Constitutional Law

Gunwalker probe escalates

Posted on April 01, 2011
Rep. 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...

Rep. Don Young speaks his mind

Posted on March 31, 2011
On the occasion of Humane Society of the US offering him an award. Go ahead, Congressman, you're among friends, feel free to tell us what you really feel.

Favor for Rep. Harold Volkmer

Posted on March 30, 2011
Harold Volkmer, the very pro-gun former Missouri Congressman, played a key role in the evolution of the gun rights movement. His biggest feat came in pushing the Firearm Owners Protection Act thru the House, at time when the leadership (including Peter Rodino, chairman of House Judiciary Committee, who announced "the bill is dead on arrival in the House") was in solid opposition...

And even more...

Posted on March 30, 2011
From the Mexican magazine Proceso, with apologies for inadequacy of translation from Spanish: "Fast and Furious: Everybody Knew" . . . . "- What exactly was that operation? This Weekly asked Dodson. "We identified a group of multiple buyers who had the task of acquiring weapons not for themselves but for others...

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More on guns to Mexico

Posted on March 30, 2011
The Latin American Herald Tribune has a story on Wikileaks' diplomatic cables: The assertions appear in embassy cables written after three bilateral conferences on arms trafficking that took place between March 2009 and January 2010 in Cuernavaca, Mexico; Phoenix; and Tapachula, Mexico, respectively...

A warning I can take to heart

Posted on March 30, 2011
The rattlesnakes are out!

We pause now for a bit of gloating

Posted on March 28, 2011
From a 1998 statement by the American Bar Association, to the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution: "Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: The American Bar Association appreciates the opportunity to submit its views to you on issues arising under the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States...

Decision upholding former ban on guns in US parks

Posted on March 25, 2011
US v. Masciandaro, decided yesterday by the 4th Circuit. The court first decides that the prosecution survives the change to park regulations, and then considers the Second Amendment, with the judges splitting. The majority opinion, you could call it, just concludes that application of Heller outside the home is unsettled: a "considerable degree of uncertainty remains as to the scope of that right beyond the home and the standards for determining whether and how the right can be burdened by governmental regulation...

"Gun Walker" keeps growing

Posted on March 25, 2011
Now the former ATF attache to Mexico, in charge of agency operations there, is talking to CBS News. He was told that the operation had been approved by the acting ATF director and by higher officials at Justice Department, and that Assistant Attorney General and head of the Criminal Division Larry Breuer knew about it...

Predictable spin on "Operation Gunwalker"

Posted on March 24, 2011
Spin: the fact that the agency allowed 1,700 guns to go to drug cartels proves they need more money and more laws to enforce. "America?s frontline agencies aren?t always coordinated fully and often feel powerless to arrest suspected gun runners in the absence of tougher federal laws...

Lively legislative season

Posted on March 24, 2011
in North Dakota, a bill to forbid employers from stopping employees from having firearms in their parked, locked vehicles has passed the House. In Montana, a Senate committee has approved a bill to allow concealed carry without a permit. Linn County, Iowa, has voted to allow concealed carry in parks and most other county property...

Court ruling on "he needed killing" jury instruction

Posted on March 23, 2011
From Carico v. Commonwealth, an 1870 Kentucky ruling on self-defense: "Speaking of assured and continual danger to life, this court, in the case in 2 Duvall, defined the principle of self-defense as follows: "Like the sword of Damocles, the threatened danger is continually impending every moment and everywhere...

DC v. Heller aftermath

Posted on March 23, 2011
Ouch! In attorneys' fees disputes, it's always amusing to see how often an attorney arguing that the other guy's hourly rates are unreasonable is actually billing at a higher rate himself. These are big firms, probably with staggering hourly rates.

More on ATF "gun walker"

Posted on March 21, 2011
Here's the CBS coverage. More agencies are reportedly involved, including DHS and at least one Ass't US Attorney.

Rep. Deutch is a little behind the curve...

Posted on March 21, 2011
He writes: "Along our southwest border, where gun violence related to the Mexican drug war has claimed the lives of more than 30,000 people since 2006, the work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been undermined by American gun dealers selling high-power semiautomatic rifles in bulk to smugglers with the worst of intentions...

Interesting background to the Framers of the 14th Amendment

Posted on March 19, 2011
From Paul Kirchner, "Dueling with Sword and Pistol": Prior to the Civil War, Sen. Ben Wade (R-Ohio) said something on the floor which was deemed insulting to Sen. Robert Toombs (D-Ga), and a friend told Toombs, "you must challenge the old wretch!" Toombs replied, "No, I mustn't, for that old wretch is the deadliest shot in the District...

Guns in Mexico

Posted on March 18, 2011
The El Paso Times has a story based on a Wikileaks leaked diplomatic message. It reports that businessmen in Juarez hired eight Zetas for protection, and Zetas got guns from the army in exchange for a truce with the Zetas and promises of assistance against rival cartels: "According to the contact, (the source)," the cable states, " 'Zetas' paid a visit on local military commanders when they arrived in Juárez in September 2008, and purchased previously-seized weapons from the army garrison the former 'Zetas' pledged not to target the army, and made themselves available to the army for extrajudicial operations...

25 ATF Agents write letter outlining scandals

Posted on March 17, 2011
The contents of their letter are pretty stunning. A few samples: "The Bureaus second most powerful manager Deputy Director Edgar Domenech, himself filed a whistleblower complaint and publicly stated that the Bureau of ATF has a propensity for reprisal and he ?knew? such actions would result in career suicide...

GAO report on government duplication and waste

Posted on March 16, 2011
Article here. It brought to mind what a local prosecutor suggested, decades ago. He suggested that was enormous duplication of SWAT teams. FBI has multiple, local based, SWAT teams. BATF has its equivalent, Special Reaction Teams. IRS, I'm told, has them...

Translation of Mexican TV on ATF guns to mexico

Posted on March 15, 2011
Transcript here. "Ramos: How many weapons are we talking about here?...that were allowed to pass from the US into Mexico? Dodson: I can say that only in this specific case, up until the ATF admitted the policy existed, and I think this number is a little low, but if you accept the official numbers, it is around 1,974 firearms...

Interesting AZ case on self-defense

Posted on March 15, 2011
Pdf of ruling here. Interesting.... Arizona, by statute, provides that for self defense a person is presumed to have acted reasonably if he acts against a person who has unlawfully or forcefully entered his residence. Here, there was essentially a conflict between two people who knew each other, at the doorway, and the one trying to enter was the one charged with aggravated assault...

One shot, two kills

Posted on March 14, 2011
A British sniper in Afghanistan apparently thought "one shot, one kill" wasn't good enough.

Followup to Obama statement

Posted on March 14, 2011
Several media outlets have picked it up, including WashPo, which noted: "His chosen avenue to highlight the issue, an op-ed in the Sunday edition of a small newspaper instead of a major speech, could suggest a more limited approach." That struck me as a bit strange, too...

Obama statement on gun control

Posted on March 13, 2011
Hot local news here. Brady Campaign must be dosing up on antidepressants again. His proposals are essentially ... make background checks better and faster. Topped with: "Now, like the majority of Americans, I believe that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms...

Congress blocks military orders that restrict gun rights

Posted on March 09, 2011
This is aimed at base commanders who have ordered that soldiers report and register privately-owned firearms kept at their residences off-based. The Public Law version is not yet online, but here's a link to the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act as introduced, which became Pub...

Legal CLE course on firearms

Posted on March 08, 2011
What a great idea! (For nonlawyers, the current fad is for a bar assn to require so many hours of continuing legal education (CLE) per year. In Arizona, it's 15 hours. You pay thru the nose (about $40/hour average) and often are bored to tears. Instead, in South Carolina you can train with a handgun, get your CCW permit, and discuss ballistics, and earn six of those hours.

Fearful that homeowner might be armed, burglar calls 911

Posted on March 08, 2011
Story here. It's not clear whether the homeowner did have a gun, but the burglar locked himself in the bathroom and called 911 for rescue. Since the burglar was taking a shower when the homeowner came upon him, it is at least possible that drugs and/or felonious stupidity were involved...

Mexicans taking self-defense measures

Posted on March 07, 2011
Story here. "You can have a gun only when it is not classified exclusively for the use of the military and when it is registered," said Gustavo Nevarez, an attorney in Nuevo Casas Grandes. "Nobody registers them, though." . . . . It is a reality that Alex LeBaron, a state representative in northwestern Chihuahua, wants the government to confront...

ATF PR sends a memo to field agents

Posted on March 06, 2011
And it winds up in the hands of CBS: "Public Information Officers: Please make every effort for the next two weeks to maximize coverage of ATF operations/enforcement actions/arrests at the local and regional level. Given the negative coverage by CBS Evening News last week and upcoming events this week, the bureau should look for every opportunity to push coverage of good stories...

Sending in my NRA ballot

Posted on March 06, 2011
I usual vote, not for the full 25 that you are allowed (that dilutes your ballot), but for the handful that aren't just good (which is everyone listed) but are absolutely vital. Into that category I'd put William Dailey, Charles Cotton, and Steven Schreiner...

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