Looks like Arizona is working to repeal its resataurant carry ban. Not coming from a state that restricts carry in restaurants, we’re like Indiana in that regard, I was surprised by how much it got in the way, especially if you’re on foot and having to walk back to a hotel to ditch firearms. It would be one thing if you planned to drink, but a real hassle if all you want is a bite to eat, and nothing stronger than a coke. It is easier to just not carry, which is what I suspect opponents are hoping for.
Month: June 2009
Fly Yes, Land?… Getting There
The last leg of today’s virtual flying was from Ryan’s Creek Airport on Stuart Island, New Zealand, to Sydney International Airport in Sydney, Australia, following a course along the Tasman Sea. I have to say, even in a virtual world, southern New Zealand is quite beautiful. I continue to be impressed by how much flight simulators have improved since I was younger. While I still would not get in a plane with myself, at least my landing in Sydney would be in the realm of respectable, I think.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4NRsQG-eEo[/youtube]
X-Plane has a feature that allows you to record flight footage as if you had a camcorder in the pilot’s seat. I’ve always enjoyed approaches over water, where as you dip closer and closer to the drink, you look to the guy next to you and think “I hope you like fish.” Only at the last minute to have a runway roll out underneath you. Sydney would seem to be one of those approaches.
The Cirrus Vision being simulated here likes to be in the air, and can land even at low speed under full flaps. I find it to be very easy to fly compared to some of the other jets available within X-Plane.
PLCAA Being Read Narrowly by New Jersey Court
A Morris County Superior Court judge is allowing a suit to go forward against Sarco, a New Jersey based distributor of firearms. The facts seem to be that an employee stole a firearm from a shipment of guns, which was later used to shoot and severely wound a police officer. Sarco has offered a half million dollar settlement to the officer wounded.
I think, in terms of the PLCAA, that it probably doesn’t apply to this case, which is a negligence suit. But the circumstances surrounding this suit make me skeptical of the negligence claim. Sarco claims a shipment arriving from a California dealer that was shutting down had firearms missing from it, one of which their employee apparently stole. Sarco claims that it is the sender’s responsibility to file the FFL Theft/Loss form. That is correct, as we can see from the Federal Register:
If a firearm is lost or stolen in transit, the notation in the acquisition and disposition book of the transferor/sender that the firearm was disposed of to a particular transferee/buyer is inaccurate. Therefore, a transferor/sender must verify that the transferee/buyer received the shipped firearm in order to fulfill his/her statutory responsibility to maintain accurate records. 18 U.S.C. 922(m), 923(g)(1)(A), and 923(g)(2).
I think this makes it difficult to say that Sarco was the responsible party here from a legal point of view, since as best they knew the shipment arrived with the guns already missing, which puts the legal onus on the sending FFL for reporting. In that instance, the negligence suit will have to be decided on whether or not Sarco’s security procedures were sufficient to prevent unauthorized employees from tampering with shipments. That should be a harder case to make than if they had actually violated ATF regulations, but I suspect they are offering settlement because they realize an injured police officer before a jury, against a gun distributor, in a New Jersey court, is not likely to turn out well for them.
Why Sarco chooses to locate in a state that is decidedly hostile to their line of business is a mystery to me. I can think of several nearby states that would be a better place to do business.
11% Still Think Obama is a Muslim
Apparently the trend that began with the campaign is continuing:
Only 48% correctly identify Obama as a Christian. Over a third of Americans (35%) say they do not know Obama’s religion, either because they do not know enough about him (22%), or because they have heard different things about his religion (13%); another 6% refused to answer.
Is Christian really the right answer? I’m pretty sure I know who his messiah is.
More Unhappiness with Obama
First the gay rights folks, and now The Brady Campaign. I have to admit, I don’t like him either, so we have that in common at least. But I’m forced more and more to admit that the issue with him isn’t guns. Obama pretty clearly isn’t interesting in fighting culture wars, as Bill Clinton relished in. No, Obama is interested in transforming the American economy and health care system, and has no intention of letting culture war issues like gun control, gay rights, or abortion jeopardize his efforts to bring social democracy to the United States. I can almost hear Rahm saying, “Never let a culture war get in the way of a good opportunity to take the country closer to socialism! Besides, we can take their guns after we make them dependent on us for health care. We can sell it as a cost saving measure.”
Joe talks about how the Bradys are backing down from some of their bogus statistics with this latest post. I agree that’s a positive change, but necessary for them. Previously the gun control movement could count the media to do most of their heavy lifting. Their control over the debate in the media bought with it political access. The media is in the process of transforming, and in whatever emerges from the other side is going to be considerably different than what came before it. Ordinary citizens are going to play a greater role in shaping public debate.
The gun control movement needs to learn to speak to real people. Their lack of political progress, even under what should be a very favorable congress and administration, isn’t really about Obama. Obama is just being a shrewd politician. The real problem is that they don’t have people, which you need to have a real movement.
The six million dollar question for the gun control movement is whether there’s any passion for it. Sure, lots of people say they favor it, but when the rubber meets the road, they really don’t care. Lecturing Obama might feel good, but ultimately there’s not much he can do if he doesn’t want a costly fight in Congress. The failure of the gun control movement isn’t Obama’s fault, it’s the movement’s inability to motivate voters that’s costing them. Whether or not that is changeable depends on whether the gun control movement has a future, or will go the way of the temperance movement.
Defend Yourself and Become a Felon
I actually question how useful right-to-carry would be in the Garden State, when pretty regularly you see people defending themselves getting into trouble with the law. This Jersey City gun shop owner had some words with individuals who were blocking him in double parking. Not the wisest thing to do if you’re armed, but that doesn’t excuse beating someone to the ground.
Not long after, his store had a gun stolen, and officials used that as an excuse to pull his license, and not longer after that he was facing felony charges. Hudson County prosecutors got not only one grand jury to indict the guy, but two, after the initial charges were thrown out after it was shown the prosecution lied about the gun shop owner not having a license for the gun.
What’s wrong with people in New Jersey? I’ll be the first to admit that confronting the double parking vehicle wasn’t the smartest thing to do. Once the situation escalated, the smart thing to do was to retreat and call the police. But you don’t get to beat a man when he’s down on the ground. I might, as a juror, consider charges of simple assault for the both of them, and I’d probably even accept a charge for firing the gun within city limits. But a felony gun charge, when the guy is licensed to carry? No way. It looks like he got off with probation, but he’s still a convicted felon:
A former Jersey City gun store owner who fired into the air while he was apparently being attacked outside a Downtown club two years ago was sentenced today to two years probation and 100 hours of community service and ordered to undergo anger management counseling.
So he gets sentenced as if it were a simple assault, which at worst it was, since it depends on who’s story you believe as to whether he was a willing participant in the fight. But it doesn’t, to me, appear that Mr. Murray asked to be beaten.
More on Knife Restrictions
Joe Huffman looks a bit deeper into the issue and concludes, “it appears they are pushing toward calling any knife you can open with one hand as a switchblade.” I can open my Leatherman blade with one hand. This should be interesting.
Shooting Steel Animals
Looks like The Ten Ring stopped by Whittington Center to do some shooting when they passed through New Mexico on the way to Phoenix. They shot on their silhouette range. I know Pennsylvania is a bit of a drive from where they live in Maryland, but my club does handgun silhouette first Sunday of every month. I’d be happy to introduce Denise and Sam to the sport, or anyone else for that matter. Silhouette shooters are always happy to have new people on the range.
Grown Up Party
Tam is suggesting we need a new party. I think she’s right. “The GUP is the Party for Me.” It even rhymes.
Stepping Up: Civil Rights Defense Fund
In light of this week’s ruling from the Seventh Circuit, and the scramble to get the Chicago gun ban case to the Supreme Court, I’ve decided to step up and make a donation to the NRA Civil Rights Defend Fund. I have noted before that the CRDF is consistently under funded and the legal battles we must fight post-Heller are extremely expensive.
Though the CRDF will be focusing its funding on NRA v. Chicago in coming months, it also has to maintain the usual caseload of non-SCOTUS bound cases and fund research to keep Second Amendment scholarship on track.
While NRA was derided by many for not jumping on board with the Heller case at first (hindsight is always 20/20), the CRDF was responsible for bringing in the scholars, lawyers, and others who contributed to moot court sessions, and not to mention the decades of research funded by CRDF that gave us the legal footing to make some of the arguments. Heller could not have happened if it weren’t for the investment that NRA’s CRDF made in Second Amendment scholarship for decades before the case was ever filed.
Beyond the big cases, CRDF is also available to help the little guy if the case is likely to set precedent. (Being under funded means not every case can get the full funding it may deserve.) Some of the cases you may recall include the student in Virginia who was targeted by school officials and threatened with punishment for wearing a shooting sports shirt to his public school. In New Jersey, CRDF has lent financial assistance to the case against one-gun-a-month in Jersey City which has been defeated in the lower courts and now awaits a decision by the state Supreme Court. In California, it was the CRDF who stepped up to fund the case against San Francisco’s ballot-approved handgun ban.
When they aren’t providing direct funding with cases, often those involved in the Defense Fund’s network of lawyers and academics use their connections to organize on behalf of cases. Organizing all of the amici curiae for Heller was no small feat. Nearly four dozen briefs were filed in the support of Dick Heller, many of those briefs were organized to focus on a specific argument so that every topic could be covered. There was no room to be broadsided by an unexpected argument. More than 125 female state lawmakers were rounded up to sign onto a single brief. History was made when NRA worked with Congress to get more Senators and Representatives on board with one brief than ever before in the history of our country. More than 30 states were organized to submit a brief declaring their support for an individual rights interpretation. This kind of work takes serious resources. Whether you always agree with NRA’s political work or not, there is something that CRDF has either aided with funds or organizing efforts that you can support.
The CRDF supports cases for individual gun owners, FFLs, and other Second Amendment supporters. It is impossible to overstate the support Defense Fund provides for protecting the Second Amendment. Unfortunately, their work is only limited by the funds they receive. As we barrel down a likely path toward the Supreme Court again in such a short time, it is time that we make sure they have all of the resources available to fight for incorporation.
I would also add that if you are an attorney who would like to contribute your legal services to any of the cases or get the CRDF on your firm’s pro bono radar, please contact them. Other lawyers have found that firms are surprisingly receptive to adding a bit of diversity to their pro bono programs.