Constitutional Law

Ken Blackwell running for RNC chair

Posted on December 06, 2008
Ken Blackwell, NRA director, throws his hat into the ring for RNC chair.

"Palm pistol" on FoxNews

Posted on December 05, 2008
Story here. Hat tip to reader Bret Gallo...

Interior allows carry in National Parks

Posted on December 05, 2008
Press release here.

A 6th Amendment question

Posted on December 05, 2008
It's reported that the US will indict the Blackwater folks involved in the shooting in Iraq. I think I see one problem. The 6th Amendment says a federal criminal jury must be by "an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law...

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Massacre in Mumbai

Posted on December 04, 2008
Cherry River Blog has deep thoughts. I'd agree. It's hard to envision hundreds of American civilians or dozens police standing by while four guys shot up a hotel full of people, encountering no resistance. Look to that situation in LA where the attackers had AKs, the outgunned police went to a local gun store and got the owner to loan them serious equipment, and went back into the fight...

Busy day for the 14th

Posted on December 04, 2008
In the Chicago case, District Court incorporating the 2nd into the 14th Amendment. Ruling is based on reasoning that he has to obey 7th Circuit precedent, Quilicy v. Morton Grove, until the 7th Circuit changes it. Not unexpected, of course -- this case was going to be settled on appeal...

Arrest in Chicago

Posted on December 04, 2008
Pretty disgusting. Icarry.org has set up a defense fund.

9th circuit 14th Amendment case to be argued

Posted on December 04, 2008
Gene Hoffman reports the argument will be held Thursday, January 15, 2009 in the James R. Browning federal courthouse, Courtroom 1. It's at 95 Seventh St. in San Francisco. Nordyke is the long-lived case in which the 9th Cir. panel, which astonishingly sound fair or even favorable, requested briefing on the 2A/14A issue.

Will be a bit distracted today

Posted on December 04, 2008
Off to a two hour doc's appointment. A bald 7/8s caucasian was not designed for the Sonoran Desert, and so they have to attack diffuse solar kerotoses on my top-knot with something that I gather isn't chemo, but is somewhat like it. Cover your scalp with a chemical that is taken up more rapidly by the abnormal cells, then expose scalp to bright light, which activates the chemical and kills them...

NJ firearm rationing proposals

Posted on December 03, 2008
Scott Bach discusses it. As he points out, NJ already requires a permit for each handgun purchase, which can take months to obtain. Why add one-gun-a-month? Is there any claim that criminal "straw men" are out there getting a dozen permits a month so they can resell?

Instapunk on Plaxico case

Posted on December 02, 2008
He has some fun with it. He suggests that trying to keep players away from guns is like abstinence only training, "What's urgently needed now is more realistic education programs that teach safe illegal gun ownership." "The current abstinence-only approach to gun education in the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball has resulted in a tragic victimization of some of the nation's most beloved and vulnerable stupid people...

John Lott's latest

Posted on December 02, 2008
Over at the Fox Forum. "In India, victims watched as armed police cowered and didn?t fire back at the terrorists. A photographer at the scene described his frustration: ?There were armed policemen hiding all around the station but none of them did anything...

"Palm pistol" may get approved for Medicare and medical insurance

Posted on December 02, 2008
That's big news! Matt Carmel is, well, an inventive fellow. He designed a gun for self-defense by the handicapped who can't handle a regular gun, patented it, designed it around ATF's definition of "any other weapon," so that they classified it as an ordinary handgun, and now got the FDA to list it as as "medical device...

Another Bloomberg Mayor goes down

Posted on December 01, 2008
Birmingham mayor Larry Langford is the first one listed on open letter from Bloomberg's Mayors group. And he just got arrested on federal felony charges. I've lost count, but I think that the fourth member of Bloomberg's organization to wind up in the clink.

Court uses Law Enforcement Officers' Safety Act

Posted on December 01, 2008
Story here. UPDATE: remember that for folks who take duty seriously, it goes beyond legally-enforceable duty. There are also duties, not enforceable in any court, that arise from (1) you feel them (and will feel dishonored if you do not carry them out, to hell with any court) or (2) your peer group does (i...

Making news fit the theme

Posted on December 01, 2008
I was once at a luncheon of a religious group, and one fellow spoke of his experience. It seemed quite incongruous until I realized there was an accepted format (patterned after the conversion of the disciple Paul) and a speaker must try to make his story fit it, as an art form...

More on Plaxico Burress

Posted on December 01, 2008
Details from the New York Post. 1) A classic example of what happens when a doofus who doesn't know a muzzle from a magazine wants to play gangsta. Sounds like he stuck a Glock in his waistband and when (surprise) it slid down his pants he grabbed for it...

Problems in New York....

Posted on November 30, 2008
1) Mayor Bloomberg pushes for and gets passage of legislation imposing a 3.5 year, no-probation term for carrying without a license. 2) Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress shoots self in leg while carrying illegally. Mike Ditka, in the meantime, proposed that NFL players be banned from owning guns...

Misuse of background check databases in DE?

Posted on November 30, 2008
Story here. The background check system is supposed to be limited to licensed dealers checking out a potential sale, but the newspaper found that 10% of requests are from state troopers, not dealers.

High-tech shipping sets up vessels for pirate attack

Posted on November 29, 2008
At the moment, most commercial vessels are required to use AIS, Automatic Identification System, as a collision avoidance measure. It radios the ship position, course and speed to any ships within receiving range. And to any pirates. The Washington Times reports AIS is a suspect in the recent hijacking of a mega-tanker 450 miles offshore...

Would massacres in Mumbai have been lessened if Indians were armed?

Posted on November 29, 2008
Instapundit asks the question. I'd agree there was a good chance casualties would have been reduced. Rush into a crowded room shooting, and there's a big difference if the attacker has to worry about getting shot in the back. Not to mention about being perforated while he is changing magazines...

Four decades of defending self-defense

Posted on November 28, 2008
At

Experiment with carrying

Posted on November 28, 2008
Bob Owens tries six months of carrying concealed.

Thanksgiving memories

Posted on November 27, 2008
Memories of a dinner in Falls Church VA, years ago, in the mid late 90s or so. Present were my law ex, her mother, her cousin, my son Mark, the cousin's son, and myself. Understand, the ladies there were VERY naive. The cousin's former husband was Claus, who had been a cook...

Chicago Tribune column -- a pro gun one!

Posted on November 27, 2008
Story here. This is the Chicago Tribune? Hat tip to reader Ambiguous Ambiguae... maybe a double hat tip, since he gave much data to the columnist (who was fair on the issue to begin with).

Sales tax holiday ... for guns

Posted on November 26, 2008
South Carolina decides on it. The "Second Amendment Tax Holiday" covers this Friday and Saturday.

Mixed results in PA

Posted on November 26, 2008
Easton PA votes down a proposal to criminalize failure to report gun theft, after the city solicitor advises that the proposal itself is illegal. But Pittsburgh passes it, with the chief sponsor remarking, ?Who really cares about it being unconstitutional?" Nothing like officials who care about their oath of office...

New Aussie gun law

Posted on November 25, 2008
Story here. OK, I've figured out what a "bikie" is, but I'm still wondering about "the power to issue prohibition orders against people found near an illegal weapon."

How to completely end your judicial career

Posted on November 25, 2008
Part One. Part Two may include (a) ritual suicide or (b) resignation for personal reasons and flight under an assumed name to another state or (c) moving to Tibet and disguising yourself as a yak.

Lots of Heller in Harvard Law Review

Posted on November 25, 2008
Online here.

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