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.

AP.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Federal appellate judges overturned a Missouri law Monday that banned police from enforcing some federal gun laws.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the Missouri law violated a section of the U.S. Constitution known as the supremacy clause, which asserts that federal law takes precedence over state laws.

“A State cannot invalidate federal law to itself,” 8th Circuit Chief Judge Steven Colloton wrote in the ruling.

Missouri’s Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement that his office was reviewing the decision. “I will always fight for Missourians’ Second Amendment rights,” he said.

We’ve discussed this before and we knew this would happen. For preemption laws, the state must be ready to use force, or the threat of force.

More than that, the simplest solution to this is to ensure that all local, county and state LEOs who would have a predilection to enforce federal gun control laws are fired or drummed out of office.

Or maybe “That book you carry.”

Same disrespect.

The constitution isn’t just a piece of paper. It’s a covenant and contract, just like the sale of a piece of property or a marriage vow. Breakage of it is grounds for divorce, legal action, and a host of other things. In the case of a government, it’s grounds for violence. Don’t ask me. Ask the founders, and ask John Calvin, from whom this concept came.

She’s just a little girl anyway with a dirt clod for a brain.

In ancient times marriages were arranged and even so the Holy Writ didn’t object to that practice.

So if you don’t like the covenant and contract you’re under, too bad. I don’t even believe that the covenant between the people of America and its state should be able to be amended.

Go somewhere else.

WOW: Top Kamala Harris surrogate Kelley Robinson attacks the Constitution as just a "little piece of paper" and "reimagining" democracy.

YOUR THOUGHTS? pic.twitter.com/QqCYy0SjeX

— Proud Elephant (@ProudElephantUS) August 26, 2024

First, by FPC. Here is the Petition for Writ of Certiorari. The full case files can be found here.

Next, by the SAF.

Of course, if granted, these petitions will be combined.

Personally, I hope that FPC gets through the wall of refusal the supreme court has set up against hearing AWBs. I will never forgive Alan Gottlieb for his embracing of so-called “smart guns.”

Perhaps so, says John Farnham.

In fact, Benelli is now actively marketing this idea, claiming that their autoloading shotguns, with #4 buckshot, are effective against airborne drones out to 50m, maybe even 100m (although I think 100m is mostly fantasy).

Shotguns are good for and still used in combat anyway. All militaries should be skilled in the use of shotguns. The only thing that gives the individual fighter a chance against drones in the shotgun.

Besides, training with sporting clays will likely improve your defensive shotgun use.

Source.

Equipped with only 19 pounds of gear, 89-year-old Bing Olbum set off on what he intended to be a five–day hiking trip.

Instead, Olbum found himself stranded for nearly 10 days in over 4 million acres of Salmon-Challis National Forest. It’s home to some of the most rugged places in the country beyond Alaska, according to a local search and rescue coordinator.

Some of the peaks and saddles Olbum passed through reached over 8,000 feet as he cleared more than 20 miles while traversing the alpine forest.

“The odds of anybody surviving that period of time out in the wilderness area is very unlikely,” said Custer County Search and Rescue Coordinator Lincoln Zollinger.

On August 1, Olbum ventured from the Hunter Creek Trailhead in east-central Idaho on a backpacking trip. He was expected to arrive at his exit point in the McDonald Creek Area five days later, according to the Custer County Sheriff’s Office.

Olbum was reported as a missing person days later on August 6, the sheriff’s office said.

The Custer County Search and Rescue team began searching for him by land and air. Ground teams scanned the forest for traces of Olbum, lasering in on possible trails on which he could be found.

The next morning, the Idaho National Guard and a private pilot lent their helicopters to help with the search, and the Idaho National Laboratory manned drones to sweep through the forested mountains for signs of Olbum.

Despite the extensive effort, the Custer County Search and Rescue team “had zero traces of him for the five days” they had been looking, Zollinger said.

Local residents of Custer County and the surrounding area made up the ground search teams.

Locals left their jobs and commitments to help with the search for Olbum, as the Custer County Search and Rescue team is entirely made up of volunteers, according to Zollinger.

“We’re still a really small community,” Zollinger said, adding that he and others have spent their whole lives here. “They say, ‘stay off the mountain,’ well we’re going anyways.”

And it was these community members who finally brought Olbum home.

“We were getting ready to discontinue our search and turn it back over to the family to let them look for (him),” Zollinger said, adding that the chances of survivability were low after being out there for so long.

Olbum’s daughter, Jennifer Olbum, posted his photo and trail map on Facebook Thursday asking for information and help from hikers familiar with the area.

“For two days search and rescue have been unable to locate him which tells me he is hurt or worse and unable to lay out a tarp for the choppers to see,” she wrote.

Two days later, on the final evening of the search, a group of local rescuers discovered Olbum’s camp, according to the sheriff’s office.

After searching for Olbum in the surrounding areas, local residents on horseback found him safe in the early morning hours of August 11.

According to Zollinger, Olbum was found virtually unscathed and was only mildly dehydrated and sore from the sheer distance he covered on foot.

That morning, the Custer County Sheriff’s Office praised Olbum, saying his “will to survive has resulted in an unbelievably good ending to this incident” in a post on Facebook.

Olbum had lightly packed for his backpacking trip. His only food for the excursion was beef jerky, salted nuts and iodine tablets to purify water, according to Zollinger. He also packed a one-man tent, a blanket and a pad to sleep on.

He did not have any tracking devices on him and only had a compass and a paper map for navigation.

I don’t recommend hiking the bush in Idaho without a large bore handgun, which based on his light loadout, I’m willing to bet he didn’t have.

I also don’t recommend going into the deep bush with an ultralight loadout. Freeze dried food would have been very light.

Finally, hiking in the bush without a tracking device is bold. Probably too bold for me. I don’t recommend it.

Source.

Several gun shops in Twin Falls are alleging that the Twin Falls Police Department is maintaining a form of “gun registration” and that the police are trying to force them into the program under the threat of law.

Editorial comment: what law says they can force this on FFLs? Pay attention, cite it, do your homework, and be precise.

Idaho Dispatch sat down with the owners of Quick Response Firearms (Tara and Daniel Corsini) and Homestead Tactical (Joshua Van Dyke), both located in Twin Falls. Both shops say TFPD is trying to force them to use a program called “LeadsOnline.” They claim the program not only acts as a de facto “gun registration program” because it requires personal information about the customer selling the gun as well as information about the firearm being sold.

TFPD allegedly told the gun shops that the program helps them catch criminals faster.

The dispute between the gun shops and the police department is over secondhand purchases of firearms by the gun shops.

According to the Corsinis and Van Dyke, federal law already requires them to maintain a list of every firearm that is sold to or by the shop as well as the personal information of the buyer and seller. The gun shops maintain an “Acquisition and Disposition Log” with every customer’s personal information as required by the ATF. Both gun shops say the log is maintained offline, customer personal information is protected, and personal information is only disclosed in the event of an active investigation.

For example, the Corsinis said two firearms they purchased from a customer were reported stolen early in 2023. The Twin Falls police investigated who sold the Corsinis the guns, and the items were returned to their owner. The Corsinis said they worked with the police, and because there was an active investigation, they were able to give them the necessary information for the case.

The Corsinis say they have purchased over 8,000 firearms since they began business in 2019 and that, to date, those are the only two stolen firearms they have ever had. Van Dyke says he has not had any stolen firearms sold to his business to date.

Approximately one year after the stolen firearms were returned, the Corsinis and Van Dyke say police started “harassing” them to use LeadsOnline, an online program used by law enforcement agencies across the country. The Corsinis noted that not all interactions with law enforcement were negative, but one detective, who was not named, allegedly told them they had to comply or face misdemeanor charges.

[ … ]

Additionally, Idaho Dispatch asked LeadsOnline who can access the information collected by the Twin Falls police. LeadsOnline told Idaho Dispatch that each agency controls who can access the data they are gathering.

Finally, Idaho Dispatch asked LeadsOnline what would happen if the FBI, ATF, or any other federal agency asked for data from a law enforcement agency. What would LeadsOnline require to turn over that data? However, no answer to this question was provided.

Idaho Dispatch contacted Lieutenant Craig Stotts (listed as a media contact) with the TFPD to ask why personal information regarding the secondhand firearms purchases by gun shops was required, if the gun shops already maintain that information in their Acquisition and Disposition Log, and if LeadsOnline does not require it to be gathered.

Additionally, Idaho Dispatch asked Stotts for a response to the gun shops’ claims of harassment by TFPD, claims that the shops faced misdemeanor charges, and whether they believed LeadsOnline was serving as a de facto gun registration program.

Idaho Dispatch emailed and called Stotts, but we have not received a response to any of our questions.

Van Dyke says one of his biggest concerns is the collection of personal information by the police, which he said is a violation of the 4th Amendment.

One of the comments stated that Merick Garland met with Idaho law enforcement just prior to these threats by law enforcement.

Sure enough, that’s true. Said one LEO, ““You never know,” Huff said. “I’ve never met somebody that high up in the government, and quite honestly, I was impressed with how down to earth the attorney general was, as far as just taking the time out of his schedule to hear from the local officers.”

What is it with local and state law enforcement when they meet up with the FedGov? What makes them swoon like little girls and do what they’re told?

Anyway, this is your daily reminder that cops are not your friend.

And perhaps another in the frequent reminders that Idaho isn’t perfect. In fact, I’ve been quite surprised lately in just how bad the place can be with it’s corruption (especially the governor and executive branch). I think the people of Idaho need to take back their government.

Via Wisco.

This is what she believes. When she tells you she believes this, listen to her.

Of course, this has nothing whatsoever to do with public safety or violence as you know.

It all has to do with there being a monopoly on power, that monopoly belonging to the state. They only do that if they intend on foisting something on you (with violence if necessary) for which you would respond in kind.

We need leaders with the courage to act.

Congress and state legislators must keep our communities safe by making background checks universal, passing red flag laws, and banning assault weapons.

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

I had this same question, and this came up in the search.

If you hunt in the South, you’d better wear snake boots and be prepared to kill rattle snakes and copperheads. Also, they are climbers, so being in a deer stand doesn’t help. I’ve seen lots of them elevated in bushes before.

Very interesting video.