Daily update August 23

Get your hands up, you varmint!
The Libertarian Enterprise
by Charles Stone, Jr.

"All through the 2000 presidential campaign, the 2002 mid-term elections on into the 2004 elections the millions of gun owners of this country have supported the GOP and George Bush almost exclusively. Some are starting to wonder if they made a mistake. Since the Bush administration took office, the only reference to gun rights or the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, has been a rather tepid Cabinet support of the rights of individuals to keep and bear arms as defined in the Bill of Rights. I say tepid, because at the same time they made their statements of support, the Attorney General and Solicitor General trumpeted their undying support of all the other myriad gun control laws currently on the books.. Apparently there will be no help for the gun owner from the new Attorney General either as he has stated that he would support a renewal of the totally misnamed "assault weapons" ban." (08/21/05)


http://www.ncc-1776.com/tle2005/tle333-20050821-04.html

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California: Man shot after breaking in ex-wife's home
The Highlander

" A California man was shot to death early Thursday morning after attempting to enter the home of his son and ex-wife. At approximately 5:30 a.m. Thursday, officers from the Horseshoe Bay Police Department were called to Granite Shoals Street in regards to a man breaking into a residence there. Upon arrival, officers found a 33-year-old white male, Brandon Joseph Steele of Palm Desert, Calif., dead from an apparent gunshot wound. .... The resident, Erica Renee Verette, 30, of Granite Shoals Street in Horseshoe Bay, confirmed she was the former wife of the victim .... Verette said her ex-husband had been drinking and became belligerent and uncontrollable earlier in the evening and she had called her father to take him back to Austin to stay the night. Officers pieced together information leading them to believe that the victim jumped out of the vehicle and called a cab to bring him back to HSB. After returning to the residence, the victim allegedly broke a window in the bedroom of the home and entered while the ex-wife and her boyfriend were there. According to the information officers received, the victim began screaming he was going to harm them. .... After Steele entered, the boyfriend, Raymond Rex Bumpus, 28, of Lampasas ,reportedly fired several times at the victim during the ensuing altercation." (08/23/05)


http://www.highlandernews.com/articles/2005/08/18/news/02fatalshot.txt

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The 20 most important tools -- No.7: The rifle
Forbes
by David M. Ewalt

"Forbes.com readers, editors and a panel of experts rank the rifle as the 7th most important tool of all time, in terms of its impact on human civilization. For as long as humans have created tools, they've made projectile weapons. Our ancestors made spears, slings and bows and mastered their use in hunting and warfare. But the rifle put all those tools to shame, boasting unprecedented accuracy, power, reliability, and range. Rifles have won wars, tamed continents and overturned empires." (08/23/05)


http://www.forbes.com/personaltech/2005/08/23/technology-firearms-rifle_cx_de_0823rifle.html

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AK: Bill would broaden protection rights in home
Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman

"If a 15-year-old intruder had been armed when Robert Locke found him in the bushes outside his Wasilla home Aug. 7, the boy would probably be dead today. And Locke, the owner of Sharpshooters Gun and Pawn in Palmer, might have been facing jail or a wrongful-death suit filed by the boy's family if that had happened. That's why Locke supports new legislation drafted by Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer, known as the "Defense of Self" bill. If passed, the bill would protect homeowners or legal occupants from being sued if they kill someone they felt was threatening their life, property, or family. "If that kid would have been armed I wouldn't have hesitated for a minute to eliminate him," said Locke, who found the boy leaving his property with a pocketful of his wife's jewelry, cash and pain medicine when he drove into his driveway late that Sunday night. .... Although state law allows homeowners to use deadly force to protect themselves and family from intruders, it doesn't give them immunity from civil liability. Gatto's bill, modeled after similar legislation in Florida and Colorado, would prevent people from being taken to court by the family of a deceased intruder." (08/23/05)


http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2005/08/23/news/news8.txt

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Virginia: ATF, Virginia Police accused of 'persecuting' gun shows
CNS News

" The federal agency that regulates U.S. gun dealers stands accused, along with at least three Virginia law enforcement agencies, of trying to shut down legal gun shows through alleged intimidation of gun buyers and sellers. The law enforcement organizations also allegedly broke the law by sharing gun buyers' information with members of the public.
Annette Gelles, owner of gun show sponsor Showmasters.us, told Cybercast News Service that at least 30 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) along with nearly 500 Virginia State Police, Henrico County Police and Richmond City Police officers were assigned to the ATF operation targeting her gun show on Aug. 13 and 14 at the Richmond International Raceway and Fairground Complex, outside Richmond, Va." (08/23/05)


http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewSpecialReports.asp?Page=\SpecialReports\archive\200508\SPE20050823a.html