Archive for the 'Second Amendment' Category

So you’ll have to watch the entire video in order to understand. I did, and I do. In fact, I knew where he was headed by half way through the video or even less.

BLUF. This either stops with the appeals court, in which case it may be cited in the future by other courts, or it may be ignored by other courts, or it goes to the supreme court for a final ruling in Range.

In order for it to go to the supreme court, the U.S. government must have an interest, i.e., have standing. In order to have standing, they must pursue the case as is.

Then it’s possible to switch their position during final submittals to the court. This is what Mark recommends. The whole thing is a bit twisted, but these are the rules.

So don’t be surprised when you see the U.S. appeal the Range decision to the supreme court rather than let it die at appeals court.

David Codrea, quoting Richard Henry Lee.

“A militia when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves, and render regular troops in great measure unnecessary. The powers to form and arm the militia, to appoint their officers, and to command their services, are very important; nor ought they in a confederated republic to be lodged, solely, in any one member of the government. First, the constitution ought to secure a genuine [ ] and guard against a select militia, by providing that the militia shall always be kept well organized, armed, and disciplined, and include, according to the past and general usage of the states, all men capable of bearing arms; and that all regulations tending to render this general militia ― useless and defenceless, by establishing select corps of militia, or distinct bodies of military men, not having permament interests and attachments in the community is to be avoided. …To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them….”

Then he quite rhetorically asks, “What about well regulated?”

Go read David’s piece.

Here’s what well regulated means from the Oxford English Dictionary.

“The equation of time … is the adjustment of the difference of time as shown by a well-regulated clock and a true sun dial.”

Functioning properly. “Something that was well-regulated was calibrated correctly.” “Working as expected, calibrated correctly, normal, regular.”

Because by design the unorganized militia isn’t under the control of the FedGov (as intended by the founders), and totalitarians and tyrants want everything to be under the control of centralized governments. That’s why. They always have wanted this, and still want it today. The controller mentality hasn’t changed in the entire history of the world.

They fear armed, trained Americans. Therefore, never give up your firearms, and stay trained.

These are the people who would presume to rule you, knowing nothing whatsoever about either firearms or the law. It’s truly remarkable how ignorant judges can be.

On another note, I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating, that arguing for semi-automatic firearms because they aren’t fully automatic firearms and thus not in military use is the wrong tactic. One of these days, some bright, inspired, progressive lawyer is going to make hay out of that tactic.

First of all, it runs contrary to the purpose of the second amendment, which is to ameliorate tyranny, or in other words, self defense against both individuals and the state. The only reason for taking firearms is that the government intends to do something to you that wouldn’t be possible if you were armed.

Second, this tactic is just factually false. Pistols are semi-automatic weapons, as are the Benelli M4 shotguns the Marines used to clear Now Zad, Afghanistan, of the Taliban. Designated Marksmen still use both bolt action rifles and AR pattern rifles, and shooting fully automatic as a designated marksman makes no sense. Sniper rifles are virtually universally bolt action rifles due to the bolt lockup and chamber dimensions as compared to gas guns. Many times I have conveyed that my youngest son used both the SAW and the M4 in Fallujah, and he never used the M4 in full auto mode. None of the Marines did. The “military use” mantra is a distinction without a difference.

Third, we are poisoning the court record with all of this language about semi-automatic versus automatic and how one is for civilian use and one is for military use. This could come back to harm the second amendment community when all of the examples of semi-automatic firearms usage is cataloged by some enterprising controller.

Just stop doing it. I understand all about winning the case before you, but these records could become very important down the road.

Well, it is Illinois, and the circuit court may ride roughshod over this decision like they did Judge McGlynn’s earlier decision. Here is the decision.

For all the good I think is in here, I still think he (and virtually all other judges and justices) miss the point about the second amendment existing for the amelioration of tyranny. Personal self defense is a cleaned up, sanitized version of the 2A meant to make the 2A more palatable for the inside-the-beltway types.

Self-defense must include defense against the tyranny of the state to be complete.

Pay attention or you’ll miss his point.

Sadly, a lot of gun owners will believe her, especially 60+ year old Fudd upland bird hunters who only believe you have the right to own an over-under. Don’t get me wrong. I love a good over-under. That just has nothing at all to do with the RKBA.

Silence from the Harris campaign on this blockbuster. She wants to ban handguns entirely. Thats how much she "respects the Second Amendment." pic.twitter.com/bekCTnQZQ0

— Chuck Michel (@CRPAPresident) September 26, 2024

30 years ago, President Clinton signed the federal Assault Weapons Ban into law. During the 10 years it was in effect, people across our nation were far less likely to die in a mass shooting.

It is long past time to renew it. pic.twitter.com/CFESvc3Fw5

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) September 13, 2024

Kamala: “Just because you legally possess a gun in the sanctity of your locked home doesn't mean that we're not going to walk into that home and check to see if you're being responsible.”pic.twitter.com/PpFivXGzp8

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 18, 2024

Coupling with what I said yesterday, David sent me this commentary. I must have missed this when it came out. That’s my mistake.

The “enforce exiting gun laws” faction of gun owners are the loudest objectors, evidently unaware that their position is ideologically no different than a Revolutionary era colonial demanding to enforce exiting Intolerable Acts. The hard truths no one wants to admit are that “gun control” laws don’t work – whether they’re favored by Everytown or by NRA, and that anyone who can’t be trusted with a gun can’t be trusted without a custodian.

It’s not a matter of “Should felons have guns?” That’s the wrong question. Try “Should those proven violent and predatory have access to the rest of us?”

Ditto with “Should illegal aliens have guns?”

Of course, all human beings are entitled to unalienable rights. And the Supreme Court has acknowledged, in the Heller case, and earlier, in Cruikshank, “The very text of the Second Amendment implicitly recognizes the pre-existence of the right and declares only that it ‘shall not be infringed.’ As we said in United States v. Cruikshank… ‘[t]his is not a right granted by the Constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence.’”

But again, it’s the wrong question. What should be asked is “Why is a known illegal alien allowed to remain in the United States instead of being deported?”

[ … ]

At this writing, more, including an inordinate number of military-aged males of not just Mexican or Central American origin, but from China, and from hostile Islamic states, are adding to their unvetted numbers already here while our government, consented to under the premise that it would “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,” offers the lawbreakers incentives and rewards to embed themselves (and increase political power through apportionment) throughout the Republic.

It’s hardly unreasonable to conclude the “newcomers” (we aren’t supposed to call them “illegals” anymore) represent the equivalent of a standing foreign army, many with agendas directed by brutal criminal cartels and by bellicose powers like China, Russia, and Iran.

The Framers never intended to protect the right of invaders to keep and bear arms, but again, that’s the wrong issue. We need to instead ask ourselves “Who does it benefit to have Second Amendment advocates arguing over acceptable infringements while they ignore the damn elephant in the room?”

This issue all about avoiding confusion, thinking deeper than a sophomoric level of understanding, and focusing on the root questions. It’s easy to get distracted.

Do try not to get distracted. When you get distracted, it makes you look like a simpleton.

To understand if your view is perhaps a bit outlandish and should be unpersuasive – even to yourself – always use hyperbole. Ask yourself the hard questions to see just exactly how far this would go.

Pose questions to yourself such as “Should we open the borders to invading armies and in fact arm them so that we can claim that the FedGov isn’t infringing upon the RKBA?” “Should we invite in immigrants who would predominantly undermine our core rights, including the RKBA?” “Should we terraform the culture such that we couple a welfare state with illegal immigrants, effectively destroying the medical care system in the country?” [Ask me how I know that immigrants are destroying the medical system in the country – go ahead, ask me].

“The grant of citizenship is a transfer of political power.” Thinking through the implications of that might do everyone some good.

That’s the correct decision.

Notice I didn’t say that RKBA isn’t a God-given right, because it is. I agreed that illegals don’t have second amendment rights. It’s our contract, not theirs. They can go back to their own homeland and force the government to adopt a covenant and contract that recognizes God-given rights just like we did.

Everyone has problems. You have your problems, I have mine. The problems of the illegal alien are not my problems. I have enough of my own to deal with. I can’t solve everyone else’s problems for them. And neither can America.

I’m not interested in the libertarian answer to this. I’m not a libertarian. I’m a Christian.

Illegals don’t have a right to be here to begin with. The fact that they’re here doesn’t mean that they can take advantage of the covenant and contract we have with our country (such as it is, and for as long as it lasts).

The Holy Writ stipulates to be kind to the sojourner among you. Sojourners don’t lay down roots and steal from you and try to undermine your own covenant and contract. They pass through. Becoming part of the tribe means adopting the values and faith of the tribe.

Enough said. This is the right decision. Illegal aliens are not part of “the people.”

Mark Smith likes the notion of “in common use” from Heller. David Codrea points out some problems with it.

In fact, citizens reporting for militia duty were expected to bring weaponry suitable for battle, and in many cases, these men “outgunned the police,” especially when considering the standard issue for British troops was the Brown Bess musket, while patriots who owned them came equipped with more accurate and longer-range Kentucky/Pennsylvania rifles. Recall that the Founders considered the militia “necessary to the security of a free State,” and to expect their equipment would be inferior to that of attackers they were defending against would have been suicidally absurd.

The militia deployed with the intent to match and best a professional military threat. Its function was — and still is — to field citizen soldiers, and these citizens bore arms that were suitable for that purpose, “ordinary military equipment” intended to be taken into “common defense” battles.

Still, apparently believing he is making his case, Feldman continues offering pre-Bruen examples of infringements, in this case citing Antonin Scalia’s wholly uncalled-for concession that “Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. Miller’s holding that the sorts of weapons protected are those ‘in common use at the time’ finds support in the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons.”

[ … ]

… we ignore the first 13 words of the Second Amendment at our peril. Feldman takes full advantage of that, writing “Today, the Second Amendment applies to all weapons that ordinary people carry on an ordinary basis for self-defense … Logically, it should also exclude AR-15s, which are not commonly carried for self-defense.”

Logically it shouldn’t. But unfortunately for gun owners, too many influencers ostensibly on “our side” won’t explore the militia aspect …

David is correct, of course. “In common use” has nothing whatsoever to do with military utility, and machine guns should be covered under the second amendment for all men.

Scalia had to make the second amendment palatable for the inside-the-beltway types, as I’ve observed before.

Despite the Court’s confident pronouncement, it is not at all clear that the Second Amendment was meant to protect a personal right of self-defense. It is, however, crystal clear that the Amendment was meant to protect the right to keep and bear arms to resist tyranny-as the Heller Court itself concedes. Yet strangely, by the time the sixty-four-page opinion has wound to an end, the Court has purged the Amendment of its revolutionary quality. Justice Scalia’s opinion never hints that the right to resist tyranny might still be alive and well and relevant to the Amendment’s interpretation, and it lays down rules that will make the right a functional nullity.

As a result, the opinion has an odd quality. Justice Scalia insists that he is being true to the language and history of the Constitution. Yet by the close of the opinion, the purpose that clearly and plainly appears in the language and history-the right of resistance-has disappeared, but the right of self defense-which is much less clearly present, if present at all, in the language and history-has taken center stage.

[ … ]

Heller offers a Second Amendment cleaned up so that it can safely be brought into the homes of affluent Washington suburbanites who would never dream of resistance-they have too much sunk into the system–but who might own a gun to protect themselves from the private dangers that, they believe, stalk around their doors at night. Scalia commonly touts his own judicial courage, his willingness to read the Constitution as it stands and let the chips fall where they may. But Heller is noteworthy for its cowardice.

I have no problem at all making Heller about self defense – as long as it is understood holistically. That self defense should be about defense against individuals and state actors, whether foreign or domestic.

It’s not an either-or relationship. It’s a both-and relationship.