+toy gun buyback event
+UK teen shotgun licenses up from 12 to a whopping 22
+ James Meeks video from previous post, myfoxchicago.com (reverse racism)


The officer told me that the reason for his question (about firearms) was because I had a “right to carry” sticker on my car. Yes, he actually said that.
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http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/police-treat-pro-gun-bumper-sticker-as-probable-cause-for-pat-down-and-detention

Police treat pro-gun bumper sticker as probable cause for pat down

A Second Amendment advocacy leader has released video of his encounter with Sandy Springs, GA police during a traffic stop. Daniel Almond, founder of Restore the Constitution (which includes what the Brady Campaign’s Paul Helmke described as a polite armed Second Amendment rally among its achievements) was pulled over for speeding and a broken light over his rear license plate. That’s when he was ordered out of his car to submit to being frisked.

In Almond’s words:

This is me getting stopped by Sandy Springs PD for speeding. The second thing the officer asked me, after asking for my license, was if I had any firearms. I responded that I was choosing to exercise my right to remain silent on that question. That answer prompted the officer to have me get out of the car for a pat down. The officer told me that the reason for his question (about firearms) was because I had a “right to carry” sticker on my car. Yes, he actually said that. It’s a sticker for Georgia Carry.org (GCO) Although the audio isn’t 100% clear for that part, you can clearly hear him reference the sticker when talking to me and to another officer. Additionally, it appeared as if “back up” had been called, because there were 3 police right cars behind me and two more across the street. In the end, I got a ticket for speeding and for not having a working light bulb over my license plate.

The video is embedded in the sidebar to this column. Aside from the officer referencing the sticker as a cause for his notice and concern, you can hear background conversation among police monitoring the situation, beginning at around 5:50:

Is it a militia sticker or something, or what is it?

No, it’s right up there on the left. It’s a Georgia right-to-carry sticker.

Have you seen them before?

No, uh, yeah, I’ve heard of it. They’re the ones fighting the…you know, the airport, they don’t want any guns on airport property, and they’re the ones that fought and said “No, we’re allowed to”…so yeah, they’re good, they’re good…uh…a good organization…just got some weirdoes in it, I guess…

We discussed the airport situation in this column yesterday. As for the “weirdo” comment, why was that an appropriate remark in this situation? Almond certainly conducted himself lawfully and peaceably throughout the encounter. If anyone was acting weirdly, it was the one who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution who evidently views expressions of support for its principles as probable cause to forcibly grope a citizen. Along with the ones who don’t see anything wrong with that, who did not intervene to protect the citizen’s rights.

And there’s another matter we’ve discussed before in this column when I asked “Did SPLC just make it dangerous to have a ‘conservative’ bumper sticker?” and further asked:

What this video does is intentionally widens the “us vs. them” divide between citizens and police, heightens the paranoia, and makes the most innocuous of encounters much more dangerous. Now...something as simple as having a political bumper sticker on your car, supposedly protected speech, takes a heightened alert situation and urges police to view non-leftist political sentiment as a potentially lethal personal threat. Because with all the conflation, what message will be enough to trigger a protective reaction?

I wonder if an NRA sticker would do it? Is this not a real-world example to prove the answer is "Yes"?

Is this another way ginned up prejudices inserted into law enforcement practices can chill free expression by those who advocate the individual right of peaceable people to keep and bear arms? Consider all those police cars Almond reports that arrived as “backup.” Do you want to take the chance for a simple traffic stop to result in this?

And do you think Almond would have been searched and detained outside his car for the duration of the stop had he been sporting a “Support Your Local Police” bumper sticker?


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http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-detroit/detroit-police-harass-legal-gun-owners-at-gun-buyback

Detroit Police harass legal gun owners at 'Gun buyback'

* December 17th, 2010 5:03 pm ET

Detroit police harassed legal gun owners at yesterday’s so-called “gun buyback” while ignoring other obvious felonies at the “No questions asked” event.

The event, held at the Second Ebenezer Church, offered $25 for non-working firearms, $50 for functional firearms, and $100 for “assault weapons.” Continental management donated the money and the Detroit Police Department ran the event.

The Detroit Police Department advertised that guns could be turned in with “No questions asked." As I wrote in yesterday’s article, Sell your stolen gun to the Detroit Police Department, this created an opportunity for criminals to dispose of guns used in crime without fear of the guns being used as evidence against them. At least one person was seen brining an illegal sawed-off shotgun into the event.

Doug Holloway, a local RKBA activist, organized a small group of gun owners who showed up at the event to offer to pay higher prices for legal guns than what the organizers of the “gun buyback” were willing to pay.

One person took Holloway up on his offer and sold him a Hi Point carbine, with soft case, for $160. “The seller said he was a police officer,” Holloway said. “He said he’d bought it at a gun show three years ago and decided he didn’t need it.”

No sooner had Holloway completed the private sale, which is legal under Michigan law, than several Detroit Police officers swooped in and started questioning Holloway’s group.

“The officer’s lack of professionalism was disturbing,” Holloway said. “Here they are harassing me, and meanwhile people with sawed-off shotguns walking in through the door are given complete amnesty.”

The exchange between Holloway and a Detroit Police Sergeant was recorded on video by several of the people present. In one video the Sergeant tells them that buying guns on private property is illegal, refuses to clarify if they are being detained or are free to leave, and several times tells people to “shut up” or “shut your trap.” After approximately 13 minutes the Sergeant finishes collecting their information and orders them to leave the property. (Watch one of the videos at the sidebar on the left).

Meanwhile, another local RKBA activist, Rick Ector, owner of Rick’s Firearm Academy of Detroit, was handing out literature explaining that so-called “gun buy-back programs” have no measurable effect on crime rates.

“It’s not going to change anything, and no criminals are turning in their firearms,” Ector said in a Fox 2 News interview. “Bad guys are still armed, and it’s going to make everyone else less safe because they’re not going to have any.”

The Detroit News reported that more than 300 guns were surrendered to the police at the event. The Detroit Police Department has said the guns will be destroyed.

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http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/news/teens-want-shotgun-licences/article-3039749-detail/article.html

lincolnshire_echo Image: lincolnshire_echo
Monday, December 27, 2010, 07:00

Increase in number of teenagers applying for shotgun licences
Increase in number of teenagers applying for shotgun licences
Olympic hopeful Gary Taylor.

THE number of Lincolnshire teenagers being granted shotgun licences is on the up.

An investigation by the Echo shows the number of under-18s taking up shooting as a hobby has risen from just 12 in the 2008-9 financial year to 22 during 2009-10.

Although, in total, the number of licences issued fell to 380 during the 2009-10 financial year from 403 the previous year.

Helen Wilkie, firearms licensing manager for Lincolnshire Police, said full checks are made on anyone applying for a licence and their reason for wanting a shotgun.

She said: "Where the applicant is under 18 years of age, they are made fully aware of the law in relation to them not being permitted to purchase their own shotgun.

"Lincolnshire has approximately 16,500 shotgun certificate holders at any one time.

"As Lincolnshire is a rural county, country pursuits include shooting and in many cases is a way of life."

Firearms dealer Roy Martin, 62, who is based at Dunham-on-Trent, said the public does not need to worry about the safety of a weapon in the hands of a shotgun licence holder.

He said: "English guns are very renowned and we probably have the strictest licensing system in the world.

"Criminals don't use shotguns, but use handguns, which are mainly brought in from Eastern Europe."

Keen shooter Mick Taylor said his 19-year-old son Gary, a 2012 Olympic hopeful in the sport, has held a shotgun licence since he was 9.

Mr Taylor, 55, who lives at Thorpe-on-the-Hill, said: "For someone to have a firearms certificate you have got to be squeaky clean and have no criminal record.

"And children brought up with guns learn to respect them at an early age and I think youngsters are a lot more responsible and safety conscious than older farmers who have been shooting all their lives.

"Accidents can and do happen, but it is very rare."

Gary Taylor, a student at the University of Lincoln's Riseholme campus, said: "You can't do anything wrong with a gun, otherwise you risk waving goodbye to your licence and your gun.

"People with gun licences are some of the most law-abiding citizens."

However, Lucy Cope, who founded the campaign group Mothers Against Guns, disagrees.

She said: "If a child with a shotgun is bullied in school and cannot deal with it, he might think, 'I know something that will scare them'.

"He could then bring his gun into school and it's a bloodbath.

"For anyone who thinks they don't have gun crime in their city, I say watch out because it's coming your way."

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toy gun buyback

http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2010/12/19/providence_program_destroys_childrens_toy_guns/

Disarming the toy box
Providence program destroys children’s toy guns

A girl who declined to give her name disposed of a toy firearm at the annual Toy Gun Bash in Providence. A girl who declined to give her name disposed of a toy firearm at the annual Toy Gun Bash in Providence. (Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe)

By Maria Cramer



PROVIDENCE — Dominic Johnson, a 10-year-old fourth-grader with a fledgling Mohawk, brandished his black, long-nosed toy gun and caressed the muzzle appreciatively.

“It’s like a shotgun mixed with a rifle,’’ he said, as his mother, April, told him to stop pointing it at nearby children.

Soon it would be junk.

Dominic joined dozens of children yesterday at the annual Toy Gun Bash in the gymnasium of Pleasant View Elementary School. There, they lined up to toss their toy guns, from dainty purple water guns to camouflage-painted pistols, inside the Bash-O-Matic, a large black, foam creature with churning metal teeth and the shape of a cockroach spliced with a frog.

Prodded by Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, who wore a fuzzy Santa hat, the children stared curiously as the Bash-O-Matic mashed up their guns and digested them into a plastic bin near its tail.

“He ate it,’’ squealed one delighted little girl.

’Tis the season for joy, peace, and grinding up plastic, orange-tipped AK-47s.

For seven years, Providence municipal and law enforcement officials have organized the event around Christmastime as a way to raise awareness of the dangers of playing with guns, real or fake. The event is a mix of the macabre and the playful, a children’s version of the gun buyback program in which adults trade firearms for gift certificates.

Yesterday, younger children ran through a rubber obstacle course while officials told the older children the story of a 14-year-old boy who police nearly shot after they confused his air pistol with a real gun.

In exchange for their toy guns, all the children received wrapped presents that were indisputably not violent — dolls, stuffed animals, and board games like checkers.

Some children were not thrilled with the trade.

Malik Hall, a round-eyed second-grader, looked apprehensive as he stood in line with his favorite toy, a thick, blue gun with plastic sword underneath the muzzle. The 8-year-old was furious when his mother, Amanda, told him he would have to give it up. Yesterday morning, he tried to hide it under his pillow, she said.

“I’m worried,’’ she said. “He might cry.’’

But when it was his turn, Malik strode dry-eyed and with quiet dignity to the Bash-O-Matic and fed it the gun. When his mother approached, he said nothing.

“You don’t want to talk to me?’’ Hall asked. He looked at her stonily and left to retrieve his gift.

Hall said she had no regrets. The 26-year-old mother of six said she has been trying to wean her only son off toy guns for years. In kindergarten, he brought a pop gun to school and shot at a classmate when the child refused to return his toy truck.

The police and representatives of the state’s children services department rushed to the school, and the boy was expelled.Continued...
Page 2 of 2 --

“He had it in his pants like a gangster,’’ Hall said. Yesterday, she had six other of his guns to feed the Bash-O-Matic, but she admitted she had let Malik keep one, a small pistol that shoots rubber targets.

“I mean, he is a boy,’’ she said.

Many of the children at yesterday’s gun bash were not making anything like Malik’s sacrifice.

Some parents confessed that they bought guns just a couple of days before the event so their children could get a gift or watch the Bash-O-Matic do its work.

“He likes the feeling of breaking things without getting in trouble,’’ said Dominic’s mother, April Johnson, who bought his gun just a couple of days ago.

One parent was motivated by tragedy.

Ardella Powell, 28, who came with her four children, said she wants to see the guns destroyed because it helps her cope with the violent death of the father of her 11-year-old son. The man was gunned down in 2003.

“I tell them that this is for a good cause,’’ she said. “It’s not just for a toy.’’

About 200 children attended the gun bash, said Jim Baum, a prosecutor with Lynch’s office who helps run it. The event used to be held four or five times a year, but budget cuts have forced them to scale back the program, he said. City and state employees donate many of the toys, along with nearby businesses.

“We hope it makes a difference,’’ Baum said.

Diane Levin, professor of education at Wheelock College, said police and parents coming together to destroy toy guns sends a powerful message to children.

But adults should follow up with children to explain the complexities of weapons and violence so they can more efficiently counter the seductive image of guns in movies and video games.

“It’s one piece of what needs to happen around this issue,’’ said Levin, coauthor of “The War Play Dilemma.’’ “There is also this side of [children] trying to understand why are there guns there, and why do people use them? When kids are getting all kinds of other messages about guns, it’s a more complicated issue than just having one day about how guns are bad.’’
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http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-12-23/news/os-orlando-shooting-arrest-folo-20101222_1_fatal-shooting-shooting-death-orlando-police-headquarters

Judge gave man charged in shooting death 'one more chance,' records show
Police say Andrew Jared Wright, 23, shot and killed Robert Williams, 22, on Monday.