Coming on Tuesday...: State and local gun laws are in the crosshairs as the Supreme Court prepares for a historic oral argument Tuesday. The conservative majority that struck down Washington, D.C.'s, handgun ban in 2008 appears poised to stretch the Second Amendment further. The hourlong session Tuesday will let justices test-fire arguments in a case in which the reasoning could be as intriguing as the outcome. For gun owners and lawmakers, the case called McDonald v. City of Chicago presents one bottom line: If the court agrees that the Second Amendment covers state and local governments, as seems likely, some but not all gun restrictions will be blown away. For constitutional scholars, the court's means may be as important as its ends. In order to eliminate Chicago's gun ban, court conservatives could end up overturning a 137-year-old precedent that's hindered the expansion of new rights... http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/02/26/88829/supreme-court-to-scrutinize-state.html Et Tu, CAC?: When the constitutional accountability Center launched in 2008, it looked like just another liberal legal-advocacy group, dedicated to "fulfilling the progressive promise of our Constitution's text and history." The causes it has backed run the standard liberal gamut: among other things, the group supports California's efforts to regulate carbon emissions and pushes for "robust due-process protections for immigrant criminal defendants." So if you were told that the CAC had filed an amicus brief in McDonald v. Chicago, a case about gun control to be argued before the Supreme Court this week, you might think it was siding with Chicago, whose restrictions on gun ownership are being challenged. You would be wrong. For decades, liberals have opposed gun rights on the grounds that the Second Amendment is limited to the establishment of state militias. But some liberal dissenters from this view now say that is too narrow a reading of the Constitution. They contend that it fails to take into account the historical record and contradicts liberals' own reading of the Constitution's protection of individual rights... http://www.newsweek.com/id/234185 Et Tu, Amil?: ...Consider this: Among the legal experts lining up in support of overturning Slaughterhouse and reviving the Privileges or Immunities Clause is liberal law professor Akhil Amar of Yale University. Nobody's idea of a gun nut, Amar is a supporter of progressive politics. And in his opinion, so were the authors of the Privileges or Immunities Clause. "The framers of the 14th Amendment were radical redistributionists," Amar told The Wall Street Journal. "The 13th Amendment frees the slaves and there's no compensation. It's the biggest redistribution of property in history." Under this interpretation, the privileges or immunities of citizenship might include the right to health care, to a living wage, or to some other welfare right fancied by today's progressive activists. http://reason.com/archives/2010/02/26/getting-the-14th-amendment-rig Cornell Re-Emerges: ...Gun-rights advocates have peddled three dubious claims to the Court. First, they argue that, by the time of the 14th Amendment, the militia purpose of the Second Amendment had disappeared. Second, gun-rights advocates claim that the Republican supporters of the 14th Amendment were pro-gun zealots who opposed robust gun regulation. Finally, they claim that there was a general consensus on the idea of Second Amendment incorporation at the time, a notion that they claim is supported by modern scholarship. To resolve these issues, the Supreme Court must choose between genuine history, supported by the best current scholarship, and a gun-rights fantasy masquerading as history... (Under the guise of the Second Amendment Research Center, Cornell ginned out phony historical attacks on the RKBA at Ohio State University. My recollection is that he packed his tent and moved to Fordham after the Heller decision was announced.) http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202444559455&Getting_gun_history_right&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1 Another Militia Argument: ... The digital searches lend support to Chicago, which is defending its handgun ban. The issue at stake in the constitutional debates was preservation of the state power by preserving the militias. The Supreme Court has held that the Second Amendment serves individual rights, but the Second Amendment also serves states' rights. The word "militia," the digital searches show, meant the state army. To the extent that it is a state's right that is being served by the amendment, it is a state decision, for example, whether the militia may take home their muskets after a muster or must leave them in the armory. To the extent that preservation of the state militia is an important historical purpose, the Second Amendment has no power to tell Virginia, Georgia or Chicago (an entity within Illinois) what to do... (From my reading, the militia implications of the Second Amendment were that Congress should not be able to restrict each state's ability to raise its own militia by such means as dictating its armament.) http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202444658426&Guns_virtuous_history_and_Internet_searches Brady Chimes In: ... As intriguing as the incorporation issue is as a matter of constitutional law, the ultimate significance of McDonald to ordinary Americans may turn on a different issue, not formally posed by the case but difficult to avoid as the Court considers the reach of the Heller right. The "hidden" issue in McDonald is this: To what extent is the right to keep and bear arms different in nature from the other guarantees in the Bill of Rights? ... There is at least one respect in which the new right to have guns is vastly different than other rights. A wealth of empirical evidence shows that the exercise of the right to possess guns increases the risk of harm to individuals exercising the right, to their families and to the community at large. However the Court decides the incorporation question, its discussion of Second Amendment issues in McDonald and its future Second Amendment jurisprudence must recognize that the Second Amendment is, indisputably, the most dangerous right... (So, the RKBA is actually a new right and, not only is it not equal to the other enumerated rights, it is a lesser right? Clearly, Henigan rejects the ancient concept that self-defense is Nature's first law.) http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202444545808&The_most_dangerous_right Slaughterhouse Reviewed: One of the biggest cases the U.S. Supreme Court will decide this year involves the right to bear arms. But in the long run, its decision in McDonald v. Chicago may be far more important to America's entrepreneurs. It all depends on whether the justices decide to revive a constitutional provision it has neglected for more than a century. When it was ratified in 1868, the 14th Amendment added several revolutionary new provisions to the Constitution, barring states from violating the "privileges or immunities" of citizens, or taking anyone's life, liberty or property without "due process of law," or depriving people of the "equal protection of the laws." But the first time it heard a case under that amendment - in the 1873 Slaughterhouse Cases - the Supreme Court basically erased the privileges or immunities clause, dramatically limiting the way the federal government would protect people against wrongful acts by state officials... http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202444559409&Revive_privileges_or_immunities&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1 --- Goodwin Liu on the Second Amendment: Boalt Hall Associate Dean Goodwin H. Liu has been nominated to serve on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Some readers and Senators may be interested in his viewpoint on Second Amendment and other constitutional issues related to firearms policy. So here's an excerpt from his article Separation Anxiety: Congress, The Courts, And The Constitution, 91 Georgetown Law Journal 439 (Jan. 2003). Liu's co-author on the article is Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. The article is based on a 2002 speech that Senator Clinton presented at Georgetown, sponsored by the American Constitution Society. Senator Clinton and Professor Liu criticize recent Supreme Court decisions declaring two federal gun control laws unconstitutional... http://volokh.com/2010/02/25/goodwin-liu-on-the-second-amendment/ --- Once Again, "Gun Control" Didn't Work: Friday morning's slaying of Tacoma school teacher Jennifer Paulson and the subsequent fatal shooting of her suspected killer, Jed R. Waits of Ellensburg, is a stark reminder that sometimes bad things happen to incredibly good people. This despicable crime also brings out the best and worst in people, as demonstrated by the comments left by readers on feedback forums at the SeattleTimes, Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Tacoma News Tribune. Almost as if by reflex, gun prohibitionists were screaming that this would not have happened if guns were restricted or banned, while firearms owners retorted that this happened in a place where guns aren't supposed to be allowed... This is an appropriate moment to remind ourselves that laws passed to prevent this sort of thing, including the gun-free school zones act and laws regarding harassment orders have once again proven absolutely worthless. The law against murder did not stop Maurice Clemmons from gunning down four Lakewood police officers last November, and obviously did not stop Miss Paulson's killer... http://www.examiner.com/x-4525-Seattle-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2010m2d26-Slaying-of-Tacoma-teacher-brings-out-best-worst-in-people-and-proves-gun-laws-dont-work --- Wyoming Senate Committee Kills Permit-Optional CCW: A state legislative committee on Friday shot down legislation that would make Wyoming the third state to allow residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit. The Senate Judiciary Committee declined to take up the proposal as at least three of the five committee members were opposed to the bill. Under legislative rules, any piece of legislation that didn't pass out of committee by Friday was automatically killed. Under the bill, anyone who met the current requirements to obtain a concealed-weapons permit from the state would be allowed to carry a concealed weapon - except that proof of firearms training would no longer be required. Vermont and Alaska are the only two states not to require a conceal-carry permit. The legislation easily passed the state House on Monday, and lawmakers have been bombarded with hundreds of e-mails in support of the proposal during the past two weeks. But some law enforcement officials expressed concern that no longer requiring a permit to carry a concealed weapon would make police officers less safe... http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_ae5f7596-2364-11df-8cb6-001cc4c002e0.html --- Demand Remains High for Ohio CHL's: Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray (D) has released the concealed handgun license (CHL) statistics for the fourth quarter of 2009 and the year-end report, Ohio Concealed Handguns Law - 2009 Annual Report. There were 10,687 concealed handgun licenses (CHL's) issued for the period of October through December 2009, falling just one short of the record set for the same quarter the year before. For the year, new records were set for initial licenses issued, temporary emergency licenses and total licenses issued. The fourth quarter has generally been a good quarter for licenses issued, and 2009 was no exception. The demand for licenses to carry concealed handguns remained strong through the entire year. During the final quarter, Ohio sheriffs issued 10,687 CHL's, 15 temporary emergency licenses (TEL's) and processed another 3,112 renewals. The waning months of 2008 were stronger than anyone expected. The 10,688 regular licenses issued was an unprecedented 111% increase over the same period a year earlier. The fact that we have matched that same total a year later is a clear indication that the surge in gun ownership is not some temporary anomaly. Gun owners and concealed carry license holders are growing in numbers and becoming more active... http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/7138 Ohio issued a record 56,691 concealed handgun licenses in 2009, shattering the previous one-year high of 45,497 set in 2004, according to the state attorney general's office. That means Ohio is now approaching 200,000 concealed permits issued since 2004, when the state started handing out licenses to qualified people. And those for and against tougher gun control laws agree the smoking gun for the 2009 spike in licenses is President Barack Obama, who took office 13 months ago crusading for tougher firearms restrictions... (The 2008 population estimate for Ohio was 11,485,910.) http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2010/02/ohio_concealed_gun_licenses_sh.html --- Elitism or HUA?: Imagine my surprise on the very day after I received my CCW (concealed carry weapon) permit from the Arizona Department of Public Safety when I read that Sen. Pierce was proposing abolishing the requirement of obtaining the CCW permit. I recently attended the CCW Firearm Safety Course at Gunsite in Paulden. In eight short hours, I learned more about the legal requirements, marksmanship, safe gun handling and situational avoidance than I had in over 50 years of owning and shooting firearms. Allowing anyone to conceal and carry a weapon without a minimum amount of training is foolish and dangerous. All it takes is a little effort and a small amount of money to obtain a CCW permit. The instructors at Gunsite are extremely knowledgeable and competent. Passing a background check is simple if you are a good guy. If you are a bad guy, you can legally conceal and carry if Sen. Pierce's proposal becomes law. For the record, I have been a fervent Second Amendment supporter and NRA member for more than 30 years... (I saw the same sort of elitism from students at the now-defunct Lethal Force Institute - if they took that costly training, it should be required for others as well. Mr. Boyer ignores the fact that bad guys cannot legally carry concealed or even legally possess firearms if they have already been convicted of a felony and will not be able to do so under constitutional carry. Further, they will face an additional charge if they carry concealed while committing a violent crime or serious offense. Mr. Boyer further confuses the bill's sponsor, Russell Pearce, with Steve Pierce, one of three Republicans in the state senate who voted for an amendment that mandates a citizenship check by private parties selling firearms at gun shows. "HUA" refers to a very difficult contortion that places the head in a location that impedes vision.) http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=36&SubsectionID=1119&ArticleID=78145 --- Handgun Derangement Syndrome Hits Arizona Restaurants: "Honest adults with licensed guns, go away. Lawbreakers looking for sitting ducks, step right in." Actually, the sign at the entrance to the Phoenix, Arizona restaurant simply read, "No Firearms." I returned to my car and left. A wave of constipated thinking has afflicted some Arizonans after legislators passed a law allowing licensed concealed handguns to be carried into businesses that serve alcohol as long as the licensees consume none. Proprietors have the option to post the "No Firearms" sign, and many have done so... To anti-gunners who embrace false security, what's important is how it feels, not what's real. By not having concealed weapons in the same building with their food, restaurant patrons can savor "the sign" just before the killer who laughed at the sign swings into action. Diners would surely feel awful witnessing a gal with a gun stop a guy with a gun who was only crying for attention... (Arizona does not license firearms, it licenses citizens to carry them concealed. As of February 21, there are 150,718 valid Arizona CWP's but Arizona also recognize the permits from all other states so these establishments are also rejecting the patronage of a lot of tourists.) http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/02/handgun_derangement_syndrome_g.html --- The Great Registration Myth: I have just released our latest map over at OpenCarry.org. It categorizes all 50 states based upon the kinds of firearms registration laws (if any) that the state has implemented. This is a resource that we should have developed long ago because registration is one of the great myths and misconceptions about firearms in America. I have been teaching firearm safety and carry permit classes for almost a decade now and this is a topic that I have to cover in every single class. And it never ceases to amaze me how gun owners who are otherwise incredibly well informed about the laws regarding firearms will blithely tell me that their guns are "registered." At the heart of this misunderstanding lies the background check required for all purchases from a federally licensed firearms dealer. Faced with the bureaucratic detail of the BATFE 4473 form, many gun owners mistakenly think that the firearm is being "registered" at the same time that the background check is being conducted... (There is certainly room to debate whether the 4473 is a form of registration. Those gun owners who have seen the film Red Dawn vividly recall the scene where the commander of the invading Cuban paratrooper battalion sends a subordinate to the local hardware store to check those forms to identify the small community's gun owners. This is precisely why the prohibitionists have such a hatred for private-party transfers, particularly at gun shows.) http://www.examiner.com/x-3253-Minneapolis-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2010m2d26-The-great-registration-myth --- Utah Governor Signs Firearms Freedom Act: Gov. Gary Herbert signed a controversial message bill about guns Friday after raising questions just a day before about its cost. His Democratic opponent calls it a mistake that could cost the state millions. It's called Senate Bill 11. It would exempt Utah from any federal regulations on firearms made and sold within the state. Thursday, the governor hinted he might veto the bill, due to questions about its constitutionality and the costs of potentially lengthy court fight. "I don't mind the message. I just don't want to end up having a million dollar cost attached to it, where we have slim chance of winning," Herbert said. "I think we have a slim chance of even getting to the Supreme Court, which is the intent of that particular piece of legislation." Friday, Herbert signed the bill, saying: "There are times when the state needs to push back against continued encroachment from the federal government." He said he signed the law because it furthers the dialogue without "unduly burdening Utah taxpayers." ... (Herbert was hit with lots of phone calls, e-mails and letters urging him to sign this bill. Since Montana took the lead in this field, with a suit filed the day its law took effect, it's hard to see how the states that follow Montana's lead will bear the costs of litigation. At most, I can see them filing amicus briefs in the Montana case, not a very costly process.) http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=9824672 --- West Virginia House Approves Tax Holiday: West Virginia would suspend sales taxes on gun purchases during the first weekend of October under legislation that unanimously passed the state House of Delegates Friday. The Second Amendment Appreciation Act would mandate that the first weekend of every October become a sales tax holiday for gun purchases. The lead sponsor, Delegate Scott Varner, D-Marshall, said the holiday could actually bring in increased tax revenues, given that bargain-hunting shoppers likely will buy other things that are not taxed. "The idea is to get them in to purchase the firearm and, along with that, you get all the ancillary benefits," he said. Other states have approved sales tax holidays for gun sales. South Carolina and Louisiana both exempt firearms sales from state sales taxes for at least two days out of the year. Lawmakers in Mississippi and Oklahoma are considering adopting their own... http://www.wtrf.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=75883 --- Tangentially Related: Smart people should make smart decisions. So why do the best and the brightest always seem to create more problems than they solve? This is not just an academic question, precisely because academics dominate the Obama administration and its approach to such key issues as health care and Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. Renowned economist Thomas Sowell argues that intellectuals have strong incentives to step out of their area of expertise and "off a cliff." Ultimately, everyday people pay the price when intellectuals and abstract concepts trump real-world specifics. Sowell explores these topics and more in a wide-ranging IBD interview regarding his latest book, "Intellectuals and Society." ... (I believe that I have mentioned before that I am currently reading Intellectuals and Society and that I wish it had been available and required reading when I started college. So far, I have found in it two significant discussions touching upon the RKBA.) http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=522457 --- From AzCDL: In March, AzCDL is working five events in Phoenix, Sierra Vista, Sonoita and Tucson. Three of them are on the same day! If you interested in volunteering, please contact John or Tom to get on the schedule. Volunteers who contact us first get first choice on scheduling. Phoenix - contact john.rosado@AzCDL.org . Sierra Vista, Sonoita & Tucson - contact tom.woodrow@AzCDL.org . March 6 is the Sierra Vista Freedom Rally at Veterans Memorial Park between 2 PM and 6 PM: http://arizonateaparty.ning.com/events/march-the-sixth-freedom-rally . Lots of political candidates will be there including AzCDL Director Duke Schechter. If you live in the area, come on down and help out at the AzCDL table. Please contact tom.woodrow@AzCDL.org to volunteer. March 20 & 21 is the Crossroads gun show at the Pima County Fairgrounds in Tucson. Please contact tom.woodrow@AzCDL.org to volunteer. March 26 through 28 is the Arizona Game and Fish Department's annual Outdoor Expo at Ben Avery: http://www.azgfd.gov/outdoor_recreation/showcase.shtml . Their 2009 event had over 35,000 visitors, so we're expecting huge crowds. This event is an outstanding opportunity to introduce AzCDL to literally tens of thousands of prospective members. That means we'll need a full compliment of eager-to-work volunteers. If you would like to help, please contact john.rosado@azcdl.org. That same weekend (March 27 & 28) is the McMann's Roadrunner gun show at the Tucson Expo Center (free parking!). Tucson volunteers, please contact tom.woodrow@azcdl.org . And, to top it off, on March 27th, between 11 AM and 3 PM, the Sonoita/Elgin Tea Party is hosting an event, at the Santa Cruz Fair and Rodeo grounds in Sonoita: http://www.sonoitateaparty.org/sonoitateaparty_events.html . AzCDL has reserved table space and we need volunteers. To help us out, please contact tom.woodrow@azcdl.org . If you can spare a few hours we would deeply appreciate your help. AzCDL's phenomenal growth is primarily because of the hard work of our volunteers. These events provide a great opportunity to educate other gun owners about our hard won successes (http://www.azcdl.org/html/accomplishments.html) and the legislation in the works this year (http://www.azcdl.org/html/2010_bills.html) that needs their support. If your AzCDL membership is coming up for renewal, you'll save $10 if you renew at any event! It's like getting paid to attend! Sustaining memberships also get a FREE AzCDL t-shirt. Not a member? Not a problem! You can join AzCDL at these events and still get the $10 discount. A complete listing of Arizona gun shows can be found at: http://www.americangunshows.com/GunShows/AZ-GunShows.htm . 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 . You can also follow AzCDL on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AzCDL_Alerts and Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/FacebookAzCDL . AzCDL's Political Action Committee (PAC) is also on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/FacebookAzCDLPAC . AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom http://www.azcdl.org/html/accomplishments.html