Archive for the 'Second Amendment' Category

CNN.

Last year, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives banned bump stock devices — attachments that essentially allow shooters to fire semiautomatic rifles continuously with one pull of the trigger.

A group of bump stock owners and Second Amendment groups sought to challenge how the administration went about banning the devices.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was appointed to the court by Trump, wrote a statement saying he agrees the current case should not be heard and that the court was correct not to intervene, but he was concerned with how the lower court handled the issue.

“Justice Gorsuch’s separate opinion isn’t about the merits of the bump stocks rule, but rather whether the lower court applied the correct standard of review in considering those merits. The court’s denial here suggests that the justices are willing to let lower court litigation over the controversial Trump administration rule run its course before deciding if — and how — to intervene,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law.

Here is what Gorsuch wrote.

The law hasn’t changed, only an agency’s interpretation of it. And these days it sometimes seems agencies change their statutory interpretations almost as often as elections change administrations. How, in all this, can ordinary citizens be expected to keep up—required not only to conform their conduct to the fairest reading of the law they might expect from a neutral judge, but forced to guess whether the statute will be declared ambiguous; to guess again whether the agency’s initial interpretation of the law will be declared “reasonable”; and to guess again whether a later and opposing agency interpretation will also be held “reasonable”? And why should courts, charged with the independent and neutral interpretation of the laws Congress has enacted, defer to such bureaucratic pirouetting?

Despite these concerns, I agree with my colleagues that the interlocutory petition before us does not merit review. The errors apparent in this preliminary ruling might yet be corrected before final judgment. Further, other courts of appeals are actively considering challenges to the same regulation. Before deciding whether to weigh in, we would benefit from hearing their considered judgments—provided, of course, that they are not afflicted with the same problems. But waiting should not be mistaken for lack of concern.

His was the dissenting opinion, the only “justice” who expressed any problems with it all.  And if the Supreme Court had heard the case and assigned it to Gorsuch to write the opinion, he could have spent less time declaring the whole thing unconstitutional.

Thus, the Supreme Court has no balls.

The Washington Post editorial page.

It would be far more alarming if a local sheriff actually makes good on the threat — by refusing, for instance, to seize a weapon from a self-destructive son or daughter whose parents have convinced a judge that suicide may be imminent if law enforcement does not intervene. In that case, it would be not only irresponsible but also illegal, and quite likely would expose sheriffs personally, as well as the localities they represent, to liability in the event of an act of violence.

[ … ]

Gun-rights activists are free to denounce such laws; they are free to mount legal challenges to their constitutionality. But unless and until the laws are struck down by a court, no one is free to violate them.

Sheriffs and other law enforcement officers are sworn to uphold and enforce duly enacted laws. For a sheriff to refuse to enforce a protective order handed down by a court would be “an unspeakable betrayal” of his duties, Mark R. Herring, Virginia’s attorney general, told us.

Well now, if this is all so easy and clear, why are they so worried about it?

Perhaps because they know that it isn’t so easy and clear, and they can’t help but be controllers to the final breath.  “Can a leopard change its spots?”

The title of the opinion piece is “Virginia’s Second Amendment ‘Sanctuaries’ Can’t Ignore New Gun Control Laws.”  Well sure they can.  The question is what happens then?  This is what worries the WaPo, and it should.

The context for this is what we’ve discussed many times before.  Unlike the editors at The Washington Post, we know that rights come from the Almighty.  The constitution is a covenant between men, and  rights are only recognized by them, not created.  Thus, black robes who deny those rights are the same as legislators who deny them, i.e, it’s all tyranny, and it doesn’t make one iota of difference who enacts that tyranny.

Action to resist that tyranny is local in this case, and we’ve noted that there is a war brewing between state-level pols and local pols and Sheriffs.  We might remark that county Sheriffs should be locally funded anyway, and that sending tax monies to Richmond is the wrong way to do that.  In any case, let’s say that the legislature declares that the salaries for constitutional sheriffs is now zero ($0) per year.

What then?  Counties will have to fund county law enforcement if they want it at all.  The next step might involve armed agents of the state entering counties to apprehend and arrest county sheriffs and his deputies.  What then?

The next step might involve boys in Ghillie suits sitting in the hills and hollows of Virginia shooting tires out of vehicles, with boys in masks, black tactical gear and body armor surrounding those vehicles with the state agents inside.

The next step might involve blindfolding those agents, driving them to the county line, confiscating their phones, money, vehicles, firearms and comms gear, dropping them off, and letting them walk home after telling them that “We will allow you to get out of this unscathed this one time, and this one time only.”

Do you see how this game is played?  This is called 4GW, and it gets uglier from this point onward.  And lest you think this is some sort of exaggerated, extremist talk, remember that George Washington was an illegal, extremist militia founder.  This is all part of American history and this was all done about 200 years ago.

4GW is like tic-tac-toe.  The only winning move is not to play the game.  That’s the best bet for the controllers.  Pass the silly laws, ignore it when the laws are ignored, and try to get out of this with just a modicum of dignity left.  Or better yet, don’t pass the silly laws at all.

As always, this commentary is for the meant only for educational and instructional purposes only, all characters are fictional, and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Recall that I had made a FOIA request to the city of Alexandria, Virginia, concerning an incident where a man with a gun stood “outside Del. Mark Levine’s window.”  The city of Alexandria has responded.

02/26/2020

RE: W014261-021820

Dear Sir/Madam,

This is to acknowledge receipt of your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) dated 2/18/2020 referenced above. Based upon the information contained in your request, we have conducted a thorough search of the records held by the City and find that no police report for this event exists.

This letter is for your records and to inform you that the FOIA request file is now closed.

Sincerely,

David Lanier

Assistant City Attorney

So what the hell was that all about?  He clearly stated that he engaged the police and that the police responded and interacted with the man.  He also later stated that he wanted to press charges of some sort.

He can’t press charges without a police report.  What’s going on here?

UPDATE: David Codrea notes that “speculation that it may have been Fairfax County Police, not according to the news account quoting Alexandria police Lt. Courtney Ballentine. Someone is not being truthful and/or compliant here.”

News from Alexandria.

Del. Mark Levine, D-Alexandria, said an armed man stood outside his kitchen window in an effort to coerce him to change his vote.

“On Saturday, a man with a large assault weapon with a large extended magazine came to my home. He stood outside my kitchen window for a couple of hours or so,” Levine said Monday on the Virginia House floor.

Levine then recounted what happened when he asked Alexandria police officers to respond to the man.

“I asked them to ask the man if he would like to come to my office instead, to come chat with me in my office in Richmond,” Levine went on. “And, if he did not want to do that, if he wanted to protest outside my office in Richmond. The man declined my offer, through the police.”

Alexandria police Lt. Courtney Ballentine confirmed that officers responded to Levine’s home Saturday and said the unnamed man was not trespassing on Levine’s property.

[ … ]

In wrapping up his speech to colleagues, Levine said he welcomes any discussion, protest or act of civil disobedience from those with an opposing viewpoint.

Ole Mark “Pray and spray red hot magazines” Levine.  I actually have trouble believing this account, as I can think of a whole host of charges they could bring against the man.  My son says Levine sounds like a “bitch and a liar.”  Besides, I can’t see the Alexandria police being that polite.

But let’s assume for a moment that this is all true.  What exactly did the little communist think was going to happen when he threatened to tyrannize the people?  Does he think that he is immune from consequences?

However, I’m happy to hear that Levine is okay with disobedience.  There’s a lot of that going to happen in the near future.  I’ll remind Levine he said that.

So this is all a lie, in which case I love it because it’ll all come out, or it’s true, in which case Levine feels threatened.  He should.  And not just from one person with a rifle.

UPDATE: I’ve submitted a FOIA request with the Alexandria Police Department to obtain the police report of this incident, if there is one.

Via David Codrea, this great piece by David Kopel.

In early 1775, tensions between Great Britain and the American colonies were reaching the breaking point. The previous October, King George III had forbidden the import of arms and ammunition into the colonies, a decision which the Americans interpreted as a plan to disarm and enslave them. Kopel, How the British Gun Control Program Precipitated the American Revolution, 38 Charleston Law Review 283 (2012).

Without formal legal authorization, even from the Continental Congress, Americans began to form independent militias, outside the traditional chain of command of the royal governors. In February 1775, George Washington and George Mason organized the Fairfax Independent Militia Company.

According to Mason’s Fairfax County Militia Plan for Embodying the People, “a well regulated Militia, composed of the Gentlemen, Freeholders, and other Freemen” was needed to defend “our ancient Laws & Liberty” from the Redcoats. “And we do each of us, for ourselves respectively, promise and engage to keep a good Fire-lock in proper Order, & to furnish Ourselves as soon as possible with, & always keep by us, one Pound of Gunpowder, four Pounds of Lead, one Dozen Gun Flints, & a pair of Bullet-Moulds, with a Cartouch [cartridge] Box, or powder-horn, and Bag for Balls.” 1 The Papers of George Mason 210-11, 215-16 (Robert A. Rutland ed., 1970). Similar militias were being formed all over the American colonies, with no formal authorization and no chain of command to the established government. The legal bases of the militias were the natural rights of self-defense and self-government.

And that, fellows – ” … promise and engage to keep a good Fire-lock in proper Order, & to furnish Ourselves as soon as possible with, & always keep by us, one Pound of Gunpowder, four Pounds of Lead, one Dozen Gun Flints, & a pair of Bullet-Moulds, with a Cartouch [cartridge] Box, or powder-horn, and Bag for Balls” – is what well regulated means.  It means, simply, regulated firearms, or in other words, properly functioning and well stocked and supplied.  Powder and shot available, sights adjusted, and in working order.

Persuaded by Henry’s eloquence, the Virginia Convention formed a committee—including Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson—”to prepare a plan for the embodying, arming, and disciplining such a number of men as may be sufficient” to defend the commonwealth. The Convention urged “that every Man be provided with a good Rifle” and “that every Horseman be provided . . . with Pistols and Holsters, a Carbine, or other Firelock.” (“Firelock” was a synonym for “flintlock,” the most common firearms of the time.) Journal of Proceedings of Convention Held at Richmond 10-11 (1775).When the Virginia militiamen assembled a few weeks later, many wore canvas hunting shirts adorned with the motto from the conclusion of Henry’s speech: “Liberty or Death.” Henry Mayer, A Son of Thunder: Patrick Henry and the American Revolution 251 (1991).

Today, they would red flag Washington and send a trigger happy SWAT team to shoot up him and his family and beasts.  Or in other words, they would have proven the very thing that brought the patriots together and caused them to arm against tyranny.

So any time some ignorant fool tells you that the founders couldn’t have imagined arming the citizens with “weapons of war,” remind them that Washington was an “extremist illegal militia founder” and intended to make war on tyranny.

Louisiana House Bill 72.

Exempts certain persons from the crime of illegal carrying of weapons, and removes the requirement that a person possess a permit issued by the state of La. in order to carry a concealed handgun in the state of La.

This is a constitutional carry act.  If I have readers in Louisiana, you know what to do next.

News from Virginia.

BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) — A militia muster call in Bedford County on Saturday afternoon drew hundreds of local residents willing to take a stand to protect their community and their Second Amendment rights.

On Saturday, Feb. 15, more than 500 people showed up to the militia muster call in Bedford County to volunteer their energy and their skills to the cause. As advertised in the flyer for the muster call — which was posted on Facebook on Jan. 30 — registration for the militia was open to all able-bodied residents between the ages of 16 and 55.

I  do have an issue with the age limit of 55.  I think I’m in better physical shape than 50% of those guys.

Here’s a picture.

I was with family at a gun show in Greenville, S.C., today, and I’ll leave my comments on show itself out of the discussion.

I did manage to meet up with Mr. Matt Wavle of SCCarry.org, and got his contact information.  I had never met the group before, and Matt was a super nice guy and they are very much on top of the legislative goings-on in South Carolina.  I’m impressed with the organization.

If you’ve a resident of South Carolina and aren’t a member of this group, you should encourage them with a note and join the organization.

Their web site is here, and they have a nice page that links and outlines all of the current pending legislation in South Carolina that pertains to the RKBA.

From ThiccBoogLine Facebook.

Never heard of them, but you’ve got to hand it to them.  They’re showing spine and fortitude.

Dean Weingarten writing at Ammoland.

Many who fight hard to infringe on the rights to keep and carry firearms have been allies in the right to keep and carry knives. This creates momentum and precedent to remove infringements on the right to arms generally.

SB 96 in West Virginia has been referred to the House. If it passes a House vote,  it will need to be signed by Governor Jim Justice to become law.

I think Dean meant to say “Many who fight hard against infringements of the RKBA …”  The statement would make better sense that way.

He’s right, we’re natural allies, knife rights and gun rights folks.  But until West Virginia deals with the crooks in its midst, the people are under tyranny.  It’s just local tyranny, not state.  But the state is complicit if they do nothing.

Where is the state AG on Sheriff Steve Deweese, sdeweese@putnamwv.org?  He and his deputies are the crooks I’m talking about.