Arms and the Law

The Texas Senate has passed it. Now it goes back to the House, which earlier passed a similar measure, and then to the governor, who has promised to sign it. As I recall, the ban on carry has been on the books since 1875 or so.

An MSN slideshow inform the reader that "private dealers" don't have to run background checks, in the last 30 years changes to state laws made it easier to carry guns openly, that 14 states allow open carry provided you have a permit, that firearms (as opposed to handguns) cannot be mailed.

It also tells the reader that several states are exempt from federal gun laws, the 1934 National Firearms Act "prohibited the use of any firearm with a barrel shorter than 18 inches," that "Texas leads the way in terms of the number of registered firearms, followed by Florida," plus the usual propaganda. Pitiful.

Story here. Strange these folks don't recognize that it's hard to sell the public on an agenda of (1) release tens of thousands of inmates before their time; (2) defund the police; and (3) disarm the public.

Just saw NRA in Danger. It is frightening reading, by pro-gun members.

The Supreme Court grants cert., and it looks like it's a go, for the first time in a decade or so. New York may wish it had let the earlier appeal go ahead instead of mooting it.

The Florida legislature passes a pre-emption enforcement bill providing for attorney's fees, with a multiplier, and that repeal of an ordinance will still leave the plaintiff able to claim fees,

An Illinois judge declares that state's FOID card requirement unconstitutional as applied to firearms in the home.

And a California federal judge rules California's weird requirements for rostering guns for sale is unconstitutional.

A fine week indeed!

Eighty pounds of Tannerite makes a very big boom.

North Dakota joins the fold.

from Ev Nappen, who handles a LOT of cases of gun owners who run afoul of NJ laws.

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...