Hudson Rod, Gun, and Archery Club

If the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Chicago's handgun ban, the city will likely do what Washington, D.C., did when its own ban was overturned two years ago: Put in place all sorts of restrictions to make it tougher to buy guns.

In the legislatures this year, the most recent wave of action is part of a trend toward states loosening gun laws in the wake of the 2008 presidential election. Some saw the return of a Democratic administration in Washington as a sign that gun control could once again become an issue of national political and legal significance.

People walking the streets armed with guns must be dangerous, right? A newly revised study by the Brady Campaign and the Violence Policy Center found that even those individuals who have legally obtained permits to carry concealed handguns are extremely dangerous. With millions of Americans already having been issued such permits from the various states, this is an important issue. The gun control organizations have frequently made these claims in the press, and Dennis Henigan, the vice president of the Brady Campaign, will likely make these claims again when he and I appear on John Stossel's FoxBusiness show today. But the gun control advocates inaccurately describe many shooting cases, choosing to ignore that the majority of incidents involve people properly defending themselves.

Lehigh County officials are scrambling to figure out if Sheriff Ron Rossi's office has been illegally overcharging gun owners for licenses to carry concealed firearms. The sheriff's office sent legislation to the county commissioners this week asking for the fee to be increased from $25 -- the amount set by state law -- to $38. While other counties also charge more than $25 for such licenses, Rossi's staff began charging the higher fee years ago without legislative approval, spurring a slew of questions and criticism at this week's commissioners' meeting.

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I rise to speak briefly on the nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. Of course, this vacancy is being left by the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens. The President has the constitutional prerogative to nominate whosoever he chooses, but it is important to recognize the Constitution does not stop there. It also provides a second constitutional obligation or responsibility, in this case upon the Senate, when it comes to the duty of advice and consent.

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters must release the names of concealed handgun licensees from 2006 and 2007 to the Mail Tribune, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled today. The appeals court has upheld a Jackson County Circuit Court ruling which determined that concealed handgun licenses are public records and are not exempt from disclosure unless the sheriff can prove each individual licensee is exempt from disclosure.

The University of Colorado regents will vote Friday morning on whether the school should continue its legal battle to keep guns off its campuses. A public comment period for the issue will begin at 10 a.m., prior to the board's vote. The board meeting will be held on the East Campus and Research Park, in the first floor main conference room of 4001 Discovery Drive, Boulder.

A rewrite of a county park rule that banned unlicensed guns is under way and will have input from the National Rifle Association, said Lackawanna County solicitor John O'Brien. The rule came under scrutiny by gun-rights advocates who called it a violation of state law and potentially an infringement of gun owners' federal rights. Advocates argued the law banned all gun carrying by prohibiting unlicensed guns because there is no license to carry a firearm in Pennsylvania, only a license to carry a concealed gun.

No decision will be made on gun laws until inquiries into the Cumbrian shootings are over. But the issue will be debated before Parliament breaks for its summer recess, the Government confirmed.

A bill allowing tenants in government run public housing to own firearms received overwhelming approval in the state House on Tuesday.

A bill that would ban the public display of unloaded guns narrowly passed the Senate Public Safety Committee Tuesday. The 4-3 vote sent the legislation carried by Assemblywoman Lori Salda?a, D San Diego, to the Appropriations Committee and likely on to the Senate floor where the final outcome is in doubt, particularly in this election year atmosphere.

The Raymore gun issue won't cool down. Last week, the city council voted to override Mayor Juan Alonzo's veto of a new ordinance that will allow council members to carry concealed weapons during meetings.

The country invented gun powder and developed one of the world's first guns, known as the "fire spear." Rifles played a major role in China's modern history, from the fight against the Japanese army to the Communist's victory over the Nationalists. In 1938, Mao Zedong famously said that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." That comment perhaps foreshadowed the gun control laws later implemented by Mao and the Communist Party -- some of the most severe firearms laws in the world. China has imposed a blanket ban on gun ownership, including replicas. Since 1966, the government has prohibited the private manufacture, sale, transport, possession and import or export of bullets and guns.

The private member's Bill C 391 before the House of Commons could take hunting rifles off the federal gun registry, something local gun users say they would welcome.

Currently proposed Microstamping legislation is not the "common sense legislation" NYAGV's Jackie Hilly and other proponents would have you believe. The truth is that three independent studies have reached the same conclusion -- that this sole sourced technology is unreliable and easily defeated by criminals (Ref: Professor George Krivosta, Suffolk County Crime Laboratory in New York -- AFTE Journal; Graduate Student Michael Beddow, Forensic Science Graduate Group -- UC Davis; and National Research Council -- National Academies Press).

Thanks to a bit of last minute legislative maneuvering, Gov. Deval L. Patrick's gun legislation, H.4102, is making its way back to the Judiciary Committee for a second vote -- in spite of losing on a 4 4 vote the first time around. A majority of House members appear to have agreed to give the measure new life out of a sense of collegiality and fairness, but it should be made clear to all that this bill should be quickly shot down if it reaches the House floor. The governor's bill purports to be about public safety and cracking down on gun trafficking. In fact, it contains numerous provisions that violate both the letter and spirit of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and would do little or nothing to curb criminal activity.

The anti-weapons campaign group "Keine Mordwaffen als Sportwaffen" (No murder weapons as sports weapons) presented a petition of over 185,000 signatures to parliament on Friday in Berlin as part of a campaign to ban large-caliber handguns in Germany.

It has become clear that Elena Kagan, Obama’s most recent Supreme Court nominee, is no friend of gun rights, to say the least. While clerking for Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall in 1987, she wrote the judge that she was “not sympathetic” to a Second Amendment–based challenge to the D.C. gun ban. While serving in the Clinton administration, she wrote a memo that “paved the way for an executive order banning dozens of semiautomatic weapons,” according to the L.A. Times. And NATIONAL REVIEW has learned that in 1996, Kagan apparently tied the NRA to the KKK — yes, the KKK — while debating the Clinton administration’s position on a bill.

It was one of the creepier stories of the week gone by: The town administrator in Shirley was arrested on charges of illegally recording and photographing co workers by planting a miniature video camera above a toilet stall in the women's bathroom. Reaction was what you would expect. Residents expressed outrage and distress, the accused was arraigned, locks on town buildings were ordered changed, and selectmen began the process of finding a new administrator. But one reaction nobody had was to call for banning the sale of miniature video cameras. No such call would have been taken seriously, and for good reason: The fact that some criminals might use a camcorder maliciously is not a good reason to penalize the great majority of people who wouldn't.