Constitutional Law

Politics of a Supreme Court nomination

Posted on May 08, 2009
Interesting insights here.

Cool statement from an LEO

Posted on May 08, 2009
Story here. Toledo has laid off 75 officers, may lay off 75 more. An officer advises its citizens to "Invest in precious metals: lead, gun powder, and brass." Around here, all those can be had -- it's the primers that are gone!

A simple solution to piracy

Posted on May 08, 2009
Reader Scott Sterling emails what seems to be a simple, easy, and cheap solution to piracy. I would just add that I doubt an AK is a 300-400 yard weapon in Somalian hands. Videos I've seen of their land fighting suggests their firing stance is: hold gun sideways, or overhead, dance around and pull trigger while taunting foes...

Self defense in a "gun free school zone"

Posted on May 07, 2009
Racine, WI. Four thugs knock a fellow down, try to rob him, fail to see that he is open carrying (which is legal). He draws, points in a safe direction, and announces that he is armed, and they of course flee. Now the issue is: since he was within 1000 ft of a school, should he be charged with carrying in a "gun-free school zone"? Hat tip to reader Carl in Chicago...

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A college student shooting that will never make the national media

Posted on May 06, 2009
It was lucky just to get this local coverage, because the good guy shot and won. Two armed invaders crash a party. Their conversation suggests the plan was to kill everyone after robbing them, but a student draws, drives one off and mortally wounds the other, who was preparing to rape a female student...

Olofson conviction affirmed

Posted on May 06, 2009
Snowflakes in Hell has a solid analysis. Once the government got testimony (true or false) from the fellow he lent the rifle to, that Olofson knew it would fire a full auto burst before jamming, he was in deep trouble, and if convicted, odds of reversal on appeal would be very low.

Call 911 and ... get arrested for cuss word?

Posted on May 05, 2009
story here. Via Instapundit....

Antis amicus in Chicago case

Posted on May 05, 2009
Clayton Cramer discusses "Embarrassingly Bad Amicus Brief in the Chicago Case.". He does a good job of taking its historical claims apart, and has a link to it. I read it and think his title justified for a different reason as well. Legal citation is done to the standard of the Blue Book (at various times the White Book, etc...

CalGuns Fdn and SAF challenge Calif carry permit law

Posted on May 05, 2009
Posting about it here, with link to the complaint. Filed in Federal District Court, attorneys Alan Gura and Don Kilmer. It builds up their recent 9th Circuit incorporation win, by challenging California's carry permit system as applied in two counties...

Piracy and arming crews

Posted on May 04, 2009
The skipper of the not-hijacked Maersk Alabama testifies before the Senate, and agrees with Blue Dog Demo Sen. Jim Webb that crews should be armed against pirates. The chairman of his line loses control of his bladder while worrying that pirates might escalate, and a comment from a Navy vet suggests that four ...

Is ammo really this hard to come by?

Posted on May 04, 2009
I mean, the seller won't even give a warranty, it's as-is.

Novel Brittish approach to home invasions

Posted on May 04, 2009
Officers go about with megaphones, and empowered to enter houses, shouting warnings to lock doors and windows. And the press describes it as a "burglary crackdown."

LA City Attorney's race

Posted on May 03, 2009
One contender is Carmen Trutanich, law partner of pro-gun attorney Chuch Michel, and Trutanich's opponent is trying to use that against him. Hat tip to reader Ambiguous Ambiguae...

Now, those were the days!

Posted on May 02, 2009
May 2, 1946: prisoners at Alcatraz Prison riot, where a group aiming to escape gets out of their cells and into and armory for guns and ammo. They herded captured guards into a cell and then one of the prisoners shot into the cell, killing two and injuring others...

LE shooting in Florida

Posted on May 02, 2009
Article here. If this had been a private citizen shooting, I suspect there'd be homicide charges, and if it'd been a CCW permit holder, the paper would probably be citing as an example of dangerous recklessness. Retired firefighter is reported armed and suicidal...

Thoughts on crime

Posted on May 01, 2009
Peter Hitchens has some deep thoughts on conditions in Britain. "The frequent arrests of people for defending themselves or their property are not accidents or quirks. They are the consequence of the Criminal Justice system's abandonment of old-fashioned ideas of punishment; also of that system's social democratic belief that crime has 'social' causes and the ownership of property isn't absolute...

Insider thoughts on piracy and arming crews

Posted on April 30, 2009
Reader Diogenes emails (his original command having been blocked, for some reason, by the spam filter): I work in the insurance industry as a large property underwriter and work closely with our marine underwriters. I understand that the issues with armed crew on merchant vessels are mainly with insurance premiums and crew pay...

Suicide in DC

Posted on April 30, 2009
Say Uncle notes a sad irony.

Interesting mandatory sentencing case

Posted on April 29, 2009
Dean v. US, handed down today by the Supreme Court. 18 USC 924(c) imposes a mandatory sentence for use of a firearm in a federal violent crime -- 5 years if carried, 7 if brandished, and 10 if the firearm is discharged. The first sentence of the opinion sums up the case (with rather more wit than we are accustomed to seeing, but Roberts can do that): "Accidents happen...

Arms vs. pirates

Posted on April 29, 2009
A cruiseship captain issues handguns and the crew uses them to fend off Somalian pirates. Two warning shots in the air and the pirates (who had AKs) bailed out, surprised that the crew actually had guns. (I find this story receiving little play in the US media...

Piracy and arming crews

Posted on April 28, 2009
General Petraeus has proposed arming merchantmen. The main resistance seems to be coming from the ship owners, who'd rather pay ransom than risk ... whatever they fear. "Joe Cox, president of the Chamber of Shipping of America, cautioned that deploying armed guards aboard cargo ships could escalate violence if pirates expect a gunfight...

Nine bills up for vote in Albany

Posted on April 28, 2009
Story here. In case you wonder what NY could outlaw that it hasn't already, one of the bills would require firearm dealers to have million dollar liability policies covering criminal misuse by purchasers. Reader David Lawson asks, "What insurance company would write that kind of policy?" Good point.

NYC: knife killings skyrocketing

Posted on April 28, 2009
In NY City, gun killings are down but knife homicides are up by 50%. "amnesty for pocket knives or steak knives is not a reasonable option, said the Rev. Darryl Frazier ..."

Obama mulls ban on full-auto transmissions

Posted on April 28, 2009
That's what Scrappleface reports. The claim is that cars kill far more people than guns, but the real reason is the hopes that it will boost car sales the way the potential of an assault rifle ban has boosted gun sales. Hat tip to reader Jack Anderson...

Jimmy Carter on AW ban

Posted on April 27, 2009
Carter's NY Times Op-Ed is here, and Alphecca's response is here. An interesting gap in the discourse on this issue: arguments for such laws invariably dodge what should be the central question for any proposed law of any type, namely, what is the evidence that this law will do any good? We had such a law on the books for ten years, after all, so if there is any evidence it shouldn't be hard to produce.

Gun and ammo sales

Posted on April 26, 2009
In the last three months of 2008, that's right, three months, Americans bought enough guns to outfit the Chinese and Indian armies, combined. Actually, that's just reflective of the NICS checks, which don't cover sales by private parties, and buys by CCW permit holders...

ATF webpage

Posted on April 24, 2009
A page calling for cleaning up ATF, together with a blog, written by agents. I've griped about the agency as much as anyone, but the bottom line is there are folks with it who are decent, and folks who are not, and the problem is that the folks who are not get promoted, get into power, and are in positions to shaft those who are decent...

Internat'l Law Enforcement Educator & Trainers on mass shootings

Posted on April 24, 2009
The legendary Massad Ayoob is attending the annual conference of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association. He writes: "Thursday afternoon, I chaired the panel of experts discussion on deadly force issues. I had been able to assemble ten superstars of police training...

New book on militia

Posted on April 24, 2009
Robert Churchill, an EXCELLENT historian (we cited him several times in our Heller brief), has out a new book on the militia movements. I put it in the plural because he documents how the recent movement fits into the long term historical context. The title is "To Shake Their Guns in the Tyrant's Face: Libertarian Political Violence and the Origins of the Militia Movement...

Lawsuit over Pittsburgh ordinance

Posted on April 24, 2009
Story here. I see standing and ripeness problems....

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