Litigation
The courts have been busy. Mostly because the government is running wild.
US District Judge John W. Broomes of the District of Kansas correctly dismissed a case against a man accused of having two machine guns, saying that these firearms are protected as bearable arms under the Second Amendment. (Same thing goes for sawed-off guns and suppressors.) The case is U.S. v. Morgan. It will be appealed to the Tenth Circuit.
“There has seriously never been a more egregious violation of both the spirit and the letter of the U.S. Constitution enacted since the genesis of our Great Republic. Abbreviated as “NFA,” this accursed thing (National Firearms Act of 1934) is a case study in unconstitutional government overreach.” – Dr. Will Dabbs
On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Second Amendment rights do not apply to those who have entered the country illegally. But just five months ago a federal district judge in Illinois ruled that the ban on gun possession by those in the country illegally was unconstitutional as applied to a particular defendant, following a similar ruling last year in Texas. Those two cases are being appealed.
The Fifth Circuit has also held that federal prosecutors were wrong to charge a defendant with violating US Code Section 922(g)(3)’s “unlawful” users of drugs gun ban for possessing a gun while she “occasionally” used marijuana, noting she was sober at the time of her arrest.
The Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, erroneously affirmed a district court judge’s ruling that upheld Maryland’s handgun licensing requirements, rejecting an argument from civil rights activists that the law violated the Second Amendment by infringing on the rights of people to obtain guns. The challenged law requires most Maryland residents to obtain a Handgun Qualification License (HQL, also known as a state permission slip) before purchasing a handgun. To get a Maryland HQL, a person must complete a four-hour training class, making the right to bear arms the only right in Maryland that requires a class and an application before a citizen can exercise it.
Last week 27 states filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court urging the court to “rein in” the Biden administration’s new frame or receiver rule, which illegally broaden the statutory definition of “firearm” to include gun parts (like incomplete frames and receivers).
The Eighth US Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned Missouri’s “Second Amendment Protection Act,” a measure that was enacted in 2021. The law, introduced and passed in response to several anticipated bills that would be overreach on Second Amendment freedoms during the early days of the Biden administration, forbade Missouri police from enforcing federal gun laws that don’t have an equivalent state law. I don’t pretend to understand the federal/state issue in any depth, except to say that we effectively lost the states’ rights argument back in 1865, even though it is the constitutionally correct position. Also, what say the federal courts about “sanctuary cities?”
The US District Court for the Southern District of California has ruled that state’s ban on automatic knives with a blade 2-inches or longer is constitutional, disregarding the US Supreme Court’s stare decisis on the matter.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision on Tuesday applied new guidance from the Bruen decision, which recognized that citizens have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense. The Supreme Judicial Court concluded that switchblades are arms and aren’t deserving of special restrictions under the Second Amendment.
The “In Common Use” and “Historical” Trap
I’ve long opined that “common use,” “sensitive places,” “history and tradition” and other such claptrap from cases like Heller and Bruen are made-up nonsense that aren’t in the Constitution. I could be wrong. Go find them in the Constitution for me.
That being said, David Kopel has authored an extensive article on The History of Bans on Types of Arms Before 1900. (163 pages of text, and 1,563 footnotes). The short synopsis is here.
There is little discussion about federal court rulings on the constitutionality of these various gun laws, because most of the issues arose prior to the Fourteenth Amendment, which imposed the prohibitions of the Bill of Rights upon the states (except, largely, for the Second Amendment). So we can likely still conclude that just because a historical gun law existed does not mean that it was ever constitutional.
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Enemies
- Molon labe. You can repeal the Second Amendment, but you can’t do anything about physics. (H/T: Shakespeare)
- FBI. Still.
- Kamala Harris owns a handgun. And she has bodyguards armed with guns. But it’s not enough. She wants yours too.
NRA
NRA Director Al Hammond has sent a letter to the members of the Board of Directors encouraging them to support NRA EVP Doug Hamlin and to encourage Hamlin to fire Bill Brewer and his law firm. We hear that NRA would be financially viable today had it not been bled dry by the Brewer law firm charging jillions of dollars to lose cases for the NRA.
- Al Hammond Urges Hamlin to Fire Brewer
- A Second Directors’ Purge Begins
- NRA “Leadership’s” Response To The Judge’s Ruling In The Second Trial
- Andrew Arulanandam Heads to Idaho
The Only Ones
- I’m not a lawyer. Neither are most cops.
- A Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Investigator was fatally shot in the upper body when a suspect’s discarded pistol went off as the officer fished the weapon out of a storm drain. I can only presume that he shouldn’t have grabbed a loaded pistol in the trigger guard to retrieve it, or that it was dragged against a protrusion that snagged the trigger.
- The FBI shot up an LA County jail and parking lot. Just for practice.
DGUs
Carjacker to child: “I’m going to rape your mommy.”Armed bystander: “BANG.”Sheriff: “Thank goodness.”
- The Armed Citizen:
NOT a DGU
States
- MISS-takes. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks and various county tax collectors’ offices in this state are still dysfunctional.
I had a similar experience after buying a used UTV from an out of state dealer. Standing in the Hinds County tax collector’s office with all my paperwork and cash in my hand, they refused to take it. Months later the state tax collector (Dept. of Revenue) came calling with a bill and penalty for taxes that the county refused to collect. The state boys told me that is a common occurrence. On another occasion years earlier, Hinds County tried to make me buy a license plate for an off-road ATV that was not legal to operate on public roads. I told them I would buy the tag if they would let me drive it on the street, at which point the girl went into vapor lock.
Mississippi is ranked 5th best, while Illinois is ranked 47 out of 50. I made that note because as a Mississippian, I once mistakenly got on the MS River bridge running from St. Louis to Illinois. I made an illegal U-turn on the bridge to come back to Missouri, preferring a possible traffic ticket in St. Louis to a ridiculous gun possession charge in Illinois.
Newsletter
- The Rangemaster September Newsletter is out. It’s about grocery stores.
Tactics & Stuff
- Concealed Carry Against A Mob: When To Draw
- .45 Colt Buck & Ball Loads. (Not recommended for social purposes.)
- Target hardening.
- The Ithaca Model 37 Riot Shotgun: Historical Lookback
Hunting
- Great news! Duck numbers up.
- MS Doves. As always, I’m looking for a cheap (free) place to dove hunt in central MS this season. Please send me a message if you know of a friendly farmer in the area with some doves.
Industry News
- You may have seen reports that SCCY Firearms was apparently closing. That is not true. SCCY has “strategically downsized” in order to “address the current challenging economic environment,” but is still in business.
Products
- Guns & ammo are sales tax free this weekend in Mississippi.
- Labor Day sales.
- MidwayUSA has Federal Premium Hydra-Shok 230 grain .45 ACP ammo for less than 60 cents a pop.
- American Handgunner’s Tom McHale says the Staccato 2011 pistols (formerly STI) are the “softest shooting” 9mm pistols he’s ever fired.
- Two more write-ups by Dave Spaulding:
- Galco’s Universal Fit Cloud IWB magazine & accessory carrier looks nice but is a whopping $39 for a rectangular nylon pouch.
- Alaska Arms has new “drop-box” magazine floorplates to increase the capacity of Ruger 77 (now Hawkeye) magnum rifles by one round and by two rounds in non-magnum Rugers. The factory Ruger floorplate is easily removed and its Alaska Arms replacement is pinned to the tab and accepts the original follower spring. The only problem is that they cost $250, so unless you’re hunting dangerous animals…
- Weatherby’s new Mark V® Backcountry™ Guide and Guide Ti are the latest additions to the Backcountry™ rifle line. Starting at just 5.1 lbs, the Backcountry Guide Series feature shorter BSF carbon barrels and Peak 44 carbon stocks with factory-installed Spartan Precision mounts, titanium action upgrade, TriggerTech triggers adjustable to 2.5 lbs., titanium Accubrake ST muzzle brakes, and Cerakote finishes. $3300+.
- Bear Creek Arsenal’s 202 is a .22 WMR rifle that appears to be a copy of the Ruger 10/22 Magnum and is in fact compatible with aftermarket Ruger components and magazines for .22 WMR Rifles. But claimed to be better. .22 Magnum autoloaders tend to be problematic. $500.
- Ruger has two more 10/22 rimfire sporter rifles dressed in 75th Anniversary trim, this time with satin black alloy steel barrels. These models are in addition to the already popular 75th anniversary satin stainless steel barrel models and are available with the same stained and unstained hardwood stock options.
- At long last, Ruger has reintroduced the Marlin Trapper Series Model 1894 chambered in 357 Magnum. It comes in matte stainless steel, with nickel-plated small parts, Skinner stainless receiver sight system, and black laminate furniture with recoil pad and a slimmed-down forend. $1500.
- Warne’s new HyperLite scope rings, crafted from their exclusive MagnaFusion™ Alloy, are up to 35% lighter than traditional aluminum scope rings, without sacrificing strength or stability. They are Cerakote® finished, have an integrated recoil lug and dual-screw clamps with a STANAG 4694 interface compatible with both Picatinny and Weaver-style bases, and are available for 1″, 30mm, and 34mm tube sizes in Low, Medium, and High elevations. The 1-inch High rings weigh 2.87 ounces per pair. $100-110/pair.
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“‘Feel’ any way you want. ‘Feelings’ don’t change anything!” – John Farnam“While I am a convinced pacifist, there are circumstances in which I believe the use of force is appropriate, namely in the face of an enemy unconditionally bent on destroying me and my people.” – Albert Einstein
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“So we can likely still conclude that just because a historical gun law existed does not mean that it was ever constitutional.”
Thank you for saying that. The Bill of Rights negated all conflicting laws when it was ratified.
HLB