Arms and the Law

I've been reading that massive enactment, after a comment a few days ago pointed out that it might affect folks who had both a firearms permit and a medical marihuana card. So far I've found three areas relating to firearms.

On p. 58, the usual appropriation riders forbidding BATF to process petitions for relief from disabilities (i.e., the dis-ability to possess firearms. And, as usual, an exception for petitions filed by corporations! Also, no money can be spent to transfer BATFE's functions to other agencies or departments.

P. 78: no more "Operation Fast and Furious" type operations.

Pp. 82-83: restrictions on agencies limiting firearm exports to Canada. And one restricting denials of permits to import curios and relics.

Pp. 272-73: Fees collected by Interior for testing nontoxic shot may be kept and spent for that testing. (Normally an agency has to turn over all fees to the government's General Fund, and hope to get them back through appropriations).

Webpage here. The most frequent resting place of those already listed is Arlington National Cemetery. Three of them earned the Congressional Medal of Honor. One, "Red Mike" Edson, received that plus two Navy Crosses (the second highest award for gallantry) and the Silver Star (the third highest award for gallantry).

Just found her on find a grave. Heck of a smart young lady. I knew her from when she was one of the first NRA/ILA lobbyists (there were five: Bill Pickins, head, Kathy, Susan Reece, Randy Bowman and Danny Smith). She left that when she married a British MP. I last saw her at a party, though either my dates or those on her obit were confused, since I remember my son Mark (born in 1985) was an infant at the time.

She was very, very, good at politics and PR, and a little goofy in everything else. One day she came into work rather shaken up. She'd locked her keys in her house, tried to climb in an upstairs window, slipped and rolled down the roof and went into the bushes below. Another time she flew to New York City, rented a car, drove to her appointment, took a taxi back to the airport and flew back to DC. A while later the car rental place called NRA to ask where their car was. (In the meantime, it was stolen).

Springfield MA city councilman Bud Williams, speaking at a public event, tells listeners to remember that "Jesus is the reason for the season."

He apparently didn't figure out that the event was a menorah lighting ceremony marking the beginning of Hanukkah.

I checked: yep, he supports more restrictive gun laws. Somehow, not too surprising.

Texas man abuses company credit card to buy $23,000 worth of guns.

Over 300,000 fugitives from justice are at large because the arresting jurisdiction refuses to say it'll extradite them if caught. Apparently, they figure that if the fugitive moves out of state, they're someone else's problem.

What's more, millions of fugitives can pass background checks, because law enforcement has never reported the outstanding arrest warrant to the NICS system.

Prof. Nick Johnson (Fordham Law) takes it apart, at the Library of Law and Liberty.

The ruling is discussed by Eugene Volokh, at the Volokh Conspiracy.

Story here. Apparently some sheriffs are denying CCW permits to people with medicinal pot permits. The one problem I foresee is that, even with it, Federal law still makes it a felony for a user of marihuana to possess a firearm. Getting a medicinal marihuana permit and a CCW permit is like painting a target on your back, if the Federales want to get unpleasant.

A great article on him. I didn't know he'd had a stroke, but it sounds like he's back in action.

I discovered that Judicial Watch used NY Public Records laws (and a lawsuit) to get the city-maintained records of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which was from the outset hosted on NY City servers. There are some interesting documents in there that I will post from time to time. This one is an email exchange (read bottom message first) between Mark Glaze, director of MAIG, and John Feinblatt, head of Everytown for Gun Safety, both being of course Bloomberg creations. Feinblatt reports that the gun manufacturers will be at some manner of negotiations and it is necessary to weaken them beforehand, and Glaze replies that Mastercard is willing to help. Sounds like an early, and nongovernmental, form of Operation Chokepoint.

The DC Circuit ruled today in Trumpeter Swan Society v. EPA. The plaintiffs, 101 self-described enviro groups, had petitioned the EPA to promulgate rules relating to spent lead ammo, arguing that the Toxic Substances Control Act required them. The EPA declined, the groups sued, lost in the trial court, and now lose on appeal.

Pretty appalling. The PSA has a kid stealing his mother's handgun, hiding it in his backpack, taking it to school, and handing it to a teacher, asking that she take it away since he doesn't feel safe with a gun in the house. Presumably, conduct the creator feels worthy of emulation.

As the web page points out, the student in the video commits five felonies -- theft, carrying a concealed weapon, carrying at a bus stop, on a school bus, and in a school. I'd add that if the teacher takes it, the teacher commits receiving stolen property and possession of a firearm in a school zone. And of course if either of them is untrained (and the kid being so scared of a gun is evidence that he is that), neither should be packing a gun in a school or anywhere else.

Tyler v. Hillsdale County -- as-applied challenge to prohibition against those who have a mental commitment.

Majority goes with strict scrutiny. Lengthy discussions of various prohibited person categories. Scalia's "presumptively lawful" treated as ambitious, with note that under any heightened scrutiny the law cannot be presumed valid.

Court concludes that statute is not "narrowly tailored" since those with mental commitments can apply for restoration of rights in States that have adopted a regime matching federal requirements (thereby getting grant money), the simple fact that Tyler's State hasn't should not leave him with a lifetime bar. Remanded for trial.

How many mistakes can the AP make in one short story? "Stand your ground" was not an issue in the Montana shooting. Nor in the George Zimmerman case. I'm sure Montana law, prior to the amendment, allowed self-defense in cases there was no tumultuous entry into a house (as in, if outside the house, or in the house if there is a reasonable fear of death or great bodily injury). "Stand your ground" laws do not give "a person the right to use force or threaten to use force to protect his or her own home from unlawful entry or attack."

That's a pretty good list of errors for a twelve-sentence story.

Prof. Volokh discusses the decision here.

Hmmm... the hostage taker had 40+ arrests for sexual assault (released on bond on all), for being an accessory to the murder of his wife (released on bond), and seven for harassing families who had lost a serviceman in Afghanistan (for which he got probation).

A member of Parliament from Victoria says ""No more useless gun laws. Because most of our gun laws now seem to be aimed at the law-abiding, not at the criminals," Mr Bourman told reporters on Tuesday."Exhibit A: Sydney. None of our gun laws stopped that.""

The Supreme Court today handed down Heien v. North Carolina. An officer stopped a car that had a brake light burned out, and in the course of the stop discovered cocaine. It turns out that the North Carolina traffic statutes say that a vehicle must have a working stop "lamp," singular. The State court of appeals ruled that this meant the stop was not supported by probable cause: no reason to believe a law was being violated. The State supreme court ruled that the stop was valid, because the officer's misunderstanding of the law was reasonable. A reasonable mistake of fact does not eliminate probable cause; does a reasonable mistake of law do so?

The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that the stop was valid. Justice Kagan and Ginsburg concurred, writing to stress that (1) the question of reasonableness is an objective one, not one linked to the officer's personal thoughts or training, and (2) the test is stricter than the one used for qualified immunity (which is loose indeed). Justice Sotomayor dissented, arguing that a mistake of law, reasonable or not, means there is no probable cause.

Story here. I really can't see it as filed in good faith. Apart from the Lawful Commerce in Firearms Act problem (a massive one), where is the negligence (selling a lawful rifle?), how do they solve proximate causation (intentional criminal misuse of a tool usually breaks the chain of cause), and after that they have to prove facts that aren't true -- that the AR-15 platform is unsuited for sporting use or self-defense. The lawsuit may be good for PR but this is the type of thing that risks a court awarding sanctions to the defendants.

A ways back, NBC's David Gregory appeared on Meet the Press, filmed in DC, flashing around a 30-round AR-15 magazine, in public violation of DC's ban on such. DC was pressed to prosecute and, of course, declined. Legal Insurrection blog sought to obtain, via the Freedom of Information Act, data relating to the non-prosecution, and won another motion, to obtain a police affidavit that called for his prosecution.

Also at the link are emails between NBC News and the DC Police Department, before the event. NBC asks, can we bring in and show the magazine? DC PD responds no, it is completely illegal, just use a photo of it.

The only thing more ridiculous than criminalizing possession of a box and spring is refusing to enforce the ban based upon the possessor's clout and friends.