Category: Gun Rights

The New York legislature, in the stealth of night, fixes the SAFE act through a budgetary measure to exempt retired police officers. I say the title sarcastically. Remember folks, when retired cops have AR-15s, they are wholesome and good patrol rifles, highly useful for self-defense and sport. When we have them they are bullet-spraying assault rifles whose only purpose is to kill large numbers of people as quickly as possible.

Eugene Kontorovich over at The Volokh Conspiracy notes that the deadline is looming, and also discusses some of the Constitutional issues with Quinn’s amendatory veto:

Turning past the text – the purpose of the Second Amendment is self-defense. Limiting people to one gun fundamentally jeopardizes self-defense in the event the gun malfunctions, is dropped, etc. The best way to evaluate the seriousness of such concerns is to look to whether police and military personell carry multiple weapons, i.e., whether this is a done thing in contexts where regulation is not an obstacle. This of course is also the leading way of thinking about what kind of weapons can be banned. This is partially an empirical question; I don’t know the answer. The non-empirical part what the threshold must be – how many cops have to carry weapons to make this normal.

Some very good questions. I’ve long advocated that the courts need to evaluate police use to determine the scope of the constitutional protections, the police being situated similar to non-police citizens. That can become difficult. Are machine guns in common police use? Increasingly this is so. I think a reasonable standard would be that citizens can have anything the police can have, subject to the same or similar restrictions to police. This would also tend to serve as a check on the militarization of police forces, since they’d have to accept that issuing “special equipment” to cops means Joe Citizen has a right to access to the same. But we can always imagine far better constitutional regimes than the courts would ever be willing to implement.

UPDATE: More here.

By seizing guns, of course. Oh, the sweet irony. Somewhere in the netherworld, General Gage is having a laugh, for sure.

Governor Quinn of Illinois apparently doesn’t care that the court has spoken. His amendatory veto suggests that:

• You only be allowed to carry one gun. Because two would just be one too many?
• No carrying any spare magazines.
• No carrying anywhere alcohol is served, even if you’re drinking iced tea.
• Requires businesses to opt-in to the concealed carry program rather an opt out.
• Removes preemption of home rule regulation of so-called assault weapons.

Screw this guy. Tell your lawmakers you expect them to override Quinn and ignore his tantrum.

Says Mark Kelly in an interview:

“If we don’t have a Congress that can pass some reasonable gun legislation, which I think the public is asking for, overwhelmingly in some cases, with an expanded background check, if Congress won’t pass that legislation, we’ll find some new members,” Kelly told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, according to a transcript provided by the network on Monday.

As if we’re not thinking about the 2014 election cycle as well.

Skokie and North Chicago passed bans, but we’re still winning more than we’re losing. All these bans would be grandfathered under the proposed state preemption law that’s sitting on Quinn’s desk.

The wave continues. I think there are probably a few other states this might be able to happen in the short term. The other side needs to understand that there are consequences for awakening the sleeping giant.

Posting will be a bit scarce this week because of the approaching holiday weekend, and my impending office move that will go along with it. But I do have some news links.

Even after Sandy Hook, Maine’s gun laws remain unchanged.

Manchin is upset that Beretta played their hand very well, and made him look like a chump.

Democracy and distrust.

Canadians can sometimes get guns we can’t. Our importation laws are more strict than Canada’s.

Quite a crowd showed up in Colorado for Magpul’s magazine event. The Daily Caller has more.

A British couple freaks out over ammunition in their garden.

New Jersey appeal over permits to carry has a poor result. This is a state court decision, and New Jersey State courts have long been hostile to civilian firearm ownership.

Government at work with guns.

More Illinois towns are preparing for gun control.

Two of Bloomberg’s pet projects are battling each other over Marco Rubio.

SAF is filing a FOIA request for all information in regards to MAIG’s activity with taxpayer money. This should be interesting, but do think they ought to talk to FloridaCarry, who has already done some work in this area.

Keeping the world safe from bottled water, with guns drawn. Even if it was alcohol, guns drawn? Seriously?

As of midnight last night, it’s become the new Maryland. But unlike Maryland, perhaps Colorado can be turned around. Michael Bane offers this useful advice:

If you must travel through Denver and Boulder, I strongly suggest that ALL magazines of greater than 15 round capacity, including grandfathered magazines, be LOCKED IN A CASE! If stopped by law enforcement in the Denver/Boulder area, under NO CONDITION agree to a search of your car, the car’s trunk or any locked cases in your car or truck. Under NO CONDITION answer any questions about the content of the cases. If the heads of the IRS can take the Fifth in front of Congress, you can certainly do so with the local police. Under NO CONDITION leave a magazine with a capacity of greater than 15 rounds visible in your car or truck, or you’re fair game for a search. Be polite, but be firm…in the absence of probable cause, police can’t go on a fishing expedition in your car unless you let them.

RTWT. It’s a sad state of affairs, but until Colorado is freed, this is the protocol.