Small Victory for the Government....

I got to hear this argument today...if you are interested in gun violence, and the participation of gun sellers/dealers in facilitating crime keep an eye on this company and the case pending against it.

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Judge denies appeal from San Leandro gun dealer
Thursday, May 25, 2006

(05-25) 20:10 PDT San Francisco (AP) --

A judge on Thursday denied an appeal from the owner of one of Northern California's largest gun dealers to keep the federal government from revoking his license to sell firearms.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sought to revoke the license for Trader Sports Inc. chief executive Anthony Cucchiara after a five-year investigation uncovered allegations of repeated inventory and sales violations at the San Leandro store.

Cucchiara sued, claiming the government was illegally trying to intimidate gun buyers by driving him out of business for minor and inadvertent violation of gun laws.

After a hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker denied Cucchiara's request for an injunction to keep the license revocation from taking effect June 1.

"We're disappointed," said Cucchiara's attorney, Malcolm Segal. "I fear that the business will be forced to close."

Trader Sports has been in business more than 35 years and is one of the state's biggest gun dealers, selling more than 3,500 weapons a year.

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence recently issued a report identifying the store as the nation's second-largest supplier of guns used in crimes. In 2005, 447 weapons used in crimes were traced to the shop, the group said.

Segal argued that shutting down Trader Sports would harm hunters and law enforcement personnel who buy their guns and ammunition from the store. He also accused federal investigators of staging more inspections of his client's operations in a single year than is allowed by law.

But Walker said the arguments were not strong enough to warrant a preliminary injunction reversing the license revocation.

"Traders argues it will suffer numerous hardships," Walker said in handing down his ruling. "The court agrees it will face damages. (But) the motion for preliminary injunction will be denied."

Cucchiara has not decided whether to appeal the decision, Segal said. A hearing on the lawsuit itself is pending.

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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle,

www.sfgate.com/chronicle

Jeunesse

Often, in the afternoon,
trespassing through curtains
the sun
will remind me.

And I am tempted
to go to that place.

I would sit on my porch,
watch the children
playing in my neighbor’s yard.

The girl in the little red tennis shoes,
she glistened.

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I finally found a series of poems I wrote in 2002...which I had thought were lost for good. Here is one of them.
When I was little, I used to go to daycare at this woman's house, and I would play in the backyard. The woman who lived next door to my nanny used to watch us through her window. One day she told my mother that she would always watch me "the girl in the little red tennis shoes" because I was always doing something interesting. Anyway, this poem is supposed to be through the eyes of that woman.

Distraction

It has been several weeks now,
of non-stop hours in front
of this very screen,
and perhaps the work has served me well
..has served to distract me
from all the rest.

I can feel it coming back,
the realization that nothing
is in balance, and the weights
seem to be pulling me down,
while the walls collapse
all around me.

I should open the window
and breathe for a moment
perhaps my heart will stop racing.
My coffee is cold; layers of brown
rings formed inside the cup.
Back to the books and distraction.