BERKELEY, California - April 8, 2008 - An East Bay
lawmaker's bill to clear the way for local handgun bans has a committee hearing
today, delving into issues now pending before the state and nation's highest
courts.
Assemblywoman Loni Hancock,
D-Berkeley, authored Assembly Bill 2566 in reaction to a state Court of Appeal
ruling in January which upheld the voiding of San Francisco's Measure H of
2005, approved by voters to bar city residents from owning handguns or from
making or selling firearms or ammunition in the city.
The California Supreme Court is
mulling whether to review this ruling, which found state law leaves no room for
cities and counties to ban handgun ownership; Hancock's bill, to be heard today
by the Assembly Public Safety Committee, seeks to create that room by removing
the state pre-emption entirely.
Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban is
now the subject of the biggest gun-rights case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court
in almost 70 years. The high court will rule by late June on whether the Second
Amendment protects an individual's right to gun ownership, rather than just a
collective right to guns for the common defense as part of a state militia.
Richmond activist Andres Soto said the Legal Community
Against Violence - a San Francisco nonprofit that helped draft the bill -
believes that case won't directly affect this bill because of Washington's
status as a federal district, distinct from the states. Soto said he sees this
as "a domestic disarmament" crucial to the East Bay's gun-plagued
communities.
Hancock said the bill is inspired
by victims such as an Oakland boy hit by a stray bullet and paralyzed while at
his piano lesson and a Richmond woman shot and killed in her doorway by a gang
member.
Handguns are "weapons of mass
destruction in some of our inner cities," she said, and local governments
need this tool at their disposal to quell the violence.
"Many times when enough
individual local governments take an action, state action follows and federal
action follows," Hancock said. "It's the people on the ground
experiencing the problem every day that tend to be innovative and want to push
the envelope, and I've seen the communities I represent staggering under the
burden of gun violence for too long."
Gun-rights activists disagree.
"Aside from the fact that,
obviously, disarming civilians and depriving them of the most effective tool
there is for self-defense or defending their families, its not a good policy
decision," said California Rifle and Pistol Association attorney Chuck Michel
of Long Beach.
"The law is confusing enough
as it is right now," he said, with the California Law Revision Commission
already studying the need to simplify and reorganize Penal Code sections
dealing with deadly weapons; that panel's report is due by July 2009.
"The reason they passed
pre-emption in the first place was so people wouldn't have to worry about
violating a different set of laws every time they drove across a city
line," Michel said. "Uniformity is very important."
Soto said that's "a red
herring," as this bill wouldn't affect existing state laws on handgun
transportation but rather would let cities bar residents from owning handguns.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office said Monday he has
not yet taken a position on this bill.
Ed. Note: Do a site search at www.freedomradio.us for "Assemblyman Schwartz". Read the fictional story, "The Strange Disappearance of Assemblyman Schwartz".
April 8, 2008 - Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura was
able to make some very forceful points amidst the satirical atmosphere of his
appearance on The Colbert Report last night, including a reminder that the
Second Amendment was put in the Bill of Rights to give Americans the ability to
rise up against a tyrannical government.
Ventura's new book is called Don't Start the Revolution
without Me. Asked by Stephen Colbert if he was talking about a revolution
against the United States government, Ventura said, "Remember, the Second
Amendment with the right to bear arms - that's not done for hunting or fishing,
our forefathers put that right in there so we have the ability to rise up if
our country becomes oppressive."
Taunted by Colbert that Ventura had moved to Mexico and
"given up on the United States," Ventura responded, "No I have
not - that's where you go to learn about revolution so you can bring it back
home."
Colbert then asked Ventura to list examples of the
government lying, to which he responded, "the Gulf of Tonkin, weapons of
mass destruction, ties to Al-Qaeda."
When Colbert brought up the topic of Dick Cheney, Ventura
said he liked to refer to him as "chicken hawk," because, "when
it was his time to go to war during Vietnam he was chicken."
"George Bush said the only problem with Vietnam was we
left to soon - well why didn't those two come and help out?" added
Ventura.
Ventura joked that during Vietnam, Bush was,
"Guarding Dallas from the North Vietnamese air force."
VERMONT - April 7,
2008 – The Department of Homeland Security wants to build a permanent
immigration checkpoint in central Vermont.
An exact location has not been revealed, but officials say it
would be similar to one that used to be on Interstate 91 in Hartford,
Connecticut. Agents use the checkpoints to search for illegal
immigrants, drugs smugglers and terrorists.
Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, is
blasting the idea, saying the checkpoints are useless and an
inconvenience to Vermonters.
LANCASHIRE, England - April 7, 2008
- Police were accused of being "heavy handed" today after four
officers stormed a young couple's house at 3am - because a caller claimed their
baby was crying.
Chef Leander Pomfret, 24, and his
girlfriend Kimberley Walker, 18, woke up in the middle of the night to find the
officers in their bedroom demanding to see their two month old daughter Bianca.
They then reduced Kimberley to
tears by threatening to call social services.
They left after confirming Bianca
was safe and well but Mr. Pomfret discovered their front door had been damaged
when it was broken down during the dead of night raid. The bedroom door was
also damaged.
Today, Mr. Pomfret vowed to make a
formal complaint abut the incident and demanded Lancashire Police pay for the
damage.
"The officers totally
overreacted," he said. "Bianca may well have been crying but that is
what babies do.
"It is no excuse for officers
to bash down a door at 3am and storm our home. They claimed Bianca had been
crying for up to six hours but that is impossible.
"Kimberley was in tears. We were made to feel as
though we were unfit parents when the fact is we adore Bianca and tend to her
every need."