Arms and the Law

David Codrea has notes on the photographer behind the pic of Kathy Griffin holding a bloody fake Trump head. Seems she's had a lot of event cancellations, and the photog just had his exhibition at the Leica Gallery vanish.

Story here. Apparently they got 16,000 files, which is described as 1% of the total (1.6 million permits?)

The FBI has arrested a man (a school security monitor, no less) for threatening the life of U.S. Representative Martha McSally. Local "protests" against her have focused on her support for Donald Trump's proposals, and that support was the motive for his death threats. So much for Tucson's Revive Civility Month.

I wonder how much publicity this would get if political roles were reversed.....

John Lott points out that in 2014, 54% of American counties had zero murders, and 69% had either zero or one murder. In comparison, the 1% of counties with the worst murder rates contributed 37% of the total murders nationwide, and the 5% of counties with the highest murder rates contributed 68% of the murders nationwide.

Is your meth gluten-free? I trust the offer of free testing is tongue-in-cheek.

Clayton Cramer finds a 1775 reference to a firearm "with a Telescope sight." This does push the dating back quite a bit; from what I can find, most sources put the origins of scope sights no earlier than the 1830s.

An FFL has sent me a notice alleged to come from H&K (in Germany) saying that it has ceased supplying the domestic US market as of May 1, owing to some general BS, and asking the FFL to respond to a survey giving his location and how many various types of H&K arms he has sold (period of the sales not specified). The response is to be mailed to H&K at Str. 1, 78727 Oberdorf aN. The FFL enclosed an image of the alleged notice.

It sounds like BS to me, although I cannot figure out a motive.

After running a column comparing NRA members unfavorably to ISIS members, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suspends a columnist who wrote a response. Free marketplace of ideas, no way!

It'll be held May 5 at the LaGrange, Alabama College Site Park. Details at the War on Guns blog.

Story here. Good shooting!

"Half-cocked: The Regulatory Framework of Short-Barrel Firearms" in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.

Story here. He sets the record for most questions asked by a new justice, and has a fine time at it.

Story here. A delicious twist: it's the same day as the White House Correspondent's dinner, which he announced he would cut.

Oregon proposes to repeal ban on duelists holding office. Good. Can't see any reason why a man should be unable to run for office just because he requested that satisfaction due a gentleman.

Alleged murderer of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry arrested. Agent Terry was the agent murdered using guns run in the "Fast and Furious" scandal.

Right now there are two cert. petitions pending: Peruta (can California make all handgun carry, open on concealed, subject to "may issue" permitting) and Binderup (an as applied challenge). Plus CalGuns Foundation is going to go for cert. on Silvester v. Becerra (can California impose a waiting period even on purchasers who already own firearms).

Here's hoping. The problem is, if they couldn't get four Justices to vote to take cert. when Scalia was on the Court and voting in favor, they probably won't get four with Justice Gorsuch as his replacement. (We know he was voting in favor, because he joined with Justice Thomas in a dissent from a denial of certiorari in two 2015 cases.

Story here.

"Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives used a secret, off-the-books bank account to rent a $21,000 suite at a Nascar race, take a trip to Las Vegas and donate money to the school of one of the agent's children, according to records and interviews."

They were investigate cigarette smuggling, and when an informant operating as a smuggler began making big profits, they used them to set up their own private account.

In 2016, it was up 168% compared to 2008, when the greatest gun salesman in history took office. Employment in the field rose from 166,000 to 300,000 over the same timeframe.

At Real Clear Politics. His thought -- Supreme Court nominations have become more contentious because the court has become more powerful -- has been applied to presidential elections as well. Woodrow Wilson ditched his obnoxious attorney general by nominating him to the Court, clearly figuring that it was an honorific but powerless post. And it wasn't that long ago that the idea of the Executive Branch regulating the flushing power of your toilet would have been thought ridiculous.