Guns – Page 436 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Second Amendment Victory in Court

This is more a 14th Amendment case, but the State Appeals Court tossed a conviction for having an unlicensed gun, arguing that it violated equal protection, and his right to bear arms. Eugene Volokh notes:

This independent focus on the Second Amendment is important because the Supreme Court has read the Equal Protection Clause as barring most (but not all)Â stateÂ discrimination against noncitizens; the federal government remains generally free to discriminate against noncitizens. But if the Washington Court of Appeals is right that legal aliens are protected by the Second Amendment, that means that even the federal government may not ban them from owning guns.

This would basically mean that anyone who’s in the country legally has a right to bear arms. Current federal law severely curtails the right for non-resident aliens, so this could be interesting if it makes its way to federal court.

Congressman Dan Lungren Never Heard of the 14th Amendment

The Sacramento Bee is angry at some members of the California Congressional delegation for wrong-think, in embracing HR 822. They want to get them back into right-think:

Â Central Valley representatives who have made the wrong-headed decision to embrace the measure include Democrat Dennis Cardoza of Merced and Republicans Wally Herger of the Chico area,Â Tom McClintockÂ of Elk Grove,Â Jeff DenhamÂ of Atwater,Â Kevin McCarthyÂ of Bakersfield andÂ Devin Nunes,Â who represents Tulare and Fresno counties.

They hold up Rep. Dan Lungren, who was the only Republican committee member to vote against the measure, as the poster boy of right-thinking, and proof that Republicans can stand up to the wrong-think of the NRA.

“I believe in theÂ Second Amendment.Â I also believe in the 10th Amendment,” Lungren, a former California attorney general, said after casting his no vote.

In Lungren’s view, California’s law governing concealed weapons may be too restrictive. But he also said: “That is part of the reality of dealing with what some people call federation and others callÂ states’ rights.” States have rights.

No, Congressmen, states do not have rights. People have rights. States have powers which are delegated to it by the people, who in turn delegate certain enumerated powers to the federal government (at least in theory). One of those enumerated powers is the power to pass laws to protect the civil rights of Americans. Americans, through our constitutional system, have not delegated our right to bear arms to Government, but unique among nations, we have retained it for ourselves. California has no more power to restrict this right than Colorado, Alaska, or New York, and enforcement of this right against the states is very much part of our federal system.

I also believe in the 2nd and 10th Amendments, Congressman, and passionately so. But I also believe in the 14th Amendment with equal passion.

Daily Caller Calls it for Holder

Looks like they think his days are numbered, as the number of members of Congress calling for his resignation is growing quickly:

Attorney General Eric Holderâ€™s tenure in the Obama administration may be coming to an end. At least eight members of Congress have now called on Holder to resign over the growing Operation Fast and Furious scandal.

I would tend to doubt the Attorney General will go gently. The media, for the most part, hasn’t been paying much attention to the scandal. Pretty much Fox News and CBS News are the only two outfits that have covered it any depth. Holder’s resignation would be something the rest of the media would have to report, and they’d also have to report why. His resignation would be an admission of guilt as well, which makes it harder for the Administration to claim this is nothing but a partisan witch hunt.

On the other side of the coin, if Holder was the only cabinet official at fault here, his resignation could dispose of the issue for the Administration, whereas Holder continuing could drag the scandal into election season; probably something that team Obama is not going to be too keen on. So I could see it go either way, but if I had to bet, I don’t think Holder will go gently.

Clinton Testifies

Much like Big Sis Napolitano, Clinton also knows nothing.

Ladd Everitt & Adam Winkler on “Here Women Talk”

Listen here. After listening to that, I am quite happy to be on the opposite side from Ladd. He pretty much spends the entire time mischaracterizing or making hyperbolic arguments that are ridiculous. He is the king of erecting straw men, and tearing them down. I think the best thing I heard out of Ladd was this:

But I think part of the gun control movement’s challenge right now is to become a little more sophisticated in messaging, and to have the type of strong messaging that the NRA has. One thing you can credit the NRA with is that when Wayne LaPierre become the leader of the NRA, he developed a very sophisticated marketing approach to the way they message and do their business, and I think they’ve had a great deal of success in selling their brand, as this brand based on American values — Freedom, Independence, Liberty, and self-reliance — getting people to think about the American values they agree with, so they never have to get to the point of looking at what the NRA is really advocating for. I think there’s a lot of power in that.

He speaks of Independence, Liberty and self-reliance as if it were a bad thing. But I think this is one of the more insightful things I’ve heard out of Ladd, because this is pretty much how NRA markets itself. The problem is, what American value can you sell with gun control? I mean, Independence, Liberty and self-reliance could arguably be the three principles that sum up this country. What American value involves ignoring its Bill of Rights and taking people’s freedoms away? So far the best they’ve been able to come up with is “common sense,” and we can see how well that’s working for them.

Live Blogging the Philly OC Trial

From What Starts with W. For those of you who might not remember, this is the case of the guy made to eat pavement for OCing a pistol down the streets of Philadelphia while in possession of a valid License to Carry. You can see the YouTube video that started it all here.

Apparently the verdict is not guilty. He was charged with reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. I sincerely hope this helps his Civil Rights lawsuit.

OCing Rifles to Occupy Protests

While I generally don’t believe that OCing a rifle is a good public relations tactic, I’d much rather have dozens of OC protesters in the park near my house, carrying rifles, than I would a hippy drum circle. At least the OC guys will be quiet and go home at the end of the day. They probably also shower.

Big Sis Grilled on Fast and Furious

She says she didn’t know anything, because it was an ATF operation, and not under her authority. Really, either way this goes it’s not good. Either they are lying, or the Obama Administration are just a big group of know-nothing, do-nothing administrators who are essentially sucking away out tax dollars for not actually overseeing anything. You almost hope they are lying.

When Ninjas Attack

This is pretty funny, I don’t care who you are. For the uninitiated, it’s a parody of this post and comment thread over at TTAG, which has spawned much discussion both at Uncle’s and Caleb’s.

Polishing the Turd

Looks like Media Matters is doing their best to try to make the latest polling results not seem so bad for them (or perhaps I should say their anti-gun paymasters) as they really are.