When I saw the headline for this article (Midway considers stronger gun laws) I thought we would get the normal blather from the “reasonable restrictions” crowd. When I read it, however, it looks more like what I would consider “time, place, manner” restrictions that would criminalize not an object or a person, but a (potentially) dangerous behavior. The people interviewed for the story classify this as “gun control”. Would you support this kind of “gun control”?
Year: 2010
Finding Gun Nuts in Hawaii?
Aloha! Heading into the third day of our Hawaiian vacation, and I’m glad to see the guest bloggers holding down the fort. So far we have John Richardson, of the blog No Lawyers, Only Guns and Money, and Ian Argent, who has a LiveJournal. We’ll also see of Countertop and Clayton Cramer make an appearance at some point. I’m glad to have the help, since I’m spending most of the day out of communication.
But today, in our quest to find what people have said is the best shrimp truck on Oahu, I thought I found some fellow gun nuts. Take note of the stickers on the Window:
At first, I thought I had definitely found the most awesome shrimp truck on Oahu. But we visited their web site when we got back here, and sadly it’s just a clever way to market a clothing line, but I do have to say, I approve, and want one of their shirts. While the shrimp truck (Giovanni’s, on the Northern Shore. Get their scampi. It’s worth it. If you like garlic, double worth it) may not have been gun nuts, we did come across a shooting range, so there are gun nuts on the island somewhere. As for their shrimp plate lunches, they were definitely outstanding. I had to fight myself not to go back for seconds.
Now we’re sitting here waiting for the sun to come up, and will be embarking on our Lost tour. I’m a morning person in Hawaii, since it’s six hours behind eastern time. Here’s some views from her grandmother’s spare condo, which she is graciously letting us use at no charge:
Makes up for the nine screaming children on the five hour plane ride from our connection in LA.
Righthaven LLC Adds More Papers to Troll List
According to a story in Wired, Righthaven LLC has expanded their copyright trolling operation to another newspaper chain. The WEHCO Media chain of newspapers has been added to the target list for Righthaven’s trolls.
WEHCO Media is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas and co-owns Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC with Stephens Media. WEHCO owns the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette which is the largest newspaper in the state and the 43rd largest by circulation in the U.S.
A list of their newspaper holdings and a brief history of the company can be found on No Lawyers – Only Guns and Money.
Bret Schundler finds his sword
Or was handed it… At any rate, he appears to have done the honorable thing and fallen on it.
On the other hand, that article has been … revised … since I first saw it. The initial version I saw included no mention of the contractors, and had a summation paragraph that stated that the reason the application was in flux at a late date is that Schundler cut a deal with the NJEA that Christie disavowed, having instructed Schundler beforehand that there would be no deal.
San Francisco’s Lone Gun Store Fights to Reopen.
High Bridge Arms is fighting for their right to reopen the only gun store in San Francisco. Temporarily closed after 50 years in business, Steve Alcairo is having to fight the North Bernal Alliance and three other neighborhood groups in an effort to reopen. Many in that group feel “a laundry or a wine and cheese shop” would be better.
Mr. Harriman, call your office
A couple of Danes are planning to visit the High Frontier using a rocket, catamaran launch platform, and submarine, all of their own design, funded by donations and sponsorship. Wonder if they’ll remember to bring the stamps with them this time?
H/T Tam
Update on the blind NJ man who shot himself
The judge ruled on August 19th that Steven Hopler may retain the firearms currently in his possession and did not revoke his FID card, as long as the firearms are securely stored and Mr. Hopler completes a firearm safety course and undergoes an alcohol evaluation. Mr. Hopler was not granted his request to have the prosecutor’s office return the other firearms that are in that office’s possession, though he may re-open his petition after completion of the court-ordered training and evaluations.
The original NY Times article from 1994states that Mr. Hopler is “totally blind”. In addition, it states:
Mr. Hopler’s appeal to State Superior Court resulted in a ruling in his favor. But Judge Reginald Stanton, sitting in Morristown, added some stipulations: Mr. Hopler cannot load the weapons, shoot them or even leave home with them. And he must make sure that the guns are secured when they are not on display
So it would appear that Mr. Hopler may have been in violation of the original judge’s order.
A proposed amendment to the US constitution (Updated)
I would like to suggest the following amendment to the US constitution:
No person shall be convicted of a felonious crime or subject to lengthy term of imprisonment or loss of civil rights, or ruinous fine, or a sentence of death, save that either:
1)The intent of the accused to knowingly commit the specific alleged crime be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in open court
OR
2)The felonious actions of the accused be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in open court to have resulted in actual bodily injury, actual physical harm, or death, to another person
The goal here is to require intent for non-injurious crimes; no more strict liability.
(Edited to add the italicized words – the accused must have either meant to commit a crime or the injury must have been serious enough to merit a felony indictment. Please pass the BATFE and Sen Lautenberg some Kleenex)
Chicago Screwing Around with SAF Case
There has been some Shenanigans happening in the case of Ezell v. Chicago. Ezell is the case that challenges Chicago’s prohibition on shooting ranges on both First and Second Amendment grounds.
Alan Gura is the attorney in this case, and I’m fortunate to have seem seen some of the transcripts from this case so far. In short, here’s what’s going on. Everyone was playing nice with each other until Chicago filed a Motion to Reassign for Relatedness, suggesting that Ezell is close enough to Benson (NRA funded case) they ought to be heard by the same judge. Gura perceived this as a delaying tactic, and retaliated by filing for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), asking the court to stop the city from enforcing the range ban until the preliminary injunction is ruled on. The standard for this would seem to be irreparable harm.
Short of it is that the judge denied to TRO, using an intermediate scrutiny standard. I should note that from the transcripts, he denied without prejudice, which means the plaintiff is still free to raise the argument that strict scrutiny ought to be the standard later in the case. The judge seems to have an open mind, and a desire to take the issue seriously, which is why I would imagine Chicago would like to get this case reassigned.
I would be bad if Ezell were eventually consolidated with Benson. They are very different cases, Ezell is narrow, and the other very broad. I don’t think it would be wise to put all our eggs in one very broad basket, with lots of issues for the Court to consider.
Alert: Female Soldiers are “Not as Straight as Men are”
If you think this post is about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and lesbians in the U.S. Army, you would be wrong.
Actually, the powers that be at PEO Soldier, the Army unit tasked with uniforms and other personal gear for soldiers, have just noticed that women have curves. From a story on new female-specific uniforms in the KitUp blog on Military.com:
As the Army wrestles with the frontline demand for OCP uniforms, the service has just announced plans for a female-only version of their ACUs.
This from the official release: “Changes being evaluated in PEO’s re-designed uniform include 13 sizes in both the jacket and trousers, an elastic waistband, a more spacious hip area, a shortened crotch length, a more tailored jacket, and re-positioned rank and name tapes.â€
“Women have so many different shapes and sizes, we’re as not as ‘straight’ as men are,†said Maj. Sequana Robinson, assistant product manager for uniforms at PEO Soldier, who is currently testing one of the female-only ACUs.