Thanks to Dave Kopel for pointing this podcast interview out. Have a very merry Second Amendment Christmas. For those of you who are good, maybe you can find a copy of The Founders’ Second Amendment in your Christmas stocking.  For the bad boys and girls, a copy of Saul Cornell’s book, A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America. Ho! Ho! Ho!
Year: 2009
Transcription Errors
The big buzz happening now, which SayUncle and Dave Hardy are reporting on, is that the version of the Amendment that forces Amtrak to allow guns to be transported in checked baggage that was actually passed by Congress, and what was sent to President Obama for his signature are different.
As to what happens from here, I seemed to recall in arguments with tax protesters from years ago reading about Supreme Court case that addressed this very topic. The case is Field v. Clark, 143 U.S. 649 (1892):
The signing by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and by the President of the Senate, in open session, of an enrolled bill is an official attestation by the two Houses of such bill as one that has passed Congress, and when the bill thus attested receives the approval of the President and is deposited in the Department of State according to law, its authentication as a bill that has passed Congress is complete and unimpeachable.
So I’m pretty sure that it’s valid law until Congress fixes the problem.
Too Dumb to Have Kids
I’ve seen stories of people doing some really stupid shit with guns, but this has to take the cake:
Authorities say a 12-year-old Colorado boy accidentally shot himself in the leg while playing with a loaded pistol his parents had hidden behind the family Christmas tree.
I almost have to wonder what made them think to hide the gun under the tree. Did they think Santa might have to cap Rudolph? Colt instead of Cookies? Do they really hate their kids?
There no gun that can be made safe enough for these people. If you make something idiot proof, nature will make a better idiot. These parents are the better idiots.
Situation Makes the Case for Castle Doctrine
There’s a lot of lessons to learn in this case here.
IT WAS just after midnight. Brian Westberry and a woman friend sat frozen in his bedroom, hoping the persistent pounding on the front door of his Northeast Philly home would stop. It didn’t.
Westberry, 24, slipped his licensed .38-caliber revolver into his pants pocket and crept downstairs to open the door.
There stood Gregory Cujdik, 32, who demanded to see “Jen,” his girlfriend. Westberry told him “Jen” didn’t want to see him, and repeatedly ordered Cujdik to leave. When Cujdik refused, Westberry threatened to call police.
” ‘Do it. My family are cops,’ ” Cujdik said, according to Westberry.
What Westberry didn’t know at that early-morning hour of Palm Sunday, April 5, was that Cujdik’s father, Louis, is a retired police veteran and that his two brothers, Jeffrey and Richard, are narcotics officers.
Before Westberry could finish dialing 9-1-1 on his cell phone, Cujdik stepped through the doorway and punched him in the throat, Westberry said.
That’s when Westberry pulled out his gun and Cujdik fled, Westberry told the Daily News.
Before we get into the crux of my argument, I think that Westberry made a critical mistake of confronting Cujdik. he would have been wise to just call the police, and let the police deal with him. Even if the police didn’t charge him, they would at least get him away from the house. There’s no good reason to create a situation where deadly force might come into play if that situation doesn’t need to be created. If he breaks down the door, that’s another ball game.
But Westberry was brought up on a host of charges, which were, as the Daily News reports, “felony aggravated assault, possession of an instrument of crime, terroristic threats, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.” Several of these are bogus, but technically, there is a legal argument that could be made that Westberry wasn’t justified in drawing his firearm. In order to defend against drawing a gun on fists, you’re going to have a claim a force disparity. If you’re an 80 year old woman, and the guy attacking you is a 21 year old man, that’s not going to be difficult. It’s much harder when the situation is two healthy young males.
But yet if a person stepped through my door and punched me in the throat, I have to admit if a gun was all I had in reach, I probably would have shot the guy, which would have left prosecutors open to charging me under PA law. In this case, they ended up doing the right thing and dropping the charges, but I have to wonder how much of that was knowledge they’d not find a jury that would have convicted Westberry. Castle Doctrine would give homeowners more leeway in defending their homes. I think Westberry exercised poor judgement in answering the door, but he was still the victim. He shouldn’t be victimized twice, one by a criminal, and twice by an overzealous legal system.
Fourth Generation Glock
SayUncle has pictures. I guess the fish gills weren’t popular. I liked them.
More on the Georgia Case
Dave Hardy has some more details on the case in Georgia:
Here’s the rub: if the offense of CCW were worded as “it is unlawful to carry a weapon concealed without a permit,” then lack of a permit is part of the offense, and until there is reason to suspect that, there is no probable cause. But if it is worded as “It is unlawful to carry a weapon concealed. Exception for people having permits,” then concealed carrying is the offense, and sufficient suspicion of that justifies an arrest or detention. Having the permit is a defense, and the officer doesn’t have to rule that out, any more than he has to rule out insanity, justification, etc..
Looking at Pennsylvania’s Uniform Firearms Act:
(a)Â Offense defined.–
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), any person who carries a firearm in any vehicle or any person who carries a firearm concealed on or about his person, except in his place of abode or fixed place of business, without a valid and lawfully issued license under this chapter commits a felony of the third degree.
(2) A person who is otherwise eligible to possess a valid license under this chapter but carries a firearm in any vehicle or any person who carries a firearm concealed on or about his person, except in his place of abode or fixed place of business, without a valid and lawfully issued license and has not committed any other criminal violation commits a misdemeanor of the first degree.
So we’re actually different from Georgia in that regard, meaning there’d have to be some reasonable suspicion that you had a firearm and did not have a license, according to Dave’s criteria.
Gillibrand Gets Another Challenger
Looks like someone is considering running against Kirsten Gillibrand other than Rudy and Elmer. She a reliable vote for the other side at this point, so even if they are running and anti-gun Republican against her, it would at least send a message to Gilly that her flip-flop on the issue wasn’t able to save her.
Harry Reid’s Opponent Once Had Brady Endorsement
Apparently Tarkanian, who is one of the leading candidates for the GOP nod in Nevada, was once endorsed by the Brady Campaign. He’s denying this of course, and saying that it was part of a dirty campaign tactic meant to discredit him, since “a Brady call in Nevada is not a positive call.”
Sounds like a lame excuse to me, but it’s interesting that Tarkanian views a previous Brady endorsement as an albatross. As I’ve said before, there are plenty of reasons to dislike Harry Reid on other issues, but gun rights is going to be a problem for us if Reid is defeated and replaced by Dick Durbin.
West Mifflin Latest Law Breaking Municipality
West Mifflin has passed a “Lost and Stolen” ordinance, in defiance of state wide preemption. They are the fourteenth municipality to pass such an ordinance. None of these fourteen municipalities have yet to charge anyone under them, despite the fact that some of them have been in place for a year or more.
If “Lost and Stolen” is such an effective crime fighting tool, why aren’t these municipalities, including the City of Philadelphia, effectively using it for the purposes they claim? Could it be because it’s not effective, and they are merely looking for an issue, any issue, on which the gun control movement can make legislative progress, no matter how absurd?
2010 Stat Books for Silhouette
I just got word that the NRA stat book for 2010 are going to be grey for rifle, and pink for pistol. Pink pistol stat books? Is this a new partnership program?