Guns – Page 981 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Heller Quote of the Day

To shrink from enforcing a clear mandate of the Constitution — as, sadly, the Supreme Court has often done in the past — would create a new precedent that would be far more dangerous to liberty than any weapon in the hands of a citizen.

This case is about a lot more than guns.Â If the federal courts are unwilling to give an honest reading of a very clear portion of the Bill of Rights that the majority of Americans and their elected representatives say means exactly what it says, then they can no longer be depended up for ensuring the United States remains a Constitutional Republic.Â The meaning of the document will have been reduced to a fad, and we’ll all be the losers.

Anti-Gun People Got Their Media On

~~According to Bitter the anti-gun folks outside are passing law professors around to the media~~ [Apparently I misinterpreted what Bitter told me.Â She said our activists were passing law professors around, changing the entire premise of the post].Â NRA is apparently nowhere to be found.

UPDATE: Apparently Ginny Simone of NRANews has arrived on the scene.Â But she’s media, really.Â They need people there talking to the media and getting our point of view across.

UPDATE: Bitter says the media frenzy and crowd is fairly large, so it’s possible there’s activity going on that she’s not seeing.

UPDATE: NRA is reporting they have people both inside and outside.Â Quite possible Bitter just hasn’t run into them yet.

UPDATE: Wayne LaPierre, Chris Cox, and Steve Halbrook are among the people inside. Â Bitter is outside with Bob Cottrol and Clayton Cramer.

UPDATE: For those of you who don’t know Bob Cottrol, he’s a law professor at GW.Â So we at least have one law professor of our own on the scene!

UPDATE: Bitter is pitching Clayton and Bob to the media.Â This is what Bitter does for a living, and she’s good at it.Â She says she’s gotten a few bites, so hopefully we’ll get some eyeballs on some folks who can intelligently advocate for our side.

The Big Day

SCOTUSBlog will live blog the results.Â Talked to Bitter who is outside.Â She said pro-gun representation is pretty low outside, but that’s not too surprising considering that no one asked anyone to show up.Â The line, I’m told, consisted mostly of law students.Â A few people we know would appear to have gotten in, including Countertop, from what I’m hearing.Â So that is good news.

Paul Helmke and Peter Hamm were there from what Bitter said.Â They went in.Â I told Bitter if she sees them coming out to get a picture of herself with them.Â I want the look on their faces as they come out to be forever preserved.Â According to Bitter, their talking points this morning have been very down; they are already acting as if they’ve lost this one.

To Mr. Gura and Mr. Levy

I just wanted to wish you both good luck.

We’re all counting on you.

Heller Thought

Cam Edwards digs up something from Justice Kennedy that is good to keep in mind as we head toward oral arguments tomorrow.Â I also understand that Cam has quite a show lined up for today and tomorrow, so be sure to watch starting at 9PM eastern at NRANews.

Sullivan Act Next?

Jacob reports that Bob Levy says he’ll target New York City’s Sullivan Act after Heller.Â Chicago would be a more obvious target post-Heller, because of the similarity with the D.C. ban.Â Wouldn’t it be best to keep the courts focused strictly on the incorporation issue, rather than have to deal with extraneous issues?Â There’s little doubt in my mind that New York City’s Sullivan Act is unconstitutional, but to me, that’s a more appropriate target after we go for incorporation using an outright ban similar to The Districts.Â Â The Sullivan Act can wait.

Problems with Lost & Stolen Bill

Eric has a post up about this topic:

Why single out guns unless the intent is to stigmatize them? I think that a law criminalizing non-reporting requires more than merely reporting a loss or a theft; by its nature it imposes an affirmative duty to monitor and count your guns on a regular basis or be a criminal (in much the same way that a law criminalizing the non-reporting of silverware would require counting the silver). But because it does not spell that out, I think it’s unconstitutionally void for vagueness.

Read the whole thing.Â I think it creates that obligation as well, because most of these bills use the standard “X period of time after the actor knew or should have known the firearms were missing.”

Inky on Lost & Stolen Bill

Here’s what the Inquirer says:

Handgun-control proponents in the State House are attempting to force a floor vote today on a controversial bill that would require handgun owners to tell authorities when their weapons are lost or stolen.

To avoid a counter-lobbying campaign by the National Rifle Association, lawmakers late Wednesday filed the language as an amendment to a crime-code bill that had already cleared a House committee. The move sends the bill directly to the floor.

“This is a historic moment for the Pennsylvania General Assembly and the House in particular,” said Rep. Cherelle Parker (D., Phila.). “For many years, legislators across Pennsylvania have been trying to answer calls law enforcement has been making to us to give them the tools to get handguns off the streets.”

The amendment will face opposition from Republicans and many rural Democrats. But, proponents say, polls showing that a majority of voters support mandatory reporting of lost and stolen handguns will compel lawmakers at least to go on record with their position.

It’s unclear whether opposition has softened in Harrisburg since 2006, when the House overwhelmingly defeated the measure. Votes were not recorded then.

Let’s hope not.Â Contacting legislators makes all the difference.Â Lawmakers assume one phone call represents probably 100 other people out there that think the same way.Â If they are getting 5 to 1 calls in favor of gun owners, that’ll put some fear into them.Â Someone who calls is someone who will come out to vote against you if you go against them on this issue.Â Make sure your reps know how you feel.

The Line Begins

The line for hearing Heller oral arguments began to form at 5:35pm last night, according to Professor Kerr over at the Volokh Conspiracy.Â While it would be nice to get to hear history being made, I think there are those far more deserving to hear arguments than am I, plus, there’s no way in hell I’m camping out in Washington DC overnight when I can’t carry.

Category: Guns