With the threat of a temporary injunction looming, the State of Colorado decided to back off the claim that even temporary transfers of magazines constitutes a transfer, and magazines with removable baseplates will no longer be considered “readily convertible.” Apparently this agreement will have force of law. The lawsuit will still go ahead, but this is at least some progress. Hopefully not progress that will quell any flames of anger gun owners feel to the politicians who did this to them. They still need to get the boot come election time.
Author: Sebastian
There’s an App for That
While on principle I have no issues with something like this, because it’s not government, it’ll likely end up being used by our opponents to punish responsible gun owners. Especially those of us who are vocal about standing up to them.
“The gun rights community has been busy making personal threats (we remain unconcerned), as well as spamming the Gun Geo Marker database with false markers,” he exclusively told FoxNews.com. “Though these fake markers are not useful for identifying dangerous guns and owners, they are certainly representative of the highly paranoid reaction we have come to expect from any attempt to improve gun safety in the United States.
I kind of like the idea of a disinformation campaign, but at the same time I’d hate to drag some random schlob into this whole thing.
News Links for Thursday 7/11/13
Been battling on multiple fronts, but none of them are the blog, so here’s all the news that’s fit, or perhaps unfit, to link.
The 2nd Circuit has found that charging more than 300 dollars to get a license to exercise a fundamental constitutional right is just peachy.
Das Iron Glock. I guess they don’t have to be made of plastic. Looks like something someone could make in their garage.
Ruger is opening a plant in North Carolina. Well, it’s not the first time that people have been driven out of New England by religious fanatics, is it?
Meanwhile, Kahr is moving from New York to Pennsylvania. I’d have kept moving south. I’ll feel better about Pennsylvania if Corbett gets a second term, and Kane is a one termer. Until then, I think there’s a danger we’re going blue all over eventually.
Meanwhile, NSSF is filing suit in Connecticut, challenging their new gun control on the grounds that Governor Malloy abused the emergency legislation provision of state law. I’d consider this a long shot. A similar challenge against New York’s intolerable acts hasn’t fared all that well so far.
Speaking of courts not taking rights seriously, the 2nd Circuit court of appeals has found New York’s 300+ dollar permit to be just fine constitutionally. Poor people don’t need rights, or at least not rights that are disapproved of by the blue elite.
The Congressional Black caucus is urging Obama not to back off gun control.
A word of caution to mulsurp lovers out there.
ABA hears stand your ground testimony in Philadelphia. There’s concern about racial disparity. Everything has to be about race these days. SYG should equally protect people of all races if they are engaged in lawful self-defense. End of debate on that count.
A debate over at Volokh on whether “arms” as in those you keep and bear, means you can keep and bear more than one. Both say yes, but one disagrees it can be arrived at textually. Response to that here. And even more here.
All gun deaths are equally tragic?
The Ms. Magazine train wreck is to the continue. I love all the talk is how we’re bullies. To the gun control advocates, a bully is just someone with better arguments.
You can’t order a sense of perspective off Amazon, but you can go read this.
Motions Proceeding in Federal Court in Illinois
Madigan makes a motion to dismiss the case as moot, since the state has fixed the problem. Plaintiffs say, “not so fast,” and request the State of Illinois be enjoined from enforcing the newly passed FCCA until the permitting system is in place and operating “in a timely manner,” as mentioned in the motion for injunction. There’s also a motion to expedite briefing on the motions, so we can get this over with quickly and prevent the State of Illinois from dragging its feet even further. It would be a good incentive for the State to get everything set up quickly. Otherwise I’d expect they’ll drag this out as long as possible. From the response to the motion to dismiss:
The Plaintiffs’ Second Amendment rights have been violated each and every day since December 11, 2012, when the Seventh Circuit reversed this Court and held that the UUW and the AUUW violated the Plaintiffs’ rights …. Indeed, they have been violated each and every day since Illinois enacted its carry ban …. The FCCA makes plain that said violation of Plantiffs’ rights will not cease for up to another 270 days — 180 days to make application forms available and another 90 days to process said applications…. The State has effectively given itself that which the Seventh Circuit refused — a further stay of the appellate court’s mandate… The violation of the Plaintiffs’ Second Amendment rights occurred today and will occur tomorrow and each and every day until the expiration of the 270-day stay that Illinois has given to itself in the FCCA. The Defendants cannot meet the first prong of the voluntary-cessation test described above.
Nope. This isn’t over. Not by a long shot folks. These people need to start understanding this is a right, and not a privilege. This all could have been easily avoided by passing a reasonable shall-issue bill as soon as the court ruling came down. But that’s not what many Illinois Democratic leaders chose to do. They chose to stall, whine, kick, scream, delay, and obstruct. Well, the wages of that might be FOID carry until they can get their act together. Let us hope.
Doesn’t Fit the Narrative
The White House asks the CDC to do some research to help drive the narrative on gun control. They went ahead and did the study, but the results lead to narrative fail:
Furthermore, the key finding the president was no doubt seeking — that more laws would result in less crime — was missing. The study said that “interventions,†such as background checks and restrictions on firearms and increased penalties for illegal gun use, showed “mixed†results, while “turn-in†programs “are ineffective†in reducing crime. The study noted that most criminals obtained their guns in the underground economy — from friends, family members, or gang members — well outside any influence from gun controls on legitimate gun owners.
Read the whole thing.
What Progress Looks Like
D. Members will not enforce the following city ordinances:
8-4-010(i) – Disorderly Conduct in that a person carries in a threatening or menacing manner, without authority of law, any pistol or revolver or conceals said weapon on or about the person or vehicle.
8-20-020 – Unlawful Possession of Handguns
8-20-030 – Unlawful Possession of Long Guns
8-20-035 – Unlawful Possession of Unregisterable Firearms – relative to 8-20-170(b) and (c)
8-20-040 – Firearm Kept or Maintained in a Home
8-20-080 – Possession of Ammunition
8-20-110 – Chicago Firearm Permit (CFP) – Required
8-20-140 – Firearm Registration Certificate – Required
8-20-180 – CFP and Registration Certificate – General Provisions
8-20-185 – Additional Duties.
Hey, hey, hey, Goodbye! Eat it Rahm! Chicago is now preempted in these matters.
If you’re going to be the face of our issue …
… please try to avoid the trap of getting busted for having controlled substances while possessing a firearm. I tend to think most people will frown on possessing a firearm with hallucinogenic substances, and it kind of destroys the whole being a sympathetic character for pulling off effective civil disobedience. Rosa Parks didn’t have pot in her purse when she got arrested.
But I will note this:
“Numerous police vehicles, including a light armored vehicle and two low-flying helicopters barricaded Adam’s street,†the news release says. “More than 20 armored SWAT team members surrounded the house, as well as a number of detectives, and plainclothes officers.â€
Two helicopters and an armored vehicle? To take down one guy who only kinda, maybe might decide it’s better to shoot it out than get taken in? I can get using a tactical team, given you just don’t know, maybe he’d rather shoot it out, but what’s so hard about waiting for him to leave the house and jumping him with 5 or so officers? Why invade the whole neighborhood? The problem is, you give the guys the toys, and it gets hard to resist taking them out to play.
Mehl Case Dismissed on Standing in 9th Circuit
Mehl v. Blanas was a carry case in California brought by Attorney Gary Gorski that had the potential to upset the whole apple cart of Second Amendment litigation in the 9th circuit. Given that the Supreme Court has denied cert in the 2nd Circuit and 4th Circuit cases [UPDATE: Not for Wollard though. Williams was denied.], and the 7th Circuit case has now been remedied legislatively, the 9th circuit carry cases are more important than ever. Calguns offers a scathing review of the issues at hand with the Mehl case, and the attorney arguing it. They conclude with:
We are certainly not guaranteed a positive result in Richards and Peruta but we are very encouraged that Mehl was disposed of on grounds that do not injure those critical cases or, most importantly, the precious civil rights and millions of law-abiding people they represent. As we live to watch the Seventh Circuit force handgun carry by non-prohibited people upon Illinois and anti-gun rights municipalities like Chicago, we believe that the ultimate outcome — up to, and potentially including, a United States Supreme Court decision — will respect and protect our right to keep and bear arms for self-defense outside the thresholds of our homes as the framers of the Constitution and Bill of Rights intended.
It’s certainly encouraging. They could have taken Mehl and used it as a vehicle to screw us, but they didn’t.
Quinn’s Veto Overridden
Earlier today, the house voted 77-31 to override, and just now the Senate voted 41-17 to override. The concealed carry bill is now the law-of-the-land in Illinois. While the bill is far from perfect, and far from what we’d like to see, it is a start. In most states where the initial bill has been a bit of a disappointment, we’ve been able to come back later and improve the situation once politicians realize the sky has not fallen. Also not out of the question is litigating on some of the aspects of this bills we’re not happy with. At this point, the 7th Circuit is probably the strongest circuit in the country when it comes to Second Amendment law.
The Sign of a Good Law
The New York legislature, in the stealth of night, fixes the SAFE act through a budgetary measure to exempt retired police officers. I say the title sarcastically. Remember folks, when retired cops have AR-15s, they are wholesome and good patrol rifles, highly useful for self-defense and sport. When we have them they are bullet-spraying assault rifles whose only purpose is to kill large numbers of people as quickly as possible.