Maybe Thursday?: The Supreme Court handed down only two decisions this morning, and once again, none of the blockbuster cases still outstanding for the term was among them. The Court announced it will return to the bench on Thursday, so that's the next opportunity for the justices to release either D.C. v. Heller (Second Amendment gun rights) or Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker (Exxon Valdez punitive damages) or Kennedy v. Louisiana (death penalty for non-homicide rape.) Fifteen decisions are yet to come before the term ends later this month. http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2008/06/supreme-court-s.html --- Robert Levy Contrasts Miller and Heller: ...Does the right to keep and bear arms belong to us as individuals? Does that right extend to private use of arms? Or does the Second Amendment simply authorize the states to arm the members of their militias? The court will have to answer those threshold questions before deciding whether the D.C. gun ban is constitutional. Given the bizarre history of the Miller case, its dubious analysis and inconclusive result, about the only guidance Miller offers is how not to go about setting a Supreme Court precedent... http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/jun/17/second-amendment-haze/ --- That Pesky Comma: ...In the worst case scenario for anti-gunners, the Supreme Court could negate all gun laws on the books because the Second Amendment is the gun law of the land. Keeping and bearing arms shall not be infringed. Gun laws infringe that right. Any law contrary to that is obviously unconstitutional. The amendment doesn't say the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed except if you are a juvenile or a mental patient or live in the District of Columbia. It doesn't restrict convicted criminals from keeping and bearing arms either... http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.386/pub_detail.asp --- Texas Grand Jury Weighing Joe Horn Shooting: A homeowner who shot and killed two suspected burglars could soon learn whether he will face charges in the case. Grand jurors are hearing the case against Joe Horn, KPRC Local 2 reported Monday. Pasadena police said Horn killed burglary suspects Hernando Torres, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30, by shooting them in the back at about 2 p.m. on Nov. 14 as they ran from Horn's neighbor's house in the 7400 block of Timberline Drive. Horn maintained he feared for his life and acted in self-defense... http://www.click2houston.com/news/16623564/detail.html --- Oops, Wrong House: Police are investigating reports that a female intruder was shot in the hand after entering a house in Pittsburgh's Spring Hill section. According to police, a woman entered a home in the 100 block of Rhine Place, spraying another woman with Mace before stabbing her, according to a witness. The boyfriend of the victim grabbed a gun and shot the intruder in the hand, police said. At this time, no other information is available. http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/16622032/detail.html --- DuPont Claims Advance in Kevlar: ...Using a new woven fabric technology, coupled with a new coating process, DuPont said it has found a way to deliver improved ballistic performance using its existing Kevlar aramid fiber. "The bottom line is that it stops bullets faster," said Dale Outhous, global business director for DuPont's personal protection unit. According to DuPont, Kevlar XP can stop bullets within the first three layers of an 11-layer body armor vest, allowing the remaining layers to absorb the energy of a bullet. Outhous said a typical vest in use now would have 20 to 40 layers of material, with a minimum of nine layers needed to stop the bullet... http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/4f34389aa5c7b8bec7315cc9997a9bc5.htm --- Canadian Official Rejects Handgun Ban: A handgun ban isn't the answer to Toronto's gun violence, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day insists. "Studies in a variety of jurisdictions around the world show that if you want to see gun crime reduced you've got to go after the criminals," Day said during a press conference at Polson Pier yesterday. He said a Canada-wide handgun ban would divert limited police resources to "going after innocent firearm owners." ... Following Thursday's fatal shooting, Mayor David Miller repeated his call for a nation-wide handgun ban... http://www.torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2008/06/17/5899811-sun.html --- Tangentially Related: Three horrors await Americans who get behind the wheel of a car for a family road trip this summer: the spiraling price of gas, the usual choruses of "Are we there yet?" and the road rage of fellow drivers. Divine intervention might be needed for the first two problems, but science has discovered a solution for the third. Watch out for cars with bumper stickers... http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0617bumpersticker0617.html -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .