Constitutional Law

Now this brings home the contradiction

Posted on April 10, 2008
From an Op-Ed: "This I believe, because I am a liberal. . . . . . I believe the right of free speech should be limited only by the unnecessary shouting of ?fire? in a crowded theatre. I believe the right to carry guns should be limited to only civilian persons, and police or military persons should be required to remain unarmed, unless, of course, they have a hunting license for the state in which they reside, or are members of the National Rifle Association...

I see a lawsuit coming....

Posted on April 10, 2008
Despite PA having statewide pre-emption, and Philadelphia having lost attempts to amend that, the city council has enacted five new gun control ordinances, and the appropriately-named Mayor Nutter announces he will "order their immediate enforcement...

McCain has "work to do with gun owners"

Posted on April 10, 2008
Yep, he certainly does. Reader Carl in Chicago adds a comment, replying to comments, which the spam filter for some reason blocked: I'd love to see a more pro-2A front-running candidate. Probably all of us would. But regarding voting your principles, protest write-ins, and just staying home on election day, sometimes I fear that some of us have never taken any lessons from Don Quixote...

Solution to Brady foulup: they'll just crash the memorial service

Posted on April 09, 2008
From Bitter comes this article. We old attorneys are cynical and hard to disgust, but this comes pretty close. As mentioned a few days ago, Brady Campaign wanted to have a PR event, on Virginia Tech, on the anniversary of the shootings. Then they found out it required a permit, which they didn't have, and the time and location of their PR event conflicted with the University's own memorial service...

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FLA passes bill on rt. to have gun in locked car while at work

Posted on April 09, 2008
It's passed both houses and is on to the governor, who says he will probably sign it. If you're in FLA, you might want to note (a) some forms of this bill only covered CCW holders; I don't know what the final form does; (b) it would go into effect July 1...

San Fran handgun ban finally dead

Posted on April 09, 2008
The CA Supreme Court has denied review of the appellate decision striking it.

Prof. O'Shea on Heller

Posted on April 08, 2008
The title says it all: "Court can serve cause of liberty".

Charlton Heston roundup

Posted on April 08, 2008
Former NRA President Sandy Froman writes at TownHall of her her experience as Heston's VP, and of what Heston did for the organization in the years before his election. Over at the [London] Times Online, Nick Hume has tribute from the British Left: "Charlton Heston's obituarists worry that his acting career might be ?overshadowed? by his controversial stance against gun control...

Ooops....

Posted on April 08, 2008
Brady Campaign planned to kick off nationwide protests, a week from today, with one at Virginia Tech. Unfortunately for them, they forgot to get a permit. On top of that, the University only issues assembly permits to student groups, and the time/place designated by Brady, noon on the drillfield, conflicts with a memorial service already scheduled...

Funeral of Pima Co. Public Defender

Posted on April 07, 2008
I went to the funeral of Bob Hooker, Pima Co. Public Defender, today. He was killed by somebody drag racing at 100 mph plus down a narrow urban street. Tucson Community Center donated one of its halls for the event, and it was needed. I'd guess there were 600+ people there...

Charlton Heston, rest in peace

Posted on April 06, 2008
Story here.

Obama aims for gun vote

Posted on April 06, 2008
This election is getting complicated.

14th Amendment and the Colfax Massacre

Posted on April 06, 2008
Charles Lane continues to guest blog at Volokh Conspiracy, on the subject. His latest post, recounting the history of the US Atty who brought the Cruikshank prosecutions (and got fired over it) is here .

Article on difference between feeling secure and being secure

Posted on April 06, 2008
Some interesting thoughts by Bruce Schneier. Check out the linked pieces, too, where he explores such topics as why the human brain is second-rate when it comes to logically assessing risk (the assessment appears wired into two different parts of the brain, one advanced and one primitive), why we have cognitive challenges when trying to undertake it (overestimating risks that are rare but spectacular, new risks, man-made risks, risks over which they have no control, etc...

documentary screening in L.A. tommorrow....

Posted on April 05, 2008
"In Search of the Second Amendment" shows on the big screen tommorrow, Saturday, at 10 AM, at the Backlot Film Festival. It's in Culver City, west end of Los Angeles.

Rex Davis, RIP

Posted on April 04, 2008
Rex Davis, first head of BATF, has died. He must have made it up there in years -- I seem to recall that he retired in the early 1980s.

Gun law attorney in New York

Posted on April 04, 2008
Just got this, in a comment to an old post. As there aren't a lot of gun law attorneys around, I thought it merited posting. Mr. John S. Chambers, Esquire practices exclusively in the field of second amendment/gun licensing in New York City and I believe he also takes cases from NJ...

Medical article on Heller

Posted on April 04, 2008
By Garen Wintermute. As I recall, he's the beneficiary of Joyce Foundation largesse. And it cites to David Hemenway, another beneficiary. Got to wonder what a medical journal figures it has to do with a court case. It tries to argue that the DC gun ban worked (using a study which, if I recall, used the wrong start date for the handgun ban -- it was technically on the books on one date, but operation was enjoined for the better part of a year after that, which made a big difference to any conclusion you could draw, since violence had already been dropping in the District...

Court finds State LEOs can bar Federal LEOS

Posted on April 04, 2008
And it's a U.S. district court to boot. I don't quite see how the result squares with the Supremacy Clause....

SC lowers age for handgun purchase to 18

Posted on April 04, 2008
Story here. It lowered the state age from 21 to 18; the federal age, for purchase from an FFL, remains 21.

TSA to make excuses on its pilot gun policies

Posted on April 04, 2008
CrimeFileNews has the story. Knowing how bureaucracies work, the position will be (1) pilot error; (2) proves how dangerous arming pilots was and (3) there is no way that our ridiculous, dangerous rules and wierd mandated holsters that are just asking for an accident shot could possibly have contributed...

Obama's Smoking Gun?

Posted on April 04, 2008
It's a Townhall column by Sandy Froman.

Mayor Daley speaks for stiffer gun control and public honesty

Posted on April 04, 2008
Video here. All right, I was kidding about the public honesty. Did the governor ever get flamed in the first comment, tho!

"Living constitutionalist's" frustration at Heller

Posted on April 03, 2008
Steve Griffin, over at Balkanization. As near as I can see, in this context his view would amount to "conditions have changed since 1789, and hence the meaning of the bill of rights has changed." NOT just that there are different considerations in trying to establish the limits of the right (which would hardly be controversial, or justify designating a school of thought), but rather rights may vanish (I assume that is his approach) if conditions change in the eyes of the judiciary (again, I'd assume this is his designated decisionmaker)...

Opinion on employment and firearm rights

Posted on April 03, 2008
Gene Volokh has a posting on an employment law case. Normally, an at-will employee can be fired, or quit, for any reason. In this case, he was fired because he brought a firearm to work. He sued, and the court refuses to dismiss his suit (although he might lose it later)...

I give up hopes for our language

Posted on April 02, 2008
Harvard, where you must talk as if your teeth were wired together, advertises for a law school job with: "Duties and Responsibilities: Works proactively and independently with minimal oversight to conduct research and analyze results, while also functioning as part of a research team or working group...

Third graders plot attack on teacher

Posted on April 02, 2008
Story here. I was schooled by the Old Nuns. They would not have worried about attacks with conventional weapons. Nor called the police. They would simply have ripped an arm off the ringleader and used it to beat him to death. These were 4'2" 90 year old women who could have cowed a Marine DO...

Interesting discussion on Cruikshank and 14th Amendment

Posted on April 02, 2008
Over at the Volokh Conspiracy. It features guest blogging by Charles Lane, author of The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, The Supreme Court, and the Betrayal of Reconstruction. The Colfax Massacre is what gave rise to Cruikshank.

Canadian paper interviews Steve Levitt

Posted on April 02, 2008
Story here. He's and economist and the author of Freakonomics. While he's had battles with John Lott (as I recall, the dispute was over whether more CCW means less crime, Lott's position, or doesn't affect crime one way of the other, his position), he tells the Canadian paper that gun laws do nothing to lower crime rates, a swimming pool in the backyard is more dangerous than a gun in the house, and gun laws have few effects, except when they are counterproductive effects.

Pizza Hut, again

Posted on April 02, 2008
Deliveryman gets robbed, shoots in defense, and gets suspended. Via Instapundit...

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