CCW news from across the nation

AZ: Twisted coverage and myths shot down 'guns-in-bars' bill
Why on Earth would the National Rifle Association promote laws so "gun-toting" people could "pack heat" in bars and not drink?

Say what? That doesn't even make sense. It's beyond stupid. And in fact, the NRA promoted no such thing.

But you wouldn't know it from reading the papers or following newscasts.

The inaccurately characterized "guns-in-bars" bill received twisted coverage, using derision and phony Wild West mythology, from reporters and editors who earned rebuke for such unethical spin.

While reporters cried wolf and instilled fear in a public they misinformed, 70,000 FBI-certified Arizonans, licensed to discreetly carry firearms, just hoped they would finally be allowed to eat meals in normal restaurants without leaving their guns in their cars as current law requires.

They know it's a bad law that leaves them defenseless. They know criminals routinely steal guns from cars.

Rather than deal with important issues - self-defense and civil rights - on the merits, reporters deceived you, and wrote in a gun-o-phobic way that cries out, literally, for medical attention. Editors who allowed frequent demeaning slurs deserve reprimands.

Dignified treatment? The news foisted silliness about shotguns in nightclubs. This was really the Breakfast-at-Denny's bill, because Denny's has a liquor license. It was lunch at Applebee's, with no drinking allowed. But newspeople didn't want you to understand that, because if you did, you might support it, as 34 other states do, without problems. The media instead fed you hokum... (click the headline to read the entire story.

WI: Confusion surrounds federal gun law
Former sheriff's deputy Matt Del Fatti considers himself one of the lucky retired law enforcement officers in Wisconsin.

His old employer, the Clark County Sheriff's Department in western Wisconsin, has decided to issue him an identification and let him train to carry a concealed weapon under a new federal law.

"I spent a career in law enforcement and that doesn't just go away after you retire," said Del Fatti, 53, of Greenwood, who retired in 2002 after 28 years on the force.

"The ability to take action if it's necessary stays with you."

Dozens of other Wisconsin police agencies have so far balked at implementing the law, which allows qualified retired police officers and sheriff's deputies to carry firearms even in states such as Wisconsin that have concealed carry bans.

The agencies say they do not want to be held liable for potentially deadly incidents involving their former workers.

The result is a disparate situation in which Del Fatti and retirees who worked at certain agencies can take advantage of the federal law, while many of their counterparts across the state cannot.

Meanwhile, retirees from other states can carry their weapons while in Wisconsin.