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100 Most Influential Lawyers In America

March 25, 2013 by

The National Law Journal released its list of the 100 most influential lawyers in America. Listed amid the partners at the DC mega-firms, former Solicitor Generals, the Attorney General of New York, was Second Amendment attorney Alan Gura. He is called the master of gun litigation.

Meet the master of gun litigation. Alan Gura surprised gun-control
groups in 2008 by winning a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning
D.C.’s 33-year-old handgun ban. The decision blasted away decades of
precedent. In 2010 came another 5-4 ruling overturning Chicago gun laws
and expanding the reach of the Second Amendment. Last year Gura, 42,
persuaded the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to strike
down a Chicago law forbidding individuals from carrying guns in public.
With Congress and state legislatures considering new gun-control laws in
light of the Newtown, Conn., mass shooting, Gura’s services are likely
to be even more in demand.

In an interesting symmetry, Alan’s opposing counsel in the Heller case, Walter Dellinger, made the list as did former Chicago mayor Richard Daley whose anti-gun laws led to the McDonald case.

Another attorney with sterling Second Amendment credentials making the list is Prof. Eugene Volokh of UCLA and the Volokh Conspiracy blog.

Attorneys were selected for inclusion on the list based on five criteria – political clout, media presence, thought leadership, business leader, or legal results. Alan Gura was chosen based upon his legal results.

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Sphinx Arms – We Didn’t Develop Any Tracking System

March 25, 2013 by

Sphinx Arms of Interlaken, Switzerland, who is affiliated with the company making the KRISS Vector, is taking great issue with a report on Swiss National Television reporting that it developed a technology for firearms and ammunition tracking. Sphinx denies developing any such technology and says the developer is actually another Swiss-based company Nano-ID Security Systems. Moreover, the TV report said the technology allows tracking from the air up to a kilometer away which Sphinx says is totally inaccurate.

From their press release on it:

Interlaken – 25.03.2013 – Sphinx Arms denies the information provided during a segment of the Swiss National Television’s news, wrongly stating that it had developed a ground-breaking technology to be used for firearms and ammunition tracing. This technology has been developed by Nano-ID Security Systems, a Swiss based company, which has requested Sphinx Arms to test and evaluate this technology only in conjunction with a project for sensitive material tracing and authentication in Switzerland. One of the key features of this technology is to prevent alterations or defacing of serial numbers.

Sphinx Arms confirms that no identification solution has been deployed and will not be deployed in any of its firearms produced and exported to countries out of Switzerland, unless mandated by law from a sovereign country or state. A project, exclusive to Switzerland, is currently being evaluated as a potential marking solution for special categories of firearms. The adoption of such a marking solution, based on Switzerland’s political system, would first require to be submitted to Swiss citizens for voting and adoption, prior to its deployment by Swiss authorities. As a Swiss based manufacturer, Sphinx emphasizes that it will comply with any Swiss state and federal laws, as well as foreign government policies that would be required for firearms importation, exportation and distribution.

The Nano based identification system, applied on firearms, does not allow any form of remote identification, real-time tracking or energy output, making it impossible to transmit or compromise sensitive data. Data can only be accessed through specific readers, similar to a bar code system, that are only made available to Law Enforcement and Governmental entities which would require a maximum of 10 inches of distance, with an unobstructed line of sight, between the reader and the tag to be effective.

GearScout has more on the controversy including a link to the German language report.

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Hickok45 Tests Out Joe Biden’s Advice…Kinda

March 25, 2013 by

Greg Hickok – Hickok45 on YouTube – decided to test out Vice-President Joe Biden’s advice that a double barrel shotgun is the best thing for home defense. He compared its ease of use and effectiveness to the AR-15 with a standard capacity magazine. Greg didn’t fire through a door or shoot into the air as Mr. Biden famously suggested.

Greg decided, unsurprisingly, that the AR-15 would be his choice for home defense. It has less recoil, it is easier to reload in a stressful situation, it provides more rounds of ammunition, and it would be more effective against multiple attackers as in many home invasions. The double barrel shotgun, by contrast, would have significantly more recoil, requires aiming – not mere pointing – to be accurate, has limited capacity, and would be prone to difficult reloads in stressful situations like when facing home invaders or other intruders.

One of the objections that some might raise to the AR-15 as compared to the double barrel shotgun is the issue of over-penetration. Olympic Arms conducted tests on this and also examined other studies comparing penetration of the .223 versus typical handgun and shotgun rounds. They found that the 5.56/.223 55 grain HP tended to break apart in drywall. The results of another test are shown here. This test used five different .223 rounds. Like all things, it comes down to the choice of ammo.

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Coincidences

March 25, 2013 by 1 Comment

The state of Colorado has been saddled with a number of new gun control measures ranging from restrictions on standard capacity magazines to universal background checks. This has so dominated the news regarding gun rights in that state that I almost forgot about another story that has pretty much flown under the radar.

Last August, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives moved around a number of field division heads. The Denver Field Division got a new Special Agent in Charge whose name should be very familiar to readers of this blog – Andrew Traver. At the time of his transfer from Chicago, Traver was still the official nominee to become the Director of BATFE.

Traver had this to say about working in Denver:


“
I am
highly
encouraged to see the great
cooperative
relationships ATF has established
with our law enforcement partners throughout the entire Denver Field Division,” said
Mr.
Traver. “We will continue to target
the most
violent offenders with the
goal of reducing
violent crime and making our communities
safer place
s
to live.”

I know it is just a coincidence that Traver is the SAC of the Denver Field Division and that Colorado is now saddled with new gun control laws. Still you have to wonder if Mr. Traver was doing any behind the scenes lobbying for new gun control laws.

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I’m So Vain

March 25, 2013 by 1 Comment

I’m so vain.

Earlier today, I hit my one millionth visitor. I’m a little stunned and a lot gratified that so many people thought what I had to say was important enough that they paid this blog a visit. To everyone who has taken time to read this blog, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

When I started this blog on May 19, 2010 after the NRA Annual Meeting in Charlotte, I had absolutely no idea that it would grow as it has. I am the first to say that it would not have grown as it has if it wasn’t for both luck and for links, referrals, and advice from other bloggers. I want to give special thanks to Sebastian at Shall Not Be Questioned, Chance at SayUncle, Michael Bane, Gun Rights Examiners David Codrea and Kurt Hofmann, Mike Vanderboegh at Sipsey Street, Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit, Sean Sorrentino at A NC Gun Blog, Linoge at Walls of the City, and Thirdpower at Days of our Trailers. They linked to me early and often and I will always be appreciative of that. To them and to every other blogger, thanks!

Finally, the Complementary Spouse has provided me with encouragement from the start. She has been a sounding board, an editor, and a proofreader. She has heard me rant and rave about this politician and that gun control bill. Like all good women, she has listened patiently and kept me grounded. I will never be able to thank her enough.

I guess this leaves just one more thing to do to close out this post – and I’ll leave that to Carly.

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LaPierre Appears With Unindicted Gun Law Violator

March 24, 2013 by 1 Comment

Today, in a shocking development, the head of the National Rifle Association appeared in public with someone who knowingly and willingly flouted the District of Columbia’s stringent gun control laws. Gun control proponents have made video of Mr. LaPierre’s meeting with this gun law violator public and have disseminated it nationally. It is shown below.

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Of course, the person Wayne LaPierre met with was the host of NBC’s Meet The Press, David Gregory. It was back in December after the Newtown shootings that Mr. Gregory waved a 30-round AR magazine in Mr. LaPierre’s face during an earlier episode of Meet The Press. Under District of Columbia law, possession of any magazine with greater than a 10 round capacity is forbidden. However, in a decision that proved some people are more equal than others, DC Attorney General Irvin Nathan declined to prosecute Mr. Gregory’s violation of DC law.

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Virginia Goes Private

March 24, 2013 by



This past week Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) signed a bill that would make information about concealed handgun permit holders in Virginia private. The new law forbids clerks of court from disclosing the name and other information concerning concealed handgun permit holders except to law enforcement.

Earlier legislation had forbidden the release of this information by the Virginia State Police. However, most concealed handgun permit information resides with the commonwealth Circuit Courts. That law was in response to the publishing of the names of concealed handgun permit holders by the Roanoke Times back in 2007.

SB 1335 was introduced by Sen. Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg). The bill was given two thumbs up by the Virginia Citizens Defense League.

Obenshain’s original bill was more narrowly focused. It would have shielded from disclosure personal information about permit holders who were under the protective orders generally granted to people threatened with domestic violence.

The bill easily cleared the Senate. It was then overhauled by a House of Delegates subcommittee, which broadened it to include all concealed-handgun permit holders. Obenshain expressed support for that change, which upset advocates for gun control and open government.

One of the things that spurred this legislation was the publication of the names and addresses of pistol permit holders in New York by the Journal News.

It is my hope that North Carolina legislators will now follow suit in this session of the General Assembly. The bills there appear to have good support and with Republican control of both houses are likely to pass.

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In Gun Rights Litigation News

March 22, 2013 by 3 Comments

It has been a busy day for gun rights litigation. On the down side, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision in Woollard v. Gallagher which had overturned the State of Maryland’s “good and substantial reason” requirement for the issuance of a carry permit. In brief, that court found that Maryland’s interest in public safety met the standards of intermediate scrutiny.

I have not read the full decision so I will defer to Professor Eugene Volokh and Second Amendment attorney Dave Hardy for their learned commentary on the decision.

First, Prof. Volokh:

The court claims that it’s not deciding whether the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in self-defense extends to carrying a gun outside the home. Rather, the court concludes that, even if such a right exists, Maryland’s licensing scheme — which requires a “good and substantial” reason for a license to carry and which doesn’t treat a general desire for self-defense as an adequate reason — passes intermediate scrutiny.

But it seems to me that means the court is thereby deciding that the right to keep and bear arms doesn’t extend to carrying outside the home for self-defense. If a court lets the government deny the ability to carry guns outside the home for self-defense to nearly everybody, the court is in essence saying there is no such right to carry.

Next, Dave Hardy:

 I cannot think of any other right considered a fundamental right, whose
exercise can be (1) punished unless the person receives a government
permit and (2) there are no standards for the permit issuance beyond a
government official’s feelings.

I quite agree with Sebastian that this one is destined for the Supreme Court. This combined with Kachalsky and the twin Illinois cases of Shepard v. Madigan and Moore v. Madigan present a split between the circuits. There is no word yet from the Second Amendment Foundation or Alan Gura but I cannot believe they won’t appeal.

In more positive news, word comes from Louisiana that the state’s felon in possession law was struck down as violating strict scrutiny. In November 2012, the voters of Louisiana overwhelmingly adopted a provision to their state constitution that said,  “The right of each citizen to keep and bear arms is fundamental and shall
not be infringed. Any restriction on this right shall be subject to
strict scrutiny.”

Finally, the NY State Rifle Association – the NRA’s affiliate in that state – along with a number of other organizational and individual plaintiffs filed suit in US District Court for the Western District of New York challenging the new NY SAFE Act. The defendants include Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneidermann among others.

The suit seeks a declarative judgement and injunctive relief based upon the law violating the right to keep and bear arms under the 2nd and 14th Amendments, the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, the Dormant Commerce Clause, Article I, § 8 of the Constitutions, and the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.

The lead attorney in the lawsuit is noted Second Amendment attorney Stephen Halbrook. The complaint can be found here.

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Interesting Interview With Duane Liptak Of Magpul

March 21, 2013 by 16 Comments

Cam Edwards of NRA News interviewed Duane Liptak of Magpul yesterday after Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) signed HB 1224 into law. Mr. Liptak is the Director of Product Management and Marketing for Magpul.

Mr. Liptak had a number of interesting comments during the course of the interview. First, Magpul will be going with a multi-state, multi-location manufacturing approach. While they haven’t released just where they are going, certain sites have already been selected. They plan a phased move out of Colorado with the magazine manufacturing being the first part of their company to move for obvious reasons.

When asked about their current employees and the impact the move will have on them, Mr. Liptak said that many of the current employees had expressed a desire to move with the company to the new locations. He seemed rather gratified by this loyalty of the employees to Magpul.

Magpul met with a number of state legislators during the fight against HB 1224. While Magpul presented facts and legal opinions as well as stressing the economic repercussions of the bill, this didn’t seem to make any headway with a number of the Democrats. Mr. Liptak noted that every time they went to the state capitol, they always ran into lobbyists from Bloomberg and MAIG. He said they were everywhere. It is a sad day when a New York billionaire can buy a western state legislature so easily. It reminds one of the railroad barons in Frank Norris’ The Octopus so dominated California of the late 19th century.

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Wrong Convenience Store

March 21, 2013 by

While I’m not a big Glock fanboy – I only have a Glock 22 Gen 2 police trade-in – they sure do make entertaining ads. The latest features a strung out guy attempting to wrong a convenience store. Unfortunately for him, the lady behind the counter has a Glock.