Heller Arguments Set For March 18: The Supreme Court has set a date for hearing arguments in the D.C. gun ban case. Oral arguments will take place March 18 at 10 a.m. The court will examine the District's 31-year-old ban on handguns, one of the strictest gun-control laws in the nation. A federal appeals court struck down the ban in March as incompatible with the Second Amendment. At issue is whether the Second Amendment of the Constitution protects an individual's right to own guns or instead merely sets forth the collective right of states to maintain militias. http://www.nbc4.com/news/15113121/detail.html --- Will Heller Hang On Commas?: Excelling at grammar has not seemed to be among the skills required of a Supreme Court justice. Law clerks and the reporter of decisions take care of that, right? But this term, grammar knowledge is looming large. As we've reported here and here, the meaning of the commas in the Second Amendment could be a major factor in deciding D.C. V. Heller, the critical case testing D.C.'s strict handgun ordinance. Today, in a much lower-profile decision Ali v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, grammar also plays a role in interpreting the statute at issue. And if you parse it closely, it may even offer some hints about how the justices will handle the Second Amendment case as well. http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2008/01/commas-clauses.html --- The Wall Street Journal Weighs In: The Second Amendment's right to bear arms has rarely been considered by the Supreme Court, but this year the Court is hearing a case that could become a Constitutional landmark. So it is nothing short of astonishing, and dispiriting, that the Bush Justice Department has now weighed in with an amicus brief that is far too clever by half... So why would his own Solicitor General do this? The speculation in legal circles is that Mr. Clement is trying to offer an argument that might attract the support of Anthony Kennedy, the protean Justice who is often the Court's swing vote. But this is what we mean by "too clever by half." Justice Kennedy would be hard-pressed to deny that the Second Amendment is an individual right, given his support in so many other cases for the right to privacy and other rights that aren't even expressly mentioned in the Constitution. No less a left-wing scholar than Laurence Tribe has come around to the view that the Second Amendment protects an individual right for this very reason. Mr. Clement is offering a needless fudge... http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120096108857304967.html?mod=googlenews_wsj --- Gun-Show-Infringement Bill Still Alive In Virginia: Last Friday, I apparently got a bit ahead of myself in celebrating the ignominious defeat of the Virginia House of Delegates bill to close the mythical "gun show loophole." I hadn't considered the fact that a Senate version, SB 109, is still very much alive, and is considered to have a better chance of passing in the Senate than anti-rights bills do in the House. Granted, if it does pass in the Senate, it will then go to the House of Delegates (and in fact to the same committee that so handily dispatched the House version). Still, the earlier such legislation is killed, the better. http://armedandsafe.blogspot.com/2008/01/battle-for-virginia-gun-show-freedom-is.html Related Article: http://www.henricocitizen.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=129&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=987&wpage=&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1910&hn=henricocitizen&he=.com --- Defenseless On Campus: "You don't like the fact you can't have a gun on your college campus? Drop out of school." These were the words of Brady Center Communications Director Peter Hamm, reacting to Students for Concealed Carry on Campus wearing empty holsters for a week in protest of policies and laws prohibiting firearms on campuses. Rather than being the bastions of tolerance and diversity they portray themselves as, our institutions of higher learning have proven themselves rigidly anti-defense to the point of hysteria. Dr. Patricia Telles-Irvin, Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Florida, issued a memorandum about the protest advising "if any faculty member or student feels genuinely threatened, they should feel free to call the University Police Department." (When seconds count, the police are minutes away.) http://www.gunsmagazine.com/Rights0308.html --- Kentucky Campus-Carry Bill Given Poor Odds: A bill that would allow people to bring guns onto college campuses - and use them if they were threatened - may die in a legislative committee amid growing concerns by educators and others. "This is a really bad idea," said Centre College President John Roush, whose private college in Danville bans firearms. "It would run counter to our tradition and the principles on which we operate our community." Other university presidents also oppose House Bill 114. And while it has more than 50 co-sponsors in the 100-member House, it is stuck in the Judiciary Committee because the chairwoman opposes it. http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080122/NEWS0101/801220381 --- Colorado Bill Would Expand "Make My Day" Law: Rep. Cory Gardner is taking another shot at passage of his "Make My Day Better" legislation. Under Colorado's current Make My Day Law, people can use deadly force to protect themselves in their own homes. The name of the legislation comes from a famous line from the movie "Dirty Harry." Rep. Gardner, a Republican whose district covers part of Southeastern Colorado, wants to extend the right of self-protection to people in the workplace. As it is, there are disparities in how such incidents are handled by prosecutors. http://www.chieftain.com/editorial/1200932492/2 --- Nebraska Bill Would Block Emergency Confiscation: Should disaster strike and chaos ensue, Nebraskans could be forced to give up their guns, under current law. That's what happened in New Orleans, when police seized guns after Hurricane Katrina walloped the city in 2005. But a state lawmaker wants to change the rules so that cities and other political subdivisions in Nebraska couldn't do the same. Under a bill (LB1076) from Senator Kent Rogert of Tekamah, neither the state nor political subdivisions could enact special restrictions on guns during emergency or disasters. The law would apply to gun possession, storage and use, among other things. http://www.action3news.com/Global/story.asp?S=7756619&nav=menu550_2 --- Oklahoma City Lacks Concealed-Carry Instructor: More than 54,000 Oklahomans are licensed to carry a concealed weapon, according to 2007 figures from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. For Edmond residents, the licensing process is complicated by the fact that there are no concealed handgun classes offered locally... It would be nice if local people had instruction available closer to home, said Bob Satchell, a former Edmond resident who now lives in Choctaw. He completed his training at H&H Gun Range in Oklahoma City while still living in Edmond. http://www.edmondsun.com/homepage/local_story_022124759.html?keyword=leadpicturestory --- Life In New Jersey: New Jersey's persecution of honest gun owners hit a new low recently, when S2431 was enacted into law with no protections added to prevent law-abiding gun owners from being sent to jail for 10 years for horrific "crimes" like stopping for food or fuel on the way to a target range, handing a firearm to a spouse in the privacy of one's home, or letting someone try your firearm at the range and then getting separated for even a moment. http://blog.nj.com/njv_scott_bach/2008/01/stop_on_your_way_to_target_pra.html --- Smith & Wesson May Not Meet Targets: Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. is unsure it will meet its profit and sales targets this year because of an "extremely unsettled" business climate, the gun maker said Tuesday..."We, like many other companies doing business today, find ourselves now in an uncertain business environment," Chief Executive Michael F. Golden said in a statement. "What has changed, and it has changed profoundly, is the fact that the current business and economic environments are extremely unsettled." Smith & Wesson's stock tumbled 41 cents, or 8.2 percent, to $4.62 in premarket trading Tuesday. The stock closed Friday at $5.03, having lost three-quarters of its value in the past three months. http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/a8b31974a71b6ee5b74528cd44fec16a.htm -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .