown over the years and in this administration."
More scrutiny under Obama
Indeed, the government's scrutiny of gun retailers has increased under President Obama's watch.
Since 2005, the number of field inspections ATF has conducted on firearms dealers has doubled. During Mr. Obama's term, the number of violations uncovered has jumped 30 percent, according to the ATF's Industry Operation Inspection Results, a report tracking the agency's 2013 audits for the industry.
Although the number of inspections and violations has jumped, the severity of the offenses has not, the data show.
The most common "failing federal firearms licensees" committed last year was improperly completing the Form 4473, according to the report. The next four most common errors were other violations relating to paperwork, including incorrect dates and failure to record inbound shipments within a specified time.
Selling a firearm to a person who should not have been allowed to buy a gun ranked 10th out of 10 on the list.
"The most common violation — and it's usually almost always the same — is the 4473," said Larry Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms trade association. "A lot of times these guys will make the same mistake on these forms repeatedly and it has nothing to do with public safety. It makes the violation numbers seem a lot worse than they are."
Everyone within the industry agrees that selling firearms to known criminals and not keeping proper tabs on inventory are serious violations that the ATF should track and that dealers should be held to account. It's the small stuff — such as inadvertent clerical errors — that beefs up violation statistics, creates public relations misconceptions, raises the risk for license revocation and increases compliance costs for those already in the industry.
To prevent ATF violation numbers from mounting, the National Shooting Sports Foundation conducts seminars and has posted a "Sweat the Details" slide on its website to coach firearms dealers through the paperwork.
The ATF also conducts such classes and allows an electronic version of the Form 4473 to be used, which flags mistakes and omissions before the form can be printed. Because the software is expensive, only larger, big-box retailers have employed it, Mr. Keane said.
"We now have a very high percentage of retailers being inspected frequently, and they're required to have 100 percent accuracy," Mr. Keane said. "This requires a lot of time and energy to train your employees, to double-check all work. We spend a lot of time and energy pushing the gospel of compliance because we want to keep these guys in business. One violation can put them under."
Audits and discrepancies
About half of the gun retailers who undergo audits come out with violations, according to ATF data. Those retailers are given a list of wrongdoings, warning letters of possible revocation and conferences with ATF inspectors to hash through the discrepancies if needed.
"We take our responsibility for licensing persons engaged in manufacturing, importing and dealing in firearms, and ensuring those who are licensed to engage in those businesses do so in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, very seriously," said Elizabeth Gosselin, a spokeswoman at ATF. "It is critical that [gun dealers] comply with the Gun Control Act and its implementing regulations first and foremost to ensure public safety, and second to assist law enforcement efforts and prevent the diversion of firearms from lawful commerce to the illegal market."
Although the number of licenses the ATF revokes — 81 last year — represents a small percentage in the industry, the threat of being shut down looms large for small-business owners such as Mr. Stockman.
SSG Tactical has met with ATF to work through the audit. The shop has created a plan to address all of the government's concerns, and it has retrained its employees on the importance of paperwork.
Mr. Stockman estimates he has spent $100,000 in hourly wages triple-checking his books. His shop will be audited again at an unknown time this year — as is protocol when a violation is found — and his license could be revoked if government concerns persist.
Gun control advocates view dealer compliance efforts as the price of entering the firearms industry and are pushing the government for more inspections and tougher regulations.
"We believe that not taking measures to ensure that dangerous people can't get guns has a very high cost as we can see in the many Americans killed by gun violence every day," said Erika Soto Lamb, a spokeswoman for Everytown for Gun Safety — an organization started by former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and other organizations would like all firearms dealers to go through audits annually. In fiscal year 2011, ATF conducted inspections on 9.4 percent of its federal firearm licensees. By contrast, 2011 audits of individual income tax returns by the Internal Revenue Service was 1.1 percent. Last year, 14 percent of all federal firearms licenses were audited.
Federal law handcuffs ATF by "barring it from conducting more than one spot inspection a year for gun dealers, or from requiring store inventories," Becca Knox, director of research for the Brady Campaign, said in an email to the Center for Public Integrity.
Balancing regulation for public safety with industry growth is tricky and politically skewed against those in the business, said Matthew Bergstrom, the managing attorney at Arsenal Attorneys, which represents gun owners and the firearm industry nationally.
"If you talk about simplifying regulation on gun dealers, people will accuse you of trying to get guns in the hands of bad guys, so it's very hard to have an honest conversation," said Mr. Bergstrom. "How many people commit a crime involving a firearm they've obtained only because a mistake was made on a 4473? It's got to be zero.
"There's a huge burden on the individual gun dealer to complete all the paperwork 100 percent accurately or they can be put out of business for the most insignificant practices," said Mr. Bergstrom. "We'll never have an answer as to how much is too much regulation, because deep down inside the anti-gun advocates don't want anyone to own any guns. And so the regulations will continue — small-business owners will be hurt."
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11. Busting the top 3 myths about the second amendment
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From dailycaller.com: http://tinyurl.com/pwg5t69
Busting the top 3 myths about the second amendment
By DANIEL T. MCELRATH, NRA FAMILY INSIGHTS
September 16, 2014
Adherents to gun control typically respond with emotional arguments. However, on those occasions when they attempt to respond with "logic" regarding the Second Amendment itself, those arguments typically take the same tired forms. Here are three of the most popular, and how to dismantle them instantly.
Myth #1: You have to have a license to operate a car. Why shouldn't you have to have one to own a gun?
Reality Check: Owning a car is not a right; it's a privilege. Owning a gun is a right. There is no enumerated right to own or drive a car. A license generally isn't required to own a car, or to operate it on private land. Also, gun-control advocates who make the "treat guns like cars" argument would probably be strongly opposed to a reciprocity system for those licensed to carry firearms that was as good as the reciprocity system for driver's licenses. (And if they say guns are more dangerous, point out how many people are killed by cars every year.) [PVC: I also like to point out that licensing and registration with vehicles doesn't stop drunk driving or using vehicles to get away from a crime scene.]
Myth #2: The Second Amendment specifies that owning a gun is only for serving in "a Well-regulated militia"—what we now call the National Guard. That means gun ownership is a collective right of the people (not individuals), and that guns must be controlled by the government.
Reality Check: First off, the opening to the Second Amendment is a dependent clause. It helps explain and justify the independent clause that follows, but is not essential to making that clause true. Moreover, back in the day when the Constitution was written, "well regulated" didn't mean "controlled." It meant "well practiced" or "well drilled." And the militia wasn't anything like today's National Guard:All able-bodied males were deemed to be in the militia in time or threat of war.
Further, in order for "the people" to indicate the citizenry as a whole rather than the individual, the Founding Fathers would have had to use it to mean an individual in the First Amendment, then the collective in the Second Amendment, and back to an individual in the Fourth, Ninth and Tenth amendments. In the landmark 2008District of Columbia v. Heller decision, the Supreme Court agreed, stating: "Nowhere else in the Constitution does a 'right' attributed to 'the people' refer to anything other than an individual right." D.C. v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 580 (2008). This led them to the conclusion: "There seems to us no doubt, on the basis of both text and history, that the Second Amendment conferred an individual right to keep and bear arms." D.C. v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 595 (2008).
Myth #3: The Founding Fathers couldn't have foreseen the technological developments that have led to such things as "assault weapons." The Second Amendment right was intended only for muzzleloading flintlocks.
Reality Check: When I hear this, I always ask people if they know what a phaser is. "Oh," they'll say, "that ray gun fromStar Trek." Then I'll point out that they don't exist, even though we "know" what they are. Imagination didn't begin in the 20th or 21st centuries. To say that men like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin—who were among the leading inventors of their day—couldn't have foreseen technological advancements is patently absurd. Moreover, some technological concepts that we think of as modern are quite old. For example, there is a 12-shot flintlock in the NRA National Firearms Museum. Manufacturing techniques and the absence of industrialization were more limiting factors than imagination back then.
Perhaps most compellingly, if the Second Amendment referred only to technology extant at the time it was drafted, then the First Amendment doesn't apply to radio, movies, television or the Internet. Once again, the Supreme Court agrees, stating: "Some have made the argument, bordering on the frivolous, that only those arms in existence in the 18th century are protected by the Second Amendment. We do not interpret constitutional rights that way. Just as the First Amendment protects modern forms of communications and the Fourth Amendment applies to modern forms of search, the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding." D.C. v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 582 (2008)
Calmly and politely explaining these facts can go a long way to change someone's mind about the Second Amendment and what it means. Spread the word!
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12. [OH] Infant, parents pistol-whipped during south Toledo armed robbery [VIDEO]
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Don't carry a gun for self-defense? Well, being helpless gives you no real defense against getting robbed and pistol whipped. Oh, and your six-month-old baby might get pistol whipped, too.
Member Walter Jackson emailed me this:
From toledonewsnow.com; http://tinyurl.com/nt2aeok
Infant, parents pistol-whipped during south Toledo armed robbery
by Mike Holden
September 16, 2014
TOLEDO, OH (Toledo News Now) - An infant and his parents are in the hospital after an overnight armed robbery at Walbridge and Langdon in south Toledo around 12:30 Monday morning.
Police say the 6-month-old and his parents were pistol-whipped during the robbery.
The family says they were walking to a local gas station when they were approached by two armed robbers in sweatsuits. The suspects took the couple's cell phones, money and even clothes.
Guns were drawn and both parents were struck. In a second attempt to hit the father, the attackers reportedly missed and hit the baby, who was being held by his father.
According to a family member, the attackers apologized and said they were hungry and "had to eat, too." The family is furious.
"Wherever these guys are, I feel so sorry for you that you had to stoop so low to hurt a child," said the victim's brother. "It's one thing to take stuff from people, but to harm a child in the way – whatever happens to you through the justice system, I hope, it's well-deserved."
"I'm just mortified that someone would pistol-whip my grandson," said one victim's mother. "I just don't understand. How do you do that?"
The attackers are on the loose and police are eager to find answers.
"Any time we have someone assaulted, an innocent 6-month-old baby, we want to get these people behind bars," said TPD Sgt. Joe Heffernan.
The family was treated for their injuries at the hospital. Anyone with information that could help police should call Crime Stopper at 419-255-1111.
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13. [MS] 'Shoot the idiots' then call the coroner's office says Mississippi coroner
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From www.examiner.com: http://tinyurl.com/p2y6zcq
Brady Campaign lawsuits against online ammo dealers aim to cripple 2nd Amendment
By DAVE WORKMAN
September 16, 2014
Yesterday's report in the Jackson, Miss., Clarion Ledger about Winston County, Miss., coroner Scott Gregory – who suggested that people should own handguns and get training, and to "shoot the idiots and call the coroner" – has made something of an overnight sensation of outspoken public servant and morning rock radio disc jockey.
Gregory recommended that people sign up for a Winston County Sheriff's Department handgun training course prepared by the National Rifle Association. That class will be held Saturday, Sept. 27 at the county courthouse annex. After this buildup, one might expect a standing-room-only crowd.
"I'm not encouraging anyone to go on a killing spree," he wrote in a Facebook post quoted by the newspaper, "but if you come to my kingdom and try to commit any unlawful act, I can assure you that your health insurance better be active or you better have a great burial policy. Plus I hope that you hugged and kissed your family before you left your kingdom to come and try to destroy mine cause I'm about to make your kingdom crumble, if you know what I mean!"
Gregory is not the only person calling for armed self-defense. Yesterday, in a press release, a dozen rabbis rejected a plea from the Rabbinical Council of America and Orthodox Union for more gun control. The press release said "Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, Rabbi David Bendory, and ten other rabbis, together with the members of the Golani Club, a Jewish shooting organization based in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, affirm the importance of armed self-defense by Jews and all Americans." National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea reported the flap.
Examiner checked Tuesday with the Winston County Sheriff's Office. There has been a lot of interest in his comments and the newspaper story. Gregory was not available, but that's what happens when you are suddenly in the spotlight.
Gregory was not promoting vigilantism, as he advised people in his Facebook post that "911 works, too." But clearly the onus is on lawbreakers to stop stealing from honest people, because they dislike being victimized and just might open fire.
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14. [IL] Seven charged in CTA Brown Line machete attack [VIDEO]
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Member Walter Jackson emailed me this:
From abc7chicago.com: http://tinyurl.com/m9l22tl
7 charged in CTA Brown Line machete attack
September 9, 2014
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Seven people, including three juveniles, have been arrested and charged with attacking two brothers with a machete at the Brown Line Kedzie CTA station in the Albany Park neighborhood early Monday morning. The brutal attack was captured on surveillance video.
A 26-year-old Jefferson Park man and his 17-year-old brother were waiting for the train shortly after midnight Monday when a group of four men and three teens approached them and asked them to flash gang signs. When the brothers refused and stated they were not part of a gang, police say 18-year-old Mario Elvira pulled out a machete and struck the 26-year-old victim in the head.
The 26-year-old remains hospitalized at Swedish Covenant Hospital in stable condition. The attack caused a gash 6 inches long and 1 1/2 inches deep, which required more than 30 stitches to close.
Police said the seven suspects - Elvira; Jean Salvatierra, 23; Kevin Ramierz, 19; Kevar Preston, 20; and two 15-year-old males and one 15-year-old female - then fled. They were apprehended by police shortly thereafter. All of the suspects are from the North side of Chicago.
A source, who provided ABC7 Eyewitness News with security surveillance footage, said he believes the only reason the attackers stopped was because a CTA train approached.
The attack was surprising to one neighborhood group, because gang activity in Albany Park has seemingly been in decline.
"There's some tagging and occasional incidents of violence, but it's not part of a larger systemic trend," said Eric Filson, Albany Park Neighbors.
The suspects appeared before Judge Bourgeois in bond court Tuesday. Elvira and Preston are being held on $450,000 bond, while Salvatierra and Ramirez are being held on $250,000 bond. They are next due in court on Sept. 15.
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Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.
VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org [http://www.vcdl.org/]
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