Some confusion as new restrictive Nebraska Right-to-carry law goes into effect

A confusing situation as dozens of people line up to receive the state's first concealed handgun permits.
62 permits were handed out statewide including 27 in Omaha.

But other people were turned away even though they thought they were qualified.

Police say all you need to register a gun is a buy a permit, have a bill of sale and a valid driver’s license. However, registering a gun and getting a permit to carry it concealed are two different things.

At the Omaha communications office of the Nebraska State Patrol the phone rang all day Wednesday. Many calls were for the same question: How do I get a permit to carry a concealed handgun?

Robert Root was one person turned away when he tried to get a concealed carry permit. The World War Two veteran did take a gun safety course to register his handgun and he says he knows a lot about weapons, but authorities say it’s not enough to carry a gun under his coat.

"Well I don’t like it. I'm 80 years old. I shouldn’t have to take the time to do that. I've lived half my life and I'm not half done, so I got lots of things to do," says Root.

Everyone applying for a permit to carry a concealed handgun has to go through an approved gun training course. The only exceptions are active and reserve members of the military who can prove that they have taken firearm training within the last three years. . . . . .

Germany stops funding building of internet search engine

Why would the governments of Germany and France think that they could do a better job of building a search engine than Google or Yahoo or someone else? That is just has obvious as them working on a new operating system. How about the government building all their own computers?

The German government confirmed Tuesday that it had decided to opt out of a multimillion-euro research effort to build a European search engine that would compete with Google, in what one participant described as a disagreement with France over the basic design of the project.

French participants in the secretive project, called Quaero, which means "I seek" in Latin, vowed to continue their efforts to develop the search engine, possibly with funding from the European Union.

The project was first revealed in April 2005 by President Jacques Chirac of France and the former German chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, as a European response to the U.S. search giant Google, but now it will have to proceed without support from the largest EU country.

The split underscores the difficulty of managing such cross-border projects, coming just months after it came to light that the wiring problem that delayed the Airbus A380 superjumbo project was in part caused by the fact that German engineers used different software from their French colleagues.

Germany and France had initially discussed plans to commit €1 billion to €2 billion, or $1.3 billion to $2.6 billion, over five years to Quaero. . . . . .

Thanks to Manny Klausner for this.

Justice John Paul Stevens thinks that he is a conservative?

"I don't really think I've changed. I think there have been a lot of changes in the Court," said the 86-year-old justice. "I can see myself as a conservative, to tell you the truth, a judicial conservative." . . . . .

At least the article notes that Steven's is "a maverick thinker who has proved to be surprisingly liberal . . . ." It would have been better if they simply came out and said that he was "liberal."

Eminent Domain Leads to Blackmail

So did the Supreme Court Justices who voted for Kelo forsee this consequence of their decision? Yet, in some sense it is not much of a different outcome than the power to tax.

Bart Didden wanted to put a CVS pharmacy on his property in Port Chester, N.Y. He even obtained approvals from the local planning board.
But because a portion of the CVS site was in a blighted redevelopment zone, Mr. Didden was told that planning board approval wasn't enough. He'd have to reach an understanding with a private company that had been selected by Port Chester officials to control all construction inside the renewal zone.

The developer, Gregg Wasser of G&S Port Chester, told Didden he'd have to pay $800,000 or give G&S a 50 percent stake in the CVS business. If Didden refused, Mr. Wasser said, he would have Port Chester condemn and seize his property and instead of a CVS he'd put a Walgreens drugstore on the site.

Didden refused. The next day, the Village of Port Chester began legal proceedings to seize Didden's land by eminent domain.. . . . .

Democrats break another one of their promises

I thought that the Democrats had promised a more bi-partisan approach constantly during the campaign, not just after it.

"But instead of allowing Republicans to fully participate in deliberations, as promised after the Democratic victory in the Nov. 7 midterm elections, Democrats now say they will use House rules to prevent the opposition from offering alternative measures, assuring speedy passage of the bills and allowing their party to trumpet early victories.". . . . .

The Rules to get a Permit Really Matter: Texas

Patterson has it exactly correct. The 10 hour training period has a huge impact on how many people get permits. So to does the $140 fee. For those who think that Texas is a big gun state, Texas is at the extreme end for both requirements. I had a post last month that showed a number of smaller states with a lot more permits being issued than Texas and the reason is simple: the requirements to get a permit. From the Bryan-College Station Eagle:

HOUSTON - Texans who are 55 or older are more likely to get concealed handgun permits than those who are in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to Texas Department of Public Safety statistics.

That falls in line with national surveys that indicate seniors are more likely than any other age group to be gun owners.

In Texas, 42 percent of those who have concealed handgun permits are 55 or older. Texans who are 60 or older have about 25 percent of the permits issued, statistics show.

Former legislator Jerry Patterson, who wrote the Texas concealed weapons law, said getting the permit is often a question of time and money, factors that favor seniors.

"There are a whole bunch of folks in the 30-to-40 range who say they'll do that someday," Patterson said.

Residents who want a permit must pass criminal background checks, take a 10-hour handgun safety course and show proficiency in shooting.

The state also makes permits cheaper for seniors, who get a half-price discount. The permit normally costs $140. . . . .