« February 2012 | Main | April 2012 »
March 2012
MA gun ban for permanent resident aliens stricken
Fletcher v. Haas, ruling entered this morning. Brought by individuals and SAF and Commonwealth Second Amendment (altho the court holds that the organizations lacked organizational standing).
The ruling includes an interesting discussion of alienage and the voting franchise. The two were not anything near synonymous in the 18th and 19th centuries, since on the one hand many States and territories allowed some or all aliens to vote, and on the other women and minors, although citizens, did not get to vote.
Permalink · Chicago aftermath · Comments (5)
SAF win against NC emergency regulations
SAF and Alan Gura scored a win today in Bateman v. Perdue, E.D.N.C..
At issue were North Carolina statutes prohibiting carrying a firearm off one's own land during a declared emergency (which can be declared by the governor, or county, or city). The district court followed the 4th Cir. standard, which is (1) is the activity within the traditional right to arms, and (2) if so, apply the proper standard of review.
The ruling is significant in several ways. First, it recognizes that the right to arms is not limited to in-home possession. "Although considerable uncertainty exists regarding the scope of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, it undoubtedly is not limited to the confines of the home." Second it recognizes that when the core right -- possession in the home -- is involved, strict scrutiny applies. Third, it applies strict scrutiny here because of the statute's breadth and the fact that it indirectly impacts possession in the home.
Permalink · Chicago aftermath · Comments (2)
Ruling on Portland OR limit on open carry
Eugene Volokh discusses it at the Volokh Conspiracy.
The ordinance makes it illegal (with some exceptions) to knowingly possess a firearm in public, "recklessly having failed to remove all the ammunition from the firearm..." The question is, what does "recklessly" mean here? In the Oregon Court of Appeals, the majority hold that it means reckless of any public risk created, above and beyond those inherent in self-defense, etc.. Which comes close to saying that it only bans loaded carry if the carrier was bent upon crime, or practicing quick draw while drunk. The dissent concludes that "recklessly" modifies "having failed to remove," so that it means simply that the carrier can be convicted if he fails to unload either by intention or by recklessness.
Permalink · State legislation · Comments (0)
What is the smallest caliber you'd trust for self-defense?
"What is the smallest caliber you trust to protect yourself?
My personal favorite defense gun has always been a Beretta Jetfire in 22 short. I’ve carried it for many years including while hiking. I never leave without it in my pocket. Of course the first rule when hiking in the wilderness is to use the “Buddy System”. This it means you NEVER hike alone, you bring a friend, companion, or family member.
I remember one time while hiking with a companion when out of nowhere came this huge brown bear charging us and was she MAD. We must have been near one of her cubs. Anyway, if I had not had my little Jetfire, I wouldn’t be here today. Just one quick shot to my companion’s kneecap and I was able to escape by just walking at a brisk pace. It’s one of the best pistols in my collection."
Permalink · humor · Comments (11)
Court upholds NYC $340 permit fee
Kwong v. Bloomberg, opinion here. The court finds that the $340 fee is meant to recover costs of administration, which the City claimed were actually a bit higher than this figure. Creative accounting, I suspect.
Permalink · Chicago aftermath · Comments (5)
Getting hammered in the Supreme Court
Sackett v. EPA. Under the Clean Water Act, EPA can issue orders, and violation of the orders is punishable by a civil penalty of $37,500 per day and up. EPA's position was that such an order was not a final agency decision, and thus not reviewable by a court. If you received one, and disputed its legality, your remedy was to dare EPA to sue you.... and be financially ruined if the court upheld the order. That position lost 9-0, liberals and conservatives alike rejecting it.
Here's the transcript of oral argument. The argument of the Deputy Solicitor General starts at p. 25, and gets ugly, early. The custom is that if two Justices ask overlapping questions, which doesn't often happen, you answer the senior Justice first. In this argument, the junior Justices had trouble getting a word in edgewise!
JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: Mr. Stewart, I -
JUSTICE KENNEDY: They were getting a good night's sleep? But they are getting a good night's sleep before they read your brief? ((Laughter.)
____
JUSTICE KAGAN: Could I ask you -
JUSTICE ALITO: Well, Mr. Stewart, if you - if you related the facts of this case as they come to us to an ordinary homeowner, don't you think most ordinary homeowners would say this kind of thing can't happen in the United States?
___
JUSTICE KAGAN: But I'm -
JUSTICE SCALIA: Suppose the Corps of Engineers agrees that it's not a wetland, and its basis for refusing to issue the permit is we don't give a permit; you don't need a permit.
_____
JUSTICE KAGAN: And doesn't most of -
JUSTICE SCALIA: So, they could just -- just dispense with this compliance order and tell the Sacketts, in our view, this is a warning...
_____
JUSTICE KAGAN: But, Mr. Stewart, you -
CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: If you - ....
_______________
Hat tip to friend Jim Norell....
Permalink · General con law · Comments (0)
Some guys are late getting the message
"Mayor Bloomberg: Trayvon Martin Shooting Makes the Need for Gun Control All Too Clear."
More on Trayvon shooting
Story here. The evidence seems to fit together, and is strong for a "good shoot." Zimmerman tells police that he wasn't the aggressor, that Trayvon knocked him down and was pounding his head against the sidewalk, and that he cried out for help. Police found Zimmerman bleeding from wounds to the back of his head, and eyewitnesses heard him calling for help before he fired.
"Zimmerman told them he lost sight of Trayvon and was walking back to his SUV when Trayvon approached him from the left rear, and they exchanged words.
Trayvon asked Zimmerman if he had a problem. Zimmerman said no and reached for his cell phone, he told police.
Trayvon then said, "Well, you do now" or something similar and punched Zimmerman in the nose.
Zimmerman fell to the ground and Trayvon got on top of him and began slamming his head into the sidewalk, he told police.
Zimmerman began yelling for help.
Several witnesses heard those cries, and there's been a dispute about from whom they came: Zimmerman or Trayvon.
Lawyers for Trayvon's family say it was Trayvon, but police say their evidence indicates it was Zimmerman.
One witnesses, who has since talked to local television news reporters, told police he saw Zimmerman on the ground with Trayvon on top, pounding him and was unequivocal that it was Zimmerman who was crying for help.
Zimmerman then shot Trayvon once in the chest from very close range, according to authorities.
When police arrived less than two minutes later, Zimmerman was bleeding from the nose, had a swollen lip and had bloody lacerations to the back of his head."
Impeccable timing, since only yesterday Chuck Schuer called for Dept of Justice to investigate FlA's self defense laws, and Donna Bazile proclaimed “The problem with the law is that – ‘Stand Your Ground’ is that you often end up in the ground, in the case of an innocent person like Trayvon Martin," and Jesse Jackson predicted "that the protests will continue to multiply in number and that the ranks of protestors will swell until Zimmerman is arrested.
Permalink · Self defense · Comments (4)
Administration proposes to slash firearm training for pilots
The Obama Admin proposes to halve funds for training pilots so they can be armed in the cockpit. As it is, the training procedures seem designed to be impossible to meet: "To gain certification to carry a gun onboard, pilots must take a six-day training program in Artesia, New Mexico. They must attend a half-day requalification session at various locations around the country to maintain it."
Permalink · Self defense · Comments (1)
Police report on Florida shooting
Right here. The responding officer found the shooter, Zimmerman, bleeding from nose and the back of his head, and saying he had cried out for help, which matches the eyewitness who reported that the man on the bottom was being beaten and was crying out for help.
Permalink · Castle Doctrine & No Retreat · Comments (0)
More coming to light in FLA shooting
The case gets some complicated:
"The dispatcher advised Zimmerman not to follow Martin. Moments later, neighbors bombarded 911 with reports of a struggle between the men and the sound of a gunshot. When police officers arrived, Martin was lifeless, face down on the ground, while Zimmerman was bleeding from his head and his back was covered in grass, as if he had been on the ground, the police report said.
Sanford police issued a statement Wednesday defending their decision not to arrest Zimmerman. They said that when officers arrived, he claimed self-defense, “which at the time was supported by physical evidence and testimony.”
Police Chief Bill Lee said Zimmerman claimed he was attacked by Martin after he had given up his chase and was returning to his truck.
In a letter to the Orlando Sentinel, Zimmerman’s father said his son wasn’t a racist. Zimmerman’s mother is Hispanic. “He would be the last to discriminate for any reason whatsoever,” Robert Zimmerman wrote."
"While one eyewitness has said there was no scuffle, another has said he saw Zimmerman on his back on the ground. According to the police incident report, Zimmerman's nose was bloody and his shirt was grass stained.
Police also said that Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, told them the voice pleading for help was not Trayvon. The family claims the police are lying, and pointed out that once the audio quality was cleaned up the father said that the voice did indeed belong to his son."
Permalink · Castle Doctrine & No Retreat · Comments (2)
Bloomberg looking for unemployed attorneys, paying $20/hr
Story here.
"Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the gun-control group co-chaired by Mayor Bloomberg, is looking for out-of-work lawyers to research doctrine related to the Trayvon Martin case.
Laurin Grollman, the mayor's senior counsel for firearms policy, sent out the following email, forwarded by a reader:
From: Grollman, Laurin
Looking for lawyers who are out of work who might want to do paid work for mayors against illegal guns (www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org) for the next few days/week or so, starting ASAP (today if possible, and working over the weekend if possible). $20/hour. Work is doing a 50-state survey of castle doctrine expansion laws, in light of Trayvon Martin shooting. Interesting and timely stuff, but somewhat complicated.
Laurin Grollman
Senior Counsel for Firearms Policy
Office of the Mayor of New York City"
Now, THAT is a tightwad!
Permalink · antigun groups · Comments (5)
PA test of Castle Doctrine and/or No Retreat
Hard to tell which from this story. It might really have been a test of neither. Two drunken aggressors come into a person yard with baseball bats, pursue him, continue to menace him even after he displays a gun, and he takes a hit in the head before firing. You don't need castle doctrine on those facts. *If* PA were a "retreat" State before, maybe stand your ground helps some, but even with a retreat requirement, turning his back on the aggressors increased his danger (and a 42 yr old isn't likely to outrun two guys aged 19 and 34, either).
Permalink · Castle Doctrine & No Retreat · Comments (0)
This is pitiful, part 26....
A couple of weeks ago, I posted on how Coalition to Stop Gun Violence was vigorously denying that gun sales were up.
Now comes word that Ruger has had to stop taking orders thru May, due to already having received over a million orders in 2012, far exceeding their capacity to produce.
The result is that, while the S&P fell 3% over the last five years, Ruger stock is up 571%....
Permalink · antigun groups · Comments (0)
Fast & Furious Keeps getting worse, part 1,236
It was recently revealed that the chief target of Fast and Furious was caught, six months into the operation, smuggling ammo at the border, but released upon a promise to cooperate. Now, it turns out, he was also caught two months before that, in illegal possession of a gun.
Permalink · BATFE · Comments (1)
Fast & Furious keeps getting worse
The LA Times has the story. As previously noted, the key target actually was apprehended inside the US, about six months into F&F, but released to return to Mexico on a promise to cooperate. (Reports that the ATF supervisor made him swear "cross my heart and hope to die / stick a thousand needles in my eye" have not been confirmed.)
It gets worse. The supervisor was hoping he'd lead them (because even a cartel supplier can't break a "cross my heart" promise) to two higher ups.
It turns out the two higher-ups were informants working for the FBI....
Permalink · BATFE · Comments (0)
Trayvon Martin shooting and "stand your ground"
One of many articles on that shooting that ties it to "stand your ground" laws. I cannot see the connection. "Stand your ground" means that, if a person reasonably believes they are under lethal attack, they can defend, and the fact that fleeing was an option doesn't change that. From what I've seen, if media reports are accurate, the issue is that the shooter didn't have grounds to reasonably believe he was under lethal attack. If that's the case, you never get to the issue of no retreat requirement.
Permalink · State legislation · Comments (23)
"A Safer Society -- WIth Guns"
It's staggering that the Boston Globe ran this article.
Permalink · media · Comments (8)
Anvil shooting
I've read of this practice in days of yore. Video here. I'd have backed up farther, tho. I count the anvil as aloft for seven seconds which, using Newton's Law, means it rose over 200 feet.
Permalink · shooting · Comments (2)
March 20
27 years ago tonight, Bill Avery, my late wife's father and my best friend, died. A few days later I wrote a letter to some of my friends.
Permalink · Personal · Comments (1)
Nordyke: the county blinks
At oral argument, en banc, the county says it has amended its gun show ban to allow shows so long as guns are attached to the table by cable
Hat tip to thirtyearlawprof.....
Permalink · Nordyke v. King · Comments (8)
Just when you thought Fast and Furious could get no worse...
Comes word that, six months after it began, ATF apprehended its primary target smuggling ammo into Mexico, he admitted his ties to cartels, and they let him go. He went right back to smuggling, of course.
In his car was a ledger tracking payments to "Killer," in case there was any doubt about the type of fellow they were releasing.
UPDATE: here is the ATF report of the encounter.
Permalink · BATFE · Comments (3)
Interesting idea
Crowdsourcing Madison's notes on the Constitutional Convention.
Permalink · General con law · Comments (0)
An interesting question
After President Obama apologized to Afghanistan for a soldier who cracked and killed 16 Afghanis, shouldn't he apologize to Mexico for the 300 deaths caused by Fast and Furious?
List of how many AZ laws Operation Fast & Furious violated
I count--
Direct Liability:
Misconduct involving weapons, a class 3 felony Ariz. Rev. Statutes 13-3102:
A. A person commits misconduct involving weapons by knowingly:
. . . . . .
14. Supplying, selling or giving possession or control of a firearm to another person if the person knows or has reason to know that the other person would use the firearm in the commission of any felony;
Second degree murder, a class 1 felony §13-1104:
A. A person commits second degree murder if without premeditation:
. . . . .
3. Under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, the person recklessly engages in conduct that creates a grave risk of death and thereby causes the death of another person….
Manslaughter, a class 2 felony §13-1103:
A. A person commits manslaughter by:
1. Recklessly causing the death of another person….
Negligent homicide, a class four felony §13-1102:
A. A person commits negligent homicide if with criminal negligence the person causes the death of another person, including an unborn child.
Derivative liability
Here, I count accomplice liability (aiding and abetting), facilitation (knowingly providing a criminal with the means to commit a crime), and possibly conspiracy,
Permalink · BATFE · Comments (4)
Ohioans for Concealed Carry tags Cleveland Heights for fees
Story here. The city was dragging its heels on rescinding ordinances that were in conflict with the State's pre-emption laws, and wound up liable for attorney's fees.
UPDATE: one of the plaintiffs emailed me to say the story was off-base on several things. The city actually repealed its ordinances, and the fees were a settlement.
Permalink · State legislation · Comments (0)
5th Circuit: seizure of firearm not a 2A violation
Houston v. New Orleans, filed yesterday. Plaintiff was arrested on unspecified charges, and his Glock was seized and kept after the charges were dismissed. (He was re-arrested, with charges again dropped, after he filed this suit).
The 5th Circuit holds that there is no due process problem, since Louisiana law has a procedure for seeking return of seized property, and no right to arms problem, since the right to arms covers arms in general and not this one specific firearm.
Hat tip to reader Charles Oldfield...
Permalink · State legislation · Comments (3)
We're in the best of hands...
Blogger finds simple way to defeat full body scanners. The scans are taken from front and rear: the background appears as black, and so do metal objects. So a metal object on a person's side will appear as black on black, and essentially invisible.
A billion dollars for scanners, after the Israelis refused to buy them because they were too easily defeated...
Mike Vanderboegh (Sipsey St. Irregulars) out of surgery
David Codrea has the word. I have no further data on what necessitated it, but he's expected to recover.
UPDATE: More data from David Codrea. It was surgery to remove a large tumor.
Feloniously recording an LEO, prosecutor or judge
It's the law in Illinois. The defenses of the law are rather peculiar: "there will be tragic split seconds, where a pointed cellphone will be mistaken for a pointed gun.”
Never thought I'd see the day....
The Christian Science Monitor runs a fairly pro-gun article.
Permalink · media · Comments (0)
"Battle of Athens"
A recreation. Of course, the antis would denounce this as insurrectionism.
Feral hog hunting in Texas
I bet this would do the job.
Houston Astros celebrating 50 years as a team
By donning uniforms that highlight the team's original name -- the Houston Colt .45s.
Publications party for new law casebook
Today, at Forham Law School, an all day symposium on the 2A, including a discussion of the new book, "Firearms Law and the Second Aendmment," by Nicholas J. Johnson , David B. Kopel , George A. Mocsary , and Michael P. O’Shea.
Washington Sup Ct rejects antigun appeal
Story here. It let stand a finding that Seattle's ban on guns in parks violated the State pre-emption law.
Permalink · State legislation · Comments (1)
This is pitiful, part 25....
Josh Horowitz, of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, assures his Huffington Post readers that reports of increasing gun sales are a gun lobby fabrication. Background checks are WAY up, but, he argues, background checks do not correlate 100% to sale of new firearms. NRA responds, and he charges they are "angered over being exposed as peddlers of bogus data."
In the meantime, SIG Sauer is expanding its factory to meet demand: "Shawver said the expansion to Pease has become necessary due to rapid growth over the past several years. "We've tripled in size over the last five years, which is what has been driving our need for additional space," he said." Ruger reports: "Our earnings increased 42% in 2011, driven by the 29% growth in sales and our ongoing focus on continuous improvement in our operations."
Permalink · antigun groups · Comments (4)
Colorado Sup Ct strikes down ban on CCW permittees carrying
Stephen Wright has the story. Here's the ruling. It's Regents of the Univ. of Colorado v. Students for Concealed Carry on Campus.
It holds that the Colorado pre-emption statute, which covers "local governments," applies to universities. After all, the Court points out, the statute has a specific exemption for elementary, middle, and high schools, showing that the Legislature felt school were a local government -- and the legislature didn't exempt universities.
Permalink · CCW licensing · Comments (1)
2A victory in Maryland, Wollard v. Sheridan
District Court opinion here.
The Maryland handgun carry permit statute requires the applicant to show that he "has good and substantial reason to wear, carry, or transport a handgun, such as a finding that the permit is necessary as a reasonable precaution against apprehended danger." Plaintiff had had a home invasion, was issued a permit for a time, then was denied it since he could not show a current threat.
The court applied intermediate scrutiny, and notes that the requirement has no significant link to reducing crime. Rather it operates a rationing system. Maryland argued that guns in general pose risks -- law-abiding owners might not always be law-abiding, criminals might steal them -- to which the court responds that you could make the same argument to support a system which arbitrarily issued a permit to every tenth applicant. Maryland also argued that use in self-defense might escalate a situation or lead to accidental injuries -- to which the court replies that that is a peculiar argument, since the permit system supposedly ensures that carry permits go to those most likely to become a victim of crime, and thus most likely to use a gun in self-defense.
It's a great win, courtesy of Alan Gura and SAF...
Hat tip to Gene Hoffman of CalGuns....
Permalink · Chicago aftermath · Comments (5)
ABA has a new subcommittee dealing with right to arms
Press release here. It's been organized by Bobbie Ross, of Chuck Miichel's firm.
DC to residents: just say yes to crime
A DC Councilwoman holds a meeting to find out why it's so hard to register a gun, and DC's Deputy Mayor explains that it's better just to become a victim.
"“The problem is, if you are armed, it escalates the situation,” Mr. Quander told residents. “It is much better, in my opinion, to be scared, to be frightened, and even if you have to be, to be injured, but to walk away and survive. You’ll heal, and you can replace whatever was taken away.”
Rather poor timing, since yesterday DC's 911 caller system broke.
Permalink · Self defense · Comments (5)
Iowa House recommends right to arms amendment
Iowa's House has voted to add a right to arms provision to its constitution.
Old memories
A few days ago I discovered a file that I had forgotten even existed. Letters that I wrote to a friend over 1979-1982. When they start out, I'm 27 years old, new to DC and NRA work. Here's one entry, showing what things were like while we were pushing the Firearm Owners' Protection Act. And I have no idea why Strom Thurmond was doing these things, but I did earlier detect some hostility on his part toward NRA, for no known reason:
"April 23, 1982: Wednesday we finally got Volkmer-McClure out of Senate Judiciary, albeit at a cost…. The Senators packed into a tiny room for the markup –of the full complement of 18, a dozen or so were present ost of the time. Kennedy filed a series of amendments …. Most were easily shot down.
Then came the 21 day waiting period for handgun purchase. Strom went out in front in favor. Dole, another conservative Repub., said he’d introduced a 14 day waiting period with police check. Kennedy said he’d accept Dole’s amendment, but make it 14 days. Strom said, good idea …
Strom still couldn’t quite carry the day, since we had gotten 4 senators to give Strom their proxies. We’d asked for proxies in favor of the bill and against all amendments.Unfortunately, two had just given Strom an open proxy… He cast one in favor, withheld the other one, and failed to cast the other two, which were against all amendments. By this means he got it to pass 7-5….Senator Leahy of Vermont zipped in just as his name was being called. He had just told Wayne that he would vote against it. He stepped in, having missed the debate. He asked what he was voting on, eliciting a laugh. Strom said, a waiting period. Kennedy said, Strom endorsed it. Leahy asked ‘You think it’s a good idea, Strom’? and Strom said yes. Leahy voted aye. And to think these turkeys called the Senate the greatest deliberative body in the world!”
Texas considering allowing suppressors for hunting
Story here.
Permalink · National Firearms Act · Comments (0)
Felons' right to possess in self-defense
Eugene Volokh notes that it is protected in Colorado case law. The discussion in comments is quite interesting.
Permalink · prohibitted persons · Comments (0)
List of words the government monitors on the social media
Right here. I guess the real question is: if North Korea had to evacuate a nuclear reactor due to anthrax, would radiation attack and assassinate the spores before they went pandemic?
A Real Loss
Andrew Breitbart is dead. He died unexpectedly, age 43.