The weird thing is that Robert, son of Gaston, is suddenly standing up supporting Paul Jannuzzo, the turncoat who stole millions of dollars from the company.  This GLOCK and Glock soap opera is sickening.

The idea that if Paul Jannuzzo didn’t actually steal a pistol then everything is OK is crazy.  Sure, he saved the company several time from almost certain bankruptcy due to liability claims.  Sure, his promotional strategies were awesome.  Sure he’s a nice guy and was Gaston’s only friend.  But that doesn’t give a guy license to embezzle even a nickel let alone come up with a ballsy plan to pocket millions!

I think Robert is trying to find a way to get the company back and get back at his father for loosing his marbles.

Here’s the report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Cobb County judge sentenced former Glock Inc. CEO Paul Jannuzzo Wednesday to seven years in prison and 13 years on probation for conspiring with another former executive to pocket millions from the international gun manufacturer.

Enlarge photo

Curtis Compton, ccompton@ajc.comJannuzzo was sentenced to 20 years to serve 7 with credit for time served in Cobb County Superior Court on Wednesday, April 11, 2012.

Enlarge photo

Curtis Compton, ccompton@ajc.comWearing handcuffs and prison clothes, ex-Glock CEO Paul Jannuzzo enters court for his sentencing hearing.

Enlarge photo

John Disney Daily ReportPaul Jannuzzo, during his trial Wednesday Feb. 22, 2012 in Cobb Superior Court.

Jannuzzo, 56, also was fined $100,000 and ordered to serve 200 hours of community service upon his release. Jannuzzo has already spent 26 months in jail awaiting trial on the theft and racketeering charges, for which he was indicted in 2009. He will be given credit for time served.

A jury convicted Jannuzzo March 2 of conspiring with another former Glock executive, Dunwoody lawyer Peter Manown, to divert about $5 million from the company between 1991 and 2003 using cloned bank accounts, forged documents and fraudulently obtained loans. Jannuzzo also was convicted of stealing a pistol that had been loaned to him by the company.

Glock Inc., the North American subsidiary of the Austria-based gun manufacturer, is headquartered in Smyrna.

Manown, who reportedly profited the most from the partnership, pleaded guilty to three counts of theft in 2008 and was sentenced to 10 years on probation, with no jail time. In exchange for the plea, Manown agreed to cooperate with the investigation.

Defense attorney John Da Grosa Smith asked the judge to take into account Manown’s comparatively light punishment when he sentenced Jannuzzo. He requested only a fine, community service or time on probation as punishment for his client.

Smith also put Jannuzzo’s four siblings and his 80-year-old mother on the stand to testify about how much his family relies on him.

Jannuzzo’s father died in 2009, and the loss of the family patriarch as well as the eldest son has been devastating for the family, said Jannuzzo’s sister, AnnMarie Jannuzzo Mastria.

“The two of them are gone at the same time and it’s hit everyone really hard,” she testified. “My mom has had two heart attacks and she needs him there.”

Jannuzzo, dressed in a jail uniform and bulletproof vest instead of the suit and tie he wore during the trial, wiped away tears as his sister spoke.

Frank R. Seigel, an attorney who was once retained by Jannuzzo to help with Glock product liability cases, testified Jannuzzo was a “brilliant” lawyer. He said Jannuzzo’s peers held him in high regard while he served as the face of the gun industry in America throughout much of the 1990s.

Jannuzzo, a former New Jersey prosecutor, rose to prominence after he was hired by Glock Inc. to be its general counsel, defending the company against product liability lawsuits and patent infringements. He played a pivotal role in representing Glock not just in court, but before U.S. presidents, Congressional leaders and business tycoons. All that crumbled after his arrest, his lawyers argued.

“This man has been ruined,” Smith told the judge prior to sentencing.

Prosecutor John Butters hinted there were really two Paul Jannuzzos — the affable, loving one his friends and family saw, and the conniving, duplicitous employee that jurors heard evidence about. He pointed out that Manown voluntarily came forward in 2003 to Glock executives, admitted he stole from the company, and paid restitution.

In contrast, Jannuzzo has not accepted responsibility nor shown any remorse, Butters said.

Superior Court Judge LaTain Kell had little sympathy for Jannuzzo.

“You were entrusted basically with keys to the kingdom,” Kell told Jannuzzo. “You were given the opportunity to write checks, form corporations on behalf of the company, and take all manners of action on behalf of the company. By placing that amount of trust in you, they allowed you — much to their detriment — to steal from them.”

If ninjas wore diapers...

I’m always railing against manual safeties:  mechanisms that people ignorantly trust to keep them out of harm’s way.  Well here’s one I can stand behind.

Have you noticed that in the past ten years, generic safety pins have become completely useless?  Their dull “point” won’t go through fabric.  Their cheap alloy won’t hold a coil and therefore they come undone easily.  The head comes immediately uncrimped, leaving the hazardous pin ineffective and open to cause injury.  If you think about it, safety pins have been emasculated like so many other formerly useful tools of our society.

Well, I’ve located the ultimate safety pin.  The veritable GLOCK of safety pins.

At Manhattan Wardrobe Supply, you can pick up an inexpensive gross (144) of any of four sizes of black oxide safety pins.  They are sharp, they are strongly sprung, they are securely crimped and made of reliable materials.  And they are BLACK.  They are not painted, they are blued like a gun, which should provide nice resistance to the elements.  It’s not Tenifer, but it’s the next best thing.

A fistful of safety pins should be with you at all times.  At the range.  In your bug-out bag.  If you’re a father, it’s your solemn responsibility to repair swiftly any item broken or torn no matter where you are.  These safety pins will help you maintain that ninja-like magic.  I got the number 2 and number 3 sizes.  Pass ‘em out among your friends and loved ones!

Because of their high quality, these are the only truly SAFE safety pins.  There isn’t much more dangerous than a dull, weak and cheaply manufactured safety pin.

New Glock Or Classic Glock?

Some of you will remember an episode in American culture in the mid-1980s when Coca-Cola introduced “New Coke.”  Falling in market share against Pepsi, Coke executives had the brilliant idea to almost literally shoot themselves and the whole company in the collective foot.  Based on secret taste tests, the decades-old formula of Coca-Cola was modified to be a little sweeter and more Pepsi-like.  Well America went nuts.  Letters and phone calls attacked the company with overwhelming disapproval.  Such an uproar was raised that the company switched back to “Classic Coke” three months later.

As an observer at the time, I actually predicted that Coke would switch back to its old formula.  When the popularity of Coke bounced back after its return to crush Pepsi for all time, we all wondered if the whole thing could have been one fantastic marketing ploy.

With so much dissatisfaction with GLOCK’s Gen4 marque, could Gaston be thinking along these same lines?

Gun enthusiasts are much like car enthusiasts.  They want the best, but they don’t like change.  They are cheap, but they don’t like cheap.  They are deeply patriotic, but they want their machines to work and to last and to be tough.  What the hell are we supposed to do?  It’s who we are.

Along comes GLOCK.  After a thousand years of selling the same virtually unchanged pistol, they make a couple of inconsequential changes and everyone is up in arms…. or up without arms, as the case may be.  Admittedly, the new compound recoil system had some problems at first, but that’s all effortlessly and harmlessly figured out now.  The other changes only effect you if you have use for them.

Modular backstraps:  I don’t need ‘em, so I don’t care.

Larger and Reversible magazine release:  I don’t need it, so I don’t care.

More aggressive texture:  I may or may not like it.  I haven’t decided yet.  I usually put a Hogue sleeve over my GLOCKs anyway.

If anything, I think the SF and RTF models were GLOCK’s New Coke.  I think Gen4 is GLOCK’s attempt to bring back Classic.

Are people still whining about Gen4s?  Yeah.  Read this guy’s tantrum about plastic sights, trigger pull weight and backstrap thickness.  All things that are either the first things you change on any gun or inconsequential.  I mean bitching about plastic factory sights is like complaining that your new car came with Walmart motor oil in it.  You’re gonna change it eventually anyway, right?  The Glock trigger pull is kinda like what Glock IS.  You’ve got other choices out there.  And if you want it different, you can change it for a few bucks.  Glock is not going to change it because they have 600 lawyers telling them not to.

Anyway, as far as I know, Gen3s are still available and will be for a long time.  And Coca Cola used to have cocaine in it.

Well at last, someone has taken a long hard FRESH look at the data that is available.   Greg Ellifritz, a full time firearms and defensive tactics training officer for a central Ohio police department, has posted his analysis on the Buckeye Firearms Association website.

Complete with charts and graphs, Mr. Ellifritz carefully investigated and compiled about 1800 shootings.  The cases include shootings with all common calibers from .22 to .44.  And he’s processed the data in some ingenious ways to wring a lot more value out of the information.  His conclusions confirmed exactly what I always thought was true.  There are some fine details that I found fascinating.  Go read the article and keep in mind that any Glock that you carry is going to be just fine.

An overview of the figures here makes it look like even the .22 short is an adequate caliber, but the discussion afterward is where the good stuff is revealed.  In particular, learn what he means by the term he coins “Psychological Stopping Power.”

The next study I want to see is the correlation between caliber and training level.  I have a feeling that the more “Professional” your caliber, the stronger your training is going to be and therefore, the better your shooting and therefore, the higher success rates will manifest in the more serious calibers.  We’ll have to see if anyone picks that idea up.

In the meantime, here’s the raw data from Ellifritz’s study:

.25ACP

# of people shot – 68
# of hits – 150
% of hits that were fatal – 25%
Average number of rounds until incapacitation – 2.2
% of people who were not incapacitated – 35%
One-shot-stop % – 30%
Accuracy (head and torso hits) – 62%
% actually incapacitated by one shot (torso or head hit) – 49%

.22 (short, long and long rifle)

# of people shot – 154
# of hits – 213
% of hits that were fatal – 34%
Average number of rounds until incapacitation – 1.38
% of people who were not incapacitated – 31%
One-shot-stop % – 31%
Accuracy (head and torso hits) – 76%
% actually incapacitated by one shot (torso or head hit) – 60%

.32 (both .32 Long and .32 ACP)

# of people shot – 25
# of hits – 38
% of hits that were fatal – 21%
Average number of rounds until incapacitation – 1.52
% of people who were not incapacitated – 40%
One-shot-stop % – 40%
Accuracy (head and torso hits) – 78%
% actually incapacitated by one shot (torso or head hit) – 72%

.380 ACP

# of people shot – 85
# of hits – 150
% of hits that were fatal – 29%
Average number of rounds until incapacitation – 1.76
% of people who were not incapacitated – 16%
One-shot-stop % – 44%
Accuracy (head and torso hits) – 76%
% actually incapacitated by one shot (torso or head hit) – 62%

.38 Special

# of people shot – 199
# of hits – 373
% of hits that were fatal – 29%
Average number of rounds until incapacitation – 1.87
% of people who were not incapacitated – 17%
One-shot-stop % – 39%
Accuracy (head and torso hits) – 76%
% actually incapacitated by one shot (torso or head hit) – 55%

9mm Luger

# of people shot – 456
# of hits – 1121
% of hits that were fatal – 24%
Average number of rounds until incapacitation – 2.45
% of people who were not incapacitated – 13%
One-shot-stop % – 34%
Accuracy (head and torso hits) – 74%
% actually incapacitated by one shot (torso or head hit) – 47%

.357 (both magnum and Sig)

# of people shot – 105
# of hits – 179
% of hits that were fatal – 34%
Average number of rounds until incapacitation – 1.7
% of people who were not incapacitated – 9%
One-shot-stop % – 44%
Accuracy (head and torso hits) – 81%
% actually incapacitated by one shot (torso or head hit) – 61%

.40 S&W

# of people shot – 188
# of hits – 443
% of hits that were fatal – 25%
Average number of rounds until incapacitation – 2.36
% of people who were not incapacitated – 13%
One-shot-stop % – 45%
Accuracy (head and torso hits) – 76%
% actually incapacitated by one shot (torso or head hit) – 52%

.45 ACP

# of people shot – 209
# of hits – 436
% of hits that were fatal – 29%
Average number of rounds until incapacitation – 2.08
% of people who were not incapacitated – 14%
One-shot-stop % – 39%
Accuracy (head and torso hits) – 85%
% actually incapacitated by one shot (torso or head hit) – 51%

.44 Magnum

# of people shot – 24
# of hits – 41
% of hits that were fatal – 26%
Average number of rounds until incapacitation – 1.71
% of people who were not incapacitated – 13%
One-shot-stop % – 59%
Accuracy (head and torso hits) – 88%
% actually incapacitated by one shot (torso or head hit) – 53%

Rifle (all Centerfire)

# of people shot – 126
# of hits – 176
% of hits that were fatal – 68%
Average number of rounds until incapacitation – 1.4
% of people who were not incapacitated – 9%
One-shot-stop % – 58%
Accuracy (head and torso hits) – 81%
% actually incapacitated by one shot (torso or head hit) – 80%

Shotgun (All, but 90% of results were 12 gauge)

# of people shot – 146
# of hits – 178
% of hits that were fatal – 65%
Average number of rounds until incapacitation – 1.22
% of people who were not incapacitated – 12%
One-shot-stop % – 58%
Accuracy (head and torso hits) – 84%
% actually incapacitated by one shot (torso or head hit) – 86%

Every shooter is an artist.

Here’s a letter from a reader.  He naturally wants the best, so he asks essentially, which gun is better.  The answer is not that simple.

Dear Mr. Boatman,

Come to the 2010 SHOT Show and visit the GLOCK, Inc. booth # 14049. GLOCK, Inc., will have their newest product, the Gen4. The Team GLOCK Shooting Squad; Dave Sevigny, Randi Rogers and Jessie Abbate, will be at the GLOCK, Inc. booth January 19th -22nd . R. Lee Ermey, “The Gunny”, will be at GLOCK’s booth January 20th-22nd. Go GLOCK!

2010 SHOT Show

Time:8:00AM Tuesday, January 19th

Location:Sands Convention Service Las Vegas, NV

Weapons are not going to disapper, they are just going to get more dangerous as we collectively eliminate familiarity with them.  If society suddenly stopped teaching people how to drive cars, there would still be a few who fearlessly formed groups to drive safely.  If the government prohibited learning how to drive, yet still allowed cars on the roads, our highways would be very dangerous indeed!  There would shortly arise an effort to outlaw those deadly vehicles.  That’s exactly what we’re seeing with guns.

The article below is an example of kids messing around with a harmless toy because they don’t have the training with real guns.

Keep on Glockin’,

Morgan 

A centimeter from death

By LARRY HENDRICKS
Assistant City Editor
Wednesday, June 24, 2009

He was minding his own business, on his way to the Blockbuster video store on Woodlands Village Boulevard.

The BB or pellet somebody fired from Citizens Cemetery lodged about a centimeter from one of the large veins and arteries in his neck. After examining the wound, a doctor at Flagstaff Medical Center decided to leave the projectile in his neck. It might work its way out, or it may remain in his neck the rest of his life.

The 20-year-old NAU junior, who, as a victim of a crime, asked not to be identified, said the hospital staff told him if the pellet had hit one of the big veins or arteries in his neck, he likely would have died.

While police continue to search for whoever may have shot the young man, a friend has stepped forward to offer a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

The young man said the shooting happened at about 9:45 p.m. Saturday. He was driving southbound on South San Francisco Street. A friend was in the passenger seat.

“I had my window down and I heard a CO2 (pressurized carbon dioxide) noise just when I felt something hit my neck,” the young man said. He initially thought he might have been hit with a paintball. Then, he put his hand to his neck and saw he was bleeding.

He turned to his friend.

“And I said, ‘I think someone just shot me in the neck.’”

After pulling over to the side of the road for a moment and noticing he wasn’t bleeding badly, he decided to continue on to Blockbuster. The young man placed a call to his dad, and his father told him to go to the campus police department.

At the station, he told the night dispatcher what had happened, he said. Almost immediately, an officer was at the station, and soon a half-dozen city and university officers were combing the cemetery. Police suggested the young man go to the hospital.

He drove himself, he said.

According to NAU police reports, officers searched the cemetery and surrounding area with no results. The case has been closed unless more leads develop.

At the hospital, the young man said he was rushed into the trauma room at the emergency department when staff heard what had happened.

He was put on an IV and had a CT scan taken of the wound.

The physician in charge told him that trying to take the pellet from his neck would likely do more harm than good, he said. Staff also said that had the pellet entered a centimeter over, it would have killed him.

Dr. Eric Henley, medical director for the central region of North Country HealthCare, said that necks have large veins and arteries on either side. A hole in an artery leads to a quicker loss of blood than veins because the pressure in an artery is greater.

The quickness of blood loss depends on the size of the rupture, Henley added.

The young man said he thinks he was shot by some younger juveniles who had no concept of what could have happened. An adult knowingly shooting at passing cars was a disturbing concept to him.

His incident was not the only that night. According to information from NAU police, another victim had been driving in the same area when his window was shattered by a pellet.

“I just unluckily had my window down,” he said.

He added that he is not angry and is glad he was the one shot rather than another person who might have been more vulnerable.

“I just want whoever did it to realize how serious it is,” he said.

His friend, Chip Casner, a longtime Flagstaff resident, was upset that something like getting shot in the neck with a pellet happened to such a nice person. He’s offering a $1,000 reward to anybody who turns over information on who did the shooting.

“It was the least I could do,” Casner said.

Anybody with information about the case is asked to contact the NAU Police Department at 523-3611, or call Silent Witness at 774-6111 or (877) 29-CRIME.

Larry Hendricks can be reached at 556-2262 or lhendricks@azdailysun.com.

OK, I’ve been watching this for a couple of weeks.  Knife-rights organizations have been blowing it all out of proportion.  Now the NRA makes it sound like Obama himself is going to organize a pocket knife turn-in program.  These types of organizations tend to try to stir up fear.  I think they’ve missed the real frightening point of this proposal.

The deeper meaning behind this legislation is this:  It is an attempt to establish a legal precedent, one of the most powerful statutory tools of over-reaching government.

In a nutshell, the new law proposes that ‘assisted’ (either by spring or gravity) knives should be considered Switchblades.  They’ve called out a few of these knives (detailed in the law) and describe them as having no legitimate utilitarian purpose.  They describe them as designed only for use as ‘weapons.’  Read it, as I did, here.

OK.  That’s fine.  Some knives are in fact only intended as weapons.  Some would say that restricting those knives from entering the USA is a good thing.  But think about what that means.  Asside from the fact that everyone needs something that is ‘just a weapon’ sometimes.  Think about the precedent this is setting.  What other class of tools can be handily prohibited if it is shown that ‘weapons’ can legitamately be outlawed?  What about your handguns?  It can be argued, particularly for Glocks, that there is no other reason to have a handgun except to use it as a weapon.

We must not let this ‘Pocket Knife Assault Ban’ get through.  It is much more serious than it appears.

Below is the NRA news blurb and an email from KnifeRights.org.

Friday, June 12, 2009
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a proposed rule change that directly targets the importation of “assisted opening” folding knives.  (Read the proposed rule here.) The proposed regulations would designate all these knives as “switchblades” (despite the fact they do not fall under the federal definition of “switchblades”), and would make them illegal for import into the United States. The proposed rule could affect all knives that can be opened with one hand, because it also includes changes in the interpretation of “gravity and inertia” opening knives in a way that could outlaw all knives that can be opened with a single hand. This means the new regulation could ban the importation of most of the pocketknives that are now in popular use.  

And it could have a far greater impact.  The American Knife and Tool Institute and Knife Rights, Inc. have both reviewed the proposed new regulations and are very concerned that the impact will be far greater than just a ban on the importation of assisted opening knives.  If the new regulations also affect the broader category of single-handed opening knives, it could make millions of knives illegal for import.  More importantly, many local jurisdictions and some states depend on the definitions used by the CBP.  These changes could make hundreds of millions of knives now in regular use, illegal.  And, of course, millions of hunters use and rely on their knives and would be adversely affected by this proposed regulation.

CBP is attempting to expedite this rulemaking and is only keeping comments open until June 21, 2009.  The American Knife and Tool Institute and Knife Rights, Inc. are leading the charge against the.  For more information and to make your voice heard in opposition to these new regulations, please go to: http://www.kniferights.org/index and http://www.akti.org/.

Knife Rights News Slice Vol. 2 Number 5This newsletter is emailed to Knife Rights members, those who have notified Knife Rights of their interest in the issues discussed and the news media.  If you prefer not to receive these emails from Knife Rights, please email: dritter@kniferights.org and ask to be removed.

A digital copy of this News Slice can be found online at: http://www.kniferights.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=84&Itemid=1

Customs Says “NO EXTENSION!” – They Want Your Pocket Knives NOW!CBP’s denial of an extension seems to be a clear indication that they do not intend to act in a fair and reasonable manner on this issue and have already made their decision to go ahead. That may be a somewhat cynical viewpoint, but given the history of CBP, it seems like a good bet. That means we have to set the stage for the next act, which will likely be conducted both in court and in Congress. The battle is far from over; your comments will play a key role in both efforts. If you haven’t yet submitted comments, you need to do it NOW!  Your comments on the record will make a difference and the more the better.

Breaking News: We have received word that U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) has DENIED the numerous requests for extension that it had received from Knife Rights, AKTI, manufacturers and citizens like you, and is planning to stick with the June 21 deadline for comments.

In light of the denial, Knife Rights has re-written our Model Comments letter for concerned knife owners to send to CBP.  If you have not already sent your letter to CPB, please do so TODAY!  If you want to send another letter, it couldn’t hurt. The comments cannot be emailed, they must be mailed or sent by FedEx/UPS, etc. and they must be received in Washington, DC, no later than June 20, 2009.  (The deadline is Sunday, June 21, but there’s no mail delivery on Sunday).

To all of the hundreds of you who have already sent letters, thank you very much.  It will make a difference in the end.A number of emails have asked where it explicitly says in the CBP’s document that they are going after almost all pocket knives. If you are looking for explicit language to that effect, you won’t find it. That would be too easy, and CBP had no interest in a direct confrontation of that magnitude. They were, after all, trying to slip this one through in the first place as just a minor ruling change. One has to take the logical next step based on the rationales provided by Customs in expanding the interpretation of a switchblade to assisted openers to see where that is headed. It is not even a small leap from assisted openers to one-hand openers, if they succeed. From there to slipjoint folders that can be opened using various tricks one-handed is only another very small step.

If their new ruling is accepted and put in place, the next step will be seizing a warehouse full of imported one-hand openers, which they can legally do, declaring them to also meet their now very broadly defined interpretation of what a switchblade is. They came very close to doing that a few years back in a seizure involving Columbia River Knife & Tool. With this ruling in place, they would succeed. Then the definition of what is a switchblade is expanded even further. It is this that has knife owners and the knifemaking industry up in arms, because our lawyers understand how these bureaucrats use these rulings and language games to get well beyond what it appears at first glance they are reaching for.

For those who are just now hearing of this, you can find our original News Slice with an expanded explanation of the issues and links to the original CBP document, etc., at:

http://www.kniferights.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=81&Itemid=1
or
http://tinyurl.com/lbcz4q

We need you to write CBP NOW!  Their 30 day deadline is fast approaching and these letters must go via postal mail (or Fedex/UPS).  Click below for a Model Letter you can send to CBP. You MUST write TODAY!http://www.kniferights.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=79&Itemid=29
or
http://tinyurl.com/q7w8tm

We also want to continue efforts to bring this absurd proposal and CBP’s efforts to take our pocket knives away to the attention of Congress. Based on feedback already received from some more gullible Members who have swallowed CBP’s story hook, line and sinker, we have revised our Model Letter to Congress to emphasize the far reaching effects that this ruling will have, both on millions of law-abiding citizens and by destroying the vibrant knifemaking industry. This is clearly NOT just about imported assisted openers, no matter how much CBP wants us to believe that.

We must flood Congress with letters so they understand the gravity of the situation. This will be a huge help going forward, so please get your emails out today. Click below for a Model Letter you can send to Members of Congress. Only your efforts will stop this and save our Knife Rights!

http://www.kniferights.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=78&Itemid=29
or
http://tinyurl.com/qqvmns

We are not about to roll over for this clearly out-of-control government agency. But, we need your help to stop them. Your letters and emails will make a difference!

Knife Rights Retains Nappen Law FirmWith the denial of an extension, our primary attention now shifts to submitting comments on the proposal by the deadline. Towards that end, Knife Rights has retained the law firm of E.F. Nappen Attorney at Law, PC. Evan and his associates specialize in gun and knife criminal cases. Evan is a leading authority on the Federal Switchblade Act and has authored numerous articles on the subject.

As you might suspect, such expertise does not come free. The good news, such as it is, is that with such a tight deadline, the cost is limited, if not insignificant. We need your support to do this; we don’t have a large cash horde or the financial resources of some larger organizations. Please consider becoming a member at the Benefactor level to help pay for this defense of our knife rights.

We’re also setting up a contributions page, but it has been delayed due to technical issues and it will be a day or so before it is up and running.

SAF and CCRKBA Joins with Knife Rights
 
The Second Amendment Foundation and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms have joined with Knife Rights to help fight this unwarranted knife grab by Customs. They are supporting us with Email Alerts to their membership and additional resources. SAF founder, Alan Gottlieb, noted, “we stand with Knife Rights in their support of Americans’ right to own and carry the knives of their choice.” 

And, just a reminder, the Second Amendment doesn’t say “Firearms,” it says “Arms.” Knives are clearly covered. Clearly the founding fathers expected that knives would be included.

NRA Joins the FightWe have also been working with the National Rifle Association in recent days and they have officially taken this issue up and you should soon be seeing evidence of their involvement if you are an NRA member. NRA recognizes that this ruling will not only affect virtually every NRA member, but that the precedent it would set would not be good for supporters of the Second Amendment.

NRA Alert:  http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=4972

Again, the Second Amendment doesn’t say “Firearms,” it says “Arms.” While we primarily focus on our knives as essential tools, mankind’s oldest, our essential rights to own and carry knives are enshrined in the Second Amendment.

Spread the Word!Please, forward on this email to all your friends, email list servers, post it on forums and encourage everyone you know to get on board. Remember, regardless of where you are active online, a significant proportion of your fellow online participants and contacts use and carry a pocket knife. They will be impacted. They need to know. And, that’s the point.  It’s not just a few knife enthusiasts.

You can also add a sig line or button to your email or forum signatures or a banner to your web site to help spread the word about Customs’ rulemaking:

http://www.kniferights.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=83&Itemid=1
or
http://tinyurl.com/lpglwf

Knife Rights on TwitterKnife Rights is now on Twitter and we’ll issue critical updates and notices on Twitter as this issue evolves:  http://www.twitter.com/KnifeRights

Join Knife Rightshttp://www.kniferights.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=39
or
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Gun fight to arm 11,000 officers
Article from: Sunday Herald Sun
Liam Houlihan

June 07, 2009 12:00am

A GLOBAL “gun fight” is expected to break out over the lucrative Victoria Police .

Police will go to tender on Tuesday and international arms makers from across the globe could be in the running.

The contract’s specified requirement is that the semi-automatic pistol has a .40 calibre.

Austrian company Glock, Belgian gunsmiths Browning and US company Colt all make a semiautomatic pistol with that size bore.

James Bond’s favourite arms manufacturers, Beretta, from Italy, and Walther, a German manufacturer, also make a .40 pistol.

There is also a chance Smith & Wesson – which supplies the Victoria Police six-shooter revolver, but also makes a .40 magazine clip pistol – may get to keep, but vary, its contract.

Deputy Commissioner Simon Overland

Chief Commissioner Simon Overland said: “There’s a range of issues around performance, reliability, safety and magazine capacity.”

“The firearms will be fitted to suit left or right-handers and people with small or large hands,” said Acting Supt Terence Jackson, from the Firearm Replacement Project.

Experts said this could rule out the Glock which, as a self-cocking gun with articulated trigger safety, can technically be used with only one hand.

The contract is worth up to $18 million.