Apparently while the Canadian Long Gun Registry is still operating, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are doing what they can to make use of it. Not to battle crime, mind you, but to order Canadians to turn in scary looking guns. Chief on their list is ridding Canada of a .22LR guns that happen to look like military guns. Apparently manufactured by Armi Jager of Italy.
Category: Gun Rights
Repealing Virginia’s Gun Rationing
Dave Adams of the Virginia Shooting Sports Foundation has an article in the Roanoke Times calling for the repeal of one-gun-a-month, and suggesting it was his top legislative priority for the year. Excellent.
An Anti-Gun Article in the Union-Leader?
I say that with a question mark, and a little tongue in cheek, because I can’t recall other newspapers endorsing constitutional carry, and allowing people to have loaded (but unchambered) rifles and shotguns in a vehicle. They didn’t like the very strong preemption bill, however, so clearly they’re anti-gun!
UPDATE: Link fixed.
NRA on the Machine Gun Ban
Joe Huffman finds an ILA publication from around the time of the Hughes Amendment. At one point NRA was intent on getting Hughes repealed, but over time I think it became apparent there wasn’t any political support to do so in Congress. As Joe says, we’re still a ways away from being able to repeal Hughes, but the issue is moving in our direction.
Another Victim of Bloomberg
This time, a Maryland man accepts a plea deal for a lesser gun charge to avoid a 15 year prison sentence for leaving his pistol mistakenly in a hotel safe in New York City. The New York Daily news notes this is becoming more common. That is because New York City is increasingly very out of step with the rest of America when it comes to Second Amendment rights. You’ve also have people hearing “The Supreme Court says it’s a right,” without following the issue closely enough to know, even though it applies in New York City, that it’s only a technicality. Practically it does not yet, and don’t expect Bloomberg to change anything until the courts force him to, and even then, I’m not sure whether he will.
H/T to SayUncle
More People Victims of New York City’s Gun Laws
Instapundit has the roundup. Apparently a US Marine is facing 15 years in the slammer. I like Professor Reynold’s proposal:
My proposal: Any state permit is valid in all 50 states. Places where carry is prohibited must be clearly marked. Maximum penalty for a simple violation — that is, not in the course of committing some real crime — $500. Attorney fees and civil-rights suits available against state and local officials who violate the law by infringing people’s rights thereunder.
Well, we can’t have that. Treating it like a right, and all. I think Mayor Bloomberg has made it pretty clear what he thinks about that. Meanwhile, this is now looking to be more true than ever.
Free Meredith Graves
By now you’ve all heard the story of the woman from Tennessee who made the unfortunate mistake of believing that New York City was part of America. I am late to this story, largely because I wanted to gauge the reaction, and think about how to use this story for the greater good. There’s now a Facebook group dedicated to freeing Meredith Graves. Amazingly, some New York politicians are speaking of changing the law:
State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat whose district includes the 9/11 Memorial, wants to hold hearings on how New York City’s stringent gun laws are being enforced. Silver wants to find out if changes to the law need to be made.
We already have a proposed change to this law, and Mayor Mike is fighting it every step of the way. Perhaps a solution is to tell Hizzoner to withdraw his snout from other people’s business, and back off opposition to HR822. This problem will be easily remedied with HR822.
I think this woman is an excellent poster child for what’s wrong with how we’re treating a constitutional right in this country. We should rally behind her. It puts our opponents in the awkward position of having to explain how justice and public good are served by throwing a felony charge at a woman who is no threat to society. Their reaction will expose them for the extremists that they indeed are. Let us lead them there.
UPDATE: Over at NRO’s The Corner, Robert VerBruggen thinks this is a states rights issue. States rights is generally code word for states being able to flout their obligations under the 14th amendment not to “make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” So I strongly disagree. This is a federal issue and Congress is within its Section 5 powers to protect the exercise of this right from state and local interference.
UPDATE: Bloomberg libeled her by suggesting she had cocaine. According to Graves she had a crushed up aspirin in her purse she took for migraines. People like Bloomberg really shouldn’t be trusted to wield the power the voters have given them.
Does a Concealed Gun = Reasonable Suspicion?
Orin Kerr, who is the Volokh Conspiracy’s resident 4th Amendment Guru, talks about a recent decision in federal court in New Mexico. I was always under the impression that whether and officer has RAS for a stop if he spots a concealed handgun depended on the wording of the statute. If carrying concealed was generally unlawful, except if you had a permit, then an officer would be permitted to stop to ensure the person fell under the exception. Professor Kerr says otherwise:
The court’s analysis seems wrong to me. The officers saw a guy with a gun. A crime would be afoot only if the man lacked a proper permit. But the officers had no idea if the man had a permit to carry the gun at the time they made the stop: They didn’t inquire, and instead initiated the stop only upon seeing the gun. Obviously, if the officers had asked Rodriguez if he had a license before the stop, and he had said no, the officers would have had both reasonable suspicion and even probable cause to make the arrest. But I think they have to ask first and get evidence of the crime before the stop, not stop first and then get evidence to justify it.
This decision also is in contrast to a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision which suggests that the presence of a firearm does not amount to RAS for an officer to conduct a stop. I’m glad Professor Kerr is making the case for this decision being wrong. I don’t believe the exercise of a constitutional right should be subject to stops from police. They should need to have RAS you’re committing a crime, and the mere presence of a firearm, concealed or otherwise, should not amount to that.
Bad Journalism on Private Sales
If I were running a high school newspaper, I would have sent this article back for rewriting. But this is what passes for journalism today, apparently, at least for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. This is perhaps one of the most juvenile editorials I’ve seen on the topic of private sales of guns, regarding a proposed bill in Ohio that would ban private sales, and direct everything through dealers for a ten dollar fee, fixed by the state.
This big problem routing everything through dealers is that it’s just a matter of who’s ox gets gored. If you let them charge market prices, you’re going to be paying anywhere from 30 dollars to 50 dollars for each firearm transferred. If you limit the fee to 10 dollars, you’re screwing the dealer out of his right to make a livlihood.
It’s amazing how many of these folks, who consider this whole background check thing an essential public service, don’t want the public to pay for it. As a matter of law, can anyone think of another instance where the government can force someone to provide a service for a fee set by the government? The only cases I can think of are being conscripted into military service, and being called for jury duty, both of which have deep roots in common law. Are there any other examples?
Limit Your Issues on Appeal
Orin Kerr speaks of the importance of not taking kitchen sink cases before the Courts. Unfortunately there are a number of kitchen sink cases out there moving their way through the court system. Many of them funded by folks who should know better.