Holding a poll at the Gun Blogs on what the next focus of gun rights activists should be. Head on over to vote and link to the post if you like.

The CT Post:

Americans spent more than $2 billion on guns and ammunition in 2005, showing the nation’s fascination with firearms is not fading despite concerns raised by gun-control advocates.

The Newtown-based National Shooting Sports Foundation on Monday touted a U.S. Department of Treasury report that said sales of firearms and ammunition increased by 2.6 percent in 2005, while other federal agencies are finding fewer gun-related deaths and crimes. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Centers for Disease Control have not made statistics on gunshot deaths and firearms-related crimes available for 2005, so the NSSF had to rely on data from 2004 and earlier.

In 2005, Americans purchased 4.7 million new guns, the NSSF said, bringing the estimated total of citizen-owned guns to 290 million. These are legal sales; the number of guns sold illegally is not known.

The U.S. Census Bureau said Monday there are approximately 298 million Americans.

NSSF said handgun purchases showed the biggest gain, rising 3 percent in 2005. Connecticut firearms sales increased by 2.5 percent during the same period, according to State Trooper William Tate.

The NSSF also says:

Gun Sales Rise as Crime, Accident Rates Fall

Be certain to check out their handy chart of significant firearms stats, which notes new CCW states and that accidental firearm deaths are at an all-time low.

Insty points out that coyotes, bobcats and other critters that don’t ordinarily come around humans are now living near people. The WSJ says it’s due to sprawl. It is not due to sprawl. I live out in the country and coyotes have never been a problem except in the last six months. Now, we hear them at night and some neighbors say they’ve seen them. And we’re not exactly a sprawling metropolis. The reason they come around is because they are not chased off nor are they shot on sight.

My neighbors have said it frightens them and they fear for children or pets. I say to them shoot the damn things. Kill a couple and the rest will learn not to come around. I have heard them in the distance but never seen any. If I did, I’d shoot them. The reason I never see them near my land and the field behind my house is probably due to Politically Incorrect Dog. My neighbors with no dogs and small dogs don’t seem to be as lucky.

Glen McAdoo:

Last September, a study by researchers at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 1.7 million children live in homes with loaded, unlocked guns. More than 500 children die annually from accidental gunshots. Some shoot themselves, while others kill friends or siblings, often after discovering a gun.

But KABA says:

Actually according to the CDC’s WISQARS website, in 2002 and 2003 there were less than 1/10th of that number of children (13 and under) accidentally killed by guns. To reach the over 500 annually number, you have to include ‘children’ up to 45 years old.

Try some research.

AC:

I said to this guy, “You’re telling me that there is no one in the White House Press Office right now who can tell me whether or not the President has vetoed anything.”

His response, “That’s what I’m telling you.”

Bloomberg has launched a new anti-gun legislative initiative. One part of it bans something that sounds made up:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, joined by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and City Council Public Safety Chair Peter F. Vallone, Jr., today announced the introduction of four pieces of legislation intended to combat gun violence. The legislation includes: the Gun Offender Registration Act for individuals convicted of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree; a one handgun every-three-month purchase limit; an Inventory bill, which would require city gun dealers to physically examine their inventories twice a year; and a ban on gun coloration kits used to disguise real guns in ‘toy-like’ colors.

They make those?

A while back, it was ruled that Denver could enact a politically incorrect dog ban despite state law to the contrary. Now, the same has happened with a ban on weapons that look like assault weapons:

A divided Colorado Supreme Court on Monday upheld Denver’s ban on assault weapons, despite arguments that state weapons laws should trump city ordinances.

The 3-3 vote, with one justice abstaining, ended a high-profile fight between Colorado’s largest city and state officials over two state laws enacted in 2003 that pre-empted local regulation of firearms in favor of uniform state regulation.

The city sued the state, claiming the laws violated its rights to regulate matters of local concern.

Denver District Judge Joseph Meyer III ruled in 2004 that the city had to conform to some parts of the state laws, but he said the city could bar the sale of assault weapons and so-called Saturday night specials despite state laws prohibiting local governments from banning weapons that are otherwise legal under state and federal law.

Both the city and the state appealed Meyer’s ruling.

The Supreme Court said that because of its tie vote, the lower court’s ruling stands. It gave no legal opinion or analysis of the issues.

Michael asks:

Does linking to something constitute an endorsement?

And he answers:

No. That’s about like saying if one links to a story on a murder then that’s an endorsement of the murder.

I disagree, generally. Sure, it may not always be the case but unless one disclaims that they’re not endorsing said view, I generally assume they are endorsing it.

It’s hard row to hoe but PGP is taking the pro-gun truth to democrats.com.

David Hardy wrote an op-ed. Read it here.

Jeff:

Promises are like turds. You can make a bunch of them but that doesn’t mean you keep them.

Another case of police committing puppycide.

Gun laws do not always work:

When Edward Garland approached the town of Bozrah for a license to carry a handgun in 2001, there was little reason to refuse his request.

Garland added handguns to a growing cache of more than a dozen firearms he had amassed in his Bozrah home by the time he shot and killed his neighbor March 23, 2005, in a dispute about the care of his invalid mother.

Garland did not have a criminal background, was never officially committed to a facility because of his mental illness and had completed all the requirements under state law to possess and carry a handgun. He already owned pellet guns and long guns.

…

Garland’s story shows even in a state where gun laws are considered stringent, and if the process is followed correctly, it’s nearly impossible to prevent every would-be killer from buying guns. Reasons for that include no centralized permitting agency in the state — individual municipalities issue gun permits — and no consideration for mental health, except in the most severe cases.

McAdamSandwich has a pic of his minty-fresh M-4.