Kathy Kinsley, in comments:
The Fourth Amendment has been dead for quite some time. Ever since the courts decided that any property suspected of being involved in a crime could be seized. Without due process.
Update:
Update 2: Yeah, the fifth amendment is more applicable with respect to due process as people are pointing out in comments. The fifth is not quite dead yet.
One of the RTB newbies, Tennessee Values Authority, lists me as a favorite read. I’m flattered. He writes of me:
It is likely safe to assume that SayUncle and I never vote in the same primary. He reminds me a lot of my father-in-law (and a few of my actual uncles), which is one reason I enjoy getting his perspective regularly on issues of the day. The thing is, I find that SayUncle and I tend to agree on a great many topics. It seems we’ve allowed our varying interpretations of the 2nd Amendment cloud the fact that we are usually in general agreement on the other nine amendments in the Bill of Rights. I find myself shouting out a few amens to his concerns about the erosion of the 4th amendment under the so-called USA PATRIOT Act, his cynical observations on the erosion of civil liberties under the guise of moral values and the local war on porn, and his concerns over property rights and eminent domain. Maybe one day I’ll understand more of the “gun nut” stand. I see how it connects to the other issues, but admittedly there’s a fervor there that leaves me unnerved. Maybe he thinks the same thing when folks like me wax on and on about the 1st Amendment. (Although the 4th is my real favorite, because without it the others don’t work so well.)
A few comments, I voted in the Democrat primary in 1992 for Jerry Brown. Young and stupid. Too much MTV, beer and hanging out with hippie chicks. They’re easy, you know.
There are no varying interpretations of the Second Amendment, it’s a pretty straight forward read. What passes for the results of case law, however, is confusing, arbitrary, and merely represents the fact that the .gov doesn’t like us citizens to be armed. It’s also wrong in every circuit court but the fifth. And, honestly, this issue is very likely why the left is in the minority. Oh and terror.
I’m also a big fan of the fourth amendment but, due to ridiculous case law, it’s all but done for in the courts, much like the first and second. The second amendment exists to protect the other nine.
And there can be no peace between us right-leaning libertarians and lefties until they get it right.
I also tend to doubt Mr. TVA is a big fan of the Tenth Amendment but I could be wrong.
And my standing offer to Mr. TVA: Anytime you want to head to the range and see what this gun nuttery is all about, let me know. Guns, ammo, range time, targets are all on me.
I think I’ll just start calling this the Carnival of Uncle, bet it gets more links that way:
Head has everything you ever wanted to know about the CETME.
Head also gives advice on AK-47s to a denizen (no, I am not making this up) of Democratic Underground.
In an earlier decision, a court ruled that adding a secondary pistol grip to an otherwise legal pistol does not constitute making an Any Other Weapon. Someone should tell the ATF because they apparently still think that is the case. The ATF has pretty much adopted the rule that an AOW is any thing that it can’t classify as something else, even though that is not coded into law.
Gun laws are a bitch. They’re arbitrary and often pointless (such as AOW laws). I think Huffman’s rule is appropriate:
Firearms law are so complex, victimless, and nonsensical that almost every firearms owner breaks multiple laws without knowing it. A general rule to compute the earned prison time for crimes committed is to multiply the number of years of activity in the shooting sports by five.
As someone who goes out of his way not to violate gun laws (because it’s so easy to do unintentionally), I can concur. Denise has much more on random gun laws.
A Zogby poll says 75% of Americans don’t think gun bans reduce the threat of terrorism. Duh. Deb has more.
The NRA says the 50 caliber ban is the tip of the agenda of anti-gun groups plan to ban all rifles. That should probably read all gun ownership. What I found funny was that the rifles the VPC wants to ban under the guise that they are sniper rifles, defined as:
a bolt action or semi-automatic
having a two-stage trigger
having a free-floated barrel
having a”bull” or “target” barrel
having a fluted barrel
That’s pretty much most rifles.
Spoons is gun blogging. We need more of that and he needs a rifle. His post was for Pejman Yousefzadeh, who is looking for advice on guns. My advice, get something simple (like a revolver or a Glock). If you get a revolver, the .38 and .357 are fine rounds. If you opt for the semi-auto, get any .4X caliber.
Michael Bane on the realpoliticks of shooting:
The biggest point is what I’d call the “hang together or hang separately” issue, i.e., antigun forces stand to benefit from any schism between hunters and non-hunting shooters. That’s certainly a fair point. However, I don’t think there needs to be a break between the two groups. It would not take much for the hunting side of the industry to accept and acknowledge that the shooting sports represent 1) a viable alternative to field sports and 2) an alternative marketing resource for the hunting industry.
Ayup.
Via Jed, we find that (yet again) newspapers merely repeat anti-gun propaganda.
Florida will soon abolished the duty to retreat requirement of self-defense and replaced it with reasonable belief they are in danger of death or great bodily harm.
The city of Maryville has annexed a portion of land to build a Wal-Mart. WATE says they can’t confirm that it will be a Wal-Mart but my inside sources tell me it’s pretty much a done deal and there will be a Wal-Mart put there.
Aside from offering tax incentives, I’m not sure why the city would annex it.
Montana keeps poking the feds with a pointy stick. This time, their legislature passed a resolution condemning the Patriot act.
In Michigan, there are calls for a ban on pit bulls. Bans do not work and are fraught with problems. But I guess it’s more important to do something (anything!), even if it’s pointless.
Actual statement from the ContraCostaTimes:
Responsible pit bull owner an oxymoron, say readers
Whoever made that statement is just a plain old moron.
The NRA reports that New Mexico governor Bill Richardson signed concealed carry reform into law. The bill makes it easier to get permits.
Yeah, I’ve posted it before but I just like this pic:
Also, Tom, forgoing buy a gun day, welcomes a new addition to his family.
And for the record, I think that dogs are more effective at deterring bad guys at the house than a gun.
A local police officer in Grainger County lost his gun. At a school. It still hasn’t been found.
Update: Michael reports it has been found. And details are to come.
Update: WBIR reports it has been found.
Kevin from Always Low Prices, which features both positive and negative news items concerning Wal-Mart, is being “asked” by Wal-Mart to stop using their slogan on his site, which by the way he has been using for over a year now. Anyway he is reaching out to the Blogosphere to ask for some help/advice in how to respond. If you are such a person or know such a person he would like to talk to you.
I do it all the time and am about to do more of it. Now, this, uhm, well, you make the call:
Sen. John Cornyn said yesterday that recent examples of courthouse violence may be linked to public anger over judges who make politically charged decisions without being held accountable.
In a Senate floor speech in which he sharply criticized a recent Supreme Court ruling on the death penalty, Cornyn (R-Tex.) — a former Texas Supreme Court justice and member of the Judiciary Committee — said Americans are growing increasingly frustrated by what he describes as activist jurists.
First of all, none of the recent cases were the result of some citizen disgruntled with some issue taking it out on a judge. One case was a nutjob who didn’t want to go to jail for raping a woman. The other case didn’t even involve shooting a judge. In addition to Cornyn’s claim being irresponsible, it’s also total bullshit.
Lefty blogs are all aflutter at the asininity of the statement. They should be. Insty chimes in with:
“THERE’S BEEN SO MUCH DISREGARD FOR CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES IN CONGRESS, that I wonder if it might not lead some people to want to lynch Senators in the majority?”
An irresponsible statement. So how come Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said pretty much the same thing about violence against judges?
Gandelman has a good round up of reactions and he notes that:
Sen. Cornyn has now seemingly given a perfect mental fig leaf for every nut on the right OR ON THE LEFT who wants to physically take out a judge (or the judge’s family) with whom he or she disagrees.
Now, here’s where I out myself as a nutjob, more like a nutjob-lite. Some aspects of our government do seem to be getting out of control. The Supreme Court is utterly useless and is merely a shill for the powers that be. It doesn’t serve the people or the law. If it did, they’d stand up against abuses that go against the fourth amendment. They’d have smacked down the abysmal campaign finance reform. They’d have gone to bat for the second amendment when the assault weapons ban was challenged (or, Hell, if they’d agree to hear any gun case and make a decision one way or another). The wouldn’t have refused to hear a variety of cases that impact civil liberties. All it takes is five hands and we’re fucked.
Congress, now dominated by what was supposedly the party of smaller government, is worse. The jackpot congress and the president, who hasn’t vetoed anything ever that I can recall, go on their merry way spending our money, involving themselves in things they shouldn’t be involved in, and growing the government to the biggest it has ever been. Ever. Meanwhile, we the people are only concerned about important issues, like dudes kissing and Britney’s big ass.
Still, that doesn’t mean you go killing judges. Or congressmonkies. Or presidents. Like Claire Wolfe said:
America is at that awkward stage. It’s too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.
I don’t advocate shooting or killing anyone. But I do advocate kicking their asses. Ginsburg needs to be smacked repeatedly about the head and neck area. Bush needs a wedgie. Frist needs to be kicked in the nuts. Sure, I’m kidding but our civil and public servants need to be taken down a peg or two. They really do. But that doesn’t mean you kill them. I don’t really have a method for bringing them down a peg. Can we bring back tarring and feathering?
Per insty, Cornyn has clarified and stated his speech was taken out of context. Additionally, Cornyn notes:
My point was, and is, simply this: We should all be concerned that the judiciary is losing the respect that it needs to serve the American people well.
The judiciary needs to work on getting the respect back. It gets that by serving the American people well. It doesn’t need respect to start serving us well. No branch of government currently serves the people well. Something needs to be done to hold them accountable. Vote them out. Impeach them. We need to do something.
Or I’ll bring the feathers.
I was never particularly excited about the Minuteman Project, where citizens patrol the border because our government is doing a crappy job of it. The president called them vigilantes but, with the president’s failure to take adequate steps to secure the borders, consider the source. The real significance of the Minuteman project is to draw attention to our porous borders and it has done that.
So, how are the Minutemen doing? Depends who you ask.
USA Today reports that the volunteers are disruptive:
Volunteers who have converged on the Mexican border to watch for illegal immigrants are disrupting U.S. Border Patrol operations by tripping sensors that alert agents to possible intruders, an agency spokesman complained Monday.
The AP, however, reports that it’s paying off:
Participants helped federal agents make 18 arrests near Naco, authorities said Sunday. The volunteers were surveying the border to familiarize themselves with the area before starting their regular, monthlong patrols Monday.
Meanwhile, the .gov will tighten border controls by 2008.
Update: An article I was emailed (can’t find a link to it – for future reference, send me a link too) states that:
Citizens take posts on the border; 118 illegals caught, officials say
FoxNews confirms that 118 were spotted.
Update 2: In comments, there’s a link to an article that claims the Minutemen have stopped 141 illegal aliens. I wonder how many the Border Patrol gets in a comparable time period?
I’m a little Poped out. Every where you look, it’s Pope this, Pope that, Pope the other thing, and what about the Pope mobile? I, like most of the population of the Earth, am not Catholic so maybe the coverage just seems excessive to me. And there’s still over two days until the funeral. I need a Pope-free zone.
In NY, there is little difference between real guns and toy guns. They fined CVS and K-Mart for selling illegal toy guns. Ravenwood has the scoop.
In anticipation of Buy a Gun day, I’m mulling over what I want to buy. As such, here’s sort of the wish list:
The Walther P-22 with a sound suppressor: Fun toy, quiet and good for backyard plinking. As a bonus, the suppressor can be used on Mr. Plinkie.
Either a Springfield SOCOM or Springfield scout: Probably the best all around rifle ever. I like the compactness of the SOCOM but I also like the 18 inch barrel of the scout. Problem is they run about $1,500, which is a lot for gun in my opinion.
New England Survivor in 308, available at your friendly, neighborhood Wal-Mart. A quality hunting, plinking rifle for a damn fine price.
Special Purpose Rifle in 6.8SPC: I really, really want one but just can’t get motivated to do so until the ammo is readily available.
Concealed hammer .357 revolver: No particular brand picked yet, but I’m leading toward the Taurus. I need a good pocket gun. And I want lasergrips for it.
Glock 21: Full size 45ACP.
Kel-Tec P3AT: Another pocket gun but this one will actually fit in your pocket. Not sure about the 380 caliber though.
So, there’s my current list. It will change next week, it always does.
While my hopes are not high, Congress is reviewing the merits of the Patriot Act. I found this bit interesting:
The data released by the Justice Department late Monday centered on its use of Section 213 of the law, which allows federal agents, with a court order, to enter a suspect’s home or residence secretly and search for evidence without immediately telling the person they have been there. The provision is among those set to expire at the end of 2005.
The new data showed that the Justice Department used the secret warrants 108 times from April 2003 to January 2005, for an average of almost five warrants per month. That represented a sharp increase from the last reported tally from October 2001 to April 2003, when 47 warrants were issued, for an average of fewer than three per month.
Justice Department officials said they resorted to using the secret warrants in less than 0.2 percent of all search warrants granted to law enforcement officials.
By my calculation (108/0.2%) the Justice Department conducted 54,000 warranted searches in 21 months? {Update: Keying error. Numbers updated and look a lot more reasonable}. Also:
The secret warrants were used in a wide spectrum of cases beyond terrorism, including child pornography, drug trafficking and organized crime, the officials said.
I thought the Patriot Act was to be used for terror? I mean, that’s why they pushed it.
A bill entitled The Pharmacists Freedom of Conscience Act is making its way through the Tennessee legislature. It will allow pharmacists to cite moral objections as a reason for refusing to dispense drugs without fear of liability or disciplinary measures. WATE has more.
The bill is being called (and rightfully so) an effort to limit access to contraceptives. And Viagra, I’d guess.
In Colorado:
Drivers who insist on staying in the passing lane are risking tickets as the State Patrol has begun enforcing a law requiring motorists to use the left lane for passing only.
Since the patrol started enforcing the “Left Lane Law” three months ago, troopers have written about 460 tickets or about an average of five a day to drivers who dawdle in the left lane.
Update: In local news, if you’re one of those asshats who waits until the last minute to merge in a construction zone, you’ll be getting fined for it:
Tennessee Highway Patrol Troopers are launching a new effort to make construction zones in Tennessee safer. Drivers who don’t merge in a timely manner could face hefty fines.
It’s a big frustration for a lot of drivers. Traffic is merging into one lane, then someone suddenly cuts in front of you.
T-DOT and THP want the practice to stop. Starting immediately, troopers will issue tickets to anyone who merges past the intended zone.
I still advocate an ass-whippin’.
Justice Ginsburg advocates lending more credence to international law:
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court embraced the practice of consulting foreign legal decisions on Friday, rejecting the argument from conservatives that United States law should not take international thinking into account.
After a strongly worded dissent in a juvenile death penalty case from Justice Antonin Scalia last month that accused the court of putting too much faith in international opinion, Justice Ginsberg said the United States system should, if anything, consider international law more often.
The Constitution is the law of the land, not world opinion.
The ATF is getting poked with a stick because it fails to conduct adequate background checks on people who purchase explosives. What government does:
People with criminal records and other disqualifying factors have access to explosives because the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is failing to do adequate background checks, posing a significant risk to public safety, the Justice Department’s internal watchdog said Monday.
At least 655 people can continue to work for companies licensed to handle explosives even though they have criminal records or fall into one of six other prohibited categories, Justice Inspector General Glenn A. Fine said. ATF continues to classify their applications as pending; until the clearance process is complete, applicants can continue to handle explosives.
It gets better:
The agency did not even request an FBI background check on an estimated 3,420 of the 38,000 people who have sought government clearance to work with explosives, Fine said.
Gunner reports that in San Francisco will soon vote on a law that would require local bloggers to register with the city Ethics Commission and report all blog-related costs that exceed $1,000 in the aggregate. Also:
Blogs that mention candidates for local office that receive more than 500 hits will be forced to pay a registration fee and will be subject to website traffic audits, according to Chad Jacobs, a San Francisco City Attorney.
Morons.
After the Red Lake shooting, I was rather surprised at the lack of calls for gun control. Even the Brady Campaign, an organization usually inclined to politicize the death of children, only made a half-hearted attempt. The SacBee notes the same thing:
The day after the Red Lake reservation shootings – the latest of three mass killings in Minnesota and Wisconsin in recent months – a group of House Democrats fired off a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., demanding a fresh look at new gun legislation.
More than a week later, they’ve received no reply, and nobody believes there will be a bill-signing ceremony for gun legislation anytime soon.Gun control is not on the agenda when Congress returns from spring break next week. Most Republicans are loath to do anything that could restrict gun rights, and Democrat leaders – still smarting from recent election reverses – aren’t eager to be the anti-gun party either.
Even in Illinois, there is a line drawn among rural and urban folks. Urban folks tend to support gun control while rural people do not. As such, Chicago-led bans aren’t going to fly in the rest of the state:
Illinois hunters and gun dealers are trying to shoot down a flurry of gun-control proposals they say rose from fear in the streets of Chicago, far from the downstate prairies and woods where guns are appreciated for sport.
They see no room for compromise on Chicago-led efforts to ban assault weapons and .50-caliber rifles and ammunition, and they oppose proposals to require background checks for gun-show purchases and to limit gun buyers to one handgun per month.
Some, however, still call for gun control regardless of its merits, like the Christian Science Monitor:
Yet even with such startling figures, and just six months after Congress shamefully allowed the assault weapons ban to expire, the National Rifle Association (NRA) remains committed to supporting bills now pending in the House and Senate that would grant broad immunity from liability in civil lawsuits to gun manufacturers and dealers. Sen. Jack Reed (D) of Rhode Island rightly calls that “an unprecedented blanket protection that no other industry enjoys.” And worse, the bills apparently are on a fast track, with a vote expected soon.
Both measures should fail.
First, the assault weapons ban was not effective at anything. It is shameful that the CSM is pimping some junk science on the issue. Additionally, there is no blanket immunity in the liability bills proposed. The bills are designed to stop the lawsuits aimed at breaking the gun industry. For instance:
One of the many problems with the bills: They include granting immunity to gun dealers who are reckless, some of whom even supply the criminal gun market. What’s more, the civil damages claim brought by the families of victims in the 2002 D.C.-area sniper shootings could not have moved forward had these bills been law.
Granting immunity to reckless dealers? That line is totally made up. The claims of the DC sniper shootings should have failed (at least against Bushmaster, though there is question that the retailer may have not acted responsibly). In fact, Bushmaster merely settled the suit on its own because it was cheaper to pay out than fight the battle. That is what these bills are designed to stop. Bushmaster made a lawful product and lawfully sold it to a dealer. They were not negligent and committed no crime. They should not have had to pay out.
Michael Blanding, attempting to address what the real culture of life would entail, writes that one method is:
3. Pass Effective Gun Control Laws
More than 80 Americans are killed by firearms each day. Yet Congress has made it easier for criminals to get their hands on weapons — most recently with the repeal of the assault weapons ban — instead of following the lead of states like Massachusetts and New York, which have passed tougher laws and decreased handgun deaths.
A few things: 80 Americans are killed each day by themselves or other Americans. Guns don’t walk around killing people. The assault weapons ban was not repealed, it had a sunset provision to expire after ten years. That provision was the only way they could get it to pass. There is also nothing to indicate it was an Effective Gun Control Law. The CDC and NIJ concluded that there is no correlation between gun laws and crime.
Eleven police held after Brazil killings
Eleven police officers were arrested on suspicion of participating in the massacre of 30 people last week on the city’s poor outskirts, and the search continued for another suspect, authorities said Monday.
The shootings — the bloodiest massacre in years in a state well known for its violence — left many residents perplexed by their seemingly random nature. Only two of the victims had criminal records and five were teenagers shot dead while playing video games at a local bar.
What happens when only the police have guns… Brazil implemented a strict gun control program in 2004, leaving the citizens unarmed at the mercy of their government.
Now, under a new law hailed by supporters as the most sweeping gun-control measure in South America, only Brazilians with valid reasons — police and security guards, for example — are allowed to carry firearms in public.
Ordinary citizens who own guns either must register their weapons, turn them in or face jail time.
Doesn’t this make you feel a whole lot better about gun control?
Adam, whose computer was allegedly taken by the police, is back to blogging. Hey, Adam, we want the skinny on the little dust up. You could, you know, blog about it.
David Hardy writes, despite common knowledge, that some courts do show respect for the Fourth Amendment:
ATFE’s search warrant was invalid. The 4th Amendment requires that a warrant specify the place to be searched and the items to be seized. With regard place, this one specified an entire building, although the items were known to be confined to a special Customs vault in the basement. With regard items to be seized, the warrant said only “see affidavit,” and the affidavit was not attached and had been sealed by the court.
A complete understanding of the Second Amendment.
Women are assumed to be stupid and targets.
To stop the Sudanese genocide, Dimitri Vassilaros advocates sending guns instead of aid.
Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.
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