[blindlaw] interesting story

Thu May 24 10:19:25 CDT 2007

Scott:
I am a practitioner of xiao lin kempo karate.  I have no official rank, as 
my sensei did not believe in ranking in the typical American way.  He was 
very traditional, but my training, which he and I worked out as we went, 
included practice with such things as scrama sticks and short-bladed knives 
which one could carry concealed.   A folding knife is not considered a legal 
weapon, and you probably know that there are many "tricked out," "fast 
action," folders that can be deployed quite quickly enough for the purpose. 
Scrama sticks, as you probably also know, are not usually even thought of 
when being searched, though I don't currently own a set.  I have recently 
been forced to resort to the dark ages of using a cane (I am a 17-year dog 
user whose newest 2.5-year-old dog developed osteosarcoma and had to be 
euthanized), and my antipathesis toward the white cane has got me sondiering 
such options as a "sturdier," or more "useful," form of the cane.  I wools 
also like one that's not white, but the problem with that is that, where I 
live, and with my hearing disability, I am not fit to be using a cane in the 
first place.  You  might find some interesting ideas at
www.coldsteel.com

as for legality, I never much considered the point; if my life is in 
question, the law seems rather a small thing...  I'd love to pick your brain 
more about blind people in martial arts, specifically I am looking for a 
good sensei in the Bay area of California, and other resources for 
continuing my training.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott Greenblatt" <scottgreenblatt at earthlink.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 10:50 PM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] interesting story

> This topic reminds me of a question I was considering at one time which I
> thought someone on the list might be able to enlighten me on... I am a
> completely blind martial artist, my principle hobby, and I was considering
> training in Kenjutsu/Iaido/Kendo and carrying a sword cane with me for
> protection in case it is needed for close quarters self defense as I 
> travel
> about.  I'd like to know if anyone has any knowledge of the legality of 
> this
> type of concealed weapon being carried and what repercussions have 
> resulted
> from the use of such a weapon in self defense.  Thanks for any help!
> Sincerely,
> Scott Greenblatt
> scottgreenblatt at earthlink.net
>
>
> "If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. 
> It
> will spread into your work and into your life.
> There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there,
> you must go beyond them.”
> -Bruce Lee
>
> When you see excellence you should try to surpass it.
> When you see the opposite
> examine yourself.
> Lao Tzu
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mark BurningHawk" <stone_troll at sbcglobal.net>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, May 18, 2007 11:04 AM
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] interesting story
>
>
>> Problem there is that the recoil would really hurt your dog.  *grin* this
>> is
>> why I"m a knife man myself.
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Robert Munro" <r.g.munro at gmail.com>
>> To: "'NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List'" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, May 18, 2007 7:24 AM
>> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] interesting story
>>
>>
>>> I'm going to mount a turret atop my guide dog.  Something mostly
>>> unidirectional [like a W W one tank cannon] but with a motion picture
>>> motion control stabilizer [called a "mo co" in the trade] to alleviate
>>> bouncy dog movement and perhaps also a heat-seeking fine-tune aim
>>> correction system --the whole able to be operated with a handy remote
>>> control device.  Just gotta make SURE that the remote control radio
>>> frequency is nowhere near other devices' frequencies or else occasional
>>> accidental signal crossover could open up a liability situation.
>>>
>>> Onward!
>>>
>>> Rob & Pilaf
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] 
>>> On
>>> Behalf Of Craig Anderson
>>> Sent: Friday, May 18, 2007 8:44 AM
>>> To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List
>>> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] interesting story
>>>
>>> Kathy,
>>>
>>> Well said
>>>
>>> Craig.
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Kathleen Hagen" <khagen12 at earthlink.net>
>>> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 10:02 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] interesting story
>>>
>>>
>>>> Well, I feel I must respond to this for a variety of reasons.  First of
>>>> all,
>>>> I was born and, more or less raised, in North Dakota.  North Dakotans
>>>> are
>>>> self sufficient above all else.  In fact, right now they have
>>>> legislation
>>>> pending, I hear, or maybe it's passed by now, which would exempt anyone
>>>> who
>>>> shot someone in their own house in self defense from having to prove 
>>>> any
>>>> fault.
>>>>
>>>> I live in Minnesota, and we have a love-hate relationship with gun
>>>> control
>>>> here.  I personally think anyone carrying a gun around can be a risk to
>>>> others.  I certainly would include a blind man in that category!
>>>>
>>>> When I went to the South Dakota School for the Blind, (yes I went to
>>>> school
>>>> in South Dakota although I was from North Dakota, but that's a story 
>>>> for
>>>> another day) we got rifle training one year.  It was considered so
>>>> scandalous in the '60's that we made it onto the Paul Harvey Radio 
>>>> News.
>>>> The deal was that a policeman in Aberdeen thought that since policemen
>>>> had
>>>> to learn to shoot in the dark, that blind people could shoot, and the
>>>> dark
>>>> wouldn't impede them.  Of course, they set up classes.  No one asked
>>>> whether
>>>> or not we should have shooting lessons.  The only tentative protest was
>>>> against girls getting the training.  Of course that meant I argued
>>>> vociferously for it.  So we trained with a .22 one-shot rifle.  At
>>>> first,
>>>> someone would stand behind each of us and tell us "move a little to the
>>>> right, to the left, etc." to try to line us up with the target.  They
>>>> thought maybe we would kinesthetically get used to where we should be
>>>> holding the gun to shoot.  When that didn't work, they took an
>>>> oscillator
>>>> like you'd use for ham radio to send Morse code, and placed that behind
>>>> the
>>>> target.  We were supposed to try to shoot the bulls eye by hearing the
>>>> beep.
>>>> Our training took place in the bus garage, and there were too many
>>>> echoes
>>>> to
>>>> make that work very well.  So finally they came up with headphones that
>>>> were
>>>> hooked to some kind of sonar beam.  This was about the time when they
>>>> were
>>>> introducing sonar canes, etc., so this was the new kind of gimmick.
>>>> Finally
>>>> it worked.  When we were lined up perfectly, the tone would change, and
>>>> we'd
>>>> know we could shoot.  I even got a sharp shooter's award for the girls
>>>> side.
>>>> So, I always tell people, if a burglar comes to my house, and if I have
>>>> a
>>>> .22, and if I can get the one bullet at a time loaded in time, and if I
>>>> have
>>>> sonar earphones to put on in order to hear the tone to know where to
>>>> shoot
>>>> to hit the burglar, and if he/she stands in the right place, then a gun
>>>> might be useful to me.
>>>> Kathy Hagen
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>>> From: "Scott C. LaBarre" <slabarre at labarrelaw.com>
>>>> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 2:48 PM
>>>> Subject: [blindlaw] interesting story
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> StarTribune.com
>>>> Blind man finds bias in denial of gun permit
>>>> A North Dakota man who says he would only use the gun for self-defense
>>>> at
>>>> close range
>>>> couldn't get a permit in Moorhead.
>>>> By
>>>> David Peterson
>>>> , Star Tribune
>>>> Last update: May 15, 2007 â€“ 9:52 PM
>>>> A North Dakota man who is styling himself as "America's first sightless
>>>> gunslinger"
>>>> is claiming to be the victim of discrimination because Minnesota won't
>>>> give
>>>> a blind man a permit to carry a gun in public. Carey McWilliams, 33, of
>>>> Fargo
>>>> says he carries one anyway when he crosses the state line because his
>>>> Utah
>>>> permit is accepted in Minnesota. But he isn't sure that will
>>>> always be so. Any use he would make of his gun, he said, would be a
>>>> response
>>>> to an assault and wouldn't put anyone other than his attacker in
>>>> jeopardy.
>>>> "It would be self-defense,
>>>> at point-blank range, with ammo that doesn't go any further than the
>>>> assailant," McWilliams said Tuesday.
>>>> In neighboring Moorhead, Minn., Clay County Sheriff Bill Bergquist said
>>>> he
>>>> didn't feel he had a choice but to deny the permit application.
>>>> "I had to sign something saying he could 'safely' whatever, and I felt 
>>>> I
>>>> couldn't  say that of someone who's legally blind," Bergquist said. 
>>>> "The
>>>> shooting
>>>> he's done in the past was with the help of someone. When confronted, he
>>>> won't have that help.
>>>> "... The application states that a person should be able to show
>>>> proficiency
>>>> on the firing range and a proficiency of the weapons," he said. "That's
>>>> the
>>>> issue.
>>>> McWilliams, who says he was forced to act as his own attorney for
>>>> financial
>>>> reasons, hopes to stir up help before a one-year window for appeal
>>>> expires.
>>>> He has appealed for help from organizations such as Legal Aid and the
>>>> American Civil Liberties Union, to no avail. Even if his appeal rights
>>>> expire, he
>>>> said, he would consider filing his own discrimination case.
>>>> He said he has concealed-carry permits from North Dakota as well as
>>>> Utah.
>>>> States vary quite a lot in how demanding they are of people seeking
>>>> permits,
>>>> he said, but he insists he can legitimately pass a marksmanship test.
>>>> How can he see to shoot when he can't see?
>>>> "That's the deal!" he exclaimed. "I sight in via sound, gravity, body
>>>> position."
>>>>
>>>> Scott C. LaBarre, Esq.
>>>>
>>>> LaBarre Law Offices P.C.
>>>> 1660 South Albion Street, Ste. 918
>>>> Denver, Colorado 80222
>>>> 303 504-5979 (voice)
>>>> 303 757-3640 (fax)
>>>> slabarre at labarrelaw.com (e-mail)
>>>> www.labarrelaw.com (website)
>>>>
>>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This message may contain confidential and
>>>> privileged
>>>> information. If you are not the designated recipient, you may not read,
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>>>> message and any attachments are covered by the Electronic
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>>
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