Nordyke v King En Banc

Volokh Conspiracy Ninth Circuit Will Rehear Nordyke v. King En Banc
Law.com Giving Gun Case Another Look

The whole gun rights blogosphere is abuzz with speculation on this. I'll post more as information comes in.

Window War?

A few years ago I read a short story by Mike Vanderboegh called The Window War in which civil disobedience took the shape of breaking windows in public buildings and the headquarters of the major political parties. I doubt this story is related but it is an interesting coincidence.

More commentary on Sipseystreetirregulars

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Man throws brick through City Hall, police HQ windows

Austin police say a man tossed a rock through the window of police headquarters after he hit Austin City Hall with a big rock minutes earlier late Monday night. On Wednesday, 47-year-old Jesse Elmer Whited was charged with criminal mischief for the crime.

Police say first a security guard on duty saw Whited smash the glass and sprint down Cesar Chavez.

Then 14 minutes later police say the scruffy suspect was captured committing a crime on camera outside police headquarters. On video Whited is seen shattering the glass and taking off.

The glass at City Hall has been replaced but some are upset city hall was targeted with this misdemeanor madness.

“It’s pretty upsetting. I would have to wonder why someone would do something like that," says Austin lawyer Nikelle Meade. "It’s a beautiful building. It’s a safety issue they could have really hurt somebody.”

“There's no evidence to show he was trying to commit a burglary. He didn’t stay. He didn’t try to pull the windows open or anything like that," says APD spokesman Scott Perry. "He walks up throws the rock turns around and runs off.”

He also created a problem for the cash-strapped city that now has to replace all the broken glass.

“It’s about $500 for the window here at city hall. We don’t know the cost estimate for the one that was broken at APD yet," says Austin building service officer Jill Maness. "It’s a bit of an inconvenience the glass has to ordered, it’s a double pane safety glass. We’ve made a temporary Plexiglas replacement.”

Police haven’t added any officers to their patrol but say they will patrol city owned buildings more often.

Praetorian Presumptions

Highly recommended
Pro Libertate: Praetorian Presumptions

What little respect I had left for President Obama dissolved when he apologized to Sgt. Crowley. It may be just the Stopped Clock Syndrome but this time Bobo was right. If he had a fraction of the spine I expect from a President of the United States he should simply have said that once Crowley was convinced that Gates was the rightful resident of the house his responsibility ended! Anything beyond that was an abuse of power.

If this was a civilized country, once Gates showed his ID and it was verified as valid, Crowley should have simply apologized for the inconvenience and wished Gates a good night. If Gates was still upset, he could complain all he wanted but then he'd be the dickhead.

Do Californians really want to keep their guns?

Fighting the law-abiding doesn't fight crime.

For years now, gun control has succeeded in back-door confiscations by restricting and punishing ammunition the type of ammunition, type of weapon, where it can be carried, owned or changed, then the regulation of ammo, then the amount you can buy and how you must qualify for that. Nothing new, just more of the same. Why? Because it works in Europe. It’s not supposed to work their either, but it depends on what you’re trying to get working. Gun control or Safety? You'll never have both.

More guns are sold in California than any other state. Estimates put the number of legal gun owners in the State at somewhere over 10 million. In a state with an estimated 23 million eligible voters (not all of whom are registered), gun owners represents the single largest potential voting block in the State. If those gun owners made it plain that they will vote against any incumbent who

1. Votes for an antigun bill or


2. Against a progun bill.

The onerous gun laws in California would disappear in a decade or less.

People get the government they deserve. In California gun owners are getting it good and hard. If they want it otherwise they will have to stop presenting their naked rumps like a bunch of whipped chimpanzees.

If you want to stand erect like free men and women the first thing to do is straighten your spine.

DIY Speed Loader for 22 rifle tube magazines

For trips to the range I have one of the fancy speed loaders like this on from Cabelas or Cheaperthandirt

At home I sometimes need to quickly load specialty ammo like CB caps or SSS so I keep a few in homemade "speed loaders".

Materials:

1. Straw or other tube large enough to let a 22 round slide freely. (Any tube with an appropiate inside diameter will work. I have a couple made from sections of an old aluminum arrow)
2. Used foam ear plug.
3. White glue.

Instructions:

1. Put few drops of white glue on the inside surface of the straw.
2. Compress the ear plug and insert it about 1/2" into the straw.




3. Let the earplug expand and set the assembly aside.
4. Let the glue dry overnight.
5. Clip the exposed part of the earplug off.
6. Fill with the desired ammunition and use the remainder of the earplug to cap the end.
   

To load your 22 rifle:

1. Pull out the magazine follower.
2. Uncap the straw.
3. Upend the straw spilling the ammunition into the magazine tube.
4. Replace the follower.

Looking to be Offended?

Dr Boyce: Yes, The Transformers Movie Was Quite Racist

Meet Skids and Mudflap, two Transformers who may as well have been called Lil Wayne and Random Black Male idiot. One of them actually has a gold grill, and neither of them can read. They are bungling buffoons and cowards with barely an ounce of intelligence. One of them rides around as an Ice cream truck with the words "suck my popsicle" on the side, yelling "get your ice cream bitches" to those who might want to buy from his dirty little truck. They also remind you in every other sentence that you are a "punk ass bitch" and that they want to "bust a cap in your ass."

I tried to see his point but understanding just doesn't happen. One of the characteristics of the Transformers is they learn about human culture thru TV and Radio. Skids and Mudflap seem to have been over exposed to Hip Hop and Rap. If there is any intended message -- and I doubt there is -- they are an indictment of an entertainment industry that turns violence and ignorance into cardinal virtues and cash cows.

The ACLU Gets it Right!

From USA Today:

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A New Orleans man is suing the city and its district attorney for refusing to give back a gun that police seized when he was arrested on drug and firearms charges that were later dropped.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana filed the federal lawsuit Thursday on behalf of Errol Houston Jr., who was arrested last year following a traffic stop. The lawsuit says the district attorney's office declined to prosecute Houston but has refused to return his .40-caliber firearm.

WDSU Reports:
ACLU Sues Cannizzaro, Riley Over Gun Confiscation

"For the government to keep property that someone is legally entitled to own, there must be good cause, and the owner is entitled to due process," ACLU Executive Director Marjorie Esman said. "Mr. Houston has done nothing wrong. There are no criminal charges against him.

"His firearm, which he is and was entitled to carry, has been confiscated for no reason. It is past time for NOPD and the District Attorney to return it."

The suit claims that by keeping the firearms, the City is violating the plaintiff's Second Amendment rights and due process rights.

PDF file:http://www.laaclu.org/PDF_documents/Houston_v_CityofNO_Complaint.pdf

The National ACLU still maintains that the "Militia Clause" somehow converts the Second Amendment into a collective right. Anyone who paid attention in High School English knows that the first part of the Second Amendment -- "A Well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state" -- is grammatically a nominative absolute and does not alter the meaning of "The Right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Perhaps the leadership of the Louisiana ACLU paid attention in school.

Jaysus Aych Krist!

Pro-gun pastor says come armed to church

You’re kind of getting it from all sides. You have the critics, again, who say “Would Jesus have carried a weapon,” but you’ve got critics among gun advocates who say the fact that you stipulated that people had to bring their weapons into church unloaded and the only loaded weapon belonged to a police officer kind of rankles them. David Codrea, who is a gun rights advocate, wrote in Examiner.com “The idea that police are the only ones who can be entrusted with loaded firearms should be offensive to everyone who believes in the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” Everybody’s kind of ganging up on you from the right and left.

Would Jesus have carried a weapon?

What kind of stupid question is that? According to the Nicene press release Jesus could transform elements, revive the dead (presumably he could do the reverse?), levitate, control the weather, read minds, had power over several diseases and replicate matter. At the least. He was most of the X-Men all rolled into one package. If I had powers like that I wouldn't need to carry a gun either.

Hat Tip to David Codrea