Another gun arrest of a Mayor Against Illegal Guns
Rochester, NY, mayor Lovely Warren has been indicted on gun charges, not long after her husband was busted for drug and gun violations.
More detail on her husband's arrest here. He was busted with $60,000 in cocaine, $100,000 in cash. In their home, police found three unregistered handguns and a banned "assault rifle." The mayor's excuse was that she knew nothing of what her husband was doing. Sure....
Letters of marque and reprisal
The other day a friend and I were discussing foreign cyberattacks and probes that appeared to be, if not government-launched, at least made with government protection and immunity. Prominent among these being Russian and Chinese hacking.
My friend suggested an imaginative use of letters of marque and reprisal, as authorized by the Constitution. These were the basis of privateering, perhaps the ultimate in privatization. The government would authorize the captain of a civilian vessel to seize enemy shipping, and sell it for his own profit. The letters ensured that if he was captured, he would be treated as a POW rather than as a pirate. A factor in ending the War of 1812 was that, while the US Navy was far too small to have an impact, American privateers (far outnumbering the Royal Navy) were inflicting great pain upon British merchant shipping.
The idea could be implemented along these lines: the US announces that unless a given country stops the cyber-raiding, the US will proclaim that the country is fair game for all American hackers and crackers. Do whatever you want, with no worries about prosecution. If you get any economic benefit, it's yours. If you find any secrets, sell them (we get dibs on military and statecraft secrets, but you sell them to anyone else, too).
The gun rights movement goes international!
In response to a petition signed by 100,000 people, the Czech Republic has adopted a constitutional guarantee of the right to arms.
Radio Prague has has more. And a story about the arms amnesty going on, which allows people to turn in illegally-held guns, and get them back after they get their license. Among the arms turned in was a T-34 tank and an SU-100 tank destroyer!
Just read the most effective amicus brief I have ever read
In NYSRPA, a group of public defenders just filed this amicus. I cannot find words to describe it. You don't need to know 2A law or Supreme Court standards to feel its impact. It's "Why We Fight" in brief form. The NY gun law is a stupid law, stupidly and zealously applied, so as to destroy good people's lives. Implicit message: if you feel compunction about striking it down, don't. You'll be doing humanity a favor.
Just reading the table of contents is enough to sway a reader.
Amicus briefs rolling in in NYSRPA
The Court's docket is here; skim down to nearly the end for today's filings.
The brief that I filed is here. I'm too tired to add more, but arguments I and II are the most important. Yes, "bear arms" was understood to mean "carry weapons," if you were writing a constitutional amendment.
Louisiana Senate fails to override governor's veto
Constitutional carry won't become law there for a while. While both houses passed it with "veto-proof" majorities, several senators switched sides.