Arms and the Law

This video from Radio Canada, which generally has and anti-gun (and esp. anti-American gun) position. It originates with WION (World Is One News), about which I know little. The theme is that the Taiwanese, like the Ukrainians, are out to train themselves in shooting, and for the same reason.

Gotta wonder that the anti-gunners haven't simply packed up and gone home. Americans' gun purchases are sky-high. The biggest problem shooters face is that, even with factories running 24/7, manufacturers can't produce enough ammo. The AR-15 has become the most popular rifle. The Supreme Court (three cheers for Justice Thomas!) has trounced them. The BLM riots have shown everyone that only fools rely on the government for protection. International aggressions have led to the people of other nations seeing the same.

It's not just that the anti-gunners are losing. It's that their cause is becoming irrelevant, obsolete.

Video here. I think the impact of the decision is still sinking in. Balancing tests are out the window. Stop debating strict scrutiny vs. intermediate review. The only question is what did the American people understand they were doing when they ratified the Second Amendment, and the Fourteenth Amendment.

At least one court appreciates that it's a new world out there. How do you reconcile an AW and magazine ban with the understanding of Americans in 1791 and 1868? Americans at either date would have been laying hands on an AR-15 and asking why they couldn't get an M-4 instead.

By the Netherlands' chief of defense. As he puts it, he didn't choose the pen or the brush as his instrument, but a gun. A very impressive presentation.

He does not take it well. The action starts at 5:10.

He took the killer down in 15 seconds, first round hit at 40-50 yards! Total ten shots, eight hits, at that range under combat conditions and pandemonium. He must be a LOT more practiced than I am!

Clayton Cramer has a post on, with link to, the FBI's active shooter (which does have a broader definition than mass killer) report. Among other things, the FBI notes that 14 such shooters were stopped by law enforcement, and 4 by civilians (2 by shooting the perp). It appears that both of the perp-killed-by-civilian cases involved multiple civilians fighting back.

Plus, the Uvale report is out. The killer had quite a budget for an 18 year-old: $3,000 in guns, and a $1,100 order of ammo. The police response is as bad as you think.

A mass slaying at a shopping mall is stopped by the accurate fire of a 22 year-old civilian.

The head of Brady Campaign seems to see him as a vigilante;

"Here's what we're not going to do: continue to uplift the NRA myth of a "good guy with a gun."

Let me be clear: If more guns made us safer, America would be the safest country in the WORLD.

We need sensible gun laws, not vigilante safety nets."

And there's more. "Shootouts in malls between the bad guy & good guy is not freedom. It's a war zone. It's the Wild West. It's a 3rd world nation. It's sick. Stop glorifying the good guy with a gun. If your only thought is "well it could have been worse," then you're the problem." "My opinion of the Greenwood Mall mass shooting yesterday: 4 people are dead. Other people are saying a civilian killing the shooter is a sign that we are on the right track. This is chaos we're living in, not a viable society." "You're comfortable with the firearms aim of a random mall shopper. Others are not."

Visible here. Two antis boast of their military knowledge and experience, but think the forward assist on an M-16/M-4 is a button you push to switch to full auto fire. (Either that, or they think the right end of the selector switch rotor is that button).

Comes this.

Don't put all your fireworks in a big pile, and if you do, don't set off bottle rockets nearby.

She pretty much caves in, though with an unusual ending suggesting that they can still be strict and arbitrary on granting permits for open carry.

Story here.

"If Alba is somehow found guilty for fighting back against criminal tyranny, then New Yorkers should understand this new reality: When you're in danger, no one is coming to save you, and if you try to save yourself, you're likely to be condemned for it."

UPDATE: GoFundMe just deleted Alba's account>

Story here. The gun is visible on the ground in the photo where the assassin is being grabbed. It looks like two barrels made out of 1" or so pipe, about 18' long, and taped to some manner of wooden handle. A big puff of white powder seen in a video indicates it was fueled by black powder. What was the security detail doing when the killer walked up lugging that hand cannon?

A candidate for Arizona's 4th Congressional district has an impressive campaign ad.

Story here. The breach also included AW registries, dealer record of sales data (meaning all gun purchases), applications for carry permits, and other information.

I've seen a suggestion -- if anyone did get the permit data, given that one required identifier is race, compare the percent for applications to the percent for granted. If there is a discrepancy, score a point about racial discrimination. If nothing else, that will show them there is a downside to allowing a leak/data breach.

93 year old shoots, captures burglars. Don't bring a fishing pole to a gunfight.

New York proposes to ban even licensed carry in any business that does not post a sign allowing it, plus requiring 15 hours of live-fire training on a range, and banning carry on 'sensitive place' including parks and public transit. Word is that the legislature is meeting today to vote on this.

California proposes to require three character witnesses and to expand "sensitive areas" where guns cannot be possessed, to include "medical facilities, public transit, public parks, playgrounds, public demonstrations and any place where alcohol is sold." It's a safe bet that the three references requirement will be expanded to require personal interviews of the references, which will be given the lowest law enforcement priority so that they take months or years to complete.

Orders list here. I see Assn of NJ Rifle & Pistol v. Bruck (magazine size), Young v. Hawaii (permit to carry), Bianchi v. Frosh (AW ban), and Duncan v. Bonta (magazine size).

This is common when the Supreme Court decides a case in a way that changes the legal standards while other cases are on appeal. Grant the petition, vacate the Circuit court ruling, and remand to them to do it over according to the new standards. Then see if anyone wants to take a second petition from that. Of course, the Circuit may then remand to the trial court, and then the process starts all over.

Jones v. Hendrix. Petitioner was convicted of being a felon in possession 22 years ago, and took and lost a habeas petition to challenge that. Under legislation limiting habeas relief, he could only take a second petition for specified grounds, including a change in constitutional interpretation.

He brought a second habeas petition, after the Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that, in a felon in possession case, the government must prove that the defendant knew he possessed a gun, and also knew that he'd been convicted of a crime punishable by more than a year's imprisonment. So is there some way around the fact that the statute only allows a second petition based on a new *constitutional* interpretation, and says nothing about a new interpretation of statute?

Latest event: the Attorney General declined to argue the government's position (they can do that if they jump thru some hoops) and the Court appointed ("invited," but when the Supreme Court invites you, you do not decline) a private attorney to argue it.

Whitaker v. DC, that would indirectly pose the remaining issue, permit requirements of "good character" or its equivalent (here, whether he was "suitable" to be issued a permit). Indirectly, since petitioner had a DC carry permit, and it was revoked, then reinstated (posing a big question of mootness).

I suppose all the pending petitions on 2A issues will be GVRed, granted, vacated and remanded--in other words, since NYSRPA altered the playing field, let the circuits reconsider their opinions, apply the new standards, and if anyone has a complaint, file another petition for cert.

UPDATE: Yep, I'd expect the magazine-size petition, like all the others, to get GVRed. Orders will probably come out tomorrow.