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April 2011
A birthday present for Marion Hammer
Two pro-gun bills from the Florida legislature.
Permalink · State legislation · Comments (0)
NRA Annual Meeting
Article here. It projects attendance at 65,000 (I've heard 70,000 elsewhere).
Hat tip to Sixgun Sarah...
Permalink · NRA · Comments (0)
Law review article by Clark Neily
"THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS IN THE STATES: AMBIGUITY, FALSE MODESTY, AND (MAYBE) ANOTHER WIN FOR ORIGINALISM" in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. It is so refreshing to read an article which begins with: "District of Columbia v. Heller1 was an easy case to get right."
Oklahoma expands self-defense
Story here, although the story doesn't make clear just how self-defense was expanded.
MI court strikes law forbidding stun guns
Decision here. It's a trial court decision, and the prosecution has said it will appeal. The court notes that the law entirely forbids their possession, like the handguns bans at issue in Heller and McDonald, and raises in a fn the significance of Heller's reference to protecting guns "in common use" in light of the fact that a new technology may not go into common use simply because it's outlawed before it achieves that status.
Via the Volokh Conspiracy, where Prof. Volokh links to his Stanford L. Rev. article on the very subject.
Permalink · Chicago aftermath · Comments (7)
National Firearm Law Seminar roster
Bios of presenters at the National Firearms Law Seminar (Pittsburgh, Friday, April 29, are here. If you'd like to sign up for the CLE course, you can do so here.
Update: The Seminar will be held at the Wyndham Grand Hotel at 600 Commonwealth Place downtown. (The hotel is listed on some maps under its old name, the Hilton.) The Wyndham is a 10-15 minute walk from the Omni. Walk, take a cab, or use one of the shuttles leaving the Omni every ½ hour.
Mexican government considers suing gun manufacturers
This could get interesting.
Permalink · non-US · Comments (4)
Reasonable limits of the First Amendment
Rankin, MS, shows the way to deal with the Westboro funeral-disrupting goons. The video shows they know how to honor a fallen soldier as well.
Interesting statistic
Under the Obama Administration, Federal weapons prosecutions have dropped to their lowest level in ... well, since their previous low under the Clinton Administration. I could have sworn I'd heard complaints during both those Administrations that we needed more firearm restrictions because existing laws weren't enough...
Hat tip to Dan Gifford...
Permalink · Crime and statistics · Comments (2)
Rep. Issa threatens acting ATF head with contempt
Story here. Things continue to warm up over Operation Gunwalker.
Permalink · BATFE · Comments (3)
Obits for Harold Volkmer
Here's Harold's obituary from the online version of St. Louis Times Dispatch.
Here's one by the Associated Press.
A brief one in the New York Times.
The Boston Globe probably uses a term for the first time: Harold Volkmer: Mo Congressman backed gun rights" .
A long tribute by David Kopel.
An NRA News presentation on him.
I'm starting to write a memorial article for Harold (which was how he liked to be called) but keep starting to tear up. He was such a good, and great, guy. In terms of what he did, a giant. In terms of personhood, he was just Harold, a thoughtful, slow-talking fellow who went nowhere without his wife, Dian, and spoke of growing up in rural Missouri.
Permalink · NRA · Comments (0)
Rep. Harold Volkmer has passed on
UPDATE: here's Harold's obituary. I suggest everyone read it and then send an electronic card to Dian, his wife.
He marked his 80th birthday a week or so ago, and got upwards of 200 cards. He was in a nursing home, for rehab, in his home town of Hannibal, when he died last night. So we lost him and Jim McClure within weeks of each other. They were the two men behind the gun rights' movement's first BIG victory, and probably its biggest even after passage of a quarter century. Volkmer had the tougher job: he had to get it thru a Demo-controlled House, fight his own party's leadership, and get around a Judiciary Committee that was chaired by a staunch antigunner who proclaimed the bill "dead on arrival" in the House.
[following updated]
Visitation will be on Tuesday, April 19th, at James O'Donnell Funeral Home in Hannibal, Missouri. The address is 302 South 5th Street, Hannibal, MO 63401. 4:30 is the rosary, 5-8 PM visitation.
The funeral will be on Wednesday, April 20th, at Holy Family Catholic Church, 1111 Broadway St., Hannibal, MO 63401. 10 AM. Followed by burial at Holy Family Cemetery and bereavement luncheon at the Church.
Mrs. Volkmer can be reached at their home:
Dian Volkmer
2107 Crescent Drive
Hannibal, MO 63401
Permalink · NRA · Comments (2)
Replica "Antique" cartridge-using firearms and the internet
Chuck Michel has a memo on the issue. A cartridge-firing modern replica of a pre-1899 firearm can still be an antique, and thus not a "firearm" for GCA purposes, if it is chambered for cartridges which are no longer manufactured in the US and which are not available in the "ordinary channels of commercial trade." The question is whether the internet has made rare cartridge sufficiently available to where antique status may be lost for some replicas.
Not sure how much of a problem this might be, as the replicas I can think of use cartridges that are available thru ordinary channels. Maybe .50-90 and .50-110? If "ordinary channels" means via local gun shops, those would qualify, but be at risk since there are some companies offering loaded cartridges.
Permalink · Gun Control Act of 68 · Comments (3)
Suit challenges MA ban on legal aliens' gun ownership
Commonwealth Second Amendment and Second Amendment Foundation are challenging the Massachusetts' statute that bars legal aliens from purchasing firearms, and from possessing most types of the same. The complaint is here.
Hat tip to reader Terraformer...
Permalink · Chicago aftermath · Comments (3)
Still more on ATF "gun walker"
Sen. Grassley releases emails where an FFL, instructed by ATF to make straw-man sales, demands and gets assurances they will stop the guns from actually going to Mexico.
When you, [the Assistant U.S. Attorney], and I met on May 13th, I shared my
concerns with you guys that I wanted to make sure that none of the firearms that were sold per our conversation with you and various ATF agents could or would ever end up south of the border or in the hands of the bad guys. … I want to help ATF with its investigation but not at the risk of agents‟ safety because I have some very close friends that are U.S. Border Patrol agents in southern AZ[.]Permalink · BATFE · Comments (0)
Post-McDonald suit challenges NYC permit fees
Posted by David Hardy · 14 April 2011 05:48 PMPress release describing the case is here; the complaint is here
Plaintiffs are Second Amendment Foundation, NY State Rifle and Pistol Association, and individuals. The challenge is to NY City's $340 charge for a three year "premises" permit, which allows possession in the home. An interesting issue is that (outside of NYC), premises permit fees are capped at $10, but the State law allows NYC to set whatever fee it desires. Hat tip to reader Nick L. ...
Permalink · Chicago aftermath · Comments (4)
ATF shakeup over Operation Gunwalker
Posted by David Hardy · 14 April 2011 12:46 PMStory here. The SAC and ASAC have been called to Washington to prepare for testimony, the other ASAC is out on sick leave, and a new SAC has been shipped in.
Permalink · BATFE · Comments (1)
National Firearm Law Seminar coming up
Posted by David Hardy · 14 April 2011 12:22 PMApril 29th, at the NRA annual meeting in Pittsburgh, and you can register here. Glen Harlan Reynolds will be speaking, as will your humble servant, plus Steve Halbrook, Dave Kopel, Steven Poss, and others. Subjects covered will span 2A litigation, right to hunt, trying a self-defense case, restorations of rights, and shooting range issues. And you can attend the convention on a tax-deductible journey. Best of all, there is a reception afterward, when Glenn Reynolds will blend his signature puppy smoothees with rum.
Kentucky case upcoming
Posted by David Hardy · 13 April 2011 10:55 AMKentucky Concealed Carry Coalition is seeking donations for the Michael Mitchell case. He's a grad student who was terminated from his job and expelled because he had a firearm in his parked car. The KY Supreme Court just accepted the case.
Permalink · State legislation · Comments (0)
Brady Center increases prescription for anti-depressants
Posted by David Hardy · 13 April 2011 09:02 AMThe WashPo has an article on the fellow it describes as Obama's gun policy advisor. From what they say, he's actually an advisor on regulatory policy and law in general, and thus gets stuck with gun issues. Sounds like he'd like to see private sales run thru FFLs, isn't hot for magazine bans, and could give a hoot about the rest. "When Paul Helmke, director of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, broached the subject [of large magazine bans] during the March 15 gathering with Croley, officials promptly adjourned the meeting."
Via Instapundit and Reason Hit and Run...
Permalink · antigun groups · Comments (3)
Revised Firearm Owners Protection Act webpage
Posted by David Hardy · 12 April 2011 09:41 AMI've got it up here. The latest additions and improvements took about ten hours of work, so blogging has been slow. The page outlines the convoluted legislative history of the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986 (without this, it's almost impossible to understand how the bill came to be), has the leg history in keyword-searchable form, and has pdfs of the critical documents.
Whew! Just changing the House floor debates from daily edition pagination (which isn't quite official Blue Book format) to permanent bound edition pagination took hours.
Permalink · Gun Control Act of 68 · Comments (6)
Four CA legislators authorized to carry hidden guns in the Capitol
Posted by David Hardy · 9 April 2011 03:37 PMStory here.
Hat tip to reader Jim Dewey...
Heck of a trip
Posted by David Hardy · 8 April 2011 11:55 AMOff on a research trip to DC, mainly Library of Congress. Heck of a trip. Coming in to Washington Reagan, I had my first aborted landing. Plane about 50 feet up when engines went to full power, and thereafter the pilot banked hard left. He later explained ambiguously that aborted landings can be caused by proximity of other aircraft, or issues on the ground (a plane taking off didn't clear the runway as expected).
Then taking off from the same airport this morning, I had my first aborted takeoff. About a quarter of the way up the runway, engines suddenly went from takeoff power to idle, and we coasted to a halt with aid from the brakes. The pilot said we'd have to wait for ground crew to look things over. Later he explained that one of the cargo hatches hadn't been properly fastened and during the takeoff the warning light that it was open had lit up.
Brady Campaign might as well surrender...
Posted by David Hardy · 7 April 2011 06:53 PMCalifornia governor Jerry Brown tells reporters that gun ownership is natural, why "I've got three guns..."
Good thing the press understands an issue before writing on it
Posted by David Hardy · 5 April 2011 10:05 AMHeadline: "CRACKDOWN URGED ON RAPID-FIRE AMMO"
Permalink · media · Comments (1)
Radio Shack miffed at free guns offer
Posted by David Hardy · 5 April 2011 09:24 AMStory here.
Oral argument in the Ezell Chicago case
Posted by David Hardy · 4 April 2011 08:13 PMAudio here. I haven't had a chance to listen yet, but spectators say the court was down on the Chicago attorney like the proverbial duck on a June bug. Chicago replaced its handgun ban with an onerous licensing system, including a requirement for hands-on range practice, while at the same time the City has a ban on firing ranges.
Permalink · Chicago aftermath · Comments (7)
A reminder
Posted by David Hardy · 4 April 2011 03:48 PMOf what a prosecutor friend once told me -- that he was appalled to think of how all the power given a prosecutor these days could be used to entire ruin an honest man, or one who had made some minor error. Here's a case from the 11th Circuit, applying what appears to be established law, holding that the prosecutor and his agents are mostly protected by absolute or lesser forms of immunity from a civil rights lawsuit. Those folks had taken a fellow who had irritated a hospital by faxing it some critical humor, used perjured hearsay testimony to get him indicted for supposedly breaking into a doctor's house and assaulting him, when he's never been at the house, period, and was nowhere near the doctor that day, either. (You can use hearsay to get an indictment, and here the prosecutor's investigators probably just testified falsely that the doctor had said this had happened). That eventually got dismissed, so they brought another indictment, equally based on perjury, went to the press about the fellow's supposed crimes, etc.. The ruling doesn't say, but I assume some of the State tort claims remained.
Ninth Circuit continues its run this Term
Posted by David Hardy · 4 April 2011 09:41 AMToday, it was reversed twice.
Glenn Reynolds & Brannon Denning on Heller and McDonald
Posted by David Hardy · 3 April 2011 11:50 AMTheir latest article is here. It will be out in the Journal of Law and Politics later this year.
Permalink · Chicago aftermath · Comments (0)
Gunwalker probe escalates
Posted by David Hardy · 1 April 2011 02:19 PMRep. Darrella Issa, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight, has issued a subpoena, after informal requests for documents had no effect. This makes it more of a showdown: if a subpoena isn't complied with, he can move (I think it takes a majority of the entire House) to hold the recipients in contempt of Congress, so that enforcement can then become holding them behind bars until the deliver the documents. Even if that doesn't happen, the floor fight over the contempt charge will bring a lot of attention.