Arms and the Law

The GOP goes nuclear over Gorsuch. If Schemer could get his hands on Harry Reid right now, he'd make that deadly exercise machine or whatever it was look harmless.

Video here. Egad. He says that at least eight Justice people advised him not to attend a Fast and Furious hearing, and puts up quite a struggle over naming them. He and the chair really get into it.

Going all the way back to 1795, when the Senate rejected George Washington's nomination of John Rutledge for Chief Justice. Rutledge was already "on the Court" via a recess appointment; the rejection was payback for Rutledge's vehement opposition to the Jay Treaty.

Dean v. United States, decided today. For repeated use of a firearm in violent offenses, defendant was subject to 30 years' imprisonment without probation or parole, this to be additional to sentences for the violent offense themselves.

The sentencing for the offenses themselves is affected by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which aren't really binding but are used as the starting point for determining a sentence. The Supreme Court ruled that, in determining a sentence, the trial court should also take into account that the defendant is subject to an additional mandatory term. Essentially, if in this case the court thinks 30 years is enough, and the Guidelines call for 10 years on the underlying offenses, the court should consider reducing the 10 years so as to get closer to what the court thinks is just.

It's in the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and focuses upon BATF and DEA use of informants. The background section looks very interesting: "ATF could not easily identify and track total payments made to individual informants, and it did not have reliable information about some higher-risk CIs. [confidential informants]"

Why is it so impossible for the media to be honest about guns? The nice thing is . . . I can remember when it would have been impossible to get an article published on that theme.

Story here. I'd suggest a major improvement would be to modify the present protection for interstate travel (provided the firearm may be possessed in the state where you begin and in the state where your trip ends) to convert it into something other than an affirmative defense.

An affirmative defense is something that amounts to: even tho the defendant broke the law, he still should be acquitted because (to choose some examples) the statute of limitations has run, or he was insane, or his violation was legally justified.

Court have construed the protection for interstate travelers to be such a defense, thereby rejecting lawsuits for false imprisonment. Antigun governments and agencies can arrest despite the protection, and essentially say, "tell it to the judge." So the gun owner might win acquittal in the end, but in the meantime he's been jailed until he bonds out (not easy to do far away from home), loses thousands in legal fees, and so on.

Two home invaders tie up couple, but the man frees himself and gets to a gun. One invader dies at the scene, the other is wounded and arrested.

It's now 13th State to allow concealed carry without a permit.

Hat tip to Alice Beard....

Chuck Schemer says he'll filibuster the nomination of Neil Gorsuch. But what is going thru his head is Harry Reid and a bunch of cusswords. Reid led the successful Demo charge for the "nuclear option," to forbid filibusters on o nominations other than Supreme Court justices. Now Republicans have only to eliminate that exception.

Issue is zoning conditions for a new gun shop; one of the conditions is that any gun store must be 500 feet from any residential property. Video here. Don Kilmer argues for the good guys. The good guys won before a three judge panel, but then the Ninth Circuit granted en banc review.

Story here.

"Between the dates of the [probation] violations, Czuprynski filed motions seeking to be allowed to consume alcohol, be in bars, and drive during nighttime hours.

"Defendant being forbidden by the court from alcohol possession and consumption, or being in bars, impairs his abilities as a community activist and his livelihood as a lawyer," his motions state."

Link here. Binderup is the Third Circuit case where the main issue was 2A as applied; since Alan Gura scored a divided victory in the Circuit, the government is the one now petitioning the Supremes, with amicus briefs from Brady, Everytown, and Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Hat tip to Don Kilmer....

If anyone hasn't cast their ballots yet, here is another candidate worthy of consideration. Dr. Tom Arvas of New Mexico, a shotgunner who has kept busy in service to shooters.

Eugene Volokh on the titling of an amicus, excuse me, amicae, brief in D.C. v. Heller.

Right here. It involves some hard hits. But then 60 Minutes has always been about creating horror movies with some slight linkage to real events.

Press release here. An excellent move and an excellent choice. Most organizations communicate thru spokesmen (stop to think about it, even Presidents do, most of the time). The CEO has enough to do in running the place, and has no time to stay fully informed on the issues involved. The spokesman, in contrast, can spend their full time studying and issue and speaking on it.

...thus becoming the 13th state to do so. I can remember when Vermont was the only state that allowed concealed carry without a permit, and when my own Arizona didn't allow civilian concealed carry, period (there was no provision for issuing permits). Who would have thought that a quarter of the Union would allow concealed carry sans permit?

Dave Workman has the story.

Right here, in America's First Freedom.