Uncategorized

Quote Of The Day

February 7, 2012 by 2 Comments

I have bad sinuses and suffer from chronic allergic sinusitis. Because of this and a desire to actually breath, I take Sudafed (pseudoephedrine) every day. Not just some days but every day. This means I have to subject myself to being treated like a potential meth lab operator a few times a month. It pisses me off each and every time and I curse the politicians who have imposed this on people like me.

Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit, has an appropriate punishment for these politicians.

I think these people should be exposed to toddler snot, then locked in a freezing basement with a bag of ragweed pollen tied over their head until they develop a proper appreciation for the consequences of their policies. Judging by what I’m reading in comments, quite a few allergy sufferers agree.

I couldn’t agree more.

Uncategorized

SAF On Their Appeal In Moore v. Madigan

February 6, 2012 by 1 Comment

The Second Amendment Foundation released this statement today regarding the dismissal of Moore v. Madigan, the Illinois carry case.

SAF APPEALS JUDGE’S DISMISSAL OF MOORE V. MADIGAN CARRY CASE

For Immediate Release: 2/6/2012

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation immediately filed an appeal following dismissal of its challenge to Illinois statutes that prohibit the carrying of loaded firearms outside the home for personal protection in the case of Moore v. Madigan.

The case is named for individual plaintiff Michael Moore, and defendant Lisa Madigan in her capacity as Illinois Attorney General. Joining Moore and SAF in the case are Illinois Carry, and three other private citizens, Charles Hooks, Peggy Fechter and Jon Maier.

The complaint was dismissed by Federal District Judge Sue E. Meyerscough, an Obama administration appointee who formerly served on the Illinois State Appellate Court.

In her ruling, Judge Meyerscough stated, “This Court finds that the Illinois ‘Unlawful Use of Weapons’ and ‘Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon’ statutes do not violate Plaintiffs’ Second Amendment rights. The United States Supreme Court and the Seventh Circuit have recognized only a Second Amendment core individual right to bear arms inside the home. Further, even if this Court recognized a Second Amendment right to bear arms outside of the home and an interference with that right, the statutes nonetheless survive constitutional scrutiny.”

In response, SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb suggested the judge’s ruling defies common sense.

“We look forward to winning this important case on appeal even if it means going back to the United States Supreme Court for a third time,” Gottlieb stated. “The Second Amendment does not say, the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed except outside your home or that it only applies inside your house. We don’t check our constitutional rights at the front door.”

Judge Myerscough denied SAF and its co-plaintiffs a preliminary injunction against two laws in Illinois that make it a crime to carry loaded firearms outside the home for personal protection. Instead, she supported the state’s motion to dismiss the case.

As Dave Hardy noted, he found the reasoning of Judge Myersclough in this case to be “extremely sloppy.”

Uncategorized

Then I Guess They Won’t Mind Paying The Terry Family $25 Million

February 6, 2012 by 2 Comments

The National Law Journal is reporting today that the Federal government paid out more than $3 billion to settle lawsuits against it. This includes court judgments and settlements made by the Federal government.

Lawyers for Uncle Sam shelled out more than $3 billion in taxpayer funds last year to resolve lawsuits against the federal government — more than twice as much as in 2010, and the most in at least five years, an analysis of government records shows.

This ranges from the Department of Energy who had to pay out $1.3 billion to the Department of Labor which only had to pay out $350,000 in settlements and judgments.

If you will remember, the family of murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry has filed notice that they will be suing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives for $25 million for negligence in letting guns walk in Operation Fast and Furious. The government has six months to respond and could, if they were really stupid and tone deaf, withhold the family the permission to sue them. As a sovereign government, the Federal government could claim immunity but usually doesn’t in cases of personal injury or property damage. These case are handled under the Federal Torts Claims Act.

Uncategorized

Moore V. Madigan Dismissed But Will Be Appealed

February 6, 2012 by 1 Comment

In the judicial equivalent of a Friday night document dump by the Justice Department, Judge Sue E. Myersclough released her opinion in Moore v. Madigan. This case was the challenge by the Second Amendment Foundation and Illinois Carry to the State of Illinois’ ban on carry outside the home. It was brought in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois in Springfield.

Judge Myersclough denied the plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary and/or Permanent Injunction and granted the defendant’s Motion to Dismiss.

Quickly summarizing her findings, Judge Myersclough found the Illinois “Unlawful Use of Weapons” and “Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon” statutes do not violate the Second Amendment. She goes on to say that the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit have only recognized “a Second Amendment core individual right to bear arms inside the home.” Myersclough then says that even if the laws violated the Second Amendment, the statutes would survive constitutional scrutiny. Based on this, she didn’t think the plaintiffs’ could show a likelihood of success on the merits and therefore dismissed the case.

A Notice of Appeal to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals was filed within an hour of Judge Myersclough’s decision in this case.

I am halfway through my reading of the decision and will have more after I have had time to digest it. One thing I am looking for in her decision is an indication of how she will rule in another Second Amendment case – Mishaga v. Monken – that is before her presently.

As I wrote in a post last year regarding Judge Myersclough and the Mishaga case, she was nominated by President Obama. She had been asked whether Heller and McDonald limited handgun possession to the home and she replied that the Supreme Court left that for future evaluations. I guess we know now where she stands on that.

Uncategorized

Historical Quote Of The Week

February 6, 2012 by

The historical quote of the week from Proclaiming Liberty comes Henry Campbell Black. He was the founder of Black’s Law Dictionary which is considered the definitive law dictionary.

The second amendment to the federal constitution, as well as the constitutions of many of the states, guaranty to the people the right to bear arms. This is a natural right, not created or granted by the constitutions.

  Black, Henry Campbell. Handbook of American Constitutional Law. 3rd. Ed. St. Paul: West Publishing Company, 1910. 543 Print.

This quote is found on page 52 of Proclaiming Liberty which is available from Amazon.com for $12.95. The Kindle edition is now available for $3.95.

Uncategorized

Spent The Afternoon At A New Range

February 6, 2012 by 1 Comment

The Complementary Spouse and I spent a few hours this afternoon breaking in her new Smith and Wesson M&P 9. It was her reward for winning a bet with me that this blog would hit 500,000 visitors before the end of 2011.

We went to Bear Arms in Brevard, NC which has two indoor ranges. They have a 40-yard rifle range and a 25-yard pistol range with five bays for rifle and six for pistol. This was our first time there and I was impressed at how nice it was. At the pistol range they had plenty of room to store your extras with individual metal tables for each bay. One thing I really liked about their range setup was that they had distance markers hanging from the ceiling for each of the five target systems. Often, you are just estimating the distance based on lines on the floor.

The pistol shot well with only two or three failure to fires. It was always with some Fiocchi 130 gr. ammo so I think it was the ammo and not the pistol. The pistol digested some cheap Hungarian MFS 2000 ammo that has been problematic in certain of my pistols with no problems.

The only problem we really had was that white dot in the front sight fell out somewhere within the first 50 rounds. It didn’t impact our shooting but I was bit surprised by that.

The Complementary Spouse did well. It was her first time shooting a center-fire semi-auto and she group her shots very well. She was a little surprised by the recoil but I think over time and with more practice she’ll handle it well. The M&P had a lot of texturing to assure a firm grip. The downside was that the texturing under the trigger guard started rubbing her middle finger and she stopped shooting before it broke the skin. I think a piece of Moleskin on the trigger guard (or a bit of sanding) will take care of it in the future.

While this isn’t the closest range to us, I think it is one we’ll be going back to on a regular basis. The price was only $20 for the two of us for as long as we wanted, the pro-shop was good, they have really nice handcleaning facilities, and the couple running the shop were really nice and friendly. All in all it is a place I’d like to shoot at again.

Uncategorized

Quote Of The Day

February 4, 2012 by

The quote of the day comes “Jazz Shaw” at Hotair.com who calls Mayor Michael Bloomberg the Nanny State King for his anti-smoking, anti-salt, anti-trans fat, and anti-gun efforts.

After discussing the Super Bowl ad by Mayor Mike and Mayor Mumbles (as Weer’d calls him) for their group of Illegal Mayors, he makes this comment about concealed carry in the Empire State.

It may come as a surprise to some readers to learn that you actually can get a concealed carry permit in New York legally. However I believe you’re likely to see an actual Bigfoot in the Hudson Valley before you find one of those permits.

Uncategorized

Insurrectionist Metal

February 3, 2012 by 1 Comment

I’m sure that the head of a well-known Director of Communications for a gun prohibitionist group will explode when he sees this video from Madison Rising. After all, he says the 70s band America is one of his favorite bands and these guys are pretty far from 70s pop music.

It is called “Right To Bear” and is very pro-Second Amendment. You can find the full lyrics on Madison Rising’s website.

Thanks to Doc Wesson of the Gun Nation Podcast for featuring them on a recent podcast which allowed me to discover them.

Uncategorized

One Heck Of A Mag Pouch

February 3, 2012 by 4 Comments

Actually, it isn’t a mag pouch. It is a backpack that integrates with a machine gun so that the machine gunner can carry up to 925 rounds of 5.56×45 or 575 rounds of 7.62×51 ammunition.

I seem to remember reading a story somewhere that some soldiers in either Afghanistan or Iraq made a prototype using scavenged parts and an old Alice pack frame.