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I attended the Hearing in Div. 1 of Cole County Circuit Court held before

Judge Brown today. The St. Louis Co. lawsuit had been filed in

super-stealth mode on 3/22/04 in Cole Co. (For proper venue.) I had been

told of the suit by friends in the Capitol a few days later. Amazingly,

the filing of this suit had not made the press. Normally, you have thirty

days after Service is accomplished to file an Answer to any suit. If you

do not answer, the Plaintiff can take a Default Judgment (you lose because

you failed to answer). When it got to be April 23, and the AG's Office had

not filed an Answer, I got a *little* worried and drove to Jefferson City

to pick up a copy of the Plaintiff's Original Petition For Declaratory

Judgment. (See the News & Information page of the web site to read the

actual filings and responses.) This argument was a bit different than we

had seen before. Because the $100 fee can *only* go to the Sheriff's

Revolving Fund, and as the St. Louis Co. Police Department handles all the

powers and duties of the Sheriff, and they *say* the St. Louis Co. PD

cannot be reimbursed by the Revolving Fund, they thus have a Hancock

problem. (In reality, money is moved from one account to another with some

regularity in county government.)

 

I talked to a source at the AG's Office and found they did file an Answer

and Motion to Dismiss on April 26, 2004. I received a copy and forwarded

same to the Legal Team. Everybody agreed the AG's Office had once again

done exemplary legal work, and we would not need to Intervene at this

time. A Hearing was set for June 8, 2004 to hear oral arguments on the

AG's Motion to Dismiss.

 

Rising early this morning, a fellow LTC Activist and friend, R.N. Dick

Grey, and I drove to Jefferson City expecting the Hearing to take place and

hoping that the lawsuit would be dismissed. When we got to Judge Brown's

Court, the lawyers were packed in like sardines in a sardine can.

Something was not right. Normally, when you are a 1st setting on a judge's

docket (schedule), you can expect to have your case heard first thing. The

number of attorneys there said, that was not going to happen. When the

case was called, the attorneys for St. Louis Co. had not gotten around to

filling their Answer to the AG's Motion to Dismiss until June 7, 2004.

Judge Brown had not had time to read and consider both Motions, so he took

the Motion to Dismiss under advisement (meaning he wants to think about it

for a while). This most likely means it will be two weeks or more before

there is a ruling on the AG's Motion to Dismiss.

 

Commentary

 

On the way back, I was trying to figure out why the Plaintiffs (St. Louis

Co.) would want a delay in a case that, *if* they won (and that is an xxl

size *if*), would have the LTC Law Declared unconstitutional. Every day,

more applications are made and more LTC Permits are issued. The more

Permits that are issued, the harder it would be for "them" to win and to

unwind the process. I was asked a few weeks ago what I thought the chances

were of the lawsuits stopping the issuance of LTC Permits and getting them

taken back from the people who had them. I said, "I would have a better

chance of piloting the Space Shuttle than that happening. First, I'm a

pilot and a glider pilot. Second by some strange quirk, the 1 million or so

pilots who are more qualified than me *could* get sick or die. I would

then have to fly the rescue mission to the space station to bring the

astronauts home." There is a much better chance of that happening than the

issuance of LTC Permits being stopped and the permits issued, taken back

from the citizens that have them. So, why stall now? Our opponents

*think* it is in their best interests to have the lawsuit heard closer to

the election. They *think* it will help them win. They are wrong!

 

 

94 Counties Now Accepting Application and More Scheduled To Start Soon

 

Please see the map at http://www.LearnToCarry.com

 

Those 19 counties and the City of St. Louis are looking mighty lonely.

They are outnumbered and surrounded. They are delaying citizens of their

ability to defend themselves from harm by the political self interest of

some sheriffs and local officials. Attorney General Jay Nixon said LTC is

the law in Missouri. Martin Luther King said, "Justice delayed is Justice

denied." I *think* the citizens of those counties will remember this in

November, and vote accordingly. Though not yet posted on the map, even the

counties surrounding Jackson Co., Clay and Platte Co. have announced they

will be starting to take applications in the next 70 days.

 

To date, 7,514 Missouri LTC applicants have had fingerprints submitted to

the Missouri Highway Patrol Criminal Records Division, and this number does

not include those lawfully carrying in Missouri on out-of-state permits.

My best estimate of the total number of people with permits in the State:

10,000+. Trust me, nearly every one will be voting in the upcoming

elections.

 

 

In Other News

 

No Guns=No Money Cards At Kinkos

 

The "No Guns=No Money" cards are available for free and can be downloaded

from the web site. Help end "Holster Discrimination" by leaving one

everywhere you see a "no weapons" sign. For those who are computer

challenged, every Kinkos in Missouri has the cards, and will print you a

batch for about $2.50/sheet of 12. So far, every single place I have left

a card, the signs have come down!

 

 

Gun Rights Victory Raffle June 19, 2004

 

Much like the United States after every war, we have some war debt to

retire. Our Legal Team fought and won a brilliant legal battle to make

License To Carry the law in Missouri. They have been patient while we

raise money. Now is your chance to help *own* part of that victory. The

Gun Rights Victory Raffle is being held in St. Louis on June 19th, with a

number of neat carry guns and courses being donated by those fighting the

good fight. Tickets are $5 each, or five for $20, and are available at gun

shows and via the internet from GLCA, WMSA, and MPS (you can find a link to

a raffle page on our web site on the News & Information page). 100% of

funds collected go to pay for the Legal Team's cost and fees to win this

fight.

 

Courses

 

Learn To Carry, LLC Courses held our first Advanced Level 1, CCW Course at

Ozark Shooters over Memorial Day Weekend. The students who participated

learned the advanced skills and tactics practiced in defensive

pistolcraft. Skills such as drawing safely and smoothly from concealment,

use of cover and movement and simulated real life scenarios were employed

to help learn the fundamentals of self defense with a pistol. There are

both Learn To Carry Basic and Advanced CCW Courses scheduled in mid

Missouri and southwest Missouri throughout the summer, see the web site for

scheduling details. For a student's view of the Adv. Course see:

 

http://www.missouricarry.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1493

 

 

If you received this LTC News Update via someone forwarding it to you, and

would like to receive it directly to stay up on all the news and

information on License To Carry in Missouri, send an email to

Tim@LearnToCarry.com and ask to be put on the List.

 

Be Safe,

Tim Oliver

LearnToCarry.com