Constitutional Law

Brady Campaign suit against Interior

Posted on February 16, 2009
Snowflakes in Hell has an excellent discussion.

Oregon case re: colleges

Posted on February 15, 2009
The Oregon Firearms Federation is taking on a case involving a college student arrested at Western Oregon U. for possessing a firearm in a public place. The minor problem being that he is a CCW permit holder, and thus is exempt from that statute. Linked is a pdf of a letter from the Legislative Counsel (i...

Brady Campaign grades and crime rates

Posted on February 15, 2009
Howard Nemerov points out that Brady's top ten States have a significantly higher homicide and violent crime rate than its bottom ten.

Gun buyback in Columbia SC

Posted on February 15, 2009
Story here . Gun buybacks are a great subsidy to gun owners. Everyone has a junker or two that's beyond repair and unsalable. You can still get $50-100 for it! When they had one here, gunnies turned out at the sites and watched as people came up, and made offers for anything worthwhile...

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Done with trial

Posted on February 13, 2009
Won't be blogging much today, tho. Understand a jury trial means getting up at 6, and working on it until about 10 PM. Lunches wolfed down in haste (you get an hour and a quarter, but some of that is lost walking from courthouse to office, and the rest spent eating quickly while thinking and making notes)...

Why the innocent may be punished worse than the guilty

Posted on February 08, 2009
Concurring Opinions has thoughts on the case of Timothy Cole, who died in prison, and was subsequently exonerated by DNA evidence and the real rapist's confession. He turned down a plea bargain that would have gotten him probation, and couldn't be paroled because he "refused to accept responsibility...

ROTC cadet suspended for having drill props

Posted on February 08, 2009
Story here. She had several fake guns used at drill, made of wood and duct tape. The school invoked a Colorado law that defines dangerous weapons as "a firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, or a firearm facsimile that could reasonably be mistaken for an actual firearm...

"Good and capable" teacher suspended due to gun photo

Posted on February 07, 2009
Beaver Dam WI schools have suspended and are investigating a teacher who posted a pic of herself aiming a gun on her Facebook page. While I don't care for pics where the gun is aimed at the camera, I can't see what it has to do with her teaching. Hat tip to reader L...

San Francisco antes up

Posted on February 06, 2009
The city agrees to pay $380,000 in attorneys' fees incurred in the lawsuit challenging Proposition H.

NJ governor signs harsher law

Posted on February 05, 2009
And calls for more.

Slow blogging

Posted on February 04, 2009
Whew! I'm in the midst of a two-week jury trial, so there will be a little blogging in the evenings. Working 12-14 hour days doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging.

Superbowl surprise in Tucson

Posted on February 02, 2009
Great game yesterday, but it had a surprise locally. It's in the final minutes, I think while the AZ Cardinals were holding onto a two point lead, so probably half the TVs in the city were tuned to it. Scene cuts to woman and man, woman reaching into his pants...

The election did wonders for gun sales

Posted on February 02, 2009
Data here, in pdf.

Update on Phillip Dominguez case

Posted on February 01, 2009
Sensibly Progressive has update. I blogged about his case a few days ago -- Mr. Dominguez is a law-abiding construction company owner, who owned a registered "assault rifle," which in California he could legally take from his house to a shooting range...

Georgia permit apps nearly doubling

Posted on February 01, 2009
Story here. Hat tip to reader Ed Stone....

Clever tax collection technique

Posted on February 01, 2009
Scrappleface reports on a clever technique for raising tax revenues.

Making arms in the Khyber Pass

Posted on January 31, 2009
An interesting video on how Afghans make firearms by taking blanks of steel and filing away everything that doesn't look like a gun. Looks like they achieve high quality. And they have better gun handling techniques than the US interviewer. Also shown are their other inventories...

Dominquez case in CA

Posted on January 30, 2009
Sensibly Progressive has the story. Earlier post here. Basically, Mr. Dominguez is a law abiding fellow who had the misfortune to live in California (everything he was doing would be completely legal in AZ). On the way to a shooting range, he stopped at the LA airport to pick up a friend who would go to the range with him...

More reason to be glad I'm in Arizona

Posted on January 29, 2009
A Phoenix area Justice of the Peace just ruled speed camera tickets unconstitutional. He found a violation of Equal Protection, since (1) tickets issued by officers have variable fines depending upon how fast the driver was going, whereas camera issued tickets all have one fine ($181...

Howard Nemerov now writes for the DC Examiner

Posted on January 29, 2009
His first article analyses the elections in terms of NRA vs. Brady endorsed wins.

OSHA opines on OKL law on workplace parking lot storage

Posted on January 29, 2009
Here's a pdf of a new OSHA opinion that the Oklahoma law protecting employees who have firearms in their locked cars, on employer-owned parking lots, are protected against firing. [Corrected, thanks to comment. I rec'd this from someone in FLA and assumed it related to the similar law there...

Len Savage's gun arrested

Posted on January 28, 2009
David Codrea has the story. Background: Savage designs NFA-related items. This one enables the owner of a lawful NFA firearm to convert it to a different caliber. BATFE originally ruled that the item was not a firearm, let alone an NFA one; it was a conversion kit...

Summary of economic stimulus package

Posted on January 28, 2009
This Q & A, from reader Spiker, is the best I have seen. It sums up the economics concisely: This year, taxpayers will receive an Economic Stimulus Payment. Here is a brief explanation: Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment? A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers...

Chicago 14th A appeal -- opening brief filed

Posted on January 28, 2009
Right here. Alan Gura was in Tucson tonight, and we caught dinner at Casa Molina. He is quite optimistic. The court announce argument date sometime after the answering brief is filed (if I remember that correctly). The earliest possible argument date would be in April, no idea if it'll come then, or later.

Traced guns vs. crime guns

Posted on January 27, 2009
An interesting story in the DC Examiner: "?Officer, I am carrying a firearm in compliance with North Carolina law.? So began my exchange during a traffic stop. (Sorry, I have a lead foot.) He replied, ?May I have it, sir?? Since this was before I knew enough to say ?no,? I complied...

National CCW reciprocity bill

Posted on January 27, 2009
Alphecca notes it's been introduced. I'd share his doubts it's going anywhere soon.

David E. Young moves into blogging!

Posted on January 26, 2009
David E. Young is author of several incredibly comprehensive books on the Second Amendment, including The Origins of the Second Amendment, which the Fifth Circuit cited over a hundred times in the Emerson decision. I'm happy to note that he's begun a blog, On Second Opinion...

Another reason I'm happy to be in Arizona

Posted on January 26, 2009
A poll of New Yorkers on their newly appointed US Senator finds generally favorable opinions, but "Because of Gillibrand's pro-gun position and her backing by the National Rifle Assn., 36 percent of New York State voter, including 50 percent of Democrats, are less likely to vote for her when she runs for election next year, while 17 percent are more likely to vote for her...

Staples case and malfunctioning semiautos

Posted on January 25, 2009
Snowflakes in Hell has a post on the issue of whether a malfunctioning semiauto can leave the owner guilty of an NFA violation if it doubles. I'd agree with his assessment that the Staples case largely settles the issue. The National Firearms Act defines "firearm" to be an NFA arm, not any firearm (Congress can define things any way it wants)...

David Codrea on Holder nomination

Posted on January 25, 2009
David Codrea weighs in on Holder's testimony, at the DC Examiner.

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