Arms and the Law

Some thoughts on the possible impact of Lange v. California, which was recently argued in the Supreme Court. A number of the Justices seem to be skeptical, in the 4th Amendment context, of drawing lines based on the felony vs. misdemeanor distinction, and to be alert to the fact that today we have a lot of felonies that involve minor and non-dangerous conduct.

Here's the letter from FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. The university recognizes 750 student groups, giving them certain advantages. The University used COVID as an excuse, which, as the letter points out, is ridiculous.

NY State Rifle and Pistol Ass'n v. Corlett up for a March 26 vote on whether to accept review. Question presented:

"... numerous courts of appeals have squarely divided on this critical question: whether the Second Amendment allows the government to deprive ordinary law-abiding citizens of the right to possess and carry a handgun outside the home. This circuit split is open and acknowledged, and it is squarely presented by this petition, in which the Second Circuit affirmed the constitutionality of a New York regime that prohibits law-abiding individuals from carrying a handgun unless they first demonstrate some form of "proper cause" that distinguishes them from the body of "the people" protected by the Second Amendment. The time has come for this Court to resolve this critical constitutional impasse and reaffirm the citizens' fundamental right to carry a handgun for self-defense."

I would've phrased it differently, but each to their own and here's hoping!

The 3 judge panel upheld the government's position, a majority of the entire court voted to rehear it en banc, and now the court decides to dismiss the en banc case and reinstate the panel opinion.

The dissents from this lay out a very good legal criticism of the panel discussion. One of these cases might just be cert-worthy, in order to review Chevron deference. Here the court is supposed to defer to the agency interpretation of law (what is a machine gun) when the agency reversed its position... why is its first position not as entitled to deference as its second?

House passes background checks for private gun sales. It passed with eight GOP votes, and one Demo vote against. The House also passed a bill allowing for unlimited delays on background checks, and the anti gunners promise this is just the beginning.

Looking for the names of those who crossed the aisle...

A "Good Samaritan" was fatally stabbed while trying to stop a robbery. The mayor's wife, who backed the "defund the police" movement, urges residents to "physically intervene" in order to stop crimes.

More: here's her checklist for action. It starts with "Ignore the harasser and engage directly with the person who is being targeted by asking a question like, "What time is it?"" Great way to stop a robbery. And heaven forbid she call the robber a criminal and the person "who is being targeted" a victim. It goes downhill from there.

Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson deals it out, ad lib. He sounds like a viable candidate for the presidency or VP to me. Not bad for a fellow who entered politics last year!

Guy decides to film prank video for Youtube, in which he attacks strangers with a butcher knife. As one witness says, not the best idea.

Not too surprising. As Don Kilmer has remarked, the 9th ought to adopt a Circuit Rule that any panel opinion striking down a law on 2A grounds will automatically be set for en banc reconsideration. It's what the court does, anyway, so why not save people the trouble of filing a motion?

It'd be interesting to do some calculations, given how rarely the 9th grants en banc, so see what percentage of en-banc cases are composed of pro-2A rulings.

Utah goes for permit-less, constitutional, concealed carry.

Montana expands gun rights.

A North Carolina court allows a suit for damages arising from refusal to issue handgun purchase permits.

The one that sparked the riots. The Seattle PD has released an officer's body cam footage, and it sure looks like a good shoot to me. See the enlarged video at about 2:40.

The host had a problem...

Caniglia v. Strom, docket here. Police, summoned after a non-violent domestic argument, searched the house without a warrant and seized two legally-owned handguns, then refused to return them. The question is whether the "community care taking" exception to the warrant and probable cause requirement extends to the home. There's a big split in the Circuits, and the Court granted cert.

It seems to be moving quickly: respondents' briefs are not due until Feb. 11, but argument is set for March 24.

Right here. I suspect most readers here already know all this, but it's a good link to explaining the case to those who haven't studied it.

in one article about guns and gun culture? I gave up counting. The illustration is appropriate.

The president of Federal speaks. They bought Remington's ammo plants through the bankruptcy sales, and are going to be bringing them back online.

Officer encounters suspected armed robber, wins ensuing gunfight. It happened in Tampa.

I've filed amicus briefs in them for Firearms Policy Foundation et al.:

Folajtar v. Rosen. Issue: 2A as applied to a person convicted of a nonviolent felony.

Holloway v. Rosen. Issue: 2A as applied to a person convicted of a state misdemeanor (DUI with a prior), which GCA treats as a felony (a state-designated misdemeanor, but carrying more than two years' potential imprisonment). Interesting aspect: under state law, his driving privileges were revoked for 18 months and firearms rights not affected at all, but under federal law he loses his firearm rights forever, for an offense that had nothing to do with firearms or violence).

GoDaddy deplatforms AR-15.com, without advance notice. (They're now back online). Mailchimp suspended Virginia Citizens Defense League's emailing account. It's done the same to the Northern VA Tea Party.

I'm increasingly reminded of this bumper sticker.

I noticed he stopped sending emails a few months ago, and did not reply when I tried to reach him. I kept searching. This is all I can find on him. The Deming, New Mexico funeral home didn't know what got him, just recalled that no one attended his services.

We'd been in communication since the days of usenet and talk.politics.guns, in the early days of the internet. He made a couple of custom knives for me, and they are beauties. He was an expert in the martial arts, had once gone up against Bruce Lee's sparring partner, who said "compared to you, Bruce was a little stiff." (He didn't like that repeated, made him sound boastful, but now I can say it).