Store owner, 80, returns to work, gun at the ready, after shootout
CRAWFORDSVILLE — The potato chip deliveryman saw the handgun sitting on the counter at The Neighborhood Store during his stop last week and raised his hands in mock surrender. "Don’t shoot me," he said, laughing at store owner Clarence Cochran.
The gun, a Taurus. 38 Special six-shooter, is the frequent butt of jokes at the tiny grocery on Green Avenue, near the railroad tracks at the southern end of this Crittenden County town. Friends tease the wiry, 150-pound Cochran that the pistol, with its 6-inch barrel, is almost as big as he is. Its loud report is the antithesis of Cochran’s soft, raspy voice.
Cochran, 80, keeps another handgun in his mobile home next door and a shotgun rests behind a shelf in the store. He takes a ribbing for his cache of weapons, Cochran’s family said, but one of them was a lifesaver when two men bent on robbery entered his store the night after Christmas last year. "
Police in Springfield, IL executed a search warrant last week on the home of Annette "Flirty" Stevens, anti-gun activist and president of the Springfield chapter of the Million Mom March. The search warrant was issued in connection with a spate of drive-by-shootings in the area. Ms. Stevens was placed under arrest after the police allegedly found illegal drugs and a handgun with the serial numbers removed. She may also face being charged with not having a valid Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card, required by Illinois law to keep legal firearms. In a statement to the press, Stevens said the gun belonged to her son who died in a shooting in mid-2003, that when she discovered it about a half year following his death, she didn't know what to do with it, and put it in a drawer.
Richard Pearson, Executive Director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, commented: "She could face felony charges. I find it incredible that someone representing an organization that pushes legislation that only punishes law-abiding gun owners would possess such an illegal weapon."
"Surely she must be familiar with US gun laws and those in Illinois, considering the position she holds. Does she think the law does not apply to her due to anti-gun affiliation? It's the height of hypocrisy!"
"It's a classic case of liberal elitists who say 'Do as I say' but cannot walk their own talk." Pearson concluded.
Posted by gsadmin on Wednesday, March 02 @ 23:40:14 CST (1075 reads) (Read More... | Score: 4.16)
When something like this.. becomes an Issue.. we got probs.
Court rebuffs pupil in dispute over gun photo
By BEVERLEY WANG, The Associated Press
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005
CONCORD - A federal judge has refused to delay publication of a high school yearbook while a student fights to include a photo showing him posing with a shotgun.
Londonderry High School officials told Blake Douglass he couldn’t use the photo as his senior portrait, but offered to publish it in a specially created “community sports” section so he could show his interest in trapshooting.
Douglass rejected the offer and sued, arguing that for 20 years the yearbook has included photos of students “posing with weapons or simulated weapons, making offensive gestures (and) referencing the use of alcohol by minors.” He claimed the school was discriminating against him based on his hobby, violating his freedom of expression.
Trapshooting involves clay disks tossed into the air. Douglass posed in trapshooting gear, including a sportsman’s vest, with his broken-open Ruger shotgun draped over his shoulder. School officials acknowledge the photo is not threatening, but contend it would be inappropriate and could send the message that the school endorses guns.
Posted by gsadmin on Saturday, February 19 @ 18:39:34 CST (1095 reads) (Read More... | Score: 0)
Neal Knox's Final report
Cancer silences “the most influential voice in the fight for gun rights”
from www.nealknox.com
Neal Knox, former vice president of the National Rifle Association and long-time leader of the gun rights movement, died at his home on January 17, 2005 following a year-long battle with colon cancer. He was sixty-nine. He is survived by his wife, Jay Janen Knox (Shirley) and his four children; Christopher, Shan, Jeffrey, Stacey, and seven grandchildren.
Born Clifford Neal Knox on June 20, 1936 in Rush Springs, Oklahoma, Neal spent most of his early life in Texas, graduating from Vernon, Texas High School and attending Abilene Christian College. His early working years included eight years in the Texas National Guard, stints in insurance and the oil business, and assignments as a reporter for the Vernon Daily Record and, later, the Wichita Falls Times and Record News. At that same time, he was demonstrating his life-long interest in firearms as a freelance writer for several gun magazines.
Neal realized his dream of becoming a full-time gun writer in 1966 when he became the founding editor of Gun Week newspaper. A few years later he took over as editor of Handloader magazine and oversaw the creation of Rifle magazine. In 1971 he and his partner moved the magazines from Peoria, Illinois to Prescott, Arizona.
Posted by gsadmin on Wednesday, January 19 @ 06:31:11 CST (1059 reads) (Read More... | 2764 bytes more | Score: 0)
Wal-Mart to pay $14m in gun suit
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will pay $14.5 million to settle a civil complaint with California alleging thousands of violations of state gun laws during a three-year period. Some violations were alleged to have taken place at its store in Folsom.
Wal-Mart's settlement includes $5 million in fines. It also must submit to court-enforced compliance with all gun laws and provide more than $4 million to pay for state compliance checks. Wal-Mart also must pay, as part of the settlement, $3 million that will be used to develop and implement a system to validate the age of ammunition buyers and to create a public service campaign that focuses on firearm safety -- particularly for safe gun storage from children.
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer's office said Wednesday the company will work to prevent the sale of ammunition to minors and educate the public on gun laws.
Wal-Mart stopped selling firearms in its California stores after an audit last year discovered more than 2,800 violations at five stores
