Gun Purchases Soared On 'Black Friday'

FBI stats show the number of background checks done on Black Friday three years ago pales in comparison to the number done this year — a 32-percent jump. ~ CBS Sacramento

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Black: Cooksey's Vote May Prompt Campaign

Blogger and media personality Ron Black, staunch defender of the 2nd Amendment, is out today with a blast at Rep. Marian Cooksey and says her vote on a concealed carry bill may prompt him to try to unseat her in 2010.

Writes Black:

MARIAN COOKSEY LONE "NO" VOTE ON CONCEALED CARRY BILL: Gorilla's Note: In this country, 18 year old men and women are "mature" enough to raise their right hand, swear an oath to defend the Constitution against enemies both foreign and domestic, be issued a rifle and pistol, stand a post and possibly lose their lives in defense of this great nation, but according to the all-knowing, all-seeing Rep. Marian Cooksey (who happens to be my Representative - for now), these same men and women are not "old enough to carry them." Perhaps the 18 year olds in Marian's life aren't "old enough" or mature enough, but the men and women I know certainly are. Perhaps Rep. Cooksey will soon author legislation to raise the age limit of men and women to enter the Armed Services? How old is old enough, Rep. Cooksey? 21? 25? 30? I am disgusted by this decision and though it may be a moot point anyway (you must be 21 years of age to purchase a pistol in the United States), the principle of the matter still stands. I wonder if Rep. Cooksey has even read the Constitution and is familiar with the 2nd Amendment? What about "shall not be infringed" does she not understand?

I am seriously considering whether or not I need to plan a run for House District 39 in the future. We need Representation who understands the Constitution, who respects the fact that in this country, 18 year olds have the "maturity" to stand a post and give their lives so Marian Cooksey can author incredibly meaningful pieces of legislation on issues of critical importance like the overwhelming problem of human trafficking in Oklahoma, but according to her, these same men and women aren't "old enough" to carry a firearm to protect themselves and their families from the evil elements in our culture.

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Concealed Carry Age Eligibility Bill Advances

By Mick Hinton, Tulsa World ~ A bill that would lower the age at which people can carry concealed weapons from 21 to 18 is headed to the state House for consideration.

"In my district when you turn 18, you already have 16 years of experience with a gun," said Rep. Jerry Ellis (pictured), who added that he was exaggerating to make his point.

Ellis, from southeastern Oklahoma, is the author of House Bill 2232, which was approved 15-1 by the House Judiciary and Public Safety Committee.

The bill was requested by the Oklahoma Rifle Association, the state affiliate of the National Rifle Association, said Ellis, D-Valliant.

Charles Smith of Yukon, executive director of the state association, said the reason for passing the bill is simple. "If people can vote and serve in the military at age 18, they should be able to carry a concealed gun," he said.

Rep. Marian Cooksey, R-Edmond, who cast the lone dissenting vote, said she realizes that sometimes, especially in rural areas, fathers teach their sons how to hunt and handle a gun at an early age.

Read all the story at www.tulsaworld.com.

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After Concealed Carry, Michigan A Safer State

From the Detroit Free Press: Six years after new rules made it much easier to get a license to carry concealed weapons, the number of Michiganders legally packing heat has increased more than six-fold.

But dire predictions about increased violence and bloodshed have largely gone unfulfilled, according to law enforcement officials and, to the extent they can be measured, crime statistics.

The incidence of violent crime in Michigan in the six years since the law went into effect has been, on average, below the rate of the previous six years. The overall incidence of death from firearms, including suicide and accidents, also has declined.

More than 155,000 Michiganders -- about one in every 65 -- are now authorized to carry loaded guns as they go about their everyday affairs, according to Michigan State Police records.

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Lawton Concealed Carry Licensee Cleared

LAWTON — No charges will be filed against a man who shot and killed a teen who appeared to be a burglar after the teen charged him.

District Attorney Robert Schulte said no charges will be filed against Jeffrey David Dorrell, 40, who shot and killed Frederick Stuever, 17. Dorrell arrived at his father's home Tuesday about 1:30 p.m. to find Stuever leaving the home with property that belonged to the Dorrell family. The back door had been kicked in and officials believe the teen was attempting to take things from the home. Items that belonged to the homeowner were later found in Stuever's vehicle, police said.

Dorrell, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, held Stuever at gunpoint while he called the police. While on the phone with dispatchers, Dorrell ordered Stuever to lay on the ground until the police could come. When Stuever wouldn't comply, Dorrell fired five shots in his direction, but didn't hit Stuever. Dorrell told police that he shot at Stuever when the teen charged at him. Stuever died at the scene.

Lawton television station KSWO reported: "This type of evidence was what supported one of the first 'stand your ground' cases in Comanche County. 'The law does not make an exception for age,' says Schulte. 'It's tragic you have a loss of life of a 17-year-old under such circumstances, but clearly the law still protects the individual who defended himself as we have here.'"

Read all of The Oklahoman's story at http://www.newsok.com/. KSWO has the transcript of the 911 call: http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?S=7267407

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Extended Concealed Carry License Now Possible

Oklahomans will now be able to obtain a 10-year concealed handgun license thanks to a new law authored by Rep. Rex Duncan.

"I believe that law-abiding citizens who are willing to undergo training and subject themselves to stringent background checks can be trusted with a 10-year license," said Duncan, R-Sand Springs.

House Bill 1742, by Duncan, allows Oklahomans to obtain a concealed carry license for either five years or 10 years. Previously, a five-year license was the only type available. The cost of the 10-year license will be twice the amount charged for the five-year license. The bill passed the House 96-0 and then cleared the Senate 43-1. Governor Brad Henry signed the bill into law last week.

The legislation was part of the House Republican "Safe Families"platform in the Year of Ideas agenda.

"This is a pro-Second Amendment bill that respects the Constitutional rights of law-abiding Oklahomans," Duncan said. "This legislation halves the government bureaucracy facing citizens who want to protect themselves and their families. I'm not aware of any other state license that is good for 10 years. We're blazing new territory with this bill."

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Heroic Utah Cop Tells His Story

By Kristen Moulton and Russ Rizzo, The Salt Lake Tribune ~ OGDEN, Utah - Staring down on a gunman's carnage at Trolley Square, Ogden police officer Kenneth Hammond had a choice: retreat to safety with his pregnant wife (both pictured at left) or confront a killer. He chose to act.

Off-duty but armed with a .45-caliber handgun, he exchanged fire with 18-year-old Sulejman Talovic, who had killed five people and wounded four in less than six minutes at the Salt Lake City mall.

Joined by a Salt Lake City police officer who arrived three minutes after the first 911 call, he stalled the gunman until a team of SWAT officers fired on the man. It isn't known whose bullets killed Talovic.

"I went out of romantic-date mode to 'I need to protect' mode," Hammond recalled at a news conference at the Ogden police station, adding that another officer would have done the same - which in his view, makes him anything but a hero.

"I was just the one that was there," said Hammond, 33, a six-year member of the Ogden Police Department and Ogden resident. His boss, Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey, disagreed, calling Hammond a hero "by every definition."

Hammond and his wife, Sarita Hammond, had finished a pre-Valentine's Day dinner at Rodizio Grill on the mall's upper floor. Married just a few months, Hammond was waiting on a bench outside the restaurant for his wife. His badge was in his wallet in a back pocket. He wore jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. He heard popping noises that he thought were from construction, but when he looked over the balcony, he saw bodies on the floor below and a man with a shotgun leaving a store. He told Sarina, an Ogden Police dispatcher, to return to Rodizio, "lock down" the restaurant and call 911.

Sarina said that she borrowed a waiter's cell phone to tell Salt Lake police that her husband was an off-duty officer, not a second gunman. She described what he was wearing, hoping to protect her husband from officers' fire.

Hammond drew his .45-caliber handgun, but did not dare put it back in his holster to pull out his badge.

To let mall customers and clerks know he was not a second gunman, Hammond said, "I was yelling and screaming as loudly as I possibly could . . . Officer Hammond, off-duty OPD!" and "Get down! Get down!"

"It was tense for a few seconds," he said. Then he and the gunman traded shots, Hammond on the second floor and the shooter down below. Hammond said he moved to another part of the balcony and lost sight of the gunman. He lay flat, but soon realized the gunman could come up the escalator behind him. No words were exchanged. In fact, Hammond said he couldn't even describe the shooter. "I was so focused on that gun." When he looked down again, he saw a Salt Lake City officer below and shouted out that he was an off-duty officer. "I didn't know him. He didn't know me."

Hammond went down the escalator and together the two officers pursued the gunman. They fired at him and Hammond said there was silence for five to 10 seconds, before he heard rapid gunfire - apparently from the SWAT team - and looked up to see glass falling and the gunman down.

In about nine minutes, the massacre was over.

Shop owner Barrett Dodds had heard the shots and ran to nearby stores and restaurants telling people to lock their doors, then watched the gunman from the second level. "I saw the carnage - dead bodies, blood, broken glass. It was as bad as you can imagine," he said. Dodds also saw Hammond crouched low, hiding behind one brick pillar after the next as he moved toward Talovic, who calmly reloaded his gun between killings. He said he signaled the man's location to the officer.

At about the same time, Dodds watched as Salt Lake officers converged on the gunman, forcing him backwards into the Pottery Barn Kids directly below where he stood. He heard the gunshots, knowing the shooter was dead but not willing to look down. "After seeing all that, I had seen enough."

Hammond's courage and the rapid police response - "textbook work," some called it - won praise from inside and out of the Salt Lake City Police Department. Salt Lake City police Chief Chris Burbank called it "amazing."

"The heroic acts of [Hammond] going in and engaging a subject who was well armed and prepared to engage him, without having the benefits of a uniform, extra equipment or magazines for his firearms, is truly heroic," Burbank said. "There is no question his quick actions saved the lives of numerous other people."

Capt. Roger Winkler, who oversees the SWAT team, said he'd rate the department's rapid response as "as extraordinary, tremendous, wonderful. Every second they kept this guy from walking around, they probably saved another victim's life."

Rodizio manager David Knighton said he planned to offer Hammond and his wife free dinners for a year. "He saved a lot of lives," he said. "We're appreciative for him."

Hammond said the night will be with him "forever." He said he believes it was no coincidence that he and his wife chose a restaurant in Trolley Square on Monday night, that he had his gun with him, that they decided to have dessert when they usually don't. "We were there for a reason. Everything happened for a reason."

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Headline: 'Gun permits gain in popularity'

The Oklahoman reports this morning that more and more Oklahomans appear to be acquiring licenses to carry concealed weapons. The article cites the issuance of 54,705 concealed carry licenses in the past five years, 40,538 of them to white men and 10,484 to white women. Those of Asian, black, Hispanic, and American Indian descent accounted for the remaining 3,683.

Since the Oklahoma Self Defense Act became law in 1996, more than 113,000 licenses have been issued, but it is not known how many of those were renewals of existing licenses.

In Texas, it is reported that about 260,000 citizens have a license to carry.
At the end of last year, 258,162 people had permits, up about 4 percent from the year before and more than double the number in 1996, when Texas law first allowed people to carry concealed weapons.

Senior citizens and middle-agers are among the most likely to take advantage of the Texas concealed handgun law, the Texas Department of Safety's spokesman said. Although those 55 and older represent just 28 percent of the state's population over the age of 21, they carry 46 percent of the permits. And one-third of the permit holders are 60 and older.

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