NY STATE NEWS

Gov. Mario Pataki V AG Spitzer in 06 elections.

Channel 7, WABC NYC does Pink Pistol Story

NATIONAL NEWS

Will the Justices Bite the Bullet?

Fewer guns, more death

Do Bullets Tell Tales?

2001 United States Unintentional Injuries

A BIG VICTORY FOR DAISY . . .

Story Claiming "Symantec Says No To Pro-Gun Sites," is wrong

Disney and PETA now Firmly in Bed with Each Other

New Store Continues Gander Mountain Expansion In New York Market
Middletown-area Store to Open Next Spring
CLICK HERE FOR THE GANDER MOUNTAIN PRESS RELEASE
CLICK HERE FOR THE T H-R ARTICLE

     PART OF GM's PRESS RELEASE: Minneapolis, November 17, 2003 — Middletown-area residents in search of great hunting, fishing and camping merchandise need look no further. Gander Mountain, an outdoor retailer based in Minnesota, is planning to open a 120,000-square foot big-box store to guests in Wallkill, N.Y., in March 2004. The store will be the largest Gander Mountain in the nation and the third Gander Mountain to open in New York since June 2003.
      The Gander Mountain store will soon deliver unique and differentiated outdoor sporting merchandise at great value, while delivering exceptional service through knowledgeable customer services assistants.
      The Gander Mountain store will be located on Crystal Run Plaza in Wallkill. The store will employ a sales staff of approximately 150 people to help provide expert service to area outdoor enthusiasts. In addition, customers will find new features and services including Artic Cat ATV sales and service, full archery technical shop and archery range, gunsmith service, professional fish line winding, a live bait shop, a new cabin décor department and Gander lodge meeting space.
      For the nearest Gander Mountain store location, call 800-282-5993 or visit www.GanderMountain.com.

     The Times Herald-Record article states that the store will be located in the former Wal-Mart building off Route 211 and North Galleria Drive.

David Dirks column highlighted in 11/5/03 NRA-ILA Daily Site Update
CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE COLUMN "N.J. off-base in gun-purchasing approach"

     David Dirks has an outdoor column about every Tuesday in the Middletown NY, Times Herald-Record. Most of the time he covers the outdoor events and activities in Orange County and the surrounding area. Every once in a while he does add a political comment and this is one of those columns. He does an excellent job in blasting NJ and their gun laws, so much so, that it was picked up by the NRA and featured in their 11/5/03 NRA-ILA Daily Site Update. Please make sure that you read David's column and it will not hurt to (CLICK HERE TO,) send him an e-mail.

Election results

     The two most important races in Orange County were 98th Assembly District race and the 9th Judicial District State Supreme Court.
     In the NY 98th District Assembly Race between (R) Alan Sorensen and (D) Aileen Gunther, with Aileen Gunther the easy winner.
     Family Court Judge Debra Kiedaisch came in 5th in a "top 3 win" race for the 9th Judicial District State Supreme Court. That means that Orange County will loose a seat in the court.
     Ex-Orange County Sheriff Bigger, (C-R, 532 votes,) lost in his race for Deerpark Supervisor to Mark House, (D, 900 votes.)

The biggest two in Orange County this year will be the race for NY 98th District Assembly seat and the vacant judgeship in the State Supreme Court in the 9th Judicial District.      The NY 98th District Assembly seat was left open because of the death of Jake Gunther. The race is between Jake Gunther's wife, (D) Aileen Gunther and, (R) Alan Sorensen. (CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS VERY IMPORTANT RACE.)       The Second race will be for the State Supreme Court in the 9th Judicial District. Family Court Judge Debra Kiedaisch had decided to run as the Democratic candidate for the district that covers five counties. If Judge Kiedaisch wins this election Orange County will retain a Judge to represent Orange County and Judge Kiedaisch does issue unrestricted licenses and would have to be rated as a B+ or A. If she does win that will open up another Family Court Judge position that we will have to work hard on getting a pro-gun Judge in. (Local Republicans wanted Judge Rosenwasser for the position but Republicans from Westchester/Rockland had the votes to take away a position from Orange County. The position is held by a Judge from Orange County now but a required retirement because of age is creating a vacant judgeship. Judge positions do not have a primary but the person running in the general election is chosen by committee and Orange does not have the pull to override what Westchester/Rockland want.)      10/30/03- The Times Herald-Record has even approved Judge Kiedaisch for most of the same reasons that I do even though I do not think that how she stands on issuing unrestricted pistol licenses had any impact on their decision. http://judgedeb.org/ This a copy of a Political Advertisement from the T H-R 9th Judicial District Westchester Rockland Dutchess Putnam Orange Republican Proposal One Judge for every 41,000 71,000 93,000 95,000 175,000 A Supreme Court Judge is elected for 14 years. Don't let Rockland and Westchester steal a Judge from us! Our population is larger than Rockland's. We are the fastest growing county in the state! -DO NOT JUST VOTE A PARTY LINE- Vote Orange only - cast one vote - not three THERE IS ONLY ONE ORANGE COUNTY CANDIDATE JUDGE DEBRA KIEDAISCH, A DEMOCRAT IF SHE WINS WE ALL WIN PAID FOR BY HOWARD S. FINKELSTEIN - A REGISTERED REPUBLICAN ( Why only place one vote when you are suppose to vote for 2 or more? This is called "BULLET" voting. In this type of race the top 3 vote getters win. If you vote for anyone else who gets more votes than the person that you want in then your other votes are really votes to defeat the person that you want to win.)       Of course local election are important and it is important that we elect people who understand our issues. It may not seem important but that person who you elect to the Planning Board could rule on your club's request or that Mayor or other office holder could call for no hunting in an area that you or your club post or leases.

Lead at Orange County Community College range OK
CLICK HERE FOR THE ORIGINAL LETTER
Click here for the May 6, 2003 T H-R article " SUNY shooting range targeted"
Click here for the Aug. 22, 2003 T H-R article " College writes to users of faulty firing range

     In May the T H-R had an article about one of the firearms instructors who had health problems that he claimed where contributed to by the poor ventilation at the range were he taught at the Orange County Community College in Middletown. The school has been offering a course, 'Safe & Legal Use of Firearms and Ammunition," that I took. The once a week course used 22 Cal. rifles over 12 weeks and, as far as I can remember, we only had to have 100 rounds for the whole course. The following is the letter that I got from the college.

OCFSC's Annual Dinner biggest ever

     
The Orange County Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs had their annual dinner and it was the best one ever. Over 180 people attended and over $3,000 worth of prizes from raffles and door prizes were given out. Most of the prizes were donated by local businesses, clubs and individuals. Every gun store, range, bait store, butcher, taxidermists or gun smith in Orange County contacted donated something. Many items were worth over $100.

     Bill Diana and Carmine Montalbano accept the "Club of the Year" award, and Don Faenza was awarded the "Sportsman of the Year" award.

    The "Wall of Prizes" this year not only included guns of many types but also a SAFE, a Dillion 550B reloading press with tumbler, scale and everything else you needed to start reloading and a shotgun reloader with everything you would need to make 1,000 rounds of 12 Gauge shotgun shells to choose from if you won the raffle. We picked two winners and they both chose to take a gun. Two other guns were also given away, one gun as a raffle and another gun as one of the BONUS BUCKET prizes.

     For the people who attended we want to thank you for your support. If you were not able to attend this years Dinner please plan to attend next years dinner planned for Oct. 15th and we hope that it will be bigger and better with even more prizes.
     I have started the Photo Album. It is very big so it will take a few moments to download. If you only have dial up connection it will take a very long time. It is not finished so check back in a few more days to see the whole thing.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE
OCFSC 2003 DINNER PHOTO ALBUM

Gov. Mario Pataki V AG Spitzer in 06 elections.
CLICK HERE FOR NEWSDAY.COM ARTICLE

     As reported in the past, (March 03,) the election in 06 is going to be between Pataki and Spitzer. Spitzer has the money and now even Assembly Dictator Sheldon Silver has announced that he is backing Spitzer even before Spitzer has officially announced. Spitzer is going to be very, very hard to beat. Spitzer is smart, very good looking, a good talker and knows his politics. He also has the credentials that will make the leftist swoon. He is anti-gun and has brought the lawsuits against gun makers, (that he has lost in every court.) He has also made a name of himself arresting and bringing lawsuits against businesses, stock brokers, mutual funds and other groups that the left loves to hate. What makes it even worse is that most of the arrest and lawsuits are valid and really the only complaint has been that when someone pleads or is found guilty, most if not all of the money that the person or company is fined ends up in NY States bank accounts and not in the accounts of the victims.
     We expect that Gov. Marion Pataki will start becoming more conservative in the next months rather than the courting the leftist groups that helped win him his this third term as Gov. in 02. Expect him to start comming around asking for our support because he will not have the money to offer the unions that he had the last time and he can not offer 1/2 of what Spitzer can offer to the left.

Channel 7, WABC NYC does Pink Pistol Story

     "More about "The Pink Pistols", (New York-WABC, November 18, 2003) — Tuesday night on Eyewitness News at 11:00pm, Bill Ritter reports on the Pink Pistols.: ... It was a very long report and showed some members of the group at a range shooting and covered the groups purpose and goals. It was not totally bad but in general it was negative. It talked about how the Pink Pistols had 36 chapters in the US but none in NYC though they did talk to one person wanted to start one in NYC. To sum it up I would say that they took the approach that some places it might be OK for gays to defend themselves when attacked but using guns is going too far and not something most gays in NYC would ever want to do.

Will the Justices Bite the Bullet?
by Tony Mauro, Legal Times, 11-24-2003
CLICK HERE FOR THE WHOLE ARTICLE

For more than six decades, the Supreme Court has ducked the opportunity to examine the real meaning of the Second Amendment's promise of the right to "keep and bear arms."
      Now, some advocates of gun rights are hoping the Supreme Court will finally bite the bullet and grant review in Silveira v. Lockyer, No. 03-51, a challenge to California's strict 1999 assault weapon ban. The case is one of dozens the justices are set to discuss at their private conference Wednesday. A decision by the Court whether to grant review could be announced as soon as Dec. 1. The Court also meets in conference Dec. 5.
      ... Other factions in the gun rights legal community have not been as enthusiastic about Silveira, and there was considerable debate over whether it should have been pressed before the 9th Circuit or appealed to the Supreme Court.
      The National Rifle Association opposed the Silveira plaintiffs at the circuit level, arguing they did not have standing. Now that the case is before the Supreme Court, the NRA has filed an amicus brief supporting Supreme Court review.
Everyone should read the WHOLE ARTICLE. It is not that long but has some good information.

Fewer guns, more death
CLICK HERE FOR THE WHOLE ARTICLE
10/10/03 © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

     Gun-control enthusiasts in the United States and western Europe have a lot to answer for on the heels of two reports last week that prove, beyond a doubt, the barbaric lunacy of ensuring citizens are defenseless against armed criminal threats.
      In the first, a British paper reported authorities have seen a 35 percent increase in gun violence in 2002 – not so ironically, in the sixth year since Parliament passed a law banning personal ownership of most firearms.
     ... "It was hoped the measure would reduce the number of handguns available to criminals. Now handgun crime is at its highest since 1993," said the Observer. "New laws that make carrying a firearm an offence with a mandatory five-year sentence have won little favor with officers on the street. 'It changes nothing,' said one drug squad detective who asked to remain anonymous."
     Meanwhile, here in the States, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released last week found no conclusive evidence gun-control laws curb violent crime, suicides by firearms or firearms-related accidents.
     The study found "inconclusive evidence" that gun-control laws, which include entire bans of certain classes of weapons, have any appreciable effect on gun-related violence.
     Interestingly enough, where gun control is the staunchest – New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and other major urban centers – Britain-like handgun and rifle bans, some analyses contend, are doing little more than filling morgues with innocent, unprotected, law-abiding citizens.

Do Bullets Tell Tales? (US News & World Report)
CLICK HERE FOR THE WHOLE ARTICLE

     "Do bullets tell tales?" is a long article highlighting the problems with two of the corner stones of Forensic science that deal with matching a bullet to a crime, the so called "Gun DNA" and analysis of the lead in bullets.

• "Gun DNA" What makes a "sufficient" match is often just an examiner's opinion. Microscopic nicks and imperfections on gun-making tools can leave the same impressions on multiple guns. The flaws on gun components--and the marks they leave on bullets--can change over time. And proficiency tests show that examiners do make errors; one study of tests from 1978 to 1991 found an error rate of 12 percent. The test-takers almost always erred by saying " inconclusive" instead of the correct answer, and false matches were rare. But examiners know when they're taking a test for a grade. In the real world, they may more readily declare a "match" in a borderline case.
• "Lead analysis" National Academy of Sciences is going to issue a report soon about how unique the lead in each batch of bullets are. Other studies have "found that batches of lead actually aren't necessarily unique, raising the chance of a random match."

2001 United States Unintentional Injuries
Ages 1-4, All Races, Both Sexes

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
Produced by: Office of Statistics and Programming, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC. Data Source: National Center for Heath Statistics (NCHS) Vital Statistics System for numbers of deaths.

     Avoiding a financially devastating recall of two popular air rifle models, Daisy, the manufacturer whose products are synonymous with youngsters learning to shoot, agreed to a settlement today in its lawsuit with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml04/04033.html). The CPSC's suit, which was filed in 2001 by then-Commissioner Ann Brown, a Clinton appointee, claimed that the Daisy's air guns were defectively designed. Following two years of discovery, CPSC approved a consent agreement and in a statement issued today by CPSC Commissioner Mary Sheila Gall, she concluded, "There is very little credible evidence that the Model 856 and 880 air rifles, in either their present or past configurations, represent a 'substantial product hazard.'" Responding to the settlement, Daisy's vice president of marketing, Joe Murfin, said, "Unsafe behavior is at the root of air gun accidents," and he pointed out that Daisy has always aggressively promoted safe handling of its products through its "Take Aim at Safety" program, which instills safe and proper handling of firearms among those young adults for whom the company's products are intended. In the settlement, Daisy agreed to undertake a $1.5 million dollar campaign to provide more frequent and enhanced safety warnings on its air rifles, to include similar warnings with BB packaging and to continue to participate in voluntary standard-setting efforts with members of its industry and consumers. "This entire litigation was unwarranted and ill-conceived. Daisy's enhanced safety warnings and other voluntary measures could have been implemented years ago, something NSSF had urged the CPSC to consider before it filed its lawsuit," said Lawrence Keane, vice president and general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association of the firearms industry. Keane's view was shared by Commissioner Gall who expressed her "extreme dissatisfaction" with the way this case was brought and handled and how Daisy was treated by the CPSC. Gall, who had in 2001 voted against bringing the case, said that in her 11 years on the Commission and in her 30 years of government service she had "never seen a more outrageous miscarriage of justice and abuse of the process of public policy." Gall said the evidence in the case showed that former Commissioner Brown had ordered the case against Daisy "be removed from the ordinary process of Commission staff review because [Brown] did not like the conclusions of [career staff]."

COPYRIGHT 2003 by National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. Permission is granted for broadcast, publication, retransmission to e-mail lists, WWW or any other copying or storage, in any medium, online or not, if 1) the text is forwarded in its entirety, including this paragraph, and 2) no fee is charged. — SUBSCRIPTION to Bullet Points is free, and available at www.nssf.org

Story Claiming "Symantec Says No To Pro-Gun Sites," is wrong
CLICK HERE FOR THE WHOLE ARTICLE

UPDATE
      I talked to Phil Weiler, Senior Public Relations Manager for Symantec, and he said that this is not true. That Symantec has been contacted by many groups and that they have all been told the same thing. That this feature is not turned on by default and that when you install the program, (or at any time,) you can turn this feature on and then you have to select what catagories of web sites to block, weapons being one of 20 or so catagories.   

 Posted by timothy on Sunday November 02, @02:17PM      "A recent American Rifleman contained small column that said that Symantec's new Internet Security 2004 would block pro gun rights sites (i.e. NRA sites), while not blocking similar anti-gun rights web sites. Being the eternal skeptic, this claim was tested by downloading the trial version and running some tests against it. To my surprise I found the every NRA site was blocked and was in the category 'weapons.' This even included the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action. Some sites that were not blocked were notable anti-gun rights sites such as The Brady Campaign, and Good Bye Guns. The only anti-gun rights site that was blocked that I could find was Hand Gun Control's web site." Read on for more.

Disney and PETA now Firmly in Bed with Each Other

Date: Sat, 1 Nov 2003 17:18:02 -0800
From: "Jeff Christensen" <Tnusa-NW@earthlink.net>
Subject: Disney and PETA now Firmly in Bed with Each Other

PETA now has Disney's "Nemo" movie character integrated into their anti-fishing campaign. The website is here: http://www.peta.org/feat/nemo/
      This page includes a printable handout for kids featuring Nemo and friends. Here is some of what is on the cute (thanks to the Disney Corporation) and colorful handout for kids to take to school and share with their friends. It is titled "Fish are friends - Not food":

• "..fish are a lot like us. They make friends with other fish and talk to one another through gurgles squeaks, squeals and other underwater sounds."
• "Being hooked hurts."
• "'I would never eat anyone I know personally. I wouldn't deliberately eat a grouper any more than I would eat a cocker spaniel. They're so good natured, so curious. You know, fish are sensitive, they have personalities, they hurt when they're wounded.' -- Dr. Sylvia Earle, former chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'"
• "Contact PETA for a supply of 'Fish are Friends, Not Food' stickers and share their fish-friendly message with your friends."
• (The stickers, no doubt, feature the cute little Disney movie character " Nemo" and his friends just like the handout does thanks [again] to Disney Corporation)

OUR OUTDOOR SPORTING FUTURE IS UNDER ATTACK! YOU KNOW THAT, DO FISHERMEN KNOW IT?
      I don't think so. Let's make sure they do.
      PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

Hunters and fishermen are and have been the backbone of wildlife conservation and conservation funding for a 100 years. Millions of kids and their families enjoy fishing and the outdoor experience. PETA, Disney, and every animal rights organization is working to end this.
      Regards, Jeff Christensen

***************
10-9-03 ARTICLE AND ALERT:
***************
Source: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_827281.html
      Disney joins forces with pro-fish activists Story filed: 13:55 Thursday 9th October 2003

Pro-fish activists have won permission from Disney to adapt a film poster for Finding Nemo to help promote vegetarianism to youngsters.
      Pressure group Peta says it is using the cartoon characters on leaflets, along with a two-metre tall fish, to persuade children not to eat fish.
      The film features a shark who attends a support group for vegetarians which uses the Peta slogan prominently.
      A spokesman for Peta (People of the Ethical Treatment of Animals) said: " We were delighted to see our tag-line 'Fish are friends not food' in the Finding Nemo movie.
      "The slogan is even being used on Finding Nemo pyjamas."
      "We hope that after seeing Finding Nemo, children will agree that fish belong in the ocean, not on dinner plates."

*************************************************
      How does it feel to have "the happiest place on earth" help the Animal Rights movement to END fishing? Sportsmen contribute $1.5 BILLION to wildlife conservation annually. About half of that funding comes from fishermen. Please tell Disney what you think about this.
Disney
500 S Buena Vista St.
Burbank, California 91521
Tel: (818) 560-1000
Fax: FX - USA (818) 560-1930
(11-1-03 UPDATE: No email for Disney has yet been found)

While you're at it:
Zebco offers Disney character fishing poles for kids:
http://www.zebco.com/kidscove/kidsmerchandise1.htm
Zebco
6505 Tower Lane
Claremore, OK 74017
1-800-588-9030, Monday through Friday, 8:30a.m. to 4:45p.m. CST
catalog@zebco.com

I visited the web site and found the following:"All Images (c) Disney Enterprises, Inc./Pixar Animation Studios. All rights reserved."

SPECIAL ALERT
Info on Bill to end lawsuits against gun makers.

      I do not know what is going on with the bill to end the lawsuits against the gun makers but here is what you can do and who who can call at this time.

    The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, the Million Mom March united with the Brady Campaign, and States United to Prevent Gun Violence are urging all anti-gunners to "call your Senators" to keep S. 659, S. 1805 and S. 1806 from coming to the Senate floor by using a filibuster! These are the bills that will prevent anti-gunners from using the court system to punish innocent people for the things criminals do with guns. The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. has enough votes to pass so the anti-gunners only hope is to use the filibuster. That way they only need 40 votes to defeat the bill instead of 51. This law will not prevent anyone from bringing a lawsuit against anyone who commits a crime involving guns as the anti-gunners claim.

• WHAT YOU SHOULD DO: Urge your U.S. Senators to SUPPORT S. 659, S. 1805 and S. 1806 and VOTE AGAINST a filibuster of these same bills, AND call Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who controls the Senate schedule, and tell him TO schedule a vote on the legislation.
• WHEN: Tuesday, November 4, 2003 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Midwest time zone, 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Mountain time zone, 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Standard Time
  • STEP 1: Between 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM EST on Tuesday, November 4, call your U.S. Senators via the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected with your U.S. Senators. Urge them to support S. 659, S. 1805 and S. 1806 and to vote against a filibuster of these same bills.
  • STEP 2: Call the Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist at 202-224-3344 and tell him that you support S. 659, S. 1805 and S. 1806 and bring the bills up for a vote
  ENLIST YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO HELP ON TUESDAY
  These Senators will be crucial in passing these three bills. The
  message to these Senators is the same: SUPPORT S. 659, S. 1805 and S. 1806
  and OPPOSE a filibuster of these same bills.

FREE PHONE NUMBER 1-800-839-5276