Category: Guns

Open Carry in Florida

The media seems resigned to the fact that this is going to pass. It points out some history of Florida’s law I was not familiar with:

Florida was, at the time, struggling to counteract tourist-scaring national media coverage of crime in the state, earning a Gunshine State tag in TV shorthand. In the week after the effective date of the conceal-carry law and the supposed end of prohibitions against open-carry, a number of activists walked around with holstered pistols. Lawmakers felt the need to act quickly, and did so. Gov. Bob Martinez signed the open-carry prohibition as soon as he got it.

I remember the media hysteria when Florida passed this law, and I was 13 when it happened, just to give you an idea of how nuts it was. In other words, in the midst of everyone panicking about the idea of people legally carrying guns, the politicians panicked that a tourist might see a gun. I seem to recall during that time German tourists, in several high profile cases, got to spend the last few minutes of their lives looking down the barrels of guns by criminals who were carrying them despite the prohibition on the practice. I also had heard at the time that car jacking in Miami was becoming so commonplace that there were certain places you’d probably rather risk the ticket and run the lights than stop.

Well, an amazing thing happened after Florida became one of the first states to make the leap: nothing really changed, except for tourists not getting shot and car jacking going down. Open carry is probably always going to be uncommon, no matter what the law is, if that’s what they are really concerned with. But it should be among the available choices.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Missouri Town Bans Open Carry
  2. Clayton Cramer on Open Carry
  3. Article on Open Carry in Pennsylvania

Congratulations Texas!

You now have a “Florida Loophole” too, though they haven’t called it that yet. Maybe Pennsylvanians are more apt to think Florida is a sketchy place than Texans are, or something. Either way, expect anti-gun forces in Texas to try to tack this on to the repeal of the ban on college campuses. Hopefully they’ll have about as much luck with that there as they did here.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Pretty Outrageous
  2. CNN Story on Campus Carry
  3. Another Victory for Texas OC Activism

Misunderstanding Federal Law (Again)

Of course, given who Colin Goddard is working for these days, that this is a misunderstanding is probably offering a lot more credit that is deserved. The reality is, they know exactly what they are doing:

The gun lobby claims there is no “gun show loophole”. The law governing the sale of guns by licensed dealers and private sellers was crafted so that dealers are required to perform background checks and private sellers are not. Some gun rights advocates argue that if something is intentional, it can’t be called a loophole.

But the exemption for private sellers was intended to cover occasional sales from personal gun collections, a father selling a gun to his son-in-law, for example, not regular sales that supplement income. Virginia law uses the language, “occasional sales of curios and relics.” Many of the private sellers sold new, or very recently manufactured, guns — hardly curios or relics.

No, what we argue is that if something is legal, and you don’t like it, that doesn’t automatically make it a “loophole.” If someone is selling a guns to supplement their income, and they don’t hold an FFL, that person is already breaking federal law. Many of the people appearing in various videos selling guns at tables at gun shows would be relatively easy to prosecute, except that ATF has a nasty habit of botching this kind of operation, and US Attorney’s offices can’t be expected to exercise reasonable discretion about whether to prosecute a collector, who is legitimately liquidating a collection, or going after someone who really is making a living at selling guns without an FFL.

It’s worth noting that in Pennsylvania, there hasn’t been any private transfers for handguns since the 1930s, and yet we still have papers editorializing for more control because “gun crime” is too high, and criminals are straw purchasing and stealing their guns. So now, obviously, we need to ration purchases, and institute a lost and stolen reporting mandate that, to date, not a single person has been prosecuted under.

This nonsense might make you guys feel better, but it doesn’t work, and the world was a safer place when you could go to any local hardware store and buy a pistol or a stick of dynamite, cash and carry, no paperwork or background check.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Executive Orders on Guns Coming
  2. No Questions Asked?
  3. Types of FFLs

Mention in Shotgun News

Clayton Cramer has updated his list of publications, and I noticed on there was an article from Shotgun News that appeared in this months issue, on the Death of the Thousand Cuts the gun control movement is dying from. We got a mention:

Another interesting aspect of this death by a thousand cuts is that the gun control movement seems to have lost heart.  The news media are still reprinting gun control group press releases without too many questions, but the days when the gun control movement enjoyed a large body of financial backers seem to be past.  Snowflakes in Hell is a gun rights blog that has spent a bit of time over the last few years keeping track of the falling level of support that gun control organizations enjoy.7

So now I’m cited on one of Clayton’s publications. Given that Clayton has been cited by the Supreme Court, I figure that this is probably the closest I’ll come. But we will still hold out hope!

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Not Hiding the Agenda too Well
  2. Clayton Cramer Article in Shotgun News
  3. Poisoned Well

How About That?

Homicides have fallen to an all time low in Washington D.C. While it seems highly unlikely this is a result of the very small number of DC residents that have chosen to exercise their newly enforced Second Amendment rights, and likely has more to do with continued gentrification, it at least shows the blood isn’t running in the streets. D.C.’s gun control laws were and continue to be an abject failure.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. City of San Francisco Donates $380,000 to Gun Rights
  2. And Now, The Good News. Hopefully.
  3. More on the Brady Center Begging for Cash

National Review Comes Down Hard …

… on Andy Traver. Looks like we’re not the crazy uncle in the attic to the National Review crowd anymore.

UPDATE: One slight error:

Most of the so-called assault weapons are the ballistic equivalent of sheep in wolves’ clothing; they’re basically scary-looking squirrel guns. The greatest part of them are .223-caliber semiautomatic rifles, which is to say that they are largely indistinguishable from the little .22-caliber plinkers boys have been knocking cans off of fence posts with for generations.

Little distinguishable in caliber, but the .223 fires at a much higher velocity, and with a heavier bullet than a .22LR. I would not consider the .22LR and the .223 to be comparable. Though he’s correct it’s not legal for deer hunting in many states for being too underpowered. The rest is spot on.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. AR-15 .22LR Upper Bleg
  2. What Calibers Do You Keep Stocked?
  3. 30 Caliber Terror

Right to Keep and Bear Arms for DV Misdemeanants

New case in the fourth circuit. Covered by Dave Hardy here, and Clayton Cramer as well. There have been a few courts that have taken this issue seriously. What interesting about this ruling is that it would seem to have been decided under intermediate scrutiny:

We cannot conclude on this record that the government has carried its burden of establishing a reasonable fit between the important object of reducing domestic gun violence and § 922(g)(9)’s permanent disarmament of all domestic violence misdemeanants. The government has offered numerous plausible reasons why the disarmament of domestic violence misdemeanants is substantially related to an important government goal; however, it has not attempted to offer sufficient evidence to establish a substantial relationship between § 922(g)(9) and an important governmental goal. Having established the appropriate standard of review, we think it best to remand this case to afford the government an opportunity to shoulder its burden and Chester an opportunity to respond.

Not a clear cut victory just yet, but it’s about as close as we can ask. The shame is this defendant seems a good bit less than ideal.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. The Timid Second Amendment Ruling
  2. HB 1845 Has Made It Out of Committee
  3. Only The Police Should Have Guns

Ruger Scout Rifle

John Richardson and Michael Bane are both pretty excited about Ruger’s new scout rifle. From a business perspective, I think this is another win by Ruger. They are making unique firearms I think people are going to want. From my personal point of view, I’ve never understood the Scout Rifle, or how the concept would be inherently better than, say, a Springfield M1A Scout. In a survival situation, I’d want a semi-auto, and I’m pretty sure finding parts for an M1A in a SHTF scenario is going to be easier than for a less common bolt-action.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Survival Bags
  2. What’s Your .22LR Survival Weapon?
  3. Ruger Gunsite Scout