"The People" Prevail, Narrowly: ...Yesterday, in a narrow 5-4 vote (Scalia, Alito, Roberts, Thomas and Kennedy), the Supreme Court reaffirmed, in District of Columbia v. Heller, that the people's inherent right to keep and bear arms is plainly enumerated in our Constitution. The Court ruled that the Second Amendment ensures an individual right, that DC could not ban handguns, and that operable guns may be maintained in the homes of law-abiding DC residents. However, the ruling still leaves open the question of whether the Bill of Rights has legal precedence over state and municipal firearm restrictions... I can't help but ponder how future 2A cases would fare if the Obama/Clinton ticket wins in November and then stacks the courts with judicial activists who subscribe to their adulterated view of a "Living Constitution." http://archive.patriotpost.us/pub/08-26_Digest/ --- Celebrate Heller, Buy Guns: I've said it before and I'll say it again. No court is going to preserve your God-given right to bear arms and defend yourself and your family from criminals, terrorists and tyrannical government. It's up to you to preserve that right - by exercising it. Rights are like muscles. You don't use 'em, you lose 'em. While I am naturally gratified by the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling this week upholding the Second Amendment's affirmation of an individual right to bear arms, I must note with anxiety the closeness of that decision... (While I applaud Farah's sentiments, most of us already own several firearms. It may make more sense for some to concentrate on buying ammunition and spare magazines which may become restricted again under a Democratic administration.) http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=68151 --- In the Los Angeles Times, No Less: The Supreme Court's decision in the District of Columbia vs. Heller case settles a long, heated debate, finding the 2nd Amendment protects an individual right to own weapons for self-defense - not merely a right related to membership in a "well-regulated militia." But the ruling doesn't end the struggle over gun control, nor does it mean gun regulations have been eliminated. The court lists a number of laws the decision does not affect, including concealed-weapon prohibitions and "long-standing prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms." ... The right at issue - an ancient right, preserved but not created by the 2nd Amendment - is that of self-defense. The gun-control debate will continue, but it is a blessing that the court has refused to deny us the means of protecting our homes and families. http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/itsonlyfair/latimes0358.html --- The Devil Is in the Details: Having submitted an amicus curiae brief on the side of Respondent Heller, I cannot help but conclude that today's decision represents a substantial victory for American gun owners. Yet, to read the press releases of various anti-gun interest groups and government officials, you would think that the other side won today. This is because the majority opinion clearly provides room for the survival of gun laws which do not offend the fundamental self defense purpose of the Second Amendment. Thus, as with other rules of law, the real meat and potatoes, so to speak, will be found in the many lawsuits to come. Accordingly, the anti-gun groups have already taken up the gauntlet and broadly asserted that today's decision affirms the validity of "reasonable" efforts by governments to control crime. Well, not so fast... http://www.jpfo.org/alerts02/alert20080627.htm --- BATFE Chief Sees Little Change from Heller: ...In Houston on Thursday to address 800 law officers attending a state conference on street gangs, the Bush administration's chief firearms-law enforcer said the ruling won't affect how he does his job. "There is nothing in terms of first blush to say it will significantly change our business," Michael Sullivan, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said of the high court's decision... (Interesting that Sullivan views BATFE as a business - perhaps that explains the "Always Think Forfeiture" mindset.) http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5859221.html --- DC Struggles to Maintain Infringements: The Supreme Court decision overturning the District's handgun ban won't trigger an open season for guns, Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said Friday, because D.C. law still bans all semiautomatic weapons - such as the common 9 mm pistols used by police and the military. But the D.C. ordinance - which, like the overall handgun ban, is among the strictest in the country - could be next in gun rights advocates' cross hairs... http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/jun/28/gun-control-still-in-force-chief-says/ Lanier's Memo to Her Subjects: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/dc/2008/06/police_chiefs_memo_on_supreme.html --- Does Heller Benefit Obama?: What were the candidates' reactions to yesterday's landmark decision on gun rights by the Supreme Court? John McCain supported it, and Barack Obama ... kind of supported it. There's a paper trail suggesting Obama was for the D.C. ban, but yesterday he claimed to have "always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms" - while also seeing the need for "common-sense, effective safety measures" to protect "crime-ravaged communities." Some think he's taking a politically expedient stance to further his goal of winning every single state in the country this November, while others believe his support of yesterday's decision falls within his nuanced view of gun control. Many others, meanwhile, think the Supreme Court just made gun rights a non-issue this election season... http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/06/did_obama_dodge_a_bullet_on_gun_control.html Video - Obama's New RKBA Dance: http://www.breitbart.tv/html/120253.html --- Heller Unlikely to Affect DC Court Caseload: Lawyers across the country have already begun speculating about what Thursday's Supreme Court decision that struck down the District's gun ban will mean. But in the District, Rufus King III, chief judge of the D.C. Superior Court, says he doesn't expect the decision to have much impact on the Superior Court's caseload. King notes that if some people knowingly broke the law when a full-fledged ban was in place, it makes little sense to think they now would go through the trouble to file for gun licenses if the District's government makes them available. "The city is still going to want to regulate guns on the street, so they will come up with a law that determines who can get a license and where and when you can have one. That all has to be sorted out," King says. "The courts don't have any role in choosing that policy. My role is to interpret and follow the law. Anything other than that is beyond my pay grade." http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2008/06/judge-king-gun.html --- Philadelphia Will Ignore Heller: While it's true the U.S. Supreme Court ruling has removed all doubt that there is a right to have a pistol in one's own home for self-defense, there is still much the court left in the realm of the unknown. It allows both Mayor Michael Nutter and the National Rifle Association to put positive spins on what the ruling means for Philadelphia's efforts to regulate guns "It has no effect whatsoever," says Nutter. "It has nothing to do with what we're doing here in Philadelphia." http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6231116 --- Chicago Suburbs Re-evaluate Handgun Bans: Some Chicago suburbs that have passed handgun bans in the past weren't sure if those laws could be jeopardized by Thursday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Others didn't think it would matter either way. In the years since Morton Grove passed the first handgun ban in the nation in 1981, Evanston, Oak Park, Winnetka and Wilmette also outlawed handguns. Because of the high court's ruling that Washington, D.C., cannot ban people from owning guns, all five suburban bans could now be declared unconstitutional... http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-suburbs-gun-ban_both_27jun27,0,2696560.story Wilmette Suspends Handgun Ban: Wilmette has suspended enforcement of its 19-year-old ordinance banning handgun possession in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that appears to invalidate such bans...Frenzer said he did not know exactly how many times the law has been invoked, but said its use is rare. The last case he recalls involved a 2003 incident in which a resident, Hale DeMar, was cited after using a handgun to shoot and wound a burglar in his home. The case mobilized state gun right groups and led to the passage of a law that gave gun owners a defense to local prohibitions if the weapon was used in self-defense. Wilmette's charges against DeMar were eventually dropped. He could not be reached for comment Thursday... http://www.nbc5.com/news/16729972/detail.html --- NRA (and Others) File Suits in Illinois and California: Following up on yesterday's Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment protects a private right to possess firearms that is not limited to militia service, the NRA today filed five lawsuits challenging local gun bans in San Francisco, and in Chicago and several of its suburbs...All five suits raise the issue of the application of the Second Amendment against the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, known in constitutional law as "incorporation." Because Washington, D.C. is not a state, incorporation was not specifically addressed in yesterday's Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, but the decision did repeatedly equate the Second Amendment to the First and Fourth Amendments, which have applied to the states for 80 years... http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=4053 http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/ccrkba-nra-civil-rights-coalition,450109.shtml Details on the San Francisco Suit: Using the new judicial muscle provided by the Supreme Court's affirmation of the right to bear arms, the National Rifle Association and another pro-gun group sued San Francisco and its housing authority on Friday to invalidate a ban on handguns in public housing.... In an interesting turn in a city known for its embrace of gay rights, the chief plaintiff in the suit against the city is a gay man living in a public housing development, owned by the federal government, who wants to have a gun to protect himself from potential hate crimes... In the case filed on Friday, an anonymous gay man said that stipulation had deprived him of "any effective means of self-defense." (As I recall, one of the original plaintiffs in Parker et al. v. D. C. [the case that became D.C. v. Heller] also sued because of fears of hate crimes.) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/28/us/28guns.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=14215 More Suits Anticipated in California: ...California, considered to have the most restrictive gun laws in the country, is a particularly attractive target for lawsuits by the gun lobby. Cox said the NRA was considering action against another San Francisco law that requires gun owners to store their guns in locked containers or use trigger locks. Other California laws that gun rights groups plan to scrutinize include the state's ban on assault weapons, the permitting process for carrying a concealed weapon in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and restrictions in Los Angeles on gun retailers, Michel said... http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-legal27-2008jun27,0,3173451.story Analysis of the Incorporation Issue: http://reason.com/blog/show/127246.html --- Some New Yorkers Hopeful: The historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling that yesterday upheld the constitutional right of individuals to bear arms is not expected to have an immediate effect on New York state's stringent gun-control laws. But the court's 5-4 decision - its first such ruling on gun rights - could open the door for future legal challenges to state and local laws that limit and restrict gun ownership, including Westchester's safe storage law, advocates and experts said. "We are going to have to revisit a lot of the laws that government bodies have passed to see if they are constitutionally correct," said J. Scott Sommavilla, president of the Westchester County Firearm Owners Association... http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008806270366 http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2008/jun/27/0627_gunreax/ While in Syrcuse...: http://www.9wsyr.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=ef0cbe1e-986e-46de-b814-b3035390a15d --- Legislators to Examine Georgia's Gun Laws: Georgia's gun laws are getting a fresh look. And the effort's being led by state lawmakers friendly to the National Rifle Association. A day after the U.S. Supreme Court said that Americans have a right to keep guns in their homes, Georgia's Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle named state Sen. Mitch Seabaugh on Friday as chairman of a legislative study committee looking at firearms laws in the state... http://www.macon.com/198/story/390339.html --- Chicago Tribune Calls for Repeal of Second Amendment: The Chicago Tribune's call for repeal of the Second Amendment following the historic Heller Decision is an "unconscionable attack on the entire Bill of Rights and the freedoms it protects," the Second Amendment Foundation said today. In an editorial published on the day after the Supreme Court handed down its 5-4 ruling, the newspaper called the Second Amendment an "anachronism" that should be repealed. The newspaper supported its argument by falsely claiming that a 1939 case, U.S. v Miller, established the amendment as a "collective right" that applied only to service in some type of militia... http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080627005812&newsLang=en The Editorial: http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/vox_pop/2008/06/repeal-the-2nd.html --- Texas Committee Weighs Campus Carry: On Monday, June 23, the Texas House Committee on Law Enforcement held an interim hearing to study the impact of state laws restricting the possession of firearms on school campuses. Representatives from NRA-ILA, the Texas State Rifle Association, the Texas Concealed Handgun Instructors Association, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, and several individual faculty members and students testified in favor of amending the Texas Penal Code to allow the carrying of handguns for personal protection by Concealed Handgun Licenses while on college and university campuses... (A list member was one of the faculty members who testified in favor of campus carry.) http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?id=4041 --- Florida Case to Test Stand-Your-Ground Law: ...The case against Mobley, say Miami-Dade prosecutors, will put to the test Florida's 2005 so-called Stand Your Ground Law, which loosened the criteria in which people are allowed to use deadly force to protect themselves... Initially, Mobley told Miami-Dade homicide detectives he shot Carrazana because he was "reaching for something under his shirt. He did not see any weapons but he believed he was reaching for one," an arrest warrant said. Mobley denied shooting Gonzalez. But video surveillance ''clearly showed Mobley shooting Gonzalez, whose hands were raised and free from any objects or weapons.'' One witness saw Mobley "shoot Gonzalez as he was backing away'' and "shoot Carrazana as he turned to run away."' (Without judging the merits of the case, it would appear that Mobley may have erred in speaking with investigators without the advice of an attorney.) http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/584892.html --- Oops, Wrong House: A man was shot during an attempted robbery at a home in Cumberland Wednesday morning...Police say Michael Evans and Corey Adams of Petersburg, Virginia came into the house and demanded money. Evans was shot at several times in the buttocks and leg. The two ran out of the home and drove out of the area. When officers arrived at the home, there was one victim with non life-threatening injuries. The people witnesses gave police a description of the suspects and their vehicle... (I suspect that this may be a case of shots being pushed or jerked low, rather than intentionally targeting the pelvic area. However, no mention is made of the caliber of the rounds fired and sub-caliber rounds are not very likely to cause incapacitation in the pelvic area unless they rupture the major blood vessels present in the lateral pelvis.) http://your4state.com/content/fulltext/?cid=19141 --- Arizona's Not Texas: Mesa police arrested a man after they say he assaulted and threatened to kill a man he found in bed with his wife Thursday. The incident occurred around 3 p.m. in the 100 block of South Roosevelt Road, near West Main Street and South Dobson Road. After finding his wife with her boyfriend, Eugene Quizar Terrazas Jr. of Mesa threw the boyfriend into a computer, police said. Later, while the man was putting his clothes on, Terrazas approached him with a knife and told him that if he ever came back he would kill him, police said. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0628b1-talker0628.html --- US Army May Replace M2 Machine Gun: Probably the longest serving weapon in the U.S. military arsenal is the Browning .50-caliber M2 machine gun. Often referred to as "ma deuce" for its M2 designation, the weapon entered U.S. service at the end of World War I, being scaled up from the Browning .30-caliber M1917 machine gun. The .50-caliber weapon was initially designated M1921...Now, after almost 90 years of service, the U.S. Army has moved to replace Browning's remarkable machine gun. The Army recently ordered three prototypes of a lightweight .50-caliber machine gun. Produced by General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, the weapon weighs about one-half of the current .50-caliber M2HB (Heavy Barrel) machine gun, fires with less recoil and is equipped with technology to improve accuracy, according to the company... (It's not really broken so we'd better replace it.) http://www.military.com/forums/0,15240,169995,00.html?ESRC=dod.nl --- Oh Canada!: A provincial inspection of the Ottawa police earlier this year uncovered more than 30% of officers hadn't received the required training on use of force and firearms. Officers have to be retrained every year on both. If they fail to do so, they're supposed to have their weapons removed until training is completed. Of the 222 officers inspected, 72 of them had not been requalified within the 12 months required. Some had gone up to two years without proper training, according to Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services' report on their inspection of the Ottawa police over a 10-day period between January and February... http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/06/21/5945631-sun.html --- NRA-ILA Alerts: Alerts for the various states are posted on the NRA-ILA website. http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/State/ -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .