The Lock-N-Load FOLDER

[Danno 1,228]

I often see small news stories or gun related topics which to me might be interesting but I don't want to clog up the board with them so....

I thought I would do this folder and if anyone is interested they can check them out.

If this grows to several pages you might want to skip to the last page to get the latest story.

Of course anyone else is encouraged to post related stories, even items which might be considered to be "anti-gun".

The first story up is short... but sweet.

After reading it I wonder how many VJers open-carry (I know JAS does) and if so have you ever had a confrontation with police or others about it?

After reading this story, it might pay to OPen-carry in hopes that a cop might infringe on your rights... could be worth 10 grand! (Actually, I'm not the lawsuit type)

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Settlement in open carry lawsuit

by WRN CONTRIBUTOR on MARCH 9, 2010

The city of Racine has settled in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a man arrested for openly carrying a gun. Last September police confronted Frank Hannon-Rock about a shots fired call. He refused to give his name and any information while having a holstered weapon. The officers cited him for obstruction; a charge later dropped, then came the lawsuit, with the help of Wisconsin Carry Incorporated, and now, a $10,000 settlement.

Deputy City Attorney Scott Lettiny explained to the Racine Council’s Finance Committee that the settlement is “not a finding that the city violated anybody’s rights.” Lettiny said the settlement actually came out of a strategy move, based on the rules of federal civil litigation, designed to limit the city’s liability.

Deputy City Atty Lettiny (:24)

Nik Clark, Chairman of Wisconsin Carry Incorporated, called this a precedent setting case for other municipalities “whose police officers operate outside their legal authority and unlawfully detain, arrest & seize the property of law- abiding open carriers.”

The lawsuit also targeted the governor & the Gun Free Zone Act.

Contributed by Tom Karkow-WRJN

http://www.wrn.com/2010/03/settlement-in-open-carry-lawsuit/

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Can articles about gays and guns (owning them, not owning them, shooting them, getting shot by them etc.) go in here, or should they go in the "PINK" folder?

P.S. where is our "White" thread, or one for those pesky "minorities"?

Edited March 11, 2010 by Gene Hunt

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Gay guns? Here you go:

[Danno 1,228]

Gay guns? Here you go:

NOw THAT is funny,

Can articles about gays and guns (owning them, not owning them, shooting them, getting shot by them etc.) go in here, or should they go in the "PINK" folder?

P.S. where is our "White" thread, or one for those pesky "minorities"?

You know it's funny Hunt, you just have "**" stuff on in your mind, no matter the topic, PM me if you need a shoulder.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Gay guns? Here you go:

Zardoz is a weird, weird movie.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

[Danno 1,228]

Scientists say N.J. black bear population can't be controlled without hunt

New Jersey’s black bear population has soared to nearly 3,500, a level that can no longer be controlled solely by non-lethal methods, a wildlife biologist said today as the state Fish and Game Council adopted a management policy recommending a six-day hunt in December.

The biologist, Patrick Carr, said the main reason for the growing population is the abundance of food state residents willingly and unwillingly provide. The result, he said, is that the bruins are living longer and giving birth to more cubs than bears in other parts of the country.

Carr said that in New Jersey, black bears start to breed when they are 2 or 3 years old. In other parts of the country, the age is 4 or 5, he said. Litters are larger, too, with bears in New Jersey averaging three cubs per litter compared to two cubs per litter for bears living in national parks elsewhere.

And bears in New Jersey are living longer; the oldest female tracked in New Jersey is 26 years old. Because of their favorable living conditions, adult survival rate is "extremely high," with 86 percent of adult bears surviving each year and 70 percent of cubs surviving their first year, Carr said.

"They’re not food-stressed because we have such a diverse habitat so the cubs are getting tremendous resources, which is increasing their survival rate," he said.

Though bears have been sited in all 21 counties in New Jersey, the highest concentration is in the northwestern corner of the state, north of Route 80 and west of Route 287, said David Chanda, director of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife.

As the bear population grows, the number of complaints about them has also risen. There were 1,417 bear calls logged to fish and wildlife officials in 2007. The number rose to 2,820 in 2008 and 3,006 last year, according to the management policy adopted today.

Most of the complaints last year — 1,274 — were so-called category III — sightings of bears that do not present any nuisance. Another 1,477 calls were classified as Category II — bears that create a nuisance, such as raiding garbage cans, but are not a threat. The remaining 255 calls were Category 1 incidents, in which the bruins pose an immediate threat to life and property by breaking into homes, attacking livestock or destroying agriculture.

The management plan will now be presented to acting Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin. If he accepts it, public hearings will be held before it is formally adopted. Martin would ultimately decide whether a hunt would be held. If it is, it would be the first in New Jersey since 2005.

Gov. Chris Christie has said he supports a hunt while opponents say the state hasn’t done enough to address residential trash problems that bring bears into contact with humans.

‘‘I intend to scrutinize this proposed policy to make sure it provides the best possible solutions to the considerable challenge of managing this valued wildlife resource in the nation’s most densely populated state,’’ Martin said in a statement today.

Janet Piszar, director of the Bear Education and Resource Group, called the report a "smokescreen" and said it was based on "junk science."

[Danno 1,228]

Court tosses CU gun ban

Panel says campus is subject to concealed-carry law

By Carlos Illescas and Monte Whaley

The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14894750

The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the University of Colorado has no authority to bar students or visitors from lawfully carrying guns on campus.

The appeals court said an El Paso County district judge was wrong to dismiss a challenge filed by a group called Students for Concealed Carry on Campus and three students from the University of Colorado.

The CU Board of Regents adopted a ban on all guns on campuses, believing the statewide Concealed Carry Act (CCA) did not apply to universities.

But the court found that the legislature, in standardizing the rules governing concealed weapons from county to county through the CCA of 2003, specifically intended the act to apply everywhere in the state except

EXTRAS

Read the court's ruling.

in a handful of places listed in the statute, like K-12 schools.

Attorney Jim Manley, who represents the plaintiffs, called the ruling "a real victory for individual freedom" and the law.

"When the legislature says statewide, it means statewide," said Manley, an attorney for the Mountain States Legal Foundation. "The regents wanted to read in an exception that didn't exist. The court of appeals rejected that."

Rule challenged in 2008

The University of Colorado originally banned guns on campuses in 1970. The policy allows students to keep guns in lockers with campus police. Generally speaking, a handful of students store hunting rifles in those lockers and are allowed to transport them across campus.

The CCA requires those who carry concealed firearms to pass a background check and be at least 21 years old.

After the CCA passed, the regents asked then-Attorney General Ken Salazar if the CCA applied to CU. Salazar ruled it did not. So in 2004, the regents reapproved the gun ban.

That opinion stood unchallenged until December 2008, when the lawsuit was filed in the wake of the fatal Virginia Tech University shootings, after universities rushed to ban guns on campuses, and, at the same time, some students moved to overturn bans.

After Thursday's ruling, the lawsuit may go back to district court, or CU can appeal the decision to the Colorado Supreme Court. The university could also repeal the ban if it so chooses.

Ken McConnellogue, spokesman for the University of Colorado system, said school officials are weighing options. Regents will likely discuss the matter at a regularly scheduled board meeting next week.

"For us, the issue has always been about more than 'guns are good or guns are bad,' " McConnellogue said. "For us, it's been the issue of autonomy for the Board of Regents to govern the CU campuses as the Colorado Constitution stipulates. In that regard, it's disappointing."

A national anti-gun group urged the CU system to appeal the ruling.

"We are disappointed by this ruling that could result in students and transient visitors carrying loaded semi-automatic weapons at the University of Colorado," Paul Helmke, president of the Washington, D.C.- based Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a written statement.

CSU ban faces lawsuit

The ruling also could impact a gun ban passed in February by Colorado State University officials, over the objections of gun-rights groups.

The local chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus and Rocky Mountain Gun Owners filed suit in Larimer District Court on Thursday against CSU over its ban, hoping for the same result the court of appeals delivered.

Supporters of the bans, at CU and CSU, have argued that they contribute to preventing mass shootings like the one at Virginia Tech. CSU students who oppose the ban, however, believe it leaves them defenseless in the event a criminal gets on campus with a gun.

"This is definitely a step in the right direction," said Tim Campbell, head of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus at CSU, of the appellate ruling. "This just makes our case stronger."

CSU attorneys are reviewing the appeals court decision, said CSU spokeswoman Michele McKinney.

Weapons policies on the CSU campuses have not yet been implemented.

Martha Altman, one of the three student-plaintiffs, has graduated from UC Denver.

She said the public has a misunderstanding in thinking that every student is packing a gun in universities that don't have bans.

Altman applauded Thursday's ruling.

"Our interpretation is that the regents had overstepped their bounds," Altman said. "They should follow the law of the state of Colorado, and the appeals court made that clear."

[Calypso 464]

Here's a story.

[Danno 1,228]

Nice contribution!

[Calypso 464]

Nice contribution!

This thread serves various purposes.

[Ban Hammer 13,656]

Here's a story.

glad to see you're armed

[Calypso 464]

glad to see you're armed

So, you can open that photo at work.

[Ban Hammer 13,656]

So, you can open that photo at work.

i'm not at work, i'm home.

[Dr. Obvious 49]

Criminals shouldn't be afraid of me with a gun. I am the worst shot ever. I'd be more likely to shoot the neighbor in their bed across the street than the perp from 20 ft.

My husband did blow up a large butterfly one shooting day with an 8 gauge shotgun. It had a knife. What was he supposed to do?