QOTD: Judge Benson Everett Legg

"A citizen may not be required to offer a good and substantial reason why he should be permitted to exercise his rights. The right‘s existence is all the reason he needs."

Judge Benson Everett Legg, in the case of Woollard v. Sheridan.

The opinion grants the Motion for Summary Judgment to Plaintiff Woollard, and denies the State of Maryland's claim. Score one victory for the Second Amendment Foundation, and Maryland Shall Issue (at the District Court level, too!).

QOTD-Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. (D-CA)

As reported in the Sacramento Bee (threatening vetoes):

"...You've given me 600 bills, and there's not 600 problems that we need those solutions for."

I am no fan of Jerry Brown. I despised him during his last stint in the Governor's chair. The Rose Byrd court that he foisted upon California was a disaster that is still having effects 30 years later. Yet, he seems to have matured a little. Perhaps some wisdom comes with age after all.

I quote the above for the truth that it represents. Not every human problem requires a new law to address (paraphrasing something else that Jerry Brown stated recently). It is time to take Jerry Brown's example, and apply it to our national legislature. Instead of constantly asking Congress for new laws, perhaps we should be mailing Sharpie pens to them instead. Let them redact whole sections of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations. It would be a good start.

Newbius

Stupid Gun Laws

Well, all of them are stupid since they regulate a THING instead of an action.  Today's example?  California's "Safe Gun" Approved Handgun Roster.

Why is certifying guns for sale in a state stupid? Because it creates idiocies like the one below:

THIS gun is approved for sale in California:

THIS gun is NOT approved for sale in California:

"But they look identical", you say. That's because they ARE identical. Well, except that the "unapproved" gun comes from the factory with 2 of these:

And the approved gun comes with 2 of these:

The above examples are for the XD-45. The XD-9 faces similar restrictions. The only difference between the guns, as-packaged, is the capacity of the magazine. In both cases, the "approved gun" is restricted to 10 round magazines for citizens. Of course, "law enforcement" is exempt from those restrictions, but that is another post for another day. Malum Prohibitum doesn't have to make sense, it just has to ensnare you in the web. The system cannot control honest men and women. They can only control criminals.

Do you understand yet?

Newbius
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FTC Note: "Traction Control" (well-regulatedmilitia.com/ffl) is a good vendor.  I am using these images under 'fair use' and am linking back to the source site.  I have not received anything of value in exchange for using his images or linking to him.  He doesn't even know I exist.  So, suck it.  Go pick on Bank of America for their crap customer service and fraudulent lending practices.  Oh, wait...

Open Letter to Speaker Howell

Speaker Howell,

Thank you for your many years of service to the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the residents of Stafford County. Your tireless efforts securing our gun rights places you in the vanguard of state Legislators in supporting Liberty.

As you travel your district this campaign season, take note of the state of the economy, and also the developing need for citizens to defend themselves. Budgets are being cut, crime is rising, and the People are becoming prey to gangs and other criminals more frequently. I mention this because there is a small change in our laws that you can initiate, which would enable more citizens of the Commonwealth, and especially those visiting here from out of state, to be self-sufficient in their defense: Loosen the reciprocity requirements with other states.

The current text of the Code of Virginia that deals with reciprocity is in Section 18.2-308, Subsection P, and reads:

P. A valid concealed handgun or concealed weapon permit or license issued by another state shall authorize the holder of such permit or license who is at least 21 years of age to carry a concealed handgun in the Commonwealth, provided (i) the issuing authority provides the means for instantaneous verification of the validity of all such permits or licenses issued within that state, accessible 24 hours a day, and (ii) except for the age of the permit or license holder and the type of weapon authorized to be carried, the requirements and qualifications of that state's law are adequate to prevent possession of a permit or license by persons who would be denied a permit in the Commonwealth under this section. The Superintendent of State Police shall (a) in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General determine whether states meet the requirements and qualifications of this section, (b) maintain a registry of such states on the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN), and (c) make the registry available to law-enforcement officers for investigative purposes. The Superintendent of the State Police, in consultation with the Attorney General, may also enter into agreements for reciprocal recognition with any state qualifying for recognition under this subsection.

I propose amending this section to instead read:

P. A valid concealed handgun or concealed weapon permit or license issued by another state shall authorize the holder of such permit or license who is at least 21 years of age to carry a concealed handgun in the Commonwealth, provided (i) the issuing authority provides the means for instantaneous verification of the validity of all such permits or licenses issued within that state, accessible 24 hours a day, and (ii) except for the age of the permit or license holder and the type of weapon authorized to be carried, the requirements and qualifications of that state's law are adequate to prevent possession of a permit or license by persons who would be denied a permit in the Commonwealth under this section. The Superintendent of State Police shall (a) in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General determine whether states meet the requirements and qualifications of this section, (b) maintain a registry of such states on the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN), and (c) make the registry available to law-enforcement officers for investigative purposes. The Superintendent of the State Police, in consultation with the Attorney General, may also enter into agreements for reciprocal recognition with any state qualifying for recognition under this subsection.

This change would make the minimum standard for reciprocity with another state be only our own standards for issuance of a permit. It does away with the unfunded mandate that another state initiate and maintain an online database, and staff it for our convenience.

Speaker Howell, in making (or sponsoring) this change, you enable law-abiding residents of another state to protect themselves while traveling to Virginia, and you enable Virginians to carry their firearms in places which currently do not recognize our permits today. Places whose only objection to our permits is that we do not recognize theirs.

Please consider this proposal, for the good of the Commonwealth and her citizens.

Respectfully submitted,

Newbius

Lane v. Holder Update

Plaintiff's were dismissed on Standing grounds. I expect that an appeal will be forthcoming shortly (using Dearth v. Holder as the framework, I predict).

Lose fast, appeal all the way up. Make a Supreme case out of it.

Works for me.

Newbius

Lane v. Holder MPI Orals today

Lane v. Holder (sales of handguns across state lines) is having oral arguments on the Motion for Preliminary Injunction. No word yet on the outcome (arguments scheduled for 10:00 AM), but the MPI brief filed by Alan Gura is stunning. Go read it.

Newbius

QOTD: Judge Diane Sykes

"Mr. Gura, what would you like your injunction to say?"

7th Circuit Court of Appeals, oral arguments, Ezell v. City of Chicago.

The full audio recording is HERE. Save this one to your MP3 player. It is worth listening to over and over and over again. :)

Newbius

H/T Sebastian, John Richardson

Patriot's Day Rallies

Yesterday, two rallies were held advocating the preservation of our Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend due to a personal matter.

However, reading through all of the news coverage of the events, one thing is very clear to me. Namely, the law-abiding gun-owner is just that. Law-abiding.

If you listen just to the smear merchants and bed wetters, you would get the impression that we are foaming-at-the-mouth Neanderthals itching for a fight with Big.Gov. The truth is, even though the rhetoric can get heated at times, at no point was anybody threatened, harmed, or killed. No violence was advocated. No violence was experienced.

Unlike the protests that the Left conducts (like the G-20 summits recently), there was exhibited a respect for the law and an adherence to the principles of decency that define our Nation for the most part.

Yes, gun owners and advocates got together to protest. One protest was armed and another was not. The difference? The Law.

In Virginia, it is legal to bear arms. In DC, it is not. Even though I believe that the law in DC is unconstitutional, the protesters still obeyed it because we are law-abiding even in our advocacy.

The Progressive Left in America wishes to force a Socialist vision of government-mandated Utopian equality onto the rest of us. We in the Libertarian Right oppose this. Until the day comes where the choice is forced, "obey or die" (implied if the threatened response is arrest and jail time), we will continue to advocate using peaceful means.

Even when displaying our arms in protest, we are obeying the law. We are just trying to bring the Law into alignment with the founding principles of Liberty. Peacefully, if possible.

Pax,

Newbius

Riddle me this

Hypothetical court test case:

Defendant owns sequentially numbered firearms itemized below:

Exhibit A: Mossberg 500 12ga, 18.5" barrel, standard buttstock, S/N xxxxxxx4, produced 01/29/xxxx



Firearm "A" is considered a shotgun according to the BATFE. If the owner cuts the barrel down to a length under 18", it is a violation of the National Firearms Act of 1934. Possession of the modified gun without registering it with the Federal Government (impossible to do with a modified weapon) and paying a $200 tax is a Felony.

Exhibit B: Mossberg 500 12ga, 18.5" barrel, pistol grip, S/N xxxxxxx5, produced 01/29/xxxx



Firearm "B" is not considered a shotgun according to BATFE. If the owner cuts the barrel down to a length under 18", it is not a violation of the National Firearms Act of 1934.

Please note that ALL of the parts on each firearm are interchangeable with one another. The act of putting the stock from Firearm "A" onto Firearm "B" would break no laws, according to BATFE, as Firearm "B" is not considered a pistol, nor is it considered a shotgun.

Arrest: Defendant swaps the stock and grip on his sequentially-numbered, but otherwise unmodified firearms. This act shortens Firearm "A" to an overall length below the minimum allowed and defendant is arrested by BATFE.

Accusation: Defendant is accused of violating NFA34 for possession of a contraband firearm, a "sawed-off shotgun" - Firearm Exhibit "A", without registering said weapon with and paying the Tax to the Federal Government.

No charges are filed for firearm exhibit "B".

If you were an honest judge, how would you decide?

As an aside- if you were to put a buttstock on an ordinary pistol, you would be in breach of NFA34. If you were to put a pistol grip on your rifle or shotgun in place of the buttstock, such that the overall length is less than the legal minimum, you would be in violation of NFA34. If the factory does it for you, it is legal as long as the tribute tax is paid.

Makes perfect sense, right?

H/T Sipsey Street
Images from "World Guns" website, Mossberg Shotguns page
Is the Miller Decision even correct? See JPFO Summary
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Denying reality

Tonight, our Enlightened Dear Leader, The Won, The Light-bringer Himself plans to appear before his adoring subjects on a national telecast. He intends to inform us that our situation is grim, but that it could be worse. After all, he has "Saved" millions of jobs through his enlightened actions in interposing the Leviathan between the citizens and the evil corporations which employ them.

Then he will tell us that we must plunder the productive among us, in order to provide for the unproductive the ability to continue in sloth and lethargy. Because it is our duty to them.

Finally, he will implore us to act against rational self-interest and support the Leviathan takeover of Health Care and Carbon-producing activities. For the betterment of the world...and then he will go collect his Cracker Jack award for his non-action in promising to bring peace to the world by destroying the very gatekeeper of peace itself, our country.

The world will feel better when it is enslaved to the despots who wish us gone, our lamp of Liberty extinguished, our shores just another dreary destination on the road to serfdom.

Are they kidding?

WAKE UP PEOPLE!

The enemy is inside the gates, inside the very halls of our revered institutions. They have perverted reality and are telling us that War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength. They have perverted the concept of war to one where we use force to mold societies to liking us more. They have ensured that our system of taxation benefits only a very select few, and that the rest of us are shackled to a debt our grandchildren can never hope to repay, to countries whose interests are not our own. They have fundamentally altered the meaning of education to ensure that our highly sexualized college graduates are barely competent enough to become consumers and clerks, and are dependent upon Leviathan for everything else.

And we let them do it to us, because we have allowed them to take over the roles of our educators, bankers, communicators, manufacturers, and parents. Shame on us. When this house of cards collapses, they will then take on the role of jailer over anybody who dissents or resists. Their policies are not about improving anything. They are about usurping power and control over you and your actions.

There are reports out on the fringes of the tinfoil hat crowd that Dear Reader is mobilizing troops and redeploying them under USNORTHCOM. In anticipation of civil unrest scheduled (yes, scheduled) to occur early next year when the collapse of the dollar is announced. In so doing, the theory goes, the Republic will be saved from civil war because of overwhelming force deployed on the part of Government against its own people. Oh, and coincidentally, the declaration of Martial Law will suspend the 2010 elections, ensuring that the current Mandarins in Babylon-by-the-Potomac will remain in their seats of power.

Is this what you want?

If not, what are you going to do about it?

Pax,

Newbius

Legal Plunder...

...and other musings from Frédéric Bastiat, found Here.

My favorite: "...But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime..."

Go RTWT. Then, follow the links.

H/T WRSA