Arms and the Law

In hyper-woke Oakland, a camera crew interviews the city's chief of violence protection on the steps of city hall.... and gets mugged during the interview.

Here's the amicus brief I just filed, for Firearms Policy Coalition and Firearms Policy Foundation, supporting the petitioner. At this stage, you aren't trying to persuade the Court that the good guy should win, you're trying to persuade it that it should take the case (it takes about 70-80 cases per year out of maybe 10,000 petitioners, I haven't checked the recent numbers). The best argument for it taking a case is that the lower courts have split on an issue or issues. One law applies in part of the country, another in another, the Court must resolve the question. In the case of the 2A, there are a LOT of splits!!

Story here.

Right here. About halfway down the page.

Let's get this straight. (1) Resistance if Futile unless you have nukes and air support, but (2) a bunch of people entered the Capitol, without so much as BB guns, and this posed an existential crisis to the Republic?

Nearly 40 million background checks in 2020. A check of course isn't exactly equal to a gun sale, let along a new gun sale, but it should give an idea of an enormous market. I can recall back in the 70s that guns were being produced and sold at about 3 million a year, increasing slowly to six million decades later. Those enormous sales are driving much of the ammo shortage, from what I hear.

There's a new book out, Carol Anderson's The Second, gaining some publicity, claiming that the Second Amendment was intended to protect slavery. It's a rehash of a claim made over twenty years ago by Carl Bogus. I took it apart in an article I wrote for Cumberland Law Review. My review of the Bogus thesis begins on page 10.

I point out there is zero evidence for it and much evidence against. The first state bill of rights to have a bear arms clause came in Pennsylvania, 1776. The first calls for a federal right to arms came in Pennsylvania (minority report), Massachusetts (Sam Adams) and New Hampshire (majority demands). William Rawle, the commentator who so praised the right to arms, was a member and later president of our first abolitionist society, the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery.

Right here. I have my own theory. There are points in time when the psychopaths try to take over, when psychopathy and disordered anarchy become fashionable in the mass media. The 60s were like that. Riots, burning of inner cities, "police brutality." Even the popular songs.... "Grandpa stole whatever he could," "and every lock what ain't locked when no one's around." Convention seen as hypocrisy. What did we get, a huge rise in violent crime that lasted until the 1990s.

We seem to be heading there again. BLM, antifa (which can't figure out if it's communist or anarchist, but in reality are people acting out the anarchy in their hearts), "mostly nonviolent" riots and arson becoming fashionable. Some cities responding by giving over control to the rioters, some by disarming or arresting those who try to defend against it.

This time, a case of 40mm dual-purpose grenades.

"Kim Foxx's Office Says CPD Is Arresting The Wrong People To Curb Gun Violence."

"Foxx's office this week held a webinar for journalists with data visualizations about a steady increase in Chicago police arrests of people who have no prior convictions but are caught illegally carrying a gun. It's an approach that dragged more than 1,400 people into the criminal justice system last year. Those that are convicted get a label that dims job and life prospects and arguably decreases public safety in the long term.

"The evidence doesn't show that the drivers of the violence are the people who've been arrested for nonviolent gun offenses," wrote Sarah Sinovic, a spokeswoman for the office, referring to illegal possession of firearms. "State's Attorney Foxx has long said we need to invest more in violence prevention and a more holistic approach to address the root causes of violence.""

Story here.

I think we can count on any manufacturer who manufacturer who set this kind of record being prosecuted and certainly their FFL revoked.

"Deputies in South Carolina were called in 2017 after a man started wildly shooting an M9 pistol into the air during an argument with his girlfriend. The boyfriend, a convicted felon, then started shooting toward a neighbor's house. The pistol came from a National Guard armory that a thief entered through an unlocked door, hauling off six automatic weapons, a grenade launcher and five M9s.

Meanwhile, authorities in central California are still finding AK-74 assault rifles that were among 26 stolen from Fort Irwin a decade ago. Military police officers stole the guns from the Army base, selling some to the Fresno Bulldogs street gang."

"The Army and Air Force, for example, couldn't readily tell AP how many weapons were lost or stolen from 2010 through 2019."

Seven million rounds of ammo stolen in Mexico, were headed for US. I guess Aguila manufactures down there.

A ruling today in Greer v. United States. The Court had earlier ruled that federal felon in possession laws required proof that the defendant knew he was a felon. In Greer, the question was whether a person who plead guilty, and another who was found guilty, were entitled to have the convictions set aside. The Court ruled that they must also make a showing that there was evidence they didn't know they were felons.

(Title corrected, thanks) A two part article I wrote seven years ago on the topic. It was based on original research of the presidential papers in the Clinton Presidential Library. The plan behind the ruinous lawsuits against the gun makers wasn't just about putting them out of business. It was far more elaborate than that. It involved achieving most of Brady Campaign's goals through forced "voluntary" measures adopted by the gun makers and imposed upon any dealer that bought their products -- an "assault weapon" ban, limits on magazine size, reduction in numbers and harassment of FFLs, etc. All without legislation.

Even a drugged mental case understands the meaning of the muzzle of a gun. It's the universal language!

He wants them outlawed, but cannot say what they are.

Reminds me of a saying about the 18th century English: most were violently against Papism, without being sure whether it was a doctrine, a man, or a horse.

This is what comes of it. A gang-shooting followed by police having to mob the hospital to protect against an attack on the wounded.

I once heard of an author who had suggested that society survives because only a few percent of humans are psychopathic. If the percent rises above a certain small number, they take over and all hell breaks loose.

Story here. The Texas law has been around, if I recall, since 1871.

For decades the Supreme Court has a had a single "swing vote," and for years, Chief Justice Roberts was the "swing vote." The simplest way to determine who is the swing vote is to ask how often they are in the majority of decisions. If they are the swing vote, they will generally be in the majority because their vote makes the difference.

Looking at the current figures, however, it looks like there are three swing votes. Kavanaugh is in the majority 97% of the time, Barrett 95%, and Gorsuch 94%. Roberts is down at 87%. Given the position of the top three on the Second Amendment, it's going to be very good for the near future!

The Reload has a very good piece on the subject. Not much good news, sorry to say.