RUMINATIONS ON THE FOID CARD

Josey1

RUMINATIONS ON THE FOID CARD January 28, 2002 - by John Birch, Concealed Carry Sometimes you come across things that make you say "What the heck is this all about?"Recently I ran across two such cases related to the FOID card.I note there is a bill awaiting the governor's signature that will mandate FOID holders be background checked every six months. Think on that. What could be the purpose of such a thing except to find more gun owners to seize guns from? Isn't it a fact that to buy a gun today you have to be checked anyway? Hard to see what good the FOID does except act as a mechanism to either arrest gun owners or deprive them of their rights and privacy. So how did this law ever get to the governors desk without some kind of a fight?Turns out there is a provision in the law to allow out of state residents participating in shotgun oriented competitions to buy shotgun shells without a FOID. Ah Ha! The I$RA trades on our FOID cards to get a law they need to support their number one function which is: Competitive Shooting and NOT gun rights. Wonder what they would trade away for a 1000 yard range? The second thing that happened is that one of our members got his gun confiscated in a domestic dispute. One of those minor things, no one hurt, but the cops got involved. He lost is 9mm. Court came, charges dismissed. Goes to get his gun and FOID back. Guess what? One of the sheriff's who responded did not like his "attitude." He had DuPage Sheriff John Zaruba send a letter to the ISP saying he felt this man was "Potentially Violent." and so his FOID card is REVOKED! No more guns for him.What medical school did Sheriff Zaruba graduate from that he can make such clinical diagnosis? Here's the deal, you get into a heated discussion with a cop, maybe he has it coming. But he plays the trump card and has his chief send a letter saying you are dangerous. Adios guns, adios due process. This FOID card is bad law, but it gives the I$RA trading material for their shooting sports initiatives. Expect it to get a lot worse, before it get better. As to the member who lost his FOID? He's a decorated combat Marine with no record. MAYOR DALEY'S DEATH CLOCK now stands at 5 with the murder of Mr. Timothy Lewis.South Side man fatally shot in carPublished January 27, 2002A South Side man was gunned down while sitting in a car near the Chicago Housing Authority's LeClaire Courts development on the Southwest Side Friday night, police said.The Cook County medical examiner's office identified the victim as Timothy Lewis, 41, of the 2300 block of South State Street. Police said Lewis was shot in the chest about 8:44 p.m. and was pronounced dead at 9:30 p.m. Police said they do not have a motive or suspect.January 25, 2002 Utah Colleges Fight to Keep Weapons OutBy TIMOTHY EGANTom Smart for The New York TimesBernard Machen of the University of Utah opposes weapons in class.SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 24 - To Bernard Machen, the president of the University of Utah, a classroom with students who may be carrying guns is an intimidating place to learn. For that reason, he has insisted on maintaining the university's longtime ban on weapons, concealed or otherwise, on campus. But Utah, whose gun standards are permissive even by the standards of the American West, has recently ordered all state offices, day care centers, parks, hospitals and college campuses to remove gun bans for people who are licensed to carry a concealed weapon. Mr. Machen, leading a fight for the state's other public colleges as well, has refused to go along. Now, the state's attorney general and Legislature are stepping up pressure to allow guns into the classroom, threatening fines and a lawsuit if the university does not comply. "I'm not saying we ought to arm the entire student body," Utah's attorney general, Mark Shurtleff, said. "But there is plenty of evidence to suggest that more guns equals less crime." The dispute has spilled over into security concerns at the Winter Olympics, which open here in less than three weeks. Gun advocates have been pressing for the right to carry weapons onto Olympic sites and keep them in lock boxes. The gun advocates say they have been stymied by the Secret Service, which is supervising much of the $300 million security operation for the Games. They also want to be able to carry weapons in the Delta Center, the city's main arena and site of the Olympic figure skating events. "Delta Center is in defiance of our law right now," said Winton Aposhian, legislative liaison for Gun Owners of Utah. "We'll deal with them next, after we're done with the universities." Many states allow people with permits for concealed weapons to carry guns into stores, churches or other public places. Few states, though, have gone as far as Utah, which has 42,000 concealed-weapons permit holders in a state of 2.1 million people. Wyoming, Idaho and Nevada ban guns from schools, for example, and Montana, which lets a teacher carry a concealed weapon, bans them from government offices. The new rules went into effect on Jan. 1, after Gov. Michael O. Leavitt, a Republican, ordered state agencies to scrap all concealed-weapons bans on state property, except prisons, mental hospitals and courtrooms. Last year, when the University of Utah, which has 27,000 students, played host to the Dalai Lama and Vice President Dick Cheney, visitors were reminded that guns were banned from campus. Mr. Machen says the same safety should be extended to all on campus. "Classrooms, libraries, dormitories and cafeterias are no place for lethal weapons," he said. Last week, Mr. Machen told legislators that opening more doors to guns was embarrassing when the eyes of the world were on Utah. His comments seemed to anger the lawmakers, who moved to erase remaining rules on concealed weapons - essentially backing up the governor's order - and this week accelerated legislation to make it easier for people to get a concealed weapon.To obtain a permit, a person must be 21, must be able to prove that he or she does not have a criminal record or a history of mental illness and must pass a gun safety course. Luis Tolley of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which advocates restrictions, said: "What Utah is doing is part of a broader campaign to allow people to carry concealed weapons virtually anywhere: churches, restaurants, bars. But we've never heard of any state that has taken it as far as Utah."Churches here can ban guns only if they post a notice on the door. Adults with permits for concealed weapons may bring guns into elementary and secondary schools. Only places like airports, jails and mental hospitals, have the right to ban guns. "People want to paint me as a gun nut," Attorney General Shurtleff, a Republican, said. "I don't make the policy. I'm just enforcing the law."To students, teachers and college administrators around the state, the pressure to lift the bans on guns is baffling. A poll by The Deseret News found that nearly two-thirds of Utah's residents favor banning guns from schools and day care centers. "I think it's crazy," said Zack Jensen, a senior at the University of Utah. "Do these legislators think we're still the Old West? Having guns in the classroom raises the risk of impulse or accidental shootings."On Mr. Jensen's backpack was a button with the words, "I think, therefore I'm dangerous." John Morley, a columnist at The Daily Utah Chronicle, the university's student paper, wrote: "The notion that students need a weapon capable of administering death at any moment just to feel safe is paranoid and poorly grounded. Its sets the whole campus on edge and undermines the education mission."Former Senator Jake Garn, a trustee of the university and an influential Republican in this heavily Republican state, favors keeping the ban."Students and teachers must feel that classrooms are havens of learning and not a potential firing range," Mr. Garn said in a letter published today by The Salt Lake Tribune. Seven of the state's nine public colleges and universities and the two private campuses - including Brigham Young University, Utah's largest university, with 29,000 students - ban guns on campus. Thus far, state officials have not pressed the B.Y.U. campus, owned and operated by the Mormon Church, to open its grounds to guns. Mr. Shurtleff said he was researching whether private universities must let people carry guns to class.Some colleges say they should at least be able to keep guns out of student disciplinary hearings. At one such hearing in 1993 at Weber State University in Ogden, a student pulled out two loaded pistols and opened fire, injuring three people before a police officer killed him. Mr. Machen said he had received hundreds of e-mail messages since his appearance before the Legislature, many of them threatening. Gun advocates are relying on a lawsuit by the attorney general or a gun carrier to open campuses to weapons. University officials said the ban would remain until a court ordered them to change it. "This academic-freedom defense is really pathetic," said Mr. Aposhian, who said he carried a 40-caliber baby Glock pistol at all times. "They're saying if I disagree with someone, they're afraid I'm going to shoot them. Well, guess what: there are small people who may be afraid of football players beating them up, but we don't ban the football players from the classroom." Bungled robbery in Angie leads to arrestsANGIE - A hunting mishap that sounded fishy to Mississippi fish and wildlife officers turned out to be a bungled armed robbery attempt in Angie. Four Mississippi men were arrested recently after trying to steal Angie resident Dona Duncan Brooks' cancer medication and then getting in a shootout with Brook's 13-year old son.Washington Parish Sheriff's Detective Tom Anderson told the Tylertown Times Albert Thomas, 17, Jeremy Sisson, 25, Jesse Kerry Brumfield and Damion Dier, 21, all of McComb and Tylertown were arrested and charged with attempted second degree murder, attempted armed robbery with use of a firearm and attempted aggravated burglary. According to the Times, Dier arrived at Walthall County General Hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds, and was then airlifted to Forrest-General in Hattiesburg. Walthall County Sheriff Duane Dillon said Dier sustained one, possibly two wounds in what was originally reported as a hunting accident. Dier claimed to have been hunting near Lexie and accidentally shot himself, then phoned a Pike County friend to pick him up and take him to the hospital. Officials reportedly were suspicious because Dier hadn't called 911 and could not produce a cell phone; nor could he describe the type of gun he was using to hunt. Around the same time, Louisiana authorities were reportedly investigating an armed robbery and gunfight in Angie. But WPSO officials could not find a gunshot victim.Brandon Bright, a Walthall narcotics agent, pieced together the events and turned up a conspiracy.Bright surmised the four men went to Brooks' house to rob her but were surprised by her 13-year old son, who opened fire with a .20 gauge shotgun.Brooks, who lives in the Hilltop Church Community near Pine, is reportedly a cancer patient who weighs about 85 pounds, according to the Times. The four men were allegedly after Brooks' pain medication. Brooks, according to Walthall County Circuit Court records, is under indictment for sale of OxyContin. Her case is set for trial in March, according to the court docket. "One guy (Brumfield) went in on a pretense to visit. He was to open the door, then the others were to rush in, put a gun on him and say 'get down'. The others were wearing ski masks. They were to steal Brooks' medicine bag and leave," Anderson told the Times. The 13-year old got wise to the situation and got his gun. He shot Dier in the head with two pellets before Brooks grabbed the gun and fired again, hitting Dier in the left side and knocking him off the trailer steps. His accomplices dragged him to the getaway car before fleeing the scene.The Tylertown Times contributed to this article. http://www.friendsofliberty.com/concealedcarry/2002/012802.htm