Like Chicago, West Virginia apparently has dead people voting

In a state at times renowned for dead voters casting ballots, Beakes said it appears there could have been some walking dead voting in May’s primary election.

“We are seeing an occasional deceased voter that has voted,” he said.

While saying Ireland’s office will aggressively pursue such offenses, Beakes said some of those marked as voting might be simple clerical mistakes.

“We cannot disenfranchise any voter that may be erroneously flagged as deceased,” he said.

Southern West Virginia has been notoriously known as the place where the dead rise up on Election Day every two years. Beakes said results of the comparison showed a high concentration of deceased people remaining on voting rolls in that region. . . .

Democrats won't let Delay Off the ballot

Is this the same political party that got US Senator Robert Torricelli replaced on the ballot with just weeks to go before the election?

In a surprise twist to the Tom DeLay saga, the Texas Democratic Party filed suit Thursday in an attempt to keep the resigning Republican Congressman’s name on the November ballot.

The suit, filed in Travis County 126th District Court, seeks to undo an hours-old declaration by Republican Party Chair Tina Benkiser that DeLay is ineligible to run in the general election.

If DeLay doesn’t serve as the party’s candidate for Congressional District 22, then according to the Texas Election Code, no other candidate is allowed to replace him, the suit says.

Lawyers for Houston’s Riddle & Brazil law firm, which filed the action, obtained a temporary restraining order at about 5:10 p.m. from Judge Darlene Byrne. Sources familiar with the case said the order prevents Benkiser from calling a meeting of the so-called District Executive Committee or taking other measures to replace DeLay as the Republican Party nominee for CD-22. . . .

"Democrats call Zarqawi killing a stunt"

Get an ad out with these guys statements. Will any of the major media give these guys' statements attention? Unfortunately, that is unlikely.

Some Democrats, breaking ranks from their leadership, today said the death of terrorist leader Abu Musab Zarqawi in Iraq was a stunt to divert attention from an unpopular and hopeless war.
"This is just to cover Bush's [rear] so he doesn't have to answer" for Iraqi civilians being killed by the U.S. military and his own sagging poll numbers, said Rep. Pete Stark, California Democrat. "Iraq is still a mess -- get out." . . .

"Burgled [UK] MP wants home stun guns"

It is obviously too politically incorrect to note that there are problems with stun guns (e.g., the criminal wearing rubber soled shoes or heavy coats) and that because of those problems guns have some advantages.

An MP whose house was burgled while his family and visitors slept has called for homeowners to be allowed to arm themselves with Taser stun guns. . . . .

Mr Davies added: "Shouldn't I, at the very least, be able to stand at the top of my stairs with a Taser - which isn't going to kill somebody - and use that as a means of self defence?" . . .

Although voicing support for Mr Davies, Victim Support Wales advised against home owners being armed with the electronic stun guns.

John Trew, Victim Support's national officer for Wales, said; "I don't think there is a problem with people using reasonable force to defend themselves."

But he said if there were burgling your house, people should "ring the police, don't try to take them on." . . .

New Orleans Police Chief backs off New Threat to take guns

From Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation:

Within two hours of an announcement that the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) was calling for a Justice Department investigation of New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley's plan to confiscate guns again if a major storm hits the city this year, SAF learned that Riley has backed off. . . . .

"Now, days after Riley told a New Orleans radio station that he was planning another gun grab," Gottlieb continued, "we have him suddenly back pedaling almost immediately after we announce our complaint to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. . . .

So will Canadians Become more Sympathetic to American's on the Terrorism Issue?

Will this scare Canadians to want troops withdrawn or will it convince them to stick closer to the US? I am not sure which will happen.

Suspects arrested last weekend in an alleged terrorism plot planned to storm the Canadian Parliament and hold politicians hostage, and at least one wanted to behead the prime minister if demands to withdraw Canada's troops from Afghanistan were not met, according to a summary of prosecutors' allegations read in court Tuesday.

According to authorities, the group also planned to bomb power plants in Ontario and invade the downtown Toronto studios of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., according to the written statement submitted to the court by defense attorney Gary Batasar and read into the record at his request.

NRA v. Gun Owners of America Differences

Fox News Video Ciip.

Rudy Giuliani most popular national politician

I am not sure why Obama is second (what has he accomplished?), but in any case here are the results.

Polling Data

I’d like to get your feelings toward some of our political leaders and other people who have been in the news. I’ll read the name of a person and I’d like you to rate that person using something called the feeling thermometer. You can choose any number between 0 and 100. The higher the number, the warmer or more favourable you feel toward that person, the lower the number, the colder or less favourable. If we come to a person who you haven’t heard enough about to form an opinion, you don’t need to rate the person. Just tell me and we’ll move on to the next one.

. . . . . . . Mean Rating . . . .Unknown to

Rudy Giuliani 63.5 __ __ 13%

Barack Obama 58.4 __ __ 55%

Condoleezza Rice 56.1 __ __ 9%

John McCain 56.0 __ __ 17%

Hillary Rodham Clinton 49.9 __ __ 2%

John Edwards 49.4 __ __ 21%

Joseph Biden 48.8 __ __ 55%

Evan Bayh 47.9 __ __ 74%

Mitt Romney 47.5 __ __ 67%

Mark Warner 47.1 __ __ 72%

George Allen 46.8 __ __ 72%

Al Gore 45.7 __ __ 3%

Chris Dodd 45.3 __ __ 64%

John Kerry 45.2 __ __ 6%

Russ Feingold 45.1 __ __ 62%

George W. Bush 42.9 __ __ --

Bill Frist 41.8 __ __ 51%

Donald Rumsfeld 41.5 __ __ 12%

Dick Cheney 40.5 __ __ 5%

Source: Quinnipiac University Polling Institute
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,534 registered American voters, conducted from May 23 to May 30, 2006. Margin of error is 2.3 per cent.

May be everyone does understand the importance of defensive gun use?

The votes on these bills have been absolutely overwhelming. If this doesn't show that everyone understands that guns are necessary to defend people when the police can't be there, I don't know what does.

Start of hurricane season triggers gun debate

By Carrie Sheffield
THE HILL
June 6, 2006

The start of hurricane season has become a selling point for gun-rights legislation spurred by Hurricane Katrina.
During the during storm’s chaotic aftermath, government officials hoping to ensure public safety seized hundreds of legally owned guns from Louisiana residents, some seeking to protect themselves from pillagers and assailants. The seizures have triggered outrage among gun-rights activists, spawning a lawsuit and bills nationwide to ban future confiscations.

“These people were left to defend themselves from criminals,” said Chris Cox, chief lobbyist for the National Rifle Association (NRA). “It really became the proving ground for what American gun owners have always feared, and that’s the day that bureaucrats threw the Bill of Rights in the trash can.”

Cox and other lobbyists are pushing for a bill that would ban government officials from seizing firearms during emergencies, saying it would ensure protection for law-abiding citizens when they need it most. Opponents say it could hamper law enforcement’s ability to stabilize turbulent situations. . . .

Since Katrina, state legislators in Louisiana, Virginia, New Hampshire, Florida and Arizona have unveiled bills that would ban weapons seizures by state and local officials during emergencies. In Washington, S. 2599 and H.R. 5013 would prevent federal officials from making the confiscations. Proponents are using the start of the hurricane season last week as a selling point for moving the legislation swiftly.

“It’s a very important bill based on our experience, especially with hurricane season starting June 1 this year,” said the bill’s House sponsor, Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-La.).

Gun-rights strategists say they will easily garner enough votes to approve the federal measure, prompting critics to condemn what could result in the suspension of local gun-control laws and could make criminals of law-enforcement officials who confiscate abandoned weapons.

In the House, members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, including ranking member Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), approved the bill on a voice vote May 17. . . .

"Gun Sales Rise as Crime and Accident Rates Fall"

The data below was collected from the NSSF. I strongly disagree with their positions on issues such as gun locks and their position on Project ChildSafe, because I think that it actually costs more lives by making people fearful of guns. In any case, they have updated some interesting data:

NEWTOWN, Conn.--New statistics show that firearm and ammunition sales are on the rise, coinciding with steady downward trends in gun crime, suicide and accident rates, in the U.S.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the shooting, hunting and outdoor industry, has released U.S. Dept. of the Treasury figures indicating that 2005 retail sales of firearms and ammunition rose 2.6 percent for a total volume of $2.1 billion.

For the year, approximately 4.7 million new guns were sold, bringing the estimated number of citizen-owned firearms in the U.S. to more than 290 million. The number of American households with at least one firearm is now estimated at nearly 110 million.

Of the various firearm types, the sharpest gains were seen in retail sales of handguns (pistols and revolvers). Handgun sales rose 3 percent while long-gun (rifle and shotgun) sales rose 1.8 percent.

Ammunition sales rose 3.5 percent. . . .

Lack of news coverage by mainstream media about congressional candidate encouraging illegal aliens to vote in race

This is from John Fund writing in today's OpinionJournal's Political Diary:

But almost no national media outlet has covered the late-breaking news that may decide the election. Last Thursday, Ms. Busby addressed a group of supporters and in response to a question in Spanish about how someone who was an illegal alien could help, she answered: "You don't need papers for voting," she said. "You don't need to be a registered voter to help." Even more troubling for her is the fact that someone in the audience taped her statement and gave it to San Diego talk-show host Roger Hedgecock.

The San Diego Union-Tribune picked up on the story over the weekend, and included Ms. Busby's strained explanation that she intended only to say that people too young to vote could still help with volunteer work in her campaign.

The incident hurts Ms. Busby because much of her campaign has been focused on her fight against corruption, especially in the sullied area of Congressional "earmarks," the pork-barrel projects that figured prominently in Rep. Cunningham's votes-for-cash bribery scandal. Now Ms. Busby has been caught in an apparent endorsement of either vote fraud or, most charitably, encouraging illegal aliens to help in her campaign. Should she lose on Tuesday, it will be interesting to see if the national media belatedly identify her slip of the tongue as a factor in her defeat. Alternately, should she win on Tuesday, will media outlets ask any questions about possible voter irregularities, such as whether any of the thousands of newly registered voters in the district weren't eligible?.

Did New York CIty agents violate gun control laws?

New York’s lawsuit contends that between March 1994 and October 2001, “at least 15 guns sold by Old Dominion were recovered in New York City, both in the hands (of) individuals with no lawful right to possess a gun and in connection with a variety of violent crimes.”

The bottom line here is whether the gun stores in question violated the law. But in an added - and fair - twist to this story, the ATF has also started looking into the actions of the investigators who made the gun buys, The Associated Press reported last week. . . .

87 Year Old Woman Protects Herself With Gun

East St. Louis

An 87-year-old woman who fatally shot a would-be intruder will not be charged with a crime, even though she did not legally own the gun, authorities said Monday.

On Feb. 7, Jacksie Mae King fired several shots through the front door of her house after she woke up about 2 a.m. to the sounds of someone trying to break in.

One bullet hit Larry Tillman, 49, who was on the other side of the door, standing on King's enclosed porch.

He lay dead on the porch in the 2100 block of Gaty Avenue for four hours before he was found by King's daughter, who came to bring breakfast about 6 a.m. Meanwhile, King stayed inside clutching the pistol.

"She was justified in using deadly force to defend herself against the threat of deadly force," said Robert B. Haida, the St. Clair County state's attorney.

King did not have a Firearm Owner's Identification card, which is required to own a gun in Illinois, Haida said.

He said it would be inappropriate in the interest of justice to prosecute her for the illegally owned gun.

King's daughter gave her the .32-caliber Colt revolver two months earlier after a man broke into King's house in December. That intruder beat her and stole some of her things. . . .

Has the New Orleans Police Chief Learned Nothing from Last Year?

Gun rights activists were up in arms Friday after New Orleans Police Chief Warren Riley said he would confiscate weapons should disaster strike.

Frederick Thomas, from New Orleans, leaves New Orleans Police with his semi-automatic pistol that was confiscated in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans on Monday April 17, 2006.

The chief’s comments came after a federal lawsuit forced the city to return hundreds of firearms that were seized in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

In an interview with WWL Radio, Riley said his officers would seize guns from people on the streets if another storm was to hit New Orleans. . . .