Brandeis Dissent and McDonald: In 1932, progressive Supreme Court
Justice Louis Brandeis penned one of the most famous passages in
American jurisprudence. "It is one of the happy incidents of the federal
system," Brandeis wrote in his dissent in New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann,
"that a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a
laboratory, and try novel social and economic experiments without risk
to the rest of the country." Since then, Brandeis' famous words have
been quoted or referenced countless times, appearing everywhere from
legal documents to campaign speeches. Most recently, they surfaced in
the arguments leading up to the landmark Second Amendment case McDonald
v. Chicago, which the Supreme Court is set to hear in early March
2010... Quite so. In fact, Brandeis himself occasionally shared this
skeptical view of state power - at least when it came to state
"experiments" on the First Amendment. Just one year earlier, in the case
of Near v. Minnesota, Brandeis joined the Court in striking down that
state's defamation law as a violation of the freedom of the press. So
much for allowing a "courageous" state the free rein to experiment...
http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/31/laboratories-of-repression
----
In a Nutshell: Stories of skyrocketing gun sales dominated the headlines
earlier this year, with the number of gun-purchase background checks in
the first six months of 2009 soaring 25 percent over the same period in
2008. Yet as the NRA points out today, murder in the U.S. has plummetted
to a 46-year low (with the largest year-over-year drop since the 1960s)
even as gun ownership has risen to an apparent all-time high. Meanwhile,
across the pond, gun crime in Britain has risen 89 percent since the UK
banned guns in 1997. Some may jump too far in there conclusions, but we
can at least say this: There is no evidence from the U.S. experience
this decade that higher rates of gun ownership lead to more crime, nor
from the British experience this decade that fewer guns translate to
less crime.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Fewer-guns-less-crime-Not-in-this-world-80433802.html
---
Firearm Purchases and No-Fly Lists: ...My middle daughter's name seems
to be on the No Fly List. Since she's only twelve years old, and neither
practices nor endorses acts of political violence, I can only assume
there's been some kind of mistake. No one at the airport will tell us
how she made the list. They won't even confirm that she's on it. Every
time we go to the airport, the electronic kiosk simply refuses to issue
her a boarding pass, and we're sent to the ticket counter, where five
people look at the whole family's I.D., and then specifically hers, and
then someone calls someone, and they call someone, and that person tells
the person on the phone, "No, she's a little girl." And eventually we're
allowed to run for our flight... So I should hate the No Fly List.
Besides the personal inconvenience, it runs counter to a solid third of
the Bill of Rights. But I'm conflicted. Because I have a pretty good
idea why my daughter's on the list. It's because she has the same name
as this guy... In 1993 this IRA thug walked into a fish shop in Belfast
with a bomb that went off prematurely (of course) injuring 57 people,
including a 79-year-old woman and two two-year-old boys. It also killed
ten people, including a thirteen-year-old girl named Leanne Baird, and
her little sister, Michelle, seven. Just like Jesus would have wanted...
(Being a good "progressive," Mr. Kelly ignores the issue of whether
sharing the name of an IRA terrorist should be enough to block his
daughter from purchasing a firearm when she is old enough.)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-kelly/my-daughters-on-the-no-fl_b_406847.html
---
Bad Ruling from First Circuit: A case out of the First Circuit has some
painful lessons for gun carriers in Georgia. A United States Circuit
Court of Appeals last week upheld the constitutionality of pointing a
gun at any citizen daring to carry, lawfully, a concealed weapon in
public. The First Circuit Court of Appeals is the Court just below the
United States Supreme Court in the New England states. The case stems
from a lawyer who sued a police officer after he was detained for
lawfully carrying a concealed weapon while in possession of a license to
carry concealed. According to the case opinion, the lawyer, Greg
Schubert, had a pistol concealed under his suit coat, and Mr. Schubert
was walking in what the court described as a "high crime area." At some
point a police officer, J.B. Stern, who lived up to his last name,
caught a glimpse of the attorney's pistol, and he leapt out of his
patrol car "in a dynamic and explosive manner" with his gun drawn,
pointing it at the attorney's face. Officer Stern "executed a
pat-frisk," and Mr. Schubert produced his license to carry a concealed
weapon. He was disarmed and ordered to stand in front of the patrol car
in the hot sun. At some point, the officer locked him in the back seat
of the police car and delivered a lecture. Officer Stern "partially
Mirandized Schubert, mentioned the possibility of a criminal charge, and
told Schubert that he (Stern) was the only person allowed to carry a
weapon on his beat." ... (This incident apparently occurred in
Springfield MA, home to Smith & Wesson.)
http://www.examiner.com/x-5619-Atlanta-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m12d31-Court-upholds-police-pointing-gun-at-lawful-carriers
http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/getopn.pl?OPINION=09-1370P.01A
---
Questionable Advice: On numerous Internet forums, and some email lists,
gun owners periodically report being hassled by police when pulled over
for routine traffic infractions. These gun owners often complain of
being detained for longer than necessary to issue a traffic summons,
being temporarily disarmed, and having the serial numbers of the guns
recorded. But often there is a common thread to these stories - the
dorky gun owner brought up the gun thing all on her own! Traffic stop
gun dork behavior comes in a variety of flavors, but here are the major
ones... And sometimes these gun dorks execute more than one of these
behaviors, or one of several others oddities - like my favorite: getting
out of their car "to meet the officer on equal ground." ... (I suspect
that the inappropriate police behavior may be a regional issue. Most
shall-issue states do require notification that the permittee is armed.
In Arizona, one of the states that does not, most officers do appreciate
the courtesy of the notification but I advise my students to word it,
"I'm licensed to carry concealed and I am carrying," with no mention of
"gun," "weapon" or "firearm" [tip of the hat to Massad Ayoob]. Getting
out of your vehicle on your own initiative will be perceived either as a
threat or an attempt at distraction by any competent officer.)
http://www.examiner.com/x-2782-DC-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m12d31-Dont-be-a-gun-dork-in-traffic-stops
---
Cheaper Than Dirt, STI Follow Barrett's Example: Readers may remember
mention here, and in the work of some of my other Gun Rights Examiner
colleagues (links beneath the photo), of California's AB 962. This law
is designed to make purchase of ammunition that can be used in handguns
(and there are very few calibers for which someone hasn't made a
handgun) as difficult as possible, short of an outright ban. This, of
course, was touted as a major "victory" by the Brady Campaign (and I
suppose I can't argue - a defeat for liberty is a victory for the Brady
Campaign). In a more recent development, though, blogger Thirdpower
points out a possibly unintended consequence of the coming (it goes into
effect in February 2011) law. An online retailer of ammunition and
shooting accessories, Cheaper Than Dirt, has announced that it will, as
of 2011, stop selling ammo not only to private citizens in California,
but to government agencies, as well, stating about the new policy that:
". . . it will apply to every individual, business, and agency in CA."
...I should also mention that STI (known mostly for very high-end 1911
type pistols) followed the same example (pdf file), in response to
passage in California of legislation requiring that all semi-automatic
pistols "microstamp" the cartridge case with identifying information -
and will no longer sell any of their fine pistols in California, to
either private citizens or government agencies. It is gratifying to see
principle trump the bottom line at these companies, but without many
others following their example, their principled stand will be largely
symbolic. I can't afford a Barrett rifle (and would have trouble using
one from a wheelchair, anyway) or an STI pisol, but I do buy a fair
amount of ammo online. Cheaper Than Dirt will be the first place I look
when shopping for ammo. (Principled stands are to be applauded but CTD
probably realizes that its image needs polishing after it acquired a
reputation for price-gouging during the recent ammunition shortage.)
http://www.examiner.com/x-2581-St-Louis-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m12d31-Online-ammo-retailer-follows-Ronnie-Barretts-principled-example?cid=exrss-St-Louis-Gun-Rights-Examiner
---
New York Gunners to Rally at Capitol: Sportsmen and women from all
across New York state want to start the new year by sending a message to
Albany, and they are going to deliver it themselves. They plan to
descend on Albany on Jan. 12, where they will try to get the attention
of the New York State Legislature. The message: They are willing to
fight for their right to keep and bear arms as provided under the Second
Amendment... Organizers of the event are encouraging everyone to call
their assemblymen and senators and make an appointment to meet with them
in their offices that day. At the very least, they are hoping that you
will show up in the well of the LOB between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. to send a
message that you care about your gun rights and that you're proud of the
contribution your love of the outdoors makes to this state's economy.
There are a few buses coming from upstate areas, but I don't know of any
that are scheduled from the Hudson Valley. If you would like to make the
trip, call (845)635-1606 and hopefully there will be enough interest to
pull together a car pool. (Despite being one of the original thirteen
states, New York has no RKBA provision in its state constitution.)
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009912310316
---
Oops, Wrong Coffee Stand: The owner of Sunshine Espresso in Coeur
d'Alene [ID] fought fire with fire - literally - when she pulled a
handgun on a 17-year-old boy who tried to rob her stand Wednesday
morning... Sunshine Espresso owner Michelle Cornelsen said the teen
walked up to her stand and demanded cash without showing the gun at
first. "He didn't have it at first, he was playing with his pocket, I
had a bad feeling though. I had a bad feeling about him," Cornelsen
said. What the robber didn't know is that Cornelsen has had her
concealed weapons permit for seven years and she had received a new 9mm
handgun for Christmas from her husband... She stalled the teen by
talking to him about why he was trying to rob her, to which he replied
that he didn't have any money. About five minutes into the attempted
robbery another customer pulled up to the stand, distracting the
would-be robber and giving Cornelsen the opportunity to grab her gun.
"Sure enough a customer pulled up on this side and he laid it down on
the counter and covered it up with his hand," she said. The teen laid
his gun down on the counter, just long enough for Michelle to grab her
own gun... (It's unclear if Mrs. Cornelesen was wearing her gun and
chose not to draw against a gun already drawn or if she had to access it
from somewhere in side her stand. If it was the latter, she may have
learned the advantage to keeping it holstered on her person.)
http://www.kxly.com/news/22089081/detail.html
---
Oops, Wrong Convenience Store: It began when two young men with machetes
walked into a Union Gap [WA] convenience store early Wednesday morning
and demanded cash. What they didn't expect was a second clerk who pulled
a handgun and held one of the men until police arrived. The other ran
off. It didn't end there. Hours later more than a dozen officers -
including the Yakima police SWAT team - encircled a Selah house and
after a three-hour standoff forced out three other people suspected in
at least one other machete-point robbery in Yakima... Two men, including
the second Union Gap robbery suspect, and one woman were arrested...
They are being held at Yakima County jail on pending first-degree
robbery charges. They are also suspected of another robbery involving
men with machetes at a Yakima Walgreen's a few days earlier. Authorities
also believe they were involved in two robberies of gas stations in
Selah and outside the Yakima Training Center in the past two weeks... (I
doubt that Walgreen's allows its employees to be armed at work.)
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/12/30/12-31-31-robbers?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+yhronlinenews+%28Yakima+Herald-Republic+Today%27s+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
---
Which Was the Greater Factor in Finland Shooting?: Some guy named
Ibrahim Shkupolli allegedly killed his ex-wife, went to a shopping mall
and randomly killed four more people, then went home and killed
himself. This all happened in Helsinki, Finland. The Associated Press
was not satisfied with simple reporting on this story, however. It went
on to note that Finland has 1.6 million firearms in private hands for a
population of 5.3 million. It also notes that "politicians, social
workers and religious leaders have all urged tighter gun laws." Let's go
to the tape - the most recent International Crime Victimization Survey
sponsored by the United Nations. In overall crime victimization,
Finland ranked 22 out of the 30 surveyed. It's crime rate was below
England's, Denmark's, Canada's, Sweden's, Norway's and that of 16 other
countries - none of whom are famous for loose gun laws... If the AP
wants to connect some dots, I suggest it pay more attention to the name
"Ibrahim Shkupolli" and less to Finland's gun laws... The Guardian
links to a spreadsheet that does have homicide rates for 199 countries.
Finland ranks 127 on that list. Reader Melvyn L. Bernstein informs us
that Ibrahim Shkupolli is a Kosovar Albanian, not of Arabic descent.
(The predominant religion of Kosovo is Islam.)
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/12/ap_ignores_arab_surname_of_fin.html
---
Tangentially Related: After a determined effort Monday morning to walk
back three disastrous words that threatened to rival "heck of a job
Brownie," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano spent the rest of
the week in Washington reviewing the department's detection capabilities
and increased security and updating President Barack Obama on the
assessment Thursday morning. The president seemed to be trying to throw
her a lifeline Tuesday when he made it clear that he understood that her
statement that "the system worked" referred only to what transpired
after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarded his Northwest Airlines flight to
Detroit. But Republican critics, who already had Napolitano in their
sights, spared no words in criticizing her - and show no inclination to
stop... ("Brownie" was Michael D. Brown, George W. Bush's director of
FEMA, who resigned in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Janet
Napolitano was known to Arizona gunners as "J No." for her vetoes of so
many RKBA bills. A recent article suggested that Big Brother may have
her in mind to replace Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who is
expected to retire at the end of this term.)
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/31092.html
Violence continues to decline worldwide. Oddly enough, the most bloody
conflicts (like Congo) get the least media coverage. Reporting tends to
be distorted by the need to attract eyeballs, and revenue. For years,
Iraq was portrayed as a disaster until, suddenly, the enemy was crushed.
Even that was not considered exciting enough to warrant much attention,
and that story is still poorly covered by the mass media. Same pattern
is playing out in Afghanistan, where the defeats of the Taliban, and
triumph of the drug gangs, go unreported or distorted. If you step back
and take a look at all the wars going on, a more accurate picture
emerges. Worldwide, violence continues to decline, as it has for most of
the decade. For example, violence has greatly diminished, or
disappeared completely, in places like Iraq, Nepal, Haiti, Sri
Lanka, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Chechnya, Congo, Indonesia and Burundi.
Even Afghanistan, touted as the new war zone, was not nearly as violent
this past six months as the headlines would deceive you into believing...
http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/wars/articles/20100101.aspx
---
From AzCDL:
Even though the next "Regular" legislative session doesn't being until
Monday, January 11, 2010, some legislators have already begun
"pre-filing" bills. The following pro-rights bills have been filed that
affect our Right to Keep and Bear Arms (RKBA):
HB 2015 (Burges) - Adds defensive display of a firearm as an alternative
to, or in conjunction with, the use of deadly physical force.
HB 2016 (Burges) - Allows out of state applicants whose rights have been
restored to obtain a CCW permit under the same conditions as Arizona
residents.
HB 2017 (Burges) - Clarifies that NRA instructors may teach the school
gun safety courses.
SB 1011 (Harper) - Allows college/university faculty members with CCW
permits to possess a concealed firearm on campus.
SB 1015 (Harper) - Clarifies the "no firearms" signage requirements for
restaurants. Also changes the affirmative defense language to "not an
offense." Finally, it restores the requirement that a person "knows the
possession of a firearm is prohibited" in an establishment
SB 1021 (Pearce) - Similar to HB 2015.
AzCDL's representatives have been working with legislators on new bills
for a number of months. We are expecting the bulk of these pro-rights
bills to be filed after the session officially begins. As they
progress, we will keep you informed via these Alerts.
Many of you in the self-defense civil rights community know of Dr.
Suzanna Gratia Hupp, the courageous Texas woman who was in Luby's
Cafeteria in Killeen Texas in 1991 where her parents were murdered,
along with 20 others, by a deranged criminal. She left her pistol in
the trunk to comply with then current Texas law. Dr. Hupp went on to
spend 10 years in the legislature.
Dr. Hupp will be the featured guest on AzCDL Board Member Charles
Heller's radio program America Armed & Free, Sunday, January 3, 2010,
from 1-2 PM, where she will discuss her book, "From Luby's To The
Legislature."
The program can heard on AM 1030 KVOI in Tucson, AM 930 KAPR in Douglas,
and AM 1240, KJAA in Globe. It will also stream live at the KVOI
website: http://tinyurl.com/KVOIlivestream. Charles will archive the
program at his website: www.libertywatchradio.com/listen .
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League
(AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots
organization. Renew today! http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html
AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom
http://www.azcdl.org/html/accomplishments.html