Arms and the Law

Right here.

From the Orders List for today. Cert is denied in three felon-in-possession cases (two involving nonviolent offense, the third a misdemeanor punishable by more than two years' imprisonment and thus a bar to gun possession under federal law. The cases are Holloway, Folajtar, and Flick.

On the other hand, New York State R & P Assn v. Corlette, which challenges NY's "may issue" gun permit system, was re-listed for a second time. The Court is apparently thinking seriously about that one, and has not made up its mind either to take or not take it.

Gun blogger David Codrea's wife had a close call, but all appears to be going well now.

"After Open Borders, High Crime, and Defunding Cops - Joe Chooses Now to go After Guns to Defend Ourselves".

UPDATE: As I recall, before the Federal Firearms Act of 1938, handguns didn't have to be stamped with serial numbers, and before the Gun Control Act of 1968, rifles and shotguns didn't have to be stamped. Some manufacturers did voluntarily, for inventory purposes, but others did not. I have a couple of rifles that don't have and never had serial numbers.

And no background checks for private sales.

Story here.

Story here. Both houses have passed it, the governor is in support, and the legislation should take effect on July 1.

Video here. Enough said.

Story here.

"The criminal probe is being conducted by the D.C. Office of the Inspector General. It comes as an outside team of experts retained by federal prosecutors to review some of the lab's casework said the department's firearms unit should immediately cease its casework, citing "very serious" problems with lab management that have "cast doubt on the reliability of the work product of the entire DFS laboratory.""

A rather strange sequence of events. It's illegal for a person who is "an unlawful user of or addicted to any Controlled Substance" to obtain or possess a firearm, and a buyer from a dealer must certify he is not such. To be fair, it would have been hard to prosecute, since the requirement is phrased in the present tense, and Biden could have argued he didn't have his nose full of coke the day he bought it. But, also to be fair, our ruling class should be held to tighter standards than we subjects. I know, that's not how the world works.

Opinion here. The Ninth Circuit ruling en banc 7-4, if my count is correct, upholds Hawaii's "may issue" (which is practice is "won't issue") permit system for firearms carry. A major part of the huge opinion is devoted to claiming that Medieval English kings, and the statute of Northampton, restricted going "armed" in public. I've compiled quite a bit of historical evidence that up through Tudor times, "armed" meant wearing armor, not carrying weapons. In that era, carrying blades was simply being well-dressed, and carrying bow and arrows was simply performing one's legal duty. Wearing armor, on the other hand, meant you were looking for a fight.

It appears that the killer is named Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, a Muslim from Syria, who was apt to accuse others of racism and hated Donald Trump for his supposed racism and immigration policies.

Watch how quickly the story, or at least his name, disappears from the media...

Some thoughts on the possible impact of Lange v. California, which was recently argued in the Supreme Court. A number of the Justices seem to be skeptical, in the 4th Amendment context, of drawing lines based on the felony vs. misdemeanor distinction, and to be alert to the fact that today we have a lot of felonies that involve minor and non-dangerous conduct.

Here's the letter from FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. The university recognizes 750 student groups, giving them certain advantages. The University used COVID as an excuse, which, as the letter points out, is ridiculous.

NY State Rifle and Pistol Ass'n v. Corlett up for a March 26 vote on whether to accept review. Question presented:

"... numerous courts of appeals have squarely divided on this critical question: whether the Second Amendment allows the government to deprive ordinary law-abiding citizens of the right to possess and carry a handgun outside the home. This circuit split is open and acknowledged, and it is squarely presented by this petition, in which the Second Circuit affirmed the constitutionality of a New York regime that prohibits law-abiding individuals from carrying a handgun unless they first demonstrate some form of "proper cause" that distinguishes them from the body of "the people" protected by the Second Amendment. The time has come for this Court to resolve this critical constitutional impasse and reaffirm the citizens' fundamental right to carry a handgun for self-defense."

I would've phrased it differently, but each to their own and here's hoping!

The 3 judge panel upheld the government's position, a majority of the entire court voted to rehear it en banc, and now the court decides to dismiss the en banc case and reinstate the panel opinion.

The dissents from this lay out a very good legal criticism of the panel discussion. One of these cases might just be cert-worthy, in order to review Chevron deference. Here the court is supposed to defer to the agency interpretation of law (what is a machine gun) when the agency reversed its position... why is its first position not as entitled to deference as its second?

House passes background checks for private gun sales. It passed with eight GOP votes, and one Demo vote against. The House also passed a bill allowing for unlimited delays on background checks, and the anti gunners promise this is just the beginning.

Looking for the names of those who crossed the aisle...

A "Good Samaritan" was fatally stabbed while trying to stop a robbery. The mayor's wife, who backed the "defund the police" movement, urges residents to "physically intervene" in order to stop crimes.

More: here's her checklist for action. It starts with "Ignore the harasser and engage directly with the person who is being targeted by asking a question like, "What time is it?"" Great way to stop a robbery. And heaven forbid she call the robber a criminal and the person "who is being targeted" a victim. It goes downhill from there.

Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson deals it out, ad lib. He sounds like a viable candidate for the presidency or VP to me. Not bad for a fellow who entered politics last year!

Guy decides to film prank video for Youtube, in which he attacks strangers with a butcher knife. As one witness says, not the best idea.