Field and Stream - Speak Your Mind RSS

Announcing the 2011 Gun Nut Target Photo Contest

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 13:22:42 -0400

The Gun Nuts On Television

Online Editors — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:55:05 -0400

That’s me -- I’m the one on the left -- on the set of “The Gun Nuts” the other day. We had just filmed a highly scientific test on the shot-resistant properties of shooting glasses. What happens when 8 shot launched at 1200 fps meets polycarbonate lenses protecting googly craft eyes on cantaloupes representing human heads? Tune in to The Gun Nuts to find out.

Starting today, every Wednesday at 9:30 PM (EST) Dave and I will do our best to bring this blog to life onscreen on the Outdoor Channel. We will blast melons, torture red dots, debunk myths and even break out Dave’s famous Ballistic Buffalo. We’ll talk about guns both classic and new, give shooting advice, and speak our minds about gunny subjects. We may give some stuff away, too.

So far it has been a lot of fun to work on The Gun Nuts, and I hope the end result is as much fun for you to watch. We’ll find out soon enough. If you can’t wait until next Wednesday, then play the preview clip below, which the Outdoor Channel worked up for the show. -- Phil Bourjaily

How to Shoot a Magazine for Fun and (Maybe) Profit

Online Editors — Thu, 27 May 2010 13:20:41 -0400

We want you to take the July issue of Field & Stream out and shoot it. Well, not the whole magazine, but the target on page 49. It’s part of the special Gun Nut issue, in which DEP and I put this blog on the pages of the Field & Stream. In the section you’ll find shooting advice, lots of guns, Gun Nut rules to live by and such vital minutiae as my five favorite gun scenes in the movies and Dave’s nominations for the Three Meanest Gunwriters Ever. The issue hits newsstands on June 22nd.

Back to the target. We want you to shoot it. Really. With any gun, at any range. One shot or many – doesn’t matter – then shoot it again, this time with a camera. You can be in the picture, too. Whoever takes the photo our editors like best wins a Smith & Wesson M&P MOE in 5.56mm. And by “wins” I mean, we give it to you (via a registered FFL dealer) and you get to keep it. You can enter the contest here once your issue arrives.

I have shot a bunch of phone books (you test penetration by seeing how far in the alphabet the pellets reach) but I don’t recall ever shooting a magazine so you are on your own in your choice of guns and ammunition. My only advice is be safe, be creative, have fun, and send us your pictures.

There’s nothing in the rules that says you can’t send in pictures of more than one target. That will require buying more magazines which, of course, is all part of our insidiously brilliant plan. Magazines are supposed to be dying out, killed by the Internet as delivered on home computers, laptops, phones and iPads. Maybe someday, but for now, we are proud to say we have created an app for a magazine that can’t be replicated on a screen. Well, I guess you can shoot your laptop if you want to, but we won’t let you win a gun for doing it.

Chad Love: Toy Guns Don’t Make Kids Killers

Joe_Cermele — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:43:43 -0400

It's always refreshing to see a person reject "liberal" versus "conservative" politics in favor of non-partisan rationality, and a good example of this can be found in this essay on the "liberal"-leaning news site Salon.

From the story:

I was a violent kid. More than anything, I loved to play war. In my basement, I built a sandbag foxhole out of stacked-up sofa pillows. I would hide inside and peer out at what I imagined were the smoking slopes of Iwo Jima, crawling with Japanese soldiers ready to fight to the death.

My parents were liberal. More than liberal: Unitarians. We had a National Organization for Women poster hanging in our kitchen. A family friend stayed with us at the house while going through a sex change. My dad was, and probably still is, an advocate of the most draconian gun control proposals ever drafted, or even pondered. I'm sure both my parents voted for Carter, probably Dukakis, too. I remember a lot of family skinny dipping. Hell, my parents wouldn't even let me play on a football team.

Our family stood in sharp contrast to the countless Americans who grow up not only with toy guns, but also with real guns, as a routine part of life. Guns were anathema to my parents. Period. Guns were bad. That included toy guns.

Fast-forward 30 years, and now I am the proud parent of two children. Lovely wife. Cute brick row house. A waggly tailed, big old yellow dog. I either did something right or got really lucky, or both. Like many young parents, I've learned that despite all my whining about my Unitarian parents, I'll be lucky to be half as patient, evenhanded, thoughtful and engaged with my kids as my folks were with me, even during my lengthy jackass stage.

That does not mean, however, that I have to do everything exactly the way they did. Now, I have a son. He is just turning 4. And I have decided to arm him to the teeth.

As the father of a well-adjusted and completely normal child who also happens to think R. Lee Ermey's "Lock N Load" is the coolest show on television and who recently informed his parents that he wants to be a "gun expert" when he grows up, I commend the "liberal" author's rejection of the ridiculous notion that toy guns somehow turn kids into killers. It shows that maybe, just maybe, common sense is more powerful than political ideology.

Bourjaily: The Naked Truth About Concealed Carry

Online Editors — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:11:42 -0400

A little while ago Dave provided an excellent and important public service post about how to spot concealed handgun. Unfortunately, it didn’t cover every concealed carry situation, as illustrated by the case of George Vera, arrested recently in Houston for selling bootlegged CDs. Vera was frisked on the scene by arresting officers, at the city jail and again at county, yet officers never found his hidden 9mm until he confessed to possessing a weapon to guards at shower time. How did he do it? Read on.

If that wasn’t enough to make you feel slightly ill, ask yourself: if the gun was unloaded, where did he hide the bullets?

Chad Love: Locked & Loaded in Parkland

Joe_Cermele — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:28:51 -0400

There's already been a boatload of bloviation expressed on the recent reversal of the ban on loaded firearms in our national parks, some of it sensible but most of it (predictably) bordering on hysterics.

This column from the Huffington Post is a perfect example:

"In fact, the new rule is likely to make national park visitors less safe around wildlife. Packing heat could give some people a false sense of security and make them more likely to approach bison, elk, moose, and grizzly bears, rather than keep a safe distance which is better for both people and animals."

But the most certain outcome of this congressional action is that it will promote poaching. The National Park Service warned in its fiscal 2006 budget submission each year for the past several years ... The data suggests that there is a significant domestic as well as international trade for illegally taken plant and animal parts." Poaching, the agency said, "is suspected to be a factor in the decline of at least 29 species of wildlife and could cause the extirpation of 19 species from the parks."

Two points I'd like to make in response. First, poaching. When you make an argument it's generally a pretty good idea to make sure the data you use in defense of your argument actually support it. Apparently Mr. Markarian skipped that chapter in his high school debate class. There's absolutely no, none, nada, zip not a shred of evidence or data to support his assertion that allowing visitors firearms "promotes poaching." He, to be perfectly blunt, reached around his backside and pulled that statement out of his a**. And that National Park Service budget submission he quoted was published in...2006. Yes, three years ago. You know, back when packing in national parks was illegal.

Second, it's obvious the author has never visited a national park. If he had he would know that it's complete fantasy to believe that current (unarmed) visitors to our national parks exhibit good judgment and keep a safe, prudent distance from roadside wildlife. Quite the opposite. Thanks to the constant anthropomorphization we're subjected to we now believe that wild animals have a deep, intrinsic empathy toward humans. They would love us, if only we would put down our guns and let them.

In fact, if one could make a sweeping generalization about the common sense of the average American tourist by observing their behavior around national park wildlife, one would have to reach the inevitable conclusion that we're already a nation of clueless, pushy, overly-aggressive suburban jackasses. Guns certainly aren't going to change that. If you point out the obvious fact that wild animals have no interest in connecting with us on a spiritual level but if we intentionally harass them they will most assuredly connect with us on a physical level, then you're simply an unevolved lout who doesn't get it. See video below.

But I'm a pragmatist, and I think I've reached a compromise that will make everyone happy. Why don't we make loaded firearms illegal within say, 100 yards of any RV-accessible road but allow loaded firearms in campsites and on all trails? This achieves two goals: it gives backcountry hikers and campers a measure of personal protection from criminal and animal attack. It also gives park wildlife the freedom to (without the threat of being shot) continue stomping, goring, maiming and otherwise communing with the hordes of camera-wielding Animal Planet watchers who choke our national park roads every summer.

Discussion Topic: On Obama And Gun Control

Joe_Cermele — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:27:26 -0400

From Politics Daily:

This should be a time of great hope for supporters of stricter gun control laws. They've got a new president on their side, a Congress dominated by Democrats, even a terrible string of shootings this spring that should lend urgency to their cause.

Instead they're facing discouraging signals from the White House, falling support for tighter regulation, spikes in gun sales and a resurgent National Rifle Association. Just the prospect of new federal limits on guns has sent enthusiasts rushing to buy guns and join the NRA.

Are you encouraged that gun-control does not seem to be at the top of President Obama’s to-do list—at least so far? That more democrats seem reluctant to fight hard for gun control? Or do you feel it’s unwise to let down your guard?

A Man's Grill

Joe_Cermele — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:00:00 -0400

Discussion Topic: Senate Okays Guns In Parks

Joe_Cermele — Thu, 14 May 2009 09:05:58 -0400

Strange things are happening in Washington—and not just the usual strange things. Democrats are voting pro-gun. Or at least they did on Tuesday, when the Senate overwhelmingly approved a measure (attached to credit-card-reform legislation) that would allow permit holders to carry loaded guns in national parks and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service public lands.

The vote was 67 to 29, with 39 republicans, one independent, and a whopping 27 democrats voting aye—prompting The New York Times to ask “Who’s Senate Is This?”

And that’s not all; referring to a since-overturned rule implemented by the Bush administration in its last days to allow guns in parks, the Obama administration said it would not appeal the former president’s decision, a stance hailed by gun-control groups.

So what do you make of this? Does any of this increase your faith in Democrats on gun control, or is this just a political breeze momentarily gusting in an odd direction?

Second-Amendment Restoration Act Re-Introduced

Joe_Cermele — Mon, 04 May 2009 09:21:54 -0400

From the office of U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak:

U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) has introduced legislation to restore the gun rights of individuals convicted of minor, non-violent crimes. . . .

“To be absolutely clear, the NRA believes it is both constitutional and appropriate to disarm convicted felons,” NRA Director of Federal Affairs Chuck Cunningham wrote in a letter of support for the bill. “However, we also believe that no person should lose the right to arms due to convictions for minor, non-violent crimes, especially those that occurred many years in the past.”

Discussion Topic: Field & Stream Wins ASME’s Highest Honor

Joe_Cermele — Fri, 01 May 2009 10:32:04 -0400

F&S is the best magazine of its size on the planet. Okay, I’m a little biased on that point--but it’s not just me who thinks so. Last night, the country’s top magazine editors representing the country’s top magazines met at New York City’s Lincoln Center for the 44th Annual National Magazine Awards. Known as Ellies, these are basically the Oscars of the magazine industry, and “General Excellence” is “Best Picture.”

The 2009 General Excellence nominees for magazines with a circulation of 1 to 2 million were: Field & Stream, Bon Appetit, The New Yorker, Vogue, and Popular Science. And the winner is, from the American Society of Magazine Editors website:

Field & Stream: Anthony Licata, editor, for May, June, December/January issues
From tips on becoming a total outdoorsman to profiles of veteran amputees reentering the world of hunting, Field & Stream respects its readers enough to challenge them. Like all great magazines, this one is much more ambitious than it needs to be and delivers the goods, but also provokes with content that is consistently savvy, witty and large-hearted. Nominated 14 times, this is Field & Stream’s first Ellie.

I know all of you have been waiting for an opportunity to heap praise on us—and who are we to hold you back? So just go for it.

Petzal: The Four Toughest Men of the Old West

Joe_Cermele — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:54:22 -0400

In compiling this list, I’ve given myself more latitude then usual—from the post- Lewis and Clark era into the early days of the 20th century. I would not want to neglect one of these men and have his shade come after me in the next life.

HUGH GLASS: In 1823, while a member of a trapping expedition led by Andrew Henry, Hugh Glass was mauled by a sow grizzly. His back and scalp were torn apart and one leg was broken. Because they were in Indian country, and because it seemed obvious that Glass could not live, Henry detailed John Fitzgerald and the 17-year-old Jim Bridger to stay with Glass until he died, bury him, and then catch up with the main party.

When Glass survived for 4 days, Fitzgerald and Bridger decided that there was no sense in waiting longer and left, after taking Glass’ rifle, tomahawk, and knife. Eventually, Glass grew strong enough to crawl, and be began his journey to Fort Kiowa, 200 miles and 6 weeks away. He set his own leg and let maggots eat the rotting flesh on his back. He lived on roots and berries, and on one occasion was able to drive a pair of wolves away from the carcass of a buffalo calf.

When he made it, he swore revenge on Fitzgerald and Bridger, but it was not to be: the former had joined the army, and he forgave the latter because of his youth. Glass was killed near the Yellowstone River by Arikara Indians in 1833.

JOHN WESLEY HARDIN: Some gunmen (Wyatt Earp, most notably) built awesome reputations despite having killed very few people. (Earp got three or four.) However, this fun-loving Texan stacked up the bodies on an assembly-line basis. Born in 1853, Hardin stabbed a schoolmate at the age of 14, and then got serious a year later when he shot his first man. For the next ten years his life was one protracted gunfight, interrupted by arrests and escapes from jail. In 1878, he was tried and sentenced to 25 years for murder in Texas, but was pardoned in 1894.

Hardin then went bad. He studied law and opened a more or less successful practice. In 1895, he was murdered in El Paso by Constable John Selman, who shot him in the back of the head while Hardin was rolling dice. Hardin claim to have killed 44 men; the real number is probably more like 30. It will do.

BEAR RIVER TOM SMITH: Remember all the punchouts in the Saturday afternoon Westerns? Mostly that stuff never happened, but here was one lawman who did use his fists in favor of his guns. Tom Smith was a New Yorker, a professional middleweight prizefighter, and a policeman who was hired by the city of Abilene, Kansas, in 1869. Smith enforced a highly unpopular no-guns policy in the cowtown, and for the most part, made the law stick by beating the hell out of people with his bare hands. He was thought to be completely fearless, and never backed down from a fight, no matter what the odds.

Smith met his end while carrying a gun to serve a warrant on two local farmers. He was shot, then clubbed with a rifle butt, and then decapitated with an axe. Smith was succeeded by James Butler Hickok, who believed in shooting people.

FRANK HAMER: Born in 1884 he is my personal selection as the toughest sumbitch of all. This Texas Ranger is best known for leading the posse that killed Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in 1934 (and forget the crap you saw in the movie; no one ever got the drop on him). He was a big man who would cheerfully stomp a mudhole in your ass or shoot you if you broke the law. He was never beaten in a fight of any kind; he survived numerous gunshot wounds and killed numerous people. Hamer did not play politics, which probably cut short his Ranger career.

Hamer’s career spanned the last of the Old West and into the 20th century. He served 18 years in the Rangers, and even after his retirement he retained a special commission as a Ranger. During his life, he refused money (a lot of it, reportedly) to tell his life story. Hamer died in his bed in 1955. His biography, I’m Frank Hamer, appeared in 1968, and if you can find a copy, grab it.

Idaho House Votes To Allow Guns In Cars

Joe_Cermele — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:47:58 -0400

From the Idaho Statesman:

Idaho residents love their cars and they love their guns. State representatives say the two shouldn't be separated, even when gun owners are on the job.

The House voted 50-19 Monday to tell companies to let employees leave their guns in their cars parked in company lots.

Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Idaho Falls, said three companies - Cabela's Inc., Home Depot Inc., and Hewlett-Packard Co. - forbid this now. His bill encourages them to reconsider, by promising to shield them and other companies from civil liability in state court should such a weapon be used in a crime.

"This affects hunters and more importantly, people who carry firearms for self-defense," Thompson said.

Discussion Topic: On Obama And Ammunition

Joe_Cermele — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:09:50 -0400

From NPR:

An ammunition shortage in the U.S. is affecting police and sheriffs' departments all over the country, as well as gun dealers, from big retailers like Wal-Mart to smaller family-run businesses and online operations.

Ammunition suppliers say the shortage. . . coincided with the election of President Obama . . . .

"It started the day that Obama got elected," Johnny Dury, who owns Dury's Gun Shop in San Antonio, tells NPR's Michele Norris. "It is when everything just went crazy in the gun business. . . . "

"Everybody was scared he was going to take the ammo away or he was going to tax it out of sight on the prices," Dury says. "So people started stocking up, buying half a lifetime to a lifetime supply of ammo all at one time."

Are you concerned? Are you having trouble finding ammo? Are you stockpiling?

Discussion Topic: On Children, Parents, And Guns

Joe_Cermele — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:51:21 -0400

From ABC News:

Daniel Gross, the CEO and co-founder of PAX, the nation’s largest nonpartisan gun violence prevention organization, said that 40 percent of homes with children have a gun.

“Nearly 1.7 million children live in homes with firearms that are loaded and unlocked, and every day eight children die from guns,” he said. “These statistics are unacceptable. Parents can help make their children safer. All they have to do is ask. Parents ask all sorts of questions to protect their children when they go play at the home of a friend, neighbor or relative. But there is one important question that more than half of parents say it never even occurred to them to ask: Is there a gun where my child plays?”

The NRA links PAX to anti-gun causes, which begs the question: Is the above tainted with anti-gun propaganda or is it just common-sense advice to parents?

Bipartisan Senate Bill Aims To Get Guns In Parks

Joe_Cermele — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 08:59:26 -0400

From OpposingViews.com:

Today, U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Max Baucus (D-MT), Bob Bennett (R-UT), Jon Tester (D-MT) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) introduced legislation to restore the Second Amendment rights of visitors in national parks and wildlife refuges. . . .

“NRA would like to thank this bi-partisan group of Senators for leading the legislative effort to strengthen right-to-carry laws on federal park lands. . . ,” said Chris W. Cox, NRA chief lobbyist.

Petzal: The Adventures of Plaxico in Bloombergland

Joe_Cermele — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:28:34 -0400

In the 19th century, when China was still ruled by emperors, a British trader asked a mandarin if it did not bother him that there were two standards of justice, one for the poor and another for the wealthy and well connected.

“Of course not,” said the mandarin, “it gives poor people all the more incentive to work hard and become rich.”

So anyway, Plaxico Burress, the New York Giants’ wide receiver and dexterity-challenged pistol-packer, appeared in court yesterday to be sentenced for carrying an illegal piece* and shooting himself in the leg on November 30, 2008. Under the charges Burress was facing, he was looking at a minimum of three years in prison and a maximum of 15.

Back in November, Mayor Bloomberg said that Burress should get three years no matter who he is. I said that a deal would be cut and Burress would never do a day of jail time. What happened in court yesterday supports my view. Burress stood before the judge less than a minute; the lawyers announced that they were trying to reach an agreement but that they needed more time. Sure, said his honor, so the new court date is June 15, at which time everyone will be bored by the subject. Mayor Bloomberg will be strangely mute. Plaxico will pay a fine, be required to take classes in Glock groping, and probably be traded quietly to another team in a city where the carry laws are more lenient.

*The automatic was bought legally in Florida, but Burress’ permit had expired, and it wouldn’t matter anyway because New York City does not recognize any permits but its own, even those from other counties in the state. That’s why there is no armed crime in New York City.

Bourjaily: Thoughts on Lead Bans

Joe_Cermele — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:39:33 -0400

We never saw bald eagles when I was kid, but they’re a common sight along the Iowa River now that they no longer feed on DDT-laced fish and lead-poisoned waterfowl. While a lot of hunters will disagree with me, I really believe lead bans are not secret back-door attacks on guns and hunting but are acts of genuine, well-intentioned concern for the environment.

To the guy on the street, a lead ban is a no brainer: lead is toxic, we banned it in paint and gasoline, we may as well get rid of lead bullets, too, especially since there are green alternatives. Our guy on the street neither knows nor cares that non-toxic requirements raise the cost of hunting.

That said, any increase in price – even a $1 rise in hunting license fees – prices some hunters out of the field. Complex regulations and restrictions drive casual hunters from the sport as well.

The latest lead ban, in California, is supposed to protect the endangered California condor. As this column by Jim Matthews, who hunts all over the Golden State, points out, no matter what the intention of lead bans, they wind up forcing hunters out of the field.

Discussion Topic: Judge Blocks Guns-In-Parks Rule

Joe_Cermele — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:15:31 -0400

From the Washington Post:

A federal judge yesterday blocked a last-minute rule enacted by President George W. Bush allowing visitors to national parks to carry concealed weapons. . . .

The three groups that brought the suit -- the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the National Parks Conservation Association and the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees -- argued that the Bush action violated several laws.

In her ruling, [U.S. District Judge Colleen] Kollar-Kotelly agreed that the government's process had been "astoundingly flawed."

She . . . wrote that officials "abdicated their Congressionally-mandated obligation" to evaluate environmental impacts and "ignored (without sufficient explanation) substantial information in the administrative record concerning environmental impacts" of the rule.

Your reaction?

Discussion Topic: Tennessee May End Access To Gun-Permit Records

Joe_Cermele — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 09:00:51 -0400

From an AP story posted on knoxnews.com:

Tennessee's database of state-issued permits to carry loaded handguns would be closed from public inspection under a proposal headed for a full House vote.

The House Judiciary Committee voted 6-4 to advance the measure sponsored by Rep. Eddie Bass, a Prospect Democrat and a retired sheriff.

Bass argued that making the permit information public is a violation of personal privacy.

What do you think?

Bourjaily: Nancy Pelosi and the AWB

Joe_Cermele — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:23:18 -0400

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, not normally considered a friend to gun owners, may have killed the proposed Assault Weapon Ban renewal with one shot. Here's the full story from MSNBC.

Although an industry friend tells me that in her private life, Representative Pelosi actually knows one end of a gun from the other and enjoys target shooting, that’s probably not why she opposes the ban. She wants to keep her Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, and she knows rural Democrats have a hard time running against the party’s anti-gun record.

Chad Love: Hunter Safety (and Politics) Course

Joe_Cermele — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:36:52 -0400

Who among us younger hunters doesn't look back on the completion of our hunter safety course as a major childhood or adolescent milestone on the path to becoming a hunter? Passing your hunter safety course and getting that card was a gateway into the adult world. It meant you possessed the knowledge, ethics and the responsibility that is required of a hunter.

What you weren't required to have was a particular political or religous philosophy. Unless, of course, this guy was your instructor.

From the story:

Thirteen-year-old Lane Dunkley just wanted to go hunting with his grandfather. What he got was a lesson in politics and human nature. Dunkley and his father Daniel Reddy, who live in Tulsa, went to Broken Arrow Tuesday night for a hunter safety course normally required to get an Oklahoma hunting license...But when father and son arrived at the lesson, the volunteer instructor, Kell Wolf, asked if any of the students voted for President Obama. Reddy, a transplanted Californian - and ex-Marine - raised his hand. According to Reddy and others in the room, Wolf called Obama “the next thing to the Anti-Christ” and ordered Reddy and Dunkley from the room. When Reddy refused, Wolf said he would not teach “liberals” and would cancel the course if Reddy didn’t leave. So Reddy and Dunkley left, as did a few others.

To the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation's credit, Mr. Wolf's title is now "Ex Hunter Safety Course Instructor."

Everyone has strong political opinions and there's certainly nothing wrong with airing those opinions - in the appropriate venue and to an appropriate audience. A hunter-safety course full of wide-eyed kids is neither.

Discussion Topic: On Nerf Guns In Schools

Joe_Cermele — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:19:20 -0400

From South Carolina’s The Beaufort Gazette:

A science teacher at Battery Creek High School resigned Friday, about two weeks after he was placed on paid leave for shooting a foam dart from a plastic Nerf gun at a student. . . .

On Feb. 23, Baker fired a foam dart at a 14-year-old girl in a "joking manner," according to a Beaufort County Sheriff's Office report.

The dart hit the girl's left shoulder. She then stood up and slapped Baker with the back of her hand, according to the report.

The mother of the girl said she wanted to pursue assault charges . . . .

Your reaction?

Discussion Topic: Student Talks Guns, Prof Call Cops

Joe_Cermele — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:08:02 -0500

From The Recorder:

For CCSU student John Wahlberg, a class presentation on campus violence turned into a confrontation with the campus police due to a complaint by the professor.

On October 3, 2008, Wahlberg and two other classmates prepared to give an oral presentation for a Communication 140 class that was required to discuss a “relevant issue in the media”. Wahlberg and his group chose to discuss school violence . . . .

Shortly after his professor, Paula Anderson, filed a complaint with the CCSU Police against her student. During the presentation Wahlberg made the point that if students were permitted to conceal carry guns on campus, the violence could have been stopped earlier in many of these cases.

Read the full article and tell us your reaction. Be sure to check out the comments posted below the story.

Discussion Topic: Obama Administration Looks To Reinstate Assault-Weapons Ban

Joe_Cermele — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:43:44 -0500

From ABC News:

The Obama administration will seek to reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 during the Bush administration, Attorney General Eric Holder said today.

“As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons,” Holder told reporters.

Check out the full story and tell us your reaction.