DC has filed the petition for cert. with the Supreme Court for DC v. Heller (formerly Parker v. DC). Dave Hardy has the petition.
Month: September 2007
The Lord Has Spoken: Iowa to Be First
“Iowa, for good reason, for constitutional reasons, for reasons related to the Lord, should be the first caucus and primary,” Richardson, New Mexico’s governor, said at the Northwest Iowa Labor Council Picnic. “And I want you to know who was the first candidate to sign a pledge not to campaign anywhere if they got ahead of Iowa. It was Bill Richardson.”
We call that a very awkward appeal to religious voters that Richardson should be wary of trying in the future. Either that, or Bill Richardson is insane.
Not an Individual Right?
I’m intrigued by this quote from Saul Cornell:
The arms bearing provision of the Pennsylvania Constitution does not frame the right as an individual right. If it did it would not pair it with the typical 18th century attack on standing armies and an affirmation of civilian control of the military. The entire provision is clearly about a militia based right.
The 1776 Pennsylvania Constitution states the following:
That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves and the state; and as standing armies in the time of peace are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up; and that the military should be kept under strict subordination, to, and governed by, the civil power.
Can someone explain to me how this can be interpreted as anything other than an individual right when it specifically says “the people have the right to bear arms in defence of themselves and the state?”
Of course, later, in 1790, we shorted that to:
The right of the citizens to bear arms in defence of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.
Sorry, but the collective rights interpretation is looking more flimsy by the day.
Go read!
Canadians Get US Gun Laws Wrong
Via Jeff, this article has a glaring inaccuracy:
Cho allegedly answered no, but the panel wasn’t allowed to see the forms he filled out, which were destroyed within 30 days anyway, both restrictions courtesy of National Rifle Association lobbying. His psychiatric hospital history was not in the database, anyway, so Cho got away with it. And these checks aren’t mandatory in the first place.
I’m not sure why the panel wouldn’t have had access to the 4473, but 4473 is required to be kept for twenty years by the dealer in his records.  I’m going to guess, though I will admit that I don’t know for sure, that ATF can come in and make a copy of 4473, and probably subpoena the original.  Plus the background check is absolutely mandatory if you’re buying a firearm at retail.
But why research, when you just spew.
PICS Upgrade Finished
PICS is back online a day early.  It came up at 8AM this morning. I’m very pleased that the State Police’s IT team managed to get it up sooner than expected, but Ed Rendell is still a turd.
He’s Moved
Everyone go welcome Ahab of “What Would John Wayne Do” to his new digs. He’s switched his blogging software, his domain name, and the name of his blog to “Call me Ahab”.
I had suggested the name “From Hell’s Heart” with the tag line “I Stab at Thee”, but he was worried that too many people would think it was a Star Trek II reference. That’s certainly true of anyone of our generation. The Wrath of Kahn was without a doubt the best of the Star Trek movies, and is probably one of the top ten movies that defines my generation.
UPDATE: Doh! I forgot I already scheduled this to go up!
Call him Ahab
What Would John Wayne Do is moving to a new site.   One of the major rules of blogging is to not stay on blogger any longer than you have to.  Blogger is a great way to find out whether blogging is for you, but once you realize you like it, get off as quickly as you can. WordPress has much better comment and pingback code.
Either way, I hope you will all visit him at his new site.
Economic Reasons for Hunting Decline
John Lott certainly hits on several of them. I’m definitely the hopeless suburban kid who was never exposed to it. I understand the importance of hunting for wildlife management, and certainly don’t have any problem with it, but I’m just not one. The barriers to entry for this sport are certainly rather high, wouldn’t you agree? And I don’t just mean the fees.
Countertop Has a Friend
Looks like Countertop has found himself a friend. I have to admit, the video he chose for an update was choice.
If call your vegan movement “abolitionists”, the term for people who in the early to mid 19th century were dedicated to the ending of human slavery, your moral compass has wandered hopelessly off course.