FLE

TSA ranked among least-liked agencies Hand sanitizer makes it through security in one airport, then it's confiscated at another. Screening lines back up because only two of six lanes are open. And then there's the occasional all-too-intimate pat down. Those complaints and other frustrations make the nation's airport security agency about as popular as the IRS. Indeed, only the Federal Emergency Management Agency, still suffering from its mishandling of Hurricane Katrina, ranks below the Transportation Security Administration among the least-liked federal agencies, according to a new Associated Press-Ipsos poll. TSA tied with the perennially unpopular tax collectors in a favorability ranking of a dozen executive branch agencies. "I am so frustrated with TSA that I am ready to stop flying," one traveler wrote in a Sept. 7 complaint filed with the agency. "I'm sure this doesn't matter to you because my tax dollars are already paying you."....
D.C. family wins suit over raid on home A Capitol Hill family won a lawsuit against the D.C. government after their row house was raided in a search for evidence that their renovation plans violated the city's historic preservation laws. About a dozen police officers and D.C. Consumer and Regulatory Affairs inspectors searched the home of Laura Elkins and John Robbins four years ago, entering the bedrooms of their teenage children who were home sick from school, and searching through drawers, behind furniture and under carpets. The parents were raising and repairing the roof of their home. A neighbor's complaint that the renovation was out of character with the rest of the neighborhood led to the raid. Last week, Judge Rosemary M. Collyer, of the U.S. District for the District of Columbia, ruled that the raid was an "unreasonable search and seizure" that violated the family's constitutional rights to privacy. A separate trial in the spring will determine the amount of damages the District must pay. "It's crazy," Ms. Elkins said. "We had all of our permits. It was just a fishing expedition to intimidate us."....
Border Fence Construction to Begin Amid Public Outcry in Texas It's been a year of protests, outcry, and worry for Texans opposed to a federal plan to build more than 80 miles of steel border fencing along the Rio Grande. In meeting after meeting, city leaders and residents from Brownsville to El Paso have begged the federal government to reconsider plans to build the 26 proposed sections of 15-foot-high, two- or three-layer fencing that can withstand a hit from a 10,000-pound vehicle going 40 mph. Despite the pleas, U.S. Homeland Security officials say the fence project should be done by the end of 2008. "The committed date is the end of 2008 for the completion of fencing that will get us to a total of 370 miles of pedestrian fence (at the Mexican border)," said Michael Friel, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman in Washington. Some residents and elected officials in South Texas have tried to block the government's progress by refusing to let surveyors come on border properties to look at land that could be the site of new fencing....
Congress OKs Va. Tech-inspired gun bill Congress on Wednesday passed a long-stalled bill inspired by the Virginia Tech shootings that would more easily flag prospective gun buyers who have documented mental health problems. The measure also would help states with the cost. Passage by voice votes in the House and Senate came after months of negotiations between Senate Democrats and the lone Republican, Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, who had objected and delayed passage. It was not immediately clear whether President Bush intended to sign, veto or ignore the bill. If Congress does not technically go out of session, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has threatened, the bill would become law if Bush does not act within 10 days. The measure would clarify what mental health records should be reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which help gun dealers determine whether to sell a firearm to a prospective buyer, and give states financial incentives for compliance. The attorney general could penalize states if they fail to meet compliance targets. Despite the combined superpowers of bill's supporters, Coburn held it up for months because he worried that millions of dollars in new spending would not be paid for by cuts in other programs. His chief concern, he said, was that it did not pay for successful appeals by veterans or other people who say they are wrongly barred from buying a gun. Just before midnight Tuesday, Coburn and the Democratic supporters of the bill struck a deal: The government would pay for the cost of appeals by gun owners and prospective buyers who argue successfully in court that they were wrongly deemed unqualified for mental health reasons. The compromise would require that incorrect records — such as expunged mental health rulings that once disqualified a prospective gun buyer but no longer do — be removed from system within 30 days....
U.S. senators attempt to soften park gun rules Both of Alaska's U.S. senators have signed a letter asking the Interior Department to repeal federal gun rules for national parks and wildlife refuges, saying that the existing guidelines are "confusing, burdensome and unnecessary." If federal officials agree, the result could be people being able to legally carry loaded guns onto federal lands in Alaska where they're now banned, including much of Denali National Park. The letter was drafted by U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, who asked Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to change rules that prohibit visitors to most national parks and wildlife refuges from carrying operable, loaded guns. Such changes would "respect the second amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners, while providing a consistent application of state weapons laws across all land ownership boundaries" Crapo said in his letter. The letter was signed by 47 senators, including Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens, both Republicans. Current gun regulations on federal lands vary, depending on the agency and the purpose of the land. Active, operable guns are allowed on federal land overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, for example, as long as the applicable state and local firearms laws are followed. Nationwide, guns are generally allowed on national wildlife refuges and in national parks -- but only if the owner has broken down the firearm and has it in a carrying case, rendering it inoperable....
States Take Sides on D.C. Gun Ban Challenge When the U.S. Supreme Court takes up D.C.'s gun ban in March, it could open up a new battle between the states. States across the country are lining up on both sides, filing friends of the court briefs for or against the District's law banning handguns. D.C. has the toughest gun control law in the country. Virginia, along with Arkansas and Texas, are joining the challenge of the ban. "This is a case of fundamental importance to the interpretation of the Constitution of the United States that is going to impact every state and every territory in the Union based on how they rule," Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell says. Maryland, New York, Illinois and Hawaii are filing briefs backing the law....