You may have seen headlines about Newtown shooter Adam Lanza’s “arsenal” of weapons. 

Well, I don’t often commend the New York Times, but thanks, guys, for posting the entire list of items seized under a search warrant.
 
For starters, since Adam took his mother’s AR-15 and two pistols to Sandy Hook Elementary, and left his shotgun in the trunk of his Honda, that left little at home to constitute an arsenal, let alone a cache or even a collection.

Second, since this list was compiled by veteran police officers, I’m a little surprised by some of the entries, including:

 -          An Enfield “Albian” rifle in .323 caliber. Since they also recovered boxes of standard .303 British ammunition, the .323 looks like a typo. So does the Albian. Albion Motor Works in Scotland  made .38 revolvers for Enfield, but I’m not
familiar with an Albian rifle.
 -         A Volcanic .22 caliber starter  revolver. This only fires blanks, so is not a firearm.
 -         A Saiga semi-automatic 12-gauge shotgun found in his car, along with TWO magazines containing SEVENTY rounds of ammunition. I’ve seen a 20-round drum for the Saiga, but not one that could hold 35 rounds. 

Please take a look at the published list. I’d appreciate any corrections, clarifications, or additions.

 - Dr. Gatling

Well, the second part of the poll pretty much explains the absurdity of the first.
 
Quinnipiac University, a small school in Hamden, Conn., which does a lot of polling, says it found 91 percent of Florida residents polled favor universal background checks for gun purchases.
 
Trouble is, nobody doing the polling ever explains that the universal background check would require a universal database in order to be efficient. If that were known, perhaps the results would be different. 

The poll also found favor in banning so-called assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines.

But imagine the results of a poll that asked, “Would you favor banning semi-automatic rifles
that look like military rifles, but aren’t?”

Or:  “Would you favor banning magazines that automatically load a bullet each time the trigger is pulled? If
so, how many times would the shooter have to pull the trigger before the magazine became of a high enough capacity to be banned?”

But there is a bright light in the polling tunnel. Apparently they don’t measure the passion of the respondent. And this story says that’s why the Democrats way overestimated the national sentiment for gun control.

-  Dr. Gatling


 

 
New York Gov. Andy Cuomo, who rushed gun control legislation through his Democrat-controlled statehouse, apparently is backing off his plan to cap the capacity of ammunition magazines.

Among his ideas – including registering all so-called assault weapons while banning their future sale -- Cuomo’s mag limit would have specified a maximum of seven rounds when locked and loaded.

Even possession of a bigger mag would be a crime, so New Yorkers had a year to send their magazines out of state.

Well, the governor may have had a change of heart, or has seen the political and practical impossibility, and is now suggesting that 10 rounds of magazine capacity be  the new Empire State Standard. But shooters could only load seven. Otherwise they would be over the Legal Limit and subject to prosecution.
 
This is brilliant since we all know that terrorists and  sociopathic massacre-killers would adhere to the rule in order to avoid being charged with additional crimes once caught and brought to justice. 
 
Here’s a better idea, Andrew. Don’t mess with the magazines, just put capacity on the honor system. Ten, 15, 20, 30, whatever size magazine. Just load seven and we’re good to go. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Declare victory and withdraw. And keep your mitts off my mags.

Now doesn’t that make you feel safer? Sorry, folks, but as my dad also used to say, “You can’t fix stupid.”

- Dr. Gatling

Well, New York residents today lost the right to possess detachable ammunition magazines holding more than 7 rounds and buy AR-15 or similar semi-automatic rifles that have one feature resembling an assault weapon -- such as a pistol grip. Any such weapon must now be registered with the state.

A court challenge to Governor Cuomo's late-night lawmaking and waiver of the three-day waiting period for bill passage failed in Albany when the judge said he could not rule on the governor's statement of necessity because previous law made it clear that such statements could not be questioned.

“The Court of Appeals has been clear, is clear, that judicial intervention or judicial review of a message of necessity is not
allowed,” said New York Supreme Court Justice Thomas  McNamara.

Thus, state lawmakers are implementing changes that would not pass in Washington. Colorado has a new magazine limit law and a silly statute that, effective July 1, requires all private gun transfers between unrelted parties to be processed by a licensed Federal Firearms Dealer, who must conduct a background check through the FBI NICS system unless the gun recipient has a valid Colorado concealed handgun license. It is then the gun dealer's responsibility to archive the 4473 form completed for the transaction. 

The firearms dealer can charge no more than $10 for the background check and paperwork processing. In the past, dealers have gladly done this in order to sell a gun. But ten bucks is hardly worth the time taken away from sales and customer service to walk an applicant through the process and make the call. Oh, we're hearing that NICS line has been pretty busy of late.


 

 Gov. Cuomo will have to convince a judge that there was a need for speed to  pass New York’s new gun control laws.

 State Supreme Court Judge Gerald Connolly signed an order today directing the  governor  and legislative leaders to show cause that the law should not be enjoined. A March 11 hearing is scheduled in Albany County court.

The Cuomo-backed bill passed January 15 without the required three-day waiting period.

We The People of New York, Inc., comprising more than 1,200 plaintiffs from  58 New York counties filed a constitutional challenge to Cuomo’s “message of  necessity.” 

The governor had said:  “Some weapons are so dangerous, and some  ammunition devices are so lethal, that New York State must act without delay to  prohibit their continued sale and possession in the state in order to protect
its children, first responders and citizens as soon as possible. This bill, if enacted, would do so by immediately banning the ownership, purchase and sale of assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices.”

But Cuomo had no immediate comment on the judge's order.

 Stay tuned.

 - Dr. Gatling

You’ve probably seen  the video of the Vice President telling women that the best home defense weapon  is a 12-gauge double-barreled shotgun. 
 
I agree, up to a point, for a variety of reasons: 

- It is probably the most intimidating weapon to face, including a so-called “assault rifle.”

- Few intruders will  try to wrestle it away from you. Just don’t let them get too close.

- It is hard to miss  your target.

 - A load of 7½ dove shot will cut somebody in half with a minimum of collateral damage to other  people in the home or next door.

 But as menacing as a  double-barrel is, I prefer a good old pump action shotgun that has the  unmistakable snick-snick warning that speaks all  languages. And it holds more rounds.

As for Biden’s  suggestion that the resident discharge both barrels outside the dwelling, the  NRA makes great points that firing a gun up in the air is illegal in most urban  jurisdictions and would leave the potential victim with an empty gun.

 The Washington Post fact-checkers looked into the argument from both sides. But I think they got a little nit-picky by narrowing the instance to just Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware.

 But you gotta love what they found out when checking with State Prosecutor Kathleen Jennings. 
 
“In Delaware,  a person can legally fire a weapon to protect themselves and others from someone  intruding onto her dwelling,” said Jennings, who heads the Delaware Justice  Department’s Criminal Division.

Well, maybe.

Even in Texas, that’s  stretching the lethal force statute pretty far. And the Texas Department of  Public Safety tells concealed handgun licensees not to fire warning shots.

 But here’s the best  part.

Jennings works for Biden’s son, Delaware Attorney General Joseph “Beau” Biden, who appointed her in 2011.

‘Nuff said!
 
- Dr.  Gatling

Here is a list provided by the White House of the 23 executive actions  President Obama plans to take to reduce gun violence. He does not require Congressional approval to implement these changes, which will be in effect for the length of his term of office.

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make  relevant data available to the federal background check system.

2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health  Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from  making information available to the background check system.

3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background  check system.

4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited  from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the  cracks.

5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a  full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing  guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.

7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product  Safety Commission).

9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to  trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and  make it widely available to law enforcement
 
11. Nominate an ATF director.

12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with  proper training for active shooter situations.

13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control  to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.

15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and  most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private  sector to develop innovative technologies.

16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking  their patients about guns in their homes.

17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law  prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement  authorities.

18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.

19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and  institutions of higher education.

20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental  health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity  requirements within ACA exchanges.

22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.

23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on  mental health.

 Before school shooters made headlines, it was mad bombers who killed our  children.

 The deadliest mass murder in a school in U.S. history took place in May 1927  in Bath Township, Michigan. 

Wikipedia’s entry on the tragedy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_School_Disaster) says  Andrew Kehoe “killed 38 elementary school children and six adults, and injured  at least 58 other people. Kehoe first killed his wife, fire-bombed his farm and  set off a major explosion in the Bath Consolidated School, before committing  suicide by detonating a final explosion in his truck.”

 Kehoe is said to have used a timed detonator to ignite hundreds of pounds of dynamite and  incendiary pyrotol.

 In September 1959, my wife and her brother survived a bombing at Poe Elementary School in Houston, Texas. 

Six people, including the perpetrator, were killed, according to the  Wikipedia listing,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe_Elementary_School_bombing  .

 The debate continues about limiting firearm magazine size or outlawing  semi-automatic rifles (guns that require a separate pull of the trigger to fire  bullets one-by-one) that resemble military rifles. 

True assault rifles, capable of fully-automatic fire, have been strictly  regulated since 1934.

But I have to wonder what might happen if new gun control initiatives make it  more expedient for deranged killers to resort to real weapons of mass  destruction.

 - Dr. Gatling

Leaders of Rhode  Island’s capital city have passed a resolution calling for a ban on semi-automatic rifles and
pistols.
 
The Providence City Council is asking the state General Assembly to pass legislation allowing cities and towns to regulate the sale of firearms, thus allowing the city to implement a ban. 

Rhode Island's General Assembly previously rejected a motion to allow local control over gun sales, and the Legislature does not meet again until 2014.

Note that the Providence resolution is just that. It is not an ordinance and  has no enforcement power. It is a wish-list for the future ability to institute  a ban.

The proposal was sponsored by Council Majority Leader Seth Yurdin.

“Things like revolvers, single-shot rifles and shotguns are not affected by the ban,” Yurdin said. “Those are suitable for home defense or  hunting." 

It’s not clear if Yurdin’s plan would confiscate weapons-- or just outlaw the transfer or sale of semi-autos. But it already has sparked sales of  both firearms and ammunition chambered by semi-automatic rifles and pistols.

Now, you may say that such an idea would never win favor in your town. 
  
But consider this: The same day (Jan. 3) that the Providence City Council passed its resolution against semi-automatic firearms, it also became illegal to sell flavored cigars and cigarettes in the city. 
 
Providence officials passed the ordinance after deciding that tobacco companies often market fruit-, chocolate- or candy-flavored tobacco products to young smokers.

So if Providence can pass a chocolate-flavored cigarette ban, I wouldn’t bet against something as silly as a blanket ban of semi-automatic firearms.

 - Dr. Gatling

As folks struggle to find ways for blaming guns for violence, Reuters reports  a resurgence of interest in so-called "smart guns" that will fire only for  authorized users.

The idea has been around for years, first using magnetic rings and then RFID  chips to unlock the trigger and make it go bang. Other research has focused on  biometetrics such as fingerprints and handprints.

Trouble is, the concept behind personal firearms is that it will render  stolen guns useless. If the key is embedded in a ring or bracelet, the thief  could claim both the gun and key by disabling the gun owner. 

Robert McNamara, who patented the TriggerSmart RFID lock, claimed his  invention might have prevented the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary  School. However, the gunman, who stole a rifle and pistols from his mother,
killing her in the process, would have known the guns were locked -- and could  have made sure to take the keys after doing away with his mother.

Another issue with smart guns is reliability. Law officers and gun owners fear that one  failure to unlock could be a fatal mechanical failure. 

Finally, gunmakers are reluctant to embrace what could be an expensive  technical upgrade for a firearm that could easily be placed in a safe, locked  drawer, or secured with a conventional trigger lock.

 - Dr. Gatling