2014 – Page 21 – Shall Not Be Questioned

The DC Firearms Carry Memo

Alan Gura posted the memo that went out the DC police officers about how to handle carry situations. He specifically posts this important detail with the memo:

The District has indicated that they will seek a stay of the decision. If a stay were to be granted, this policy would doubtless change, and I canâ€™t guarantee that Iâ€™ll be able to update this blog post in real time. So be careful out there.

Looking at the memo and the scenarios they outline, it does appear that anyone caught carrying will have all of their information taken down and the police will pursue “potential further investigation” even if they are perfectly lawful to carry at the time they stop you.

NRA Wins in Court Over Florida’s Gag Law

I have mixed feelings about the NRA-backed bill that prevents doctors from asking about gun ownership, because I believe that the government should never have the power to control speech in that kind of manner.

I realized that many professions are regulated in these kinds of terms, but I’m not sure that all bad advice ought to be illegal advice, and I’m not sure why we can’t protect our privacy with a polite “Mind your own business, doc.” But apparently the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals disagrees with me, and delivered NRA a win in the case.

In the ruling, the three judge panel ruled: “In keeping with these traditional codes of conductâ€”which almost universally mandate respect for patient privacyâ€”the Act simply acknowledges that the practice of good medicine does not require interrogation about irrelevant, private matters. As such, we find that the Act is a legitimate regulation of professional conduct. The Act simply codifies that good medical care does not require inquiry or record-keeping regarding firearms when unnecessary to a patientâ€™s care.”

On the other side of the coin, the medical profession has politicized itself far and beyond what I think is appropriate, and this is a greatly needed shot across the bow at the AMA and the AAP. They would be wise to issue new guidelines to doctors telling them to learn to mind their own business when it comes to topics that have nothing to do with the practice of medicine, like gun ownership.

I am loathe to punish pediatricians who want to talk to parents about guns in the context of other dangerous household articles, or to punish a doctor who talks to a patient about guns because the doctor and patient are both gun enthusiasts. The latter is in my opinion pretty unambiguously free speech.

But doctors have abused their position to promote a political agenda, and this is what they have reaped by doing so. NRA has more weight to throw around Congress and State Capitols than the medical establishment does, and they would do well to remain cognizant of that fact.

Moms Demand (Topless) Action?

Go forth and be horrifiedÂ (NSFA – Not Safe for Anywhere). Yes, Moms Demand members went to protest the long-gun OCing fools in Texas by being even bigger fools. I have to hand it to John Richardson, who I just noticed wins the Internets for selecting a much much better headline than I did for this story.

Now, I’m pretty sure that this was not an officially sanctioned MDA/Everytown event. The article notes that the topless protesters only mentioned MDA. But it shows the problem the gun control movement is going to run into in trying to build a grassroots movement: most of us are involved in this because we have our rights and/or a hobby to protect. That means there are people involved who aren’t lunatics. There are people that certainly fit that bill on our side, but this movement succeeds because it’s made up of many more people who aren’t. Gun control groups have always had difficulty building the same kind of enthusiastic grassroots, and what grassroots they did have tended to be enthusiastic whack jobs. I’m seeing evidence that’s the case for MDA too, and that’s a good sign.

Carrying in DC

Well, we’re to Monday morning and it appears there’s no change in the situation from Saturday evening when it comes to the Washington, DC gun situation. In fact, last night Emily Miller was reporting on Twitter that the DC police have apparently conceded on the carry issue for the time being.

STUNNING DEVELOPMENT: DC Police Chief Lanier just told force not to arrest a person who can legally carry a gun in DC or any state.Â

— Emily Miller (@EmilyMiller) July 28, 2014

More — DC police chief using guidance from AG — grants full reciprocity for all open and concealed carry from others states.

— Emily Miller (@EmilyMiller) July 28, 2014

Only gun arrests now in DC can be DC residents with unregistered guns and non-residents who are prohibited under federal laws.

— Emily Miller (@EmilyMiller) July 28, 2014

Dave Kopel notes that before you strap a gun on your hip and head into DC, you should probably try to find out more about this very fluid situation.

As of 1:30 a.m. ET on Monday morning, I was not able to find a copy of Chief Lanierâ€™s order on the websites of the D.C. Police, D.C. Attorney General, or city government. It would be helpful for non-residents who seek to comply with the D.C. governmentâ€™s interpretation of the current situation if the order were speedily made available to the public.

And he also reminds people that there are many laws on the books that were not invalidated by the court.

Nothing in the District Courtâ€™s opinion invalidates the D.C. ban on magazines holding more than 10 rounds. Nothing in the opinion addresses the numerous federal and D.C. laws which prohibit carry in a huge number of locations within the Districtâ€“such as most federal buildings, lots of federal property, as well as schools and colleges. (The D.C. â€œschoolâ€ ban even encompasses a school of cosmetology whose students are all adults.)

Win in Palmer vs. DC!

Via Alan Gura, who is the attorney for the case. This was the case challenging the District of Colombia’s ban on carrying firearms in public, that the court had been sitting on for quite some time. The court left the door open for some regulation of carry, including licensing, but “consistent with constitutional standards enabling people to exercise theirÂ Second Amendment right to bear arms.”

Needless to say, this is a significant win. Probably the most significant win since Illinois was forced to become shall-issue in the case of Moore v. Madigan. Hopefully this will strengthen the hand of Congress when it comes to setting the Districts gun laws for it, and then preempting City Council from regulating firearms.

A quick way to fix this problem would be to recognize licenses to carry from all states that issue them. I believe D.C. residents can obtain licenses from Virginia, which would probably do until D.C. sets up its own shall-issue regime.

A bigger question is whether this case will go to the Supreme Court or not. The Court hasn’t seemed eager to hear a carry case, but maybe this will be the one. If this does go to SCOTUS and wins, that would apply to the whole country.

UPDATE: It’s been so long since Palmer was heard, I forgot it was still at the District Court level, and not the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. So the next step is the Circuit Court, not the Supreme Court.

The Best Article on the Yeadon Doctor Shooting

Many of you have probably read the story that broke yesterday evening about the doctor who saved his life and is credited with saving numerous others by pulling out his own legally carried firearm and shooting a mental patient who had just shot his caseworker and tried to shoot the doctor. But I have to say for a case that’s still unfolding today, the Daily News has probably the best story I’ve seen on the situation and people involved.

They highlight that the shooter was known as a threat to himself and others, having been involuntarily committed by his local police department two times in the last 5 years and has a known criminal history of firearm and drug offenses. It will be interesting to see if he stole the firearm he used given that he does have a history that includes robbing a bank, according to their research.

They tracked down neighbors at his last known address and none of them were remotely shocked. They said he was clearly deeply troubled, and a friend of an ex-girlfriend of the shooter even said that the guy was a heavy, heavy drug user and claimed he got violent with the girlfriend and kicked her in the stomach while she was known to be pregnant.

In other words, this is a violent, drug addicted mentally ill person who, while in “care,” was allowed to roam the streets and continue committing crimes up until he murdered a woman who was trying to help him in cold blood and tried to take out the doctor, too. The police chief stated that he believes the shooter would not have stopped with the people in the room, and he credits the doctor with keeping the tragedy from turning into a mass shooting.

The shooter was clearly prohibited from possessing firearms, and Pennsylvania already has mandatory background checks on private sales of handguns. You’d think this would make it clear to the other side that the problem lies with our mental health and legal systems. But, no, they still blame the gun even though one in the hands of a lawful owner helped save lives.

Winning with a Case Dismissal

From NRA today:

Earlier this year, the National Rifle Association (NRA) sponsored litigation against the state of Illinois for its unconstitutional system of denying concealed carry licenses without any notice or opportunity to be heard. Before the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) filed suit with NRA backing, many residents were denied the right to carry a firearm without any indication as to why the state had concluded they were a danger to themselves or others. Furthermore, the state of Illinois also denied these individuals any opportunity to rebut this unsubstantiated conclusion.

The ISRA, with the backing of the NRA, challenged this scheme as a violation of due process, and the State effectively conceded as much by ending this unfair treatment of law-abiding Illinois citizens. In light of this act of submission by Illinois, the current suit has been voluntarily dismissed.

Taking Down a Criminal with a Rifle from a Moving Motorcycle

Usually, we have reasons to highlight when cops get something really wrong. Today, I’d just like to highlight a case with an absolutely awesome sheriff’s deputy who really did some good for people today. This video is most of the finale of an incident near Denver that (allegedly) included 4 carjackings/attempted carjackings:

That motorcycle you see fly by on the right around 1:34 with the gun extended as soon as it passes the passenger vehicle and the officer who (off camera) jumped off that bike and chased the suspect, got him to drop his rifle, and then took him down with his bare hands, is the father of one of my dearest college pals – the very woman who actually introduced me to firearms. I’m so happy that he’s okay, and not at all surprised by it. She’s made of awesome, so clearly her parents must be, too.

Anti-Gun Hate Files: First Edition

News is kind of slow, so I figure I should point out instances where our opponents display all the seething mouth foaming they accuse us of, and let their extremism show.

From eduardo16, on the comments on this news piece:

This is an insult to Niles progressive community. The Mayor and trustees are scared and afraid of the gun lobby lawsuits and ignored the popular clamor to stop guns in Niles. They caved in to the gun lobby and showed zero leadership.Â The American society needs to be disarmed, secularized and educated otherwise it will continue becoming an affluent version of the Taliban.

Disarmed, stripped of religion and re-educated? That sounds familiar. Yes, congratulations Eduardo, people like you are the reason I own guns, and advocate others do the same! You’re dangerous, and your ideas are dangerous. They lead to dark places. I don’t intend to go with you.

Here’s a comment by hughjames46:

Who would want this filth in their community? It’s a dirty, loud business. Not to mention quite ridiculous, grown people knocking off paper targets and paying for the privilege and then getting all excited about it. (You have to admit they do seem sexually repressed.)

These stores are no better than adult book stores. Their clientele is likely to be lower class and no better than drug addicts. Gun nuts need a fix and these stores are like having a pusher right on the corner.

Sometimes you have to wonder if some of these comments aren’t trolls. But to be fair, I’ve seen hate and pearl clutching of this magnitude coming from the other side before. This mentality blows my mind. I don’t really get the point of soccer either, grown adults kicking a ball around a field and hardly scoring, but that doesn’t mean I think no one ought to enjoy it.

Joe Manchin Costs Jobs with Gun Control

This letter would seem to indicate that Beretta considered relocated to West Virginia, having been wooed there by politicians no doubt looking to bring jobs. But Beretta indicates they were “looking first and foremost for a widespread and stable place of political support in any potential location,” and Joe Manchin’s recent actions on gun control were enough to give them the heebee jeebees. It’s not like West Virginia needs jobs or anything. Working class people struggling for good manufacturing jobs ought to take note of where Democratic priorities lie.