Household Gunowners' Digest Information, Tips, and Support for the Private Gun Owner ------------------------------------------------------------ December 6, 2001 Volume I, #4 ------------------------------------------------------------ Gwen S. Patton, Editor, wendy_lyn@unforgettable.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This is a FREE newsletter! Feel free to pass it along to friends, so long as you pass it along in its entirety. You are receiving this newsletter because you requested a subscription. Unsubscribe instructions are at the end of this newsletter. ------------------------------------------------------------ IN THIS ISSUE ------------------------------------------------------------ => Words from The Range Bag => Review: Two Pistol Safes by Gwen Patton => Feature: Concealed Carry Permits - With Focus on Florida by Gwen Patton => Political Aims => News from the Home Front by Neva LaRue => Submission Guidelines => Subscribe/Unsubscribe information ------------------------------------------------------------ Words from The Range Bag, by Gwen Patton ------------------------------------------------------------ Barbara Graham's son was killed at a Martin Luther King, Jr. rally in 1999. This was a tragic event. It is always sad when someone gets killed, and it is doubly sad for a mother to lose her son. Barbara Graham became a stauch supporter of the anti-gun movement on that day, and dedicated herself to "preventing gun death and injury and supporting victims and survivors of gun trauma." At least, for about a year she did. Then she punched a different button on her internal MP3 player and started a much different tune. On January 26, 2000, she and her daughter's 30-year-old boyfriend went in search of her son's killer. She found young Kikko Smith, a 23-year old who didn't know her from Eve. When Ms. Graham asked Smith his name, he said "Kikko". Ms. Graham responded with several shots from a .45 caliber handgun, crippling Smith for life. Kikko Smith did not kill Ms. Graham's son. He had never even met her son. Ms. Graham had misheard the name, and thought Kikko said "Teacco", the name of the person she really was looking for, a man police also say is not the man who shot her son. Both Ms. Graham and her daughter's boyfriend face life imprionment charges for this assault. As gunowners, it is important to make certain you maintain clarity of purpose in your gun ownership. After all, this is a device that can remove life from another human being with very little effort on your part. It can even destroy another human being totally by accident. This is an awesome responsibility, one that cannot be approached lightly or without grave concern and conscious thought. A gunowner must be absolutely clear as to why they own a weapon, the circumstances in which they will use it, and the mindset they intend to cultivate for its use. Will they only think of the weapon as a sporting tool, to be taken to the range for shooting at targets, or will they think of it as a defensive tool, a potentially lethal killing tool intended to protect life and limb of self and loved ones, if necessary at the cost of the life of an attacker? These are vitally important questions. Ms. Graham asked herself another question. Would she use her weapon to commit a violent crime? She answered that quesiton "yes". This is, in this editor's opinion, an abuse of that weapon and an abuse of the right to bear arms. We have this right in order to defend ourselves and our loved ones against harm, against crime, and against tyranny. We do not have this right so that we can commit crime, or to perpetrate harm upon others unjustly. Ms. Graham's crime is only deepened that she was an anti-gun activist, working to remove the rights of law- abiding gun owners while intending to commit crimes with a gun of her own. This sort of hypocrisy reflects badly on all gun owners, for the general public does not necessarily make the distinction between we law-abiding gun owners and criminals such as Ms. Graham. They have been trained to see only the gun as the common element, and to see all guns as equally evil. So we, as the good guys, must work extra hard to overcome the negative effects of those such as Ms. Graham. Her act of revenge has hurt more than just Kikko Smith and his family. It has hurt more than Ms. Graham and her family. It has also injured every law-abiding gun owner, who will be tarred unfairly by the brush Ms. Graham has dipped. --- Gwen Patton The Range Bag ------------------------------------------------------------ Review: Two Pistol Safes, AMSEC PB48 and Stack-On PBW-1 by Gwen Patton ------------------------------------------------------------ Household Gunowners' Digest does not subscribe to the belief that gun owners should render their firearms useless in order to own them, but we do believe that when they are not under the immediate control of the owner, they should be secured from unauthorized access. This is a matter of responsibility and safety, preventing them from falling into the hands of those not trained to use them properly, or into the hands of thieves who might be casually ransacking a room. No safe other than a huge, inches-thick vault is going to thwart a determined burglar with time on his hands and tools in his posession, but most thieves lack both. They tend to be of the snatch-and-grab variety, cramming what is easily available into a sack and carrying it away. They will go through drawers and dresser tops, under pillows, even under mattresses, looking for valuables in the most common and logical places. If you store your handgun there in your absence, a thief will likely find it and steal it. These are also places that children will snoop, out of curiosity and when looking for money, confiscated toys, hidden presents, or innocently while playing. It behooves any gun-owning parent to strongly consider the benefits of a child-training program such as the NRA's "Eddie Eagle" system, which teaches children to STOP!, Don't Touch!, leave the area, and tell an adult if they find a gun. But it would be good as well to get into the good habit of securing your weapon when you are not there to use it. If it is on your person, a trigger lock is worse than useless, it is a dangerous and possibly life-threatening device that will cost you precious seconds when you need the weapon most. Unless local law requires you to use one, don't do it. The time you spend fumbling at your lock is time you may need to save your life. But when you are NOT carrying your weapon, you need a place to safely store it. I personally use two small pistol lock-boxes, one for my home, and one for my car. The one for my home is designed for quick access, and is mounted on the wall at the head of my bed. The one in my car does not require fast access, and is secured to the steel frame. Neither was excessively expensive, but both give me great peace of mind. The home lock box I purchased at my local gun shop, the Amsec "Pistol Packer" security case, model PB48. It is a sturdy box, measuring approximately 14" by 9" by 4" deep, with a flat lid that hinges up. It is constructed entirely of 14-gauge steel with a baked-on crinkle finish in dark gray, which is not unattractive. It has a steel bail-type handle on one side, should you wish to carry it around, but I chose to use the holes drilled in the flat bottom of the box to mount it to a wall-stud with lag screws (not provided). A provided piece of foam covers the interior bottom once it is mounted on wall or floor. The locking mechanism is a Simplex pushbutton lock with five buttons. The combination can be set by the owner to any sequence of buttons desired, provided each button is pressed only once. Buttons may be pressed singly or in combination, presenting more potential combinations than can be imagined. When the combination has been punched in, the knob is turned, releasing the ¼-inch brass deadbolt that secures the lid. I have practiced, and can open this box in less than three seconds from a lying start on my bed. Securing the weapons inside the box was an issue in my case, because I mounted mine on the wall instead of on a flat surface. I didn't want to have to reach down to the floor to access my weapons, and the wall was conveniently close to the bed. So I went to my local hardware store and purchased several strong ceramic magnets and placed them inside the box around the sides. Since all of my current weapons either are made of steel or have sufficient steel fittings to allow the magnets purchase, they are securely held in predictable and easily-accessable locations inside the box. This probably would not work with a polymer-frame weapon such as a Glock, however. You would probably need to use fitted foam inserts to secure the weapon in that event, or attach a holster to the inside of the box using epoxy. The box is readily at hand, and would take concerted effort by a most-determined thief to gain access. The lag screws are several inches long into solid wood, and are inaccessible from the outside. I can get at my weapons at a moment's notice, and there is room for all three of my pistols -- FEG Hi-Power clone, .32 Magnum revolver, and .22 autopistol. There is ample room for a few loaded magazines, and even some box ammo. If I spent some effort cutting the foam inserts attached to the lid and bottom of the box, I could probably fit other accessories into it as well, but the need has not arisen. The Amsec box has been extremely acceptable. The price varies on the Amsec box from store to store from around $100 to about $130. It is a common sale item, so keep an eye out for price reductions. My other pistol box I mentioned in my Range Bag column last month, but did not give the model number, and several people have asked me about it since. It was the Sentinel Home Protection Pistol Box model PBW-1 by Stack-On Products. It measures 9 ¼" x 7 ¼" x 13", is also of 14-gauge steel, and comes with foam sheets to line it with to protect your weapons from scratches. Convenient mounting holes are drilled in the four sides, so you can mount it in any direction, and the door is placed in one end, on a 9 ¼" x 7 ¼" face. Since speed of access was not quite the issue with this box as it was with the box mounted at the head of my bed, I did not feel I needed a combination lock, so this box has a simpler and less- costly cylindrical security key lock. This kind of lock is frequently seen on vending machines, and is very secure, extremely hard to pick. The bar it raises and lowers is over an 1/8" thick and an inch wide of solid steel, and the door simply cannot be opened when the lock is secured. I mounted this box inside my trunk with bolts through two of the holes in the top of the box, attaching a bar between the holes as a sort of staple. The heads of the bolts were then ruined to prevent their removal. The threads on the ends of the bolts were similarly ruined. A heavy, cut-resistant security cable-lock was then used to fasten the box to the frame of the car inside the trunk. This would not deter a chop-shop, but it would deter the casual thief looking for loose items in the car. He simply would not have the time or the tools necessary to defeat the cable, the lock, or the box. This box was the less expensive of the two, costing less than $30. The security cable-lock cost another $15. These devices will not prevent a determined, well-equipped thief from stealing your weapons. Nothing will, short of burying them in concrete. But they will prevent them from casual misuse or theft by unauthorized persons and give you peace of mind for a very reasonable price, and will not render your weapons unreasonably inaccessible when you need them most. There are fancier gun safes, including electronic safes with pushbutton locks in the shape of your hand that spring open when you punch in the combination, and even a brand of safe you can mount in your wall that will literally hand you your gun when you open it using a spring-loaded holster mechanism inside the door! But these are far more expensive devices, and may not offer you any more peace of mind than these simple, cost-effective expedients. As with all things, Your Mileage May Vary. Useful Web Sites: http://www.amsecusa.com/newguns/handguns/ http://www.stack-on.com/securityplus/pistol_ammo/pb-101.html (Note: Stack-On calls it model PB-101, Wal-Mart calls it PBW-1.) Other Gun Safes (not reviewed, but interesting looking): http://www.gunlocker.com http://www.qwikcase.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Feature: Concealed Carry Permits -- With Focus on Florida by Gwen Patton ------------------------------------------------------------ One of the most important things a gun owner needs to have -- other than the gun itself -- is, of course, the permission to carry it around with them. A very few states give their citizens the right to carry weapons concealed about their persons without requiring any special permission whatsoever, Vermont being first and foremost on that list. Still others, like Kentucky, give the right to carry a firearm openly, but not concealed from view, without a permit, but to hide it under a jacket requires a license from the State. The laws between the states are complex, and no two states handle weapons laws exactly the same. You absolutely MUST research the applicable concealed-carry laws for your state before you begin to carry your weapon. If you do not, you risk criminal prosecution, and that may jeopardize your lifetime right to even OWN a firearm! This article will concentrate on the kind of permit that will benefit the readers of this newsletter the most: the concealed- carry permit. This permit allows the bearer to posess a firearm "on or about their person, concealed from view." In some states, this means under your jacket, in a pocket, or even in the glove box of your car. Some states consider the glove box as a separate case, others consider that as "about the person", and regard it as "concealed", requiring a permit. CHECK THE LAW! There are several key points you need to know about concealed- carry permits. Does your state offer them? If so, is your state a "shall issue" or a "may issue" state? Does your state allow non-resident permits? Must you apply in person, or can you do it by mail, or online? And will your permit be recognized in other jurisdictions? Probably one of the most useful online tools for determining the answers to these questions is the www.packing.org website. It should be your first stop along the way to acquiring your concealed-carry permit, having tables and excerpts from the appropriate state laws regarding weapons. There is, however, a very strong caveat. Like all websites, packing.org is maintained by someone other than those responsible for the laws in question, so it may not be 100% up-to-date. You MUST double-check all information from that site with the appropriate authorities. THEY will be the final word in all such matters. Packing.org will provide the appropriate addresses, web URLs, and phone numbers. One of the most common terms you will run across is the term "shall issue." A "shall issue" state, as opposed to a "may issue" state, is one where the governmental body responsible for the issuance of concealed carry permits has NO discretion as to who may or may not receive a permit. If the person who applies for one is not legally disqualified from having a permit according to legally-defined criteria, they MUST issue the permit. They have no choice in the matter. A "may issue" state *has* discretion in who they may issue to, and they do not have to adhere to any particular standard. Candidates may be rejected for any reason at all, including capricious reasons that may appear discriminatory or even bigoted to an outside observer. Needless to say, pro-gun organizations are trying to change may-issue states into shall-issue. Another key term is "reciprocity", a term that effectively means "tit for tat". States will arrange with each other that, if the other state will recognize permits from their state, they will recognize the permits from the other state in return. These arrangements can be complex. Florida, for example, will recognize Pennsylvania RESIDENT permits, but cannot recognize non-resident Pennsylvania permits due to how the law is worded. Kentucky, however, will recognize ANY state's concealed-carry permits, due to recent changes in their laws. States that issue permits to non-residents are important because you may, from time to time, wish to travel to a state in which your own home state's permit is not valid -- where your state does not have reciprocity -- but a non-resident permit from another state *may* be. Currently, the most popular non-resident concealed-carry permit is from the State of Florida, which is recognized by 15 states. (Some states only recognize Florida's permit if held by a Florida resident.) The list, as found on the Florida site is: Alabama Alaska Non-resident acceptance questionable Arkansas Georgia Idaho Non-resident acceptance questionable Indiana Kentucky Louisiana Michigan No non-resident permits Mississippi Montana New Hampshire No non-resident permits North Dakota Pennsylvania Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Wyoming As you can see, two states do not recognize non-resident permits, and two haven't made up their minds...but that leaves 15 states where the permit *is* valid -- and you don't even have to live in one of those states. One of the most recent benefits of the Florida license has devolved upon New Jersey residents. It is extremely difficult, bordering on impossiblity, to get a concealed carry permit in New Jersey, a notorious "may issue" state that is known to issue only to retired police officers and occasional business owners who have been repeatedly threatened and assaulted. Individuals almost never get carry permits in New Jersey. But they *can* get a Florida concealed carry permit -- and that permit is honored in the state of Pennsylvania, right across the Delaware river! This means that New Jersey gun owners with Florida permits can carry their weapons when doing business in Philadelphia and feel safer while doing so. They still have to lock their weapon away when they cross the state line on the way home, but at least they have it at hand for part of the trip. And there are 14 other states in which they can exercise their rights! If you want to get a Florida concealed carry permit, it isn't hard. You must be 21. You must basically be eligible to purchase a firearm, because most of the restrictions on the license match those for purchase of a gun, such as having a felony conviction, or having been committed to a mental institution. Request the licensing packet online at the website (see below). You need to show them that you have had basic training with a firearm. An NRA-approved basic pistol course at your local gun club or firing range will suffice, but they list a number of alternatives they will accept. They will send you a form, a fingerprint card, and all relevant documents. You will need to get fingerprinted at your local police station. You will have to get passport photos taken to include in the packet. One section is an affadavit, and *must* be completed in the presence of a Notary Public. Enclose a certified check for the fee ($117 at the time this article was written) and send it all to the address as supplied in the packet. Then you wait. The website claims it can take 90 days or longer to process applications, especially if they need to requisition criminal records, but I have heard of persons receiving theirs in as little as 60 days. Do you feel the 15 states afforded by the Florida permit aren't enough, or aren't the right ones? Well, then mix and match with non-resident permits from other states. Do your research, and you may, with expenditure of sufficient money and dilligence, be able to cover most, if not all, of the states that honor non-resident concealed carry permits. One person reports that with permits from nine states, he covered 27 jurisdictions. It cost a lot, but he felt it was worth it. You should tune your selections for where you feel you will be travelling. Of course, if recent lobbying for national reciprocity is successful, having once concealed carry permit will mean all states will have to honor it, but that day has not yet come. Useful Web Sites: Florida Concealed Carry: http://licgweb.dos.state.fl.us/weapons/index.html http://www.packing.org ------------------------------------------------------------ Political Aims ------------------------------------------------------------ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 5, 2001 For Information Contact Public Affairs Channing Phillips (202)514-6933 Second defendant convicted of all nine charges for shooting and paralyzing unarmed and innocent young man Washington, D.C. - United States Attorney Wilma A. Lewis announced that Erskine Moorer, age 30, of Ft. Washington, MD, was convicted today by a Superior Court jury of all nine charged counts which included Assault With Intent To Kill While Armed, Aggravated Assault While Armed, Mayhem While Armed, three separate counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime Of Violence, and other related gun charges. Moorer's co-defendant, Barbara Graham, age 49, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, was convicted of the same charges last Thursday. Both defendants face up to life imprisonment when they are sentenced later this year. According to the government's evidence presented at trial, on January 26, 2000, at approximately 6:10 p.m., Barbara Graham approached a young 22-year-old man by the name of Kikko Smith and asked him his name. Mr. Smith responded to her question and stated yes my name is Kikko, where upon Ms. Graham, reached inside her purse and pulled out a handgun with an extended clip and began to chase Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith ran for his life and then was shot at and hit a number of times by Graham and her daughter's long term boyfriend, Erskine Moorer. One of the bullets struck Mr. Smith in his back, breaking his rib, collapsing his lung and eventually shattering his spine. Other shots, struck Mr. Smith in his foot and head. Due to this incident, Mr. Smith has spent over a year in either hospitals or assisted living facilities. He is confined to a wheel chair and has no movement from the waist down. In announcing the guilty verdicts, U.S. Attorney Lewis commended the injured victim, Kikko Smith and his family for his courage, and the investigative work of Metropolitan Police Department Detectives A.D. Williams, Lt. C.V. Morris, Willie Jefferson, Bruce Faison, Rita McCoy, Susan Blue, John Rhodes, Don Juan Monroe, Jamel Mayhew, Phillipe Moore, Donita Giles, Robert Mitchell, Anthony Mable, Wayne Marable, Demetrica "Flash" Cater, Gregory Stewart, Anthony Johnson, Edward Torrence, J.V. Francis, and Officers John Regan, Michael Whiteside, Calvin Hopkins, Ramonz Height, James Savage, Mary Mingo, J.D. Smith, and MPD and ATF firearms-tool marks examiners Torin Suber and Walter Dandridge. In addition, special thanks is given to former MPD Officer, and now Strurbridge Massachusetts Officer, Paul Newsham, for his assistance while still with MPD. A special note of thanks is also extended to Ms. Diane Hobdy, Leslie Faucette, Debbie Cannon and David Foster from the Victim Witness Assistance section for their help. Ms. Lewis also commended the work of paralegal specialists Marion Russell and Wanda Trice and Assistant United States Attorneys Diana Harris Epps and Leutrell Osborne II who indicted and prosecuted the case at trial. Editor's Note: Ms. Graham is most widely known for her efforts on the behalf of the Million Mom March. It is a classic case of "mugged liberal syndrome" that has turned this rabid anti-gun crusader into a firearm abusing criminal. Guns were the root of all evil until SHE needed one to get revenge. Then it was okay. See this month's Range Bag for my take on this story. --RB. ------------------------------------------------------------ News from the Home Front by Neva LaRue ------------------------------------------------------------ Speaking as a former battered woman, I will say that of course we face more danger from our abusers if they shoot us... but I would add that in 24 years of abuse, not once did my (now ex-) husband use a gun... 1 in 3 women is assaulted by someone she knows in her lifetime, 1 in 4 suicides among white women are attempted by women in abusive relationships, 1 in 2 Black women in abusive relationships attempt suicide. The figures are true, but they do not address the reality...that most women who are abused are beaten. I have been punched, tackled, kicked, even hit with a screwdriver....but never shot. What will be outlawed next because of a faulty train of logic? Hands, fist, feet, shoulders, screwdrivers? We have laws in place to deal with assaults, and assaults with deadly weapons. If we want to address the problem of women being abused by any method, we need to address the abusers and the abuse; not waste energy and resources on worrying about what weapon they used to abuse with, especially when the "weapon" is not even close to the one most frequently employed. A neighbor of mine, five years younger than I, was recently beaten to death...kicked into a coma that ended in death several days later...he had beaten her before but never been jailed for it...this time it ended in her death. I was beaten repeatedly.... had a PPO that was violated repeatedly... the police knew that I was being beaten, the hospital knew, the doctors knew, the judge knew... he came back again and again... he had no gun as far as I knew. I've had three surgeries to repair various body parts and live every day with an aortic aneurysm that will not be repaired unless or until it becomes ruptured. If his behavior was addressed by the legal system in the way it ought to have been, much of that would never have happened...no need to address whether he was armed or not in any case. I appear in front of my local gun board Wednesday to, I hope, be approved for my CPL...after that, I can protect myself. Thank God. --- Neva LaRue ------------------------------------------------------------ Submission Guidelines ------------------------------------------------------------ Household Gunowners' Digest is intended for the person who owns a firearm for personal protection, or for the protection of their family or loved ones. We are always looking for feature articles that address the needs of the everyday person who owns, or is looking to own, a personal firearm. We are not looking for articles geared towards hunting, law enforcement, or military applications. For complete guidelines, please see http://www.voicenet.com/~ardrhi/hgd-submit.html ------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 2001 Gwendolyn S. Patton, Jeffersonville, PA. All Rights Reserved. Newsletter may be freely shared between individuals, provided that it is shared in toto. For reprinting of individual articles, please contact the editorial staff. ------------------------------------------------------------ To subscribe, send an email to: hgd-home-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To unsubscribe, send an email to: hgd-home-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Or subscribe through our home page at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hgd-home HGD has an open discussion group. All subscribers are welcome to participate. To subscribe, send an email to: hgd-discuss-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Or subscribe through our home page at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hgd-discuss ------------------------------------------------------------ Household Gunowners' Digest is a publication of: Revolution Earth Press 163 N. Whitehall Rd Jeffersonville, PA 19403 610-630-9862 Editor-in-Chief: Gwendolyn S. Patton wendy_lyn@unforgettable.com Assistant Editor: Margaret S. Leber maggie@voicenet.com http://revolutionearth.wmnsnetbiz.com