Dave Kopel's Second Amendment Newsletter. May 18, 2005
About once a month, Dave
Kopel produces a free e-mail Newsletter containing short
summaries and links to important new research and writing
involving the Second Amendment and firearms policy. The
newsletter also reports on Kopel's latest writing.
The content of this newsletter is produced by the Second
Amendment Project at the Independence Institute, a think
tank in Golden, Colorado. The newsletter is electronically
distributed by the Second Amendment Foundation in Bellevue, Washington. Thus,
the Second Amendment Foundation will be given your e-mail
address.
Dave Kopel's Second Amendment Project is based at
the Independence Institute, a free-market think tank in
Golden, Colorado.
http://www.independenceinstitute.orgDelivery of this newsletter comes courtesy of the Second Amendment Foundation, in Bellevue, Washington
http://www.saf.orgPlease visit Dave Kopel's website, containing
articles on the Second Amendment and other freedom topics.
http://www.davekopel.org
Table of Contents for this issue
1. New by Kopel: Arms and Economics; Michael
Moore; Dave's Blog Entries 2. Terrorism: Zogby Survey on Guns and Terrorism 3. International: Crossbows in Africa; Hoods banned
in Britain; China favors gun control 4. Culture: New NRA President; Are
Sporting Clays a form of huntingpractice? 5. Law: Self-defense in NY; Blogs and the Blogging
Bloggers who Blog Them 6. The States: Concealed Carry wins and losses 7. Research: Current
gun controls may be working
1. New by Kopel
"Does the Right to Bear
Arms Impede or Promote Economic Development?" Dave Kopel, Paul Gallant, and Joanne D. Eisen Engage Volume Six, Issue 1 (June, 2005), pp. 85-100 http://www.davekopel.com/2A/Foreign/Development.pdf (PDF format requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
Using case studies from
Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, this article refutes the claim of gun prohibition
advocates that the presence of "small arms" is a cause of economic
underdevelopment. The article also details the harmful effects of UN
policy regarding malaria and AIDS in the Third World.
That's the suggestion of
Posse Incitatus, which notes the result of a state-federal-local dragnet which rounded up over
10,000 fugitives. Only two percent of these fugitives had guns. P.I.
suggests that the data show that American gun control laws work so
well that criminals are much less likely to own guns than is the general
public.
(Incitatus was the name
of the Emperor Caligula's horse-whom the deranged
despot appointed to Rome's highest constitutional
office).
Asked whether they
agreed or disagreed that banning guns would reduce
the threat from terrorists, poll respondents
disagreed by a margin of 75 percent. Only one in five supported the notion,
and five percent were not sure. Zogby polled 1,009 likely voters
chosen at random nationwide with a margin error of plus/minus 3.2
percent.
"These two reports
expose two Liberal deceptions; one, that Canadian
gun laws reduce crime; and two, that more
legally-owned guns results in more crime."
Tighter gun ownership
laws are pushing South Africans to buy crossbows,
spears, swords, knives and pepper sprays to protect
themselves from violent crime."
The author of this
commentary argues that the slaughter in the Sudan
would end if the refugees in Darfur had the means to
defend themselves against it.
United Kingdom
Crime in England and
Wales 2003/2004, Supplementary Volume 1: Homicide
and Gun Crime David Povey, Editor January, 2005 http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hosb0205.pdf (PDF format requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
This report contains
very detailed analysis of crime statistics within
the subject area.
"Mr Blair coupled a
personal endorsement of a shopping centre's decision to ban the wearing of threatening hoods by
teenage boys with a renewed willingness to blame voters' own
shortcomings as parents."
China is willing to join
hands with the international community in eliminating the illegal trade of small arms and
light weapons, said Qiao Zonghuai, a senior official with the Foreign
Ministry, here Tuesday.
Niagara Falls High
School sophomore Anthony "Tony" Sheard was shot
during an alleged effort to rob a pizza
deliveryman. His school has flown their flag at half staff and his locker has
become a memorial.
NRA Viewed Favorably by
Most Americans: Majority of Americans favor arming
pilots, but not school officials Gallup News Service April 15, 2005 http://www.gallup.com/poll/content/?ci=15868
"Circuit Judge Michael
Gamble will decide if target shooting is a form of hunting, because Orion hopes to benefit from an
amendment to the Virginia constitution that passed in 2000 and
forever protects the rights of its citizens to hunt."
"The mother of a
fifth-grader at John Hill School said she will not
return a book about firearms that her son checked
out of the school library because she feels it is inappropriate and
possibly dangerous."
Should This Photo Be
Posted In A School? Shellie Bailey-Shah and KATU Web Staff
KATU (Portland, OR) March 29, 2005 http://www.katu.com/stories/76079.html
A picture of a Marine
holding a weapon has sparked a wave of controversy at a Salem high school. The principal
of the school, Cynthia Richardson, would not allow the picture to
go up because of the school's zero tolerance policy on weapons.
"Throughout the world,
women and girls are facing indiscriminate violence, according to a new report jointly released
by the London-based Amnesty International, the
International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) and Oxfam International. There
are about 650 million guns in circulation in the world today, most of
which are owned by men, says the report entitled, 'The Impact of Guns on
Women's Lives.' "
"Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, recalling how her father took up
arms to defend fellow blacks from racist whites in
the segregated South, said Wednesday the constitutional right of
Americans to own guns is as important as their rights to free speech and
religion. "
"A gun-control group and
its political action committee have paid a $12,000 fine to settle a campaign finance case from
the 2000 election." This extremely brief article refers to the Brady
Campaign.
Reflections of an gun
rights activist and full professor of Psychology upon his views and their reception within the
academic culture within which he works.
"...word leaked out of
an ATFE training video in which the head of their National Firearms Act Branch (in charge of
maintaining registrations of full auto firearms, etc.) had said
the the registries had a high error rate, but not to worry, his Branch
would always testify that they were 100% correct." There is a
link to a copy of that video.
The D.C. Court of
Appeals generally rejected various lawsuits against
gun manufacturers, but held that victims of gun
crimes were entitled to sue gun manufacturers under D.C. Code sec.
7-2551.01.
"I mean, if someone who
had stabbed you before confronted you in your doorway, what would you do?" New York's Supreme
Court says a homicide wasn't self-defense.
New York state's handgun
licensing scheme does not violate the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the 2nd U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.
"Gov. Janet Napolitano
vetoed a bill Monday that would have let people bring their guns into bars and restaurants as long
as they weren't drinking alcohol, and the businesses didn't prohibit
firearms."
"Gov. Bill Richardson
chose the National Rifle Association's Whittington Center as the backdrop to add his
signature to legislation allowing more New Mexicans to legally carry
concealed handguns."
"A New
Jersey state assemblyman has introduced a bill that
would allow the government to seize the home or car of anyone
whose property contains an illegal firearm."
A reader of this blog
analyzes conclusions drawn from 'Operation Falcon,' an effort to recover illegal firearms from
felons forbidden to posses them.
This newsletter is compiled with help from Dr. Rob
S. Rice. Dr. Rice, who is working feverishly to complete his 4th novel,
is also a poet, writer and factotum of matters electronic to Dave
Kopel.
Al Qaeda delenda est!
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