Arms and the Law

In USA Today.

"Even short of revolutions and coups, the militia had a different character in ordinary law enforcement than professionals possess. If called upon to enforce an unpopular law, or to enforce the law in an oppressive or unpopular way, the militia could drag its feet and fail to perform. (In this sense, the militia was like a jury, which is free to acquit even a guilty defendant if it thinks conviction would be unjust. In fact, Yale Law Professor Akhil Amar has likened the militia to jurors with guns because, like the jury, it was an institution made up of the people, through which the government must act, and one not susceptible to the kinds of corruption besetting professional institutions)."

"But although the militia survives in vestigial form in the statute books, as a functional institution, it no longer exists. For law enforcement, the militia has been replaced by professional police, with SWAT teams, armored vehicles and Nomex coveralls; for military purposes, the militia has been replaced by the National Guard, which despite a thin patina of state control is fundamentally a federal military force."

"But this departure from the syste

Will Baude posts his thoughts on the subject at the Volokh Conspiracy. The debate in the comments is fully as interesting as the post. E.g., if we were not meant to be bound by the social contract embodied in the original Constitution, as the Framing generation saw it, why were the requirements for amending it made so strict, requiring not just majority agreement to the changes, but very nearly a consensus? (2/3 of both Houses + 3/4 of the States).

Tyler Jackson has emailed me an interesting story, soon to apper online (I'll link to it once it does)-- the gist is that the head of the Connecticut Peace Officers' Assn has released an open letter stating that the police will not "be party to the oppression of the people of the state by enforcing an unconstitutional law." So far 250 LEOs have cosigned the letter.

The CT law required the registration of AWs, with a deadline for doing so, and it appears that the vast majority of AW owners have simply refused. So now the State faces massive resistance, and some portion, perhaps a large portion, of police refusing to enforce.

The Ninth has created its own webpage devoted to Peruta, which struck down California's "may issue" for concealed carry, combined with its complete ban on handgun open carry.

CalGuns Foundation's press release notes the event. This is their and SAF's suit against the sheriff of Yolo County, over restrictive "may issue" permit policies. The 9th Circuit (same panel as in the earlier case) reversed the trial court ruling, in favor of the sheriff, in an unpublished opinion that applies its earlier, pro-2A case.

Now, this sheriff can ask for en banc in his case.

These guys claim that DHS has rated them the No. 1 training establishment in the world. I don't know if that is false, or if DHS has insane rating methods.

There was a reason why conservatives in the DC area, when leaving for another part of the nation, would refer to it as "going to America."

Then there was the time when then-Senator Manny Lujan (R-N.M.) sent a letter to a constituent in New Mexico and had it returned by the DC Post Office, for having insufficient postage to go to a foreign country.

Story here. In another account, one of the knives is described as two feet long, which would make it more of a short sword.

Man comes to courthouse security checkpoint, empties pockets for the x-ray machine, dropping a baggie of cocaine into the tray. When questioned, he explains the pants he is wearing are not his. Oh, and he already had a felony warrant out for him.

Word is that Illinois is mailing the first of its CCW permits today; 5,000 have been approved, with something over 40,000 more in process.

Very strange. San Diego asked her to intervene at the trial court stage, and she did nothing. The trial court ruled, and she did nothing. The appeal was briefed and argued, and she did nothing. Now the appeals court rules against San Diego, the sheriff decides not to appeal and to issue permits on a "may issue" basis, and she moves to intervene in the case. It's a bit late.

Since the time to move for rehearing lapses, I think, today, and a motion must allow time for opposition and reply, I can only make two senses to it. (1) A publicity ploy (most likely) and/or (2) hope to be granted intervenor rights in time to file a petition for cert.. I think (1) is by far the most probable. Get turned down and say "I tried."

Impressive FOIA results.

"It is clear that agency rules were not followed in many of the incidents, which show at least 49 guns were lost or stolen nationwide between 2009 and 2013."

"The newly released ATF reports show that between 2009 and 2013, agents lost their guns or had them stolen in at least 45 incidents -- with a couple of the cases involving the loss of three firearms.

It is unclear if the records include "missing" guns, a separate category used by the agency.

Most of the lost weapons were handguns, but there also were at least two assault rifles stolen. Typically the reports do not indicate what happened to the unrecovered guns. However, in a November 2008 incident, the gun may have wound up in Mexico, according to the report."

"The report cited examples similar to those in the documents obtained by the Journal Sentinel, with agents leaving weapons in public bathrooms, atop their vehicles, on an airplane and one in a shopping cart."

Via Katie Pavlich<

Right here. She is a CCW holder whose husband was murdered because she (being law abiding) had to leave her gun in a car before going into a "gun free" zone.

For tomorrow's hearing. It's remarkable for saying almost nothing. And for being delivered by the Deputy Director rather than the Director.

An excellent article.

""Stand your ground" is not a principle that endorses vigilantism, the quest to enforce the law unilaterally, but instead a principle that declares that public spaces do not belong to violent aggressors. This represents not the abrogation of law but rather the use of law to more justly determine the rights of aggressor and victim, granting greater rights to the victim and thus bringing the statutory law closer in line with natural law. When the state, by contrast, mandates that citizens retreat from aggression (a concept fraught with practical difficulties and dangers), then it does not limit violence, it instead empowers unlawful aggression.
. . . . . .
The Left has to change the subject to vigilantism because the case for self-defense is so manifestly obvious. Is the state respecting the fundamental rights of citizens -- including their right to life -- if it mandates passivity in the face of violent attack? Of course not. It does, however, respect the right to life when it empowers self-defense while also prosecuting those rare few who seek to mask murderous intent behind a self-defense pretext."

I don't care how thick the person's skull was, I don't see how this could have happned.

Note here. The cases are Lane v. Holder, NRA v. ATF, and NRA v. McCraw.

No way to know the reason(s), of course. All we know is that no case got four votes to grant the writ. Perhaps they don't want to take on a "bear arms" case, or at least just now, perhaps they want away from the 2A for a time, perhaps their docket was full of higher-priority cases, or perhaps these just weren't the cases they wanted (or, most likely, it was a combination of these).

Right here.

"As of today Ukrainian Gun Owners Association will start to work on the preparation of amendments to the Constitution, which will provide an unconditional right for Ukrainian citizens to bear arms.
People should have the right to bear arms, which will be put in written into the Constitution.

Authorities should not and will not be stronger than its people!"

Hat tip to Prof. Joe Olson.

Is Charleton Heston.

I still have some "My President is Charleton Heston" bumper stickers, issued during the Clinton presidency.

It's on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 9PM EST, on Investigation Discovery TV. She has a book out, Denied A Chance: How Gun Control Helped a Stalker Murder my Husband which tells her story. She had a CCW permit, but she and her husband dined in a restaurant that served alcohol, a "gun free zone" in their State. She left her gun in the car ... and her husband was murdered while they dined.