| ||||||
      |
Friday, May 4, 2012
Sarge's NRA News
Let's give the enemy gun's Attorney General Eric Holder
Attorney General Eric Holder
(Credit: AP) (CBS News) Republicans on the House Oversight Committee were to take the first formal step Thursday toward contempt proceedings against Attorney General Eric Holder over the Fast and Furious "gunwalking" operation, CBS News has learned.
The case for a citation declaring Holder in contempt will be laid out in a briefing paper and 48-page draft citation distributed to Democrats and Republicans on the committee. CBS News has obtained copies of both documents. In them, Republican members use strong language to accuse Holder of obstructing the committee's investigation, which is now in its second year.
Read the memo and draft version of contempt report (.pdf)
The documents allege that the Justice Department has issued, "false denials, given answers intended to misdirect investigators, sought to intimidate witnesses, unlawfully withheld subpoenaed documents, and waited to be confronted with indisputable evidence before acknowledging uncomfortable facts."
Gov't answers CBS News "Fast and Furious" records requests with blank pages
Republicans prep contempt citation against Holder over Fast and Furious
ATF let "gunwalking" suspect go after arrest
"The Justice Department's demonstrable contempt for the congressional investigation has inflicted harm on the people of two nations seeking the truth - and very pointedly on the family of fallen Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and ATF whistleblowers who now face retaliation in the wake of their own heroic efforts to expose wrongdoing," says the brief to be distributed Thursday.
For its part, the Justice Department says it has complied with the congressional investigations, led by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa).
"We've done twice-a-month (document) productions since last year, and the Attorney General has testified about this matter no less than seven times," a Justice official tells CBS News.
There have been at least three House contempt actions against the Executive Branch in the past 30 years.
In 1983, Congress found EPA administrator Anne Gorsuch Burford in contempt for failing to produce subpoenaed documents.
In 1998, the GOP-controlled House Oversight committee found Attorney General Janet Reno in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena on campaign finance law violations.
In 2008, the Democratic-led House Oversight Committee found former White House counsel Harriet Miers and Chief of Staff John Bolton in contempt for failing to cooperate with an inquiry into whether a purge of federal prosecutors by the Bush administration was politically motivated. Congress went to federal court to seek enforcement of that contempt action, but a compromise was reached with the Executive Branch before any court decision was final.
Sarge's NRA news
“I Hunt, but the N.R.A. Isn’t for Me,” by Lily Raff McCaulou (Op-Ed, April 25), is another desperate, but predictable, election-year stunt to try to marginalize National Rifle Association members.
The N.R.A. not only represents four million N.R.A. members, but polls also indicate that tens of millions more support us, and a healthy percentage of the population takes our positions into account before casting a vote.
Whether liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, man or woman, we’ll fight for you because at its core, the Second Amendment isn’t about hunting. It’s about self-defense and freedom.
The claim that the N.R.A. hasn’t done anything for hunters is laughable. The N.R.A. has fought and continues to fight against bans on many commonly owned hunting firearms — likely the same tools the author uses to harvest game today. We have worked to ensure that almost all states have “right to hunt” provisions in their constitutions.
The N.R.A fought for laws that permanently prevent the loss of hunting lands. And Pittman Robertson funds remain dedicated to wildlife conservation thanks to the N.R.A.
We wish the author well in her hunting pursuits, and we’ll continue to protect her right to own and use firearms for whatever purpose she pleases.
CHRIS W. COX
Executive Director
N.R.A. Institute for Legislative Action
Fairfax, Va., April 26, 2012
Executive Director
N.R.A. Institute for Legislative Action
Fairfax, Va., April 26, 2012
New judge in Peterson case a former Will County state's attorney
Drew
Peterson appeared in a Will County courtroom today for the first time in
nearly two years, and got a new judge assigned for his trial.
Dressed in a blue jail jumpsuit, Peterson joked with deputies guarding him
and shook hands with his four attorneys before the hearing got underway.When a bailiff announced to the media that no communication was allowed with anyone in custody, Peterson said, “That would be me,’’ and raised his hands in the air.
“That’s inappropriate,’’ the bailiff said.
During brief proceedings, the case was assigned to Will County Associate Judge Edward Burmila, who once served as Will County's chief prosecutor. Another hearing was scheduled for May 17.
Peterson’s attorney Joel Brodsky said after the hearing that he thinks the case could go to trial in three months. "Drew is very happy that he can see the light at the end of the tunnel."
Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow said prosecutors were "ready for trial and we’re anxious to get this case in the courtroom."
The Third District Appellate Court — which recently
issued a ruling making it easier for prosecutors to use hearsay evidence against
the former Bolingbrook police sergeant — sent the high-profile case back to the
Will County courthouse this week in a move that inches Peterson toward
trial.
The case has been on hold since July 2010 while appeals over the statements from Peterson's drowned ex-wife, Kathleen Savio, and missing fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, wound their way through the higher courts. During that time, the trial judge retired.
Peterson, 58, is charged with killing Savio, who was found dead in her dry Bolingbrook bathtub in 2004. Her death was ruled an accidental drowning, but prosecutors exhumed Savio's body and reopened the case after Peterson's fourth wife vanished in 2007.
Peterson remains the sole suspect in Stacy's disappearance but has not been charged. He has denied any wrongdoing in either case.
The case has been on hold since July 2010 while appeals over the statements from Peterson's drowned ex-wife, Kathleen Savio, and missing fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, wound their way through the higher courts. During that time, the trial judge retired.
Peterson, 58, is charged with killing Savio, who was found dead in her dry Bolingbrook bathtub in 2004. Her death was ruled an accidental drowning, but prosecutors exhumed Savio's body and reopened the case after Peterson's fourth wife vanished in 2007.
Peterson remains the sole suspect in Stacy's disappearance but has not been charged. He has denied any wrongdoing in either case.
This just entered the news room: USCCA.com Fri, May 4, 2012 11:36:33 AM“Woman With Shotgun Kills Would-Be Rapist...”
Dear Fellow Armed Citizen,
I want to get right into this week’s Concealed Carry Report with a story that is sure to get your blood boiling...
The woman in this week’s Video of the Week article was raped in her home, and 5 days later the rapist came back to do it again. However, the second time around he met her while she was holding a 12 gauge shotgun she borrowed from a friend: See the details here...
This week’s True Defense Story is about a teenager that was killed after he, along with two friends, broke into a man’s home to rob him. The boy was only 14 years old.
Listen, I have a 13 year old son, and I’m well aware that the decisions he makes now will have lasting and potentially life-altering consequences. As a father of three I know that educating them is my responsibility as a parent, I take that responsibility very seriously.
I have also included on article from Cody Alderson where he explains the warrior in history, both men and women. I have also included an article from the Forum that talks about Concealed Carry Fashion.
Until next week, Stay Safe
Tim Schmidt
Publisher - Concealed Carry Report
USCCA Founder
Tom Dart is a pussy and now trying to violate State Laws
.jpg)
For more than four decades, Illinois' Firearm Owners Identification card has been viewed as a first line of defense for protecting the public by trying to keep guns out of the hands of the most dangerous in society.
But a first-ever state audit of the program has found the safety net weakened by bureaucratic loopholes and erroneous and incomplete data that could allow the seriously mental ill and others to keep or get a FOID card to buy firearms and ammunition.
"How are people going to explain away the fact that a horrific event occurred, and it turns out this person had diagnosed mental health issues and their card was not (taken away or) the information was never forwarded to the state police, so they never had the ability to take the card away?" asked Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart.
The audit doesn't list any instances where that's happened, and it's unclear whether any have occurred.
The problems in Illinois' reporting data compromises the FBI's national criminal background check database, which is used by other states for gun purchases, the audit found. "The safety of the general public as a whole is at risk," Auditor General William Holland said.
Details come as state lawmakers are now in the final scheduled month of spring session amid another push to legalize the carrying of concealed firearms. Illinois is the only state that prohibits so-called concealed carry for the general public.
FOID cards began in 1968, and last year more than 1.3 million Illinoisans held the card, a form of identification residents need to purchase firearms and ammunition. Nearly 880,000 FOID card applications were approved between 2008 and 2010, the report found, representing 97 percent of those who applied.
The FOID card requirement long has been controversial. Some gun rights advocates contend the unique Illinois system duplicates a required federal background check to purchase firearms from a licensed dealer. Gun control supporters argue the FOID card is a necessary first step for safety.
But the report found problems for those on either side of the gun issue. The audit showed faulty reporting allowed ineligible people to get or keep a FOID card, which pro- and anti-gun control advocates both decry. The audit also cited lengthy delays in processing card requests, with 85 percent of calls to get a status update going unanswered, which upsets gun rights supporters.
"This is a public safety solution that was sold to the public, that was foisted among gun owners. If this is what the state deems as necessary, they need to find the resources to adequately fund it," said Todd Vandermyde, a lobbyist for the Illinois State Rifle Association.
Among the most significant problems identified in the report was the failure of all but three of the state's 102 county circuit court clerks to report cases of people being found seriously mental ill to the Illinois State Police. Those people should be placed on an ineligibility list for FOID cards or should have them revoked.
By law, FOID cards should be revoked or not be issued to people found incompetent to stand trial, are a danger to themselves or others, lack the mental capacity to manage their own affairs, or have been found "not guilty by reason of insanity, mental disease or defect."
In 2010, only 121 court decisions finding serious mental illness were reported to the state police — all from Cook, Bureau and LaSalle counties.
Of those few court orders that were reported, only about half contained the necessary information required by the state police to add the ineligible names to the database. For the same reason, another 1-in-5 of the orders were never reported to the FBI to add to the national database.
The 103 cases forwarded to the state police by the Cook County Circuit Court are far short of all of the county's cases in which a judge determines someone to be seriously mentally ill.
Dart said he averages about 250 cases a year of housing people adjudicated as seriously mentally ill in the Cook County Jail, and those are only from criminal cases. Judges in the county's civil division also often make a determination of mental fitness that would add people to the list of those prohibited to have a FOID card.
The underreporting is the result of a legal loophole contained in the state law — and the reason why circuit court clerks in 99 of the state's other counties, including some of Illinois' largest, aren't forwarding names of ineligible FOID card holders to the state police.
Under the law, a judge "shall direct" the circuit clerk to forward the information to the state police. "Therefore," the audit stated, "if not directed to do so by the court, the court clerk is not going to report" the names to the state police.
"What is the purpose and why do we even have a FOID card section?" asked Rep. Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, a former assistant Cook County prosecutor.
Sarge's weather
After a night of rolling thunderstorms, a cold front will move into the Chicago area today that could drop temperatures to the 50s along the lake this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
The severe weather that brought flash flood warnings and hail up to an inch-and-a-half big will move out this morning, and storms developing in western Illinois will likely pass south of Chicago, National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Ratzer said.
“Most of the really heavy weather has ended,” he said. “A severe thunderstorm watch for the immediate area ended and the one in south Chicago was cancelled. . .There’s still some light to moderate rain moving across the area right now but that should be moving out and it’s generally lighter than what we had in the evening hours.”
The weather service also canceled or let expire flash flood warnings that covered the north and south portions of the Chicago area, Ratzer said.
Police across the region didn't report much flooding to the National Weather Service, Ratzer said.
Police closed three blocks of McCormick Boulevard from 6900 North to Touhy Avenue in Lincolnwood because of flooding.
The road sits between a shopping center and a park next to the North Shore Channel, a branch of the Chicago River.
10 Shootings in Chcago by Gang member's and drug dealers
When is the Illinois State's Attorney going to do her job and charge these animals as DOMESTIC TERRORIST UNDER THE PATRIOT ACT 2001. Do your Job Anita 
Two of the shooting victims died - they were killed on the 9000 block of South Racine Avenue about 5:05 p.m., police said.
A 19-year-old man was shot by someone who approached him on a bicycle about 10:57 p.m. in the 100 block of West 103rd Place, police said. He was shot in the leg and is in good condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center, police said.
Five people were shot on the 6300 block of South Wolcott Avenue in the West Englewood neighborhood about 10:45 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.
Two 16-year-old girls were among the five shot. One is in serious condition at Mount Sinai Hospital – she was shot in the thigh and groin area. The other teen suffered a graze wound to her arm. A 19-year-old man was shot in the back and is in serious condition at Stroger Hospital. Two 21-year-old men are in good condition at St. Bernard Hospital – one was shot in the finger and the other was shot in the leg.
The wounds aren't life threatening, a Chicago Fire Department said.
All five were on a porch when a "known offender" approached on foot and started shooting, police said. The shooting may be gang related, they added.
About 10:15 p.m., a 19-year-old man was cut by glass as he ran from the sound of gunfire on the 6300 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue.
Also Thursday, two people were shot on the west side. A 21-year-old man was shot in the foot on the 3600 block of West Thomas Street in the Humboldt Park neighborhood about 7:45 p.m.
Police said a family member drove him to Norwegian American Hospital, where he was treated for his wound and released. Police said he was uncooperative.
About noon, a 30-year-old man was shot in the legs and hands in the 100 block of South Francisco Street in the East Garfield Park neighborhood and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital by a family member.
Details surrounding that shooting weren't available.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)