In Kottayam, Kerala, India, Father
Jacob Augustine, a Catholic priest,
has applied for a pistol license and
upset anti-gunners in so doing. Fr.
Augustine, 42, is the manager of the
Amal Jyothi Engineering College,
owned by the Catholic Diocese of
Kanjirapally. “There are several
priests in our church who possess a
licensed weapon,†he says. “Moreover,
since I manage a big institution,
which has a lot of assets, I do not
think possessing a gun is wrong.â€
It looks like ABC News has no
problem at all with the appearance
of bias, now that they’ve assigned a
reporter who used to work for Handgun
Control, Inc. to cover firearm
related stories, CCRKBA Chairman
Alan M. Gottlieb observed. Washington
correspondent Jake Tapper
once worked for Handgun Control,
according to a piece he wrote when
he worked for Salon News. “This is
the same news network that added
George Stephanopoulos, a top aide
to anti-gun President Bill Clinton,†he
noted. “Now they’ve got a former
staffer for an extremist gun control
group reporting on firearm issues.â€
The State of Pennsylvania is
practicing age discrimination against
older firearm owners under a statute
that requires people licensed to
carry concealed firearms to provide
two character references as part of
the application process, CCRKBA Chairman Alan M. Gottlieb
said last month’s decision by
San Francisco Superior Court Judge
James Warren to throw out that city’s
handgun ban was a victory for gun
owner rights all over the Golden
State. “The right of citizens to be safe
in their homes and communities can
never be subject to a popular vote,â€
he said. “This ruling shows that the
politicians who pushed this gun ban
were wrong.†San Francisco City
Attorney Dennis Herrera, however,
said the city will appeal the ruling.
“Firearm sales in the United
States remain on the rise, while contrary
to popular belief, gun-related
crime, suicide and gun accidents are
on the decline,†reports The Washington
Times. “Figures released by the
Treasury Department show that retail
sales of firearms and ammunition
rose almost three percent in 2005. All
told, 4.7 million new guns were sold
during the past year. Yet government
figures and independent statistics
reveal that firearm crimes, suicides
and accidental fatalities, including
among youth, all trend downward.
According to the National Shooting
Sports Foundation, the estimated
number of privately owned firearms
in the U.S. now stands at more than
290 million, while American households
with at least one firearm is
estimated at nearly 110 million.â€