February 2009 Archives

Smith & Wesson announced yesterday that it's recalling all Walther PPK and PPK/S guns manufactured between March 2002 and early this month.

The $605 weapon has a defect which may allow the gun to fire without anyone pulling the trigger. In a memo to customers posted on its Web site, the Springfield firm advised owners of the gun to "STOP USING YOUR PISTOL AND RETURN IT TO SMITH & WESSON AT ONCE." Smith & Wesson engineers discovered the problem during routine tests, and the firm "has not reported" any consumer injuries.

However, an Illinois police officer sued the gunmaker last fall over wounds sustained in 2006 when his PPK/S allegedly went off on its own. Smith & Wesson has denied any responsibility for the accident.

The firm plans to fix all PPK and PPK/S guns for free, including covering shipping costs to and from Smith & Wesson's factories. The company estimates the recall will cost a total of $900,000 to $1.3 million. The Walther PPK is famous the world over as Agent 007's pistol, appearing in most of the 22 James Bond movies released since 1962.

The Oklahoma law that requires employers to permit employees to keep guns locked in their vehicles at work has been given the "OK". A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals , the federal appeals court which has jurisdiction over Colorado, unanimously rejected an Oklahoma district court's ruling that the state law is pre-empted by the "general duty" clause of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA).

The Oklahoma Self-Defense Act, enacted in 2004, was the first parking lot firearm law of its kind. But in the past five years, at least 10 states have passed laws prohibiting employers from barring the locked storage of guns in workers' vehicles.

It might soon become more expensive for Colorado couples to marry or divorce. The Senate Appropriations Committee backed a bill last Friday that would raise marriage and divorce fees to pay for programs to help victims of domestic abuse. The measure would raise the marriage license fee from $10 to $30. Divorce petitions would go from $220 to $230 and divorce responses would be raised by $10 to $116.

The Colorado Senate gave final approval today to a bill require carbon monoxide detectors in homes. The Senate approved the measure 29-5, sending it back to the House to approve changes.

The bill would require all homes and apartment buildings for sale to have carbon monoxide detectors near bedrooms. Homeowners and apartment owners also would have to install detectors if they completed any major renovations or additions. The bill, House Bill 1091, now heads to the governor's desk.

The bill is formally titled "The Lofgren and Johnson Family Carbon Monoxide Safety Act," in memory of Lauren, a 23-year-old DU graduate student, and also the four members of the Lofgren family from Denver, who died of carbon-monoxide poisoning in November while vacationing in Aspen. See Another Tragic Death.

Sadly, Colorado lawmakers admit that they voted against the bill last year over concerns it was being pushed by the alarm makers. The deaths this winter demonstrate that the question is a matter of consumer safety not alarm makers' profits.

More lawyers are donating more time to representing the poor for free, a study by the American Bar Association has found. The study found that 73 percent of attorneys provided some pro bono representation to persons of limited means, or organizations that represent such people, during the prior year. That's up from 66 percent in a 2005 study conducted by the group. Attorneys provided an average of 41 hours of pro bono work over the past year, up from 39 hours in 2005.

An Illinois woman's homeowners insurance will pay $2.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a young man who was paralyzed in a crash that occurred after an underage drinking party in her home. The settlement between the mother, whose teenage daughters hosted the party, and George Baldwin, 22, was approved Wednesday by the Lake County Circuit Court.

Insurance companies and tort reform groups have dominated countless health care debates with assertions of a "medical liability crisis." But an analysis of new American Medical Association data rejects the myth that tort reform attracts more doctors, adding to a growing body of research that proves physicians are not fleeing the profession because of medical liability.

The AMA statistics show the number of doctors continues to rise nationwide and in every state. There are now twice as many doctors per capita than when the AMA began tracking physician numbers in the 1960s. The number of doctors has risen over the last five years in all states. Only Alaska, Georgia, Montana and Utah - all with medical malpractice caps - did not outpace population growth.

After seven years of legal fighting, trial began in federal court Wednesday with animal-rights groups accusing Ringling Bros. of violating the Endangered Species Act when it's use of bullhooks and chains to control the performing elephants.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Animal Welfare Institute and other activist groups assert that Asian elephants are injured physically and emotionally by their treatment in the circus. The groups say long hours traveling to more than 40 cities a year by train harms the highly social and intelligent animals,, and they want Ringling Bros. to stop using them in their shows.

Last October near Chicago medical helicopter crashed killing three adults and a baby. The crash was the ninth fatal accident nationwide in an 11-month period, resulting in a total of 35 people killed.

Like others before it, the Chicago helicopter accident might have been prevented. The helicopter, which had clipped the support wire of a radio station tower while flying at night, lacked up-to-date safety equipment like a device to alert the pilot to towers and other nearby obstacles.

A proposal to expand Colorado's "Make My Day" law to cover businesses has failed for the third straight year at the state Capitol. The Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee killed the Republican measure (Senate Bill 8) with little discussion last Wednesday on a party-line vote.

Current state law allows homeowners to shoot intruders if they believe the intruders are going to commit a crime or use physical force. The bill would have expanded that right to business owners, managers and employees in their workplace.