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Sotomayor and the Second Amendment
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Bruce Krafft
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"The hearings are over; no major gaffes; and confirmation is all but certain. But that hasn't dampened opposition from the National Rifle Association, which will count senators' votes on Sonia Sotomayor as part of its influential legislative score card on gun-rights issues. And Ralph Reed, a GOP strategist, has advised Republicans to make 'her an issue in key races next year.' Well, there may be good reasons to oppose Judge Sotomayor's confirmation as Supreme Court justice, but her recent holding on the right to keep and bear arms is not one of them."
"First, some background: The Supreme Court ruled in 1833 (Barron v. Baltimore) that the Bill of Rights restrained only the federal government, not the states. ..." ... |
TN: Guns in Parks Decision Thursday Night
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Mark A. Taff
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As the list of those banning guns in parks gets longer, a Nashville lawyer who has worked more than a decade to allow gun permit holders to bear arms in public parks said he is considering a court challenge. Tennessee Firearms Association director John Harris said the opt-out provision for local governments is “a travesty of justice.”
While Police Chief Bob Terry has publicly stated his support for banning guns in parks, many on his force disagree, and the matter has been the subject of intense private debate among our local law enforcement experts. |
MT: We should have opportunity to defend selves if needed
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Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
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I believe that concealed carry should be an option for people dealing with vicious neighborhood dogs or violent, deranged stalkers, especially when a situation obviously exists.
There are real problems, and though we do not encounter them on a daily basis in a lifetime, we do encounter them. I would like the same opportunity as a police officer, that, if necessary, I could counter resistance to my health and well-being with resistance.
Because of the infrequency of these threats, I also feel the need for a permit to carry concealed is ludicrous! Many of us are military veterans and have already carried a gun in self-defense of ourselves and others. We are qualified. We have already been through the best "gun control" class offered. |
AK: Palin speaks at gun collectors' function
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Mark A. Taff
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Sarah Palin made a weekend public appearance after keeping a low profile since she resigned as Alaska governor July 26.
The former GOP vice presidential candidate gave a speech on Second Amendment rights Saturday night at a banquet in Anchorage.
The event capped a four-day National Rifle Association seminar hosted by the Alaska Gun Collectors Association.
NRA director Wayne Anthony Ross, president of the gun collectors' group, says Palin attended the dinner with her husband, Todd. Ross says about 130 people were at the banquet. |
NRA fails to derail Sotomayor confirmation
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Mark A. Taff
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The NRA's threats to punish Senators by giving them a low rating has succeeded in frightening some Republicans. Many Republicans who were considered possible "yes" votes for Sotomayor: Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, Georgia Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, and Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison; have now come out against her after the NRA's announcement.
By and large, however, the attempt to bully and threaten Senators who will vote to confirm Sotomayor has fallen on deaf ears. It may be that law makers are growing a back bone, and will begin to stand up to the NRA and the gun lobby. |
NY: An example of what isn't self defense
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Mark A. Taff
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Moving on to a concrete example, I think that the actions of Maurice Parks will showcase the profound difference between self defense and vigilantism quite well. Maurice Parks was a New York City subway conductor, who was walking home through Harlem on January 10th, 2008. Four robbers attacked Parks, stabbed him, and then escaped. Wounded and angry, but no longer in danger from those attackers Parks went in search of the criminals. He never found his true attackers, but he did come across Flonarza Byas, who had nothing at all to do with the mugging, and was just going about his peaceful business. |
Philippines: Teen girl pleads self-defense
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Mark A. Taff
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The next day, according to the teenager, Aksnes asked her to go inside his room, where Ceriales, Nocete and Nocete's 12-year-old daughter were also gathered.
Aksnes suddenly told her: “You are now my prisoner.”
The foreigner was holding a gun and instructed her to take off her clothes.
Although she hesitated at first, the girl said she obeyed
The girl said she cried a lot while she was naked more so when Aksnes told her to have sex with her cousin Ceriales.
The cousins, however, refused to comply.
...
The teenager said she got an empty bottle and hit Aksnes on the head and then picked up one of the bladed weapons and hacked him. |
TX: More carry guns in El Paso
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Mark A. Taff
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Tony and Ricki Combs decided it was time to take self-protection more seriously this summer, so, like a growing number of other El Pasoans, they are getting licensed to pack heat.
"You just never can tell when you may need a little bit more protection than your hands may offer," Tony Combs said.
El Paso saw a larger increase in concealed-handgun license applications than any other metro area of the state during the past year, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Gun shop owners and shooting instructors in El Paso said they have seen interest in handguns for personal protection balloon in recent months. |
A New Epoch for Evolution
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Mark A. Taff
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And then there`s all the guns that we say we have the right to bear so we can have our children kill themselves with them when they find them, have more of our children go on a rampage through the schools and kill everybody because they`re mad about something, and gangs going around killing each other. And that`s just the beggining. The criminal element has more guns than we can even imagine. And we say we have "the right"?
...If you read the constitution more carefully you will find that what our forefathers meant when they said to "own and bear" was that it was a time of turmoil in our country and you never knew when someone was going to invade and conquer you, so therefore you were "expected" to have a gun...
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CO: Gun vote keeps faith with Colorado law
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Mark A. Taff
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Since states have different laws governing concealed firearms, The Denver Post suggested that the amendment I supported would wipe away Colorado's law by forcing us to recognize other states' laws. It was alleged that this legislation would open the door to illegal activity and create unsafe conditions for our citizens.
These are not trivial concerns, and I considered them carefully.
My final judgment was influenced by our experience in Colorado. We have a law, passed in 2003, that allows Colorado to recognize out-of-state permits from other states that recognize Colorado's law and only requires permit holders to be at least 21 years old. That's it. There are no additional restrictions. |
TX: Assumptions about Sotomayor as 'anti-gun’ are unfounded
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Mark A. Taff
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Almost no one expected Texas Sen. John Cornyn to vote favorably for Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Even after he called her record "pretty much in the mainstream," he couldn’t put his vote where his mouth was, not given his role as National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman.
But Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison could have put the posturing aside and supported confirmation of a well-qualified candidate with 17 years on the federal bench plus experience as a prosecutor and private-practice lawyer.
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NH: 200 Years Later, We Wish to Neither Live Free nor Die
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Mark A. Taff
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Mr. West’s words would be flattering if they weren’t becoming increasingly misrepresentative of America, the same country that shed its blood and wealth to gain independence even against all odds.
There was, indeed, a time when “Live Free Or Die” meant every word for most Americans. But no longer are such black and white statements of principled certainty welcome in a land increasingly embracing mushy moral ambiguity in the name of the “common good.”
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These are politicians who forbid their constituents from trading freely with whomever they wish. Politicians who pretend the Second Amendment does not exist. |
NY: Long Islanders tell why they are buying guns
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New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
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As questions about gun rights swirl around the nomination of a new Supreme Court Justice, and debate continues over attempts in Congress to make it easier to carry concealed weapons state-to-state, an increasing number of Long Islanders are applying for pistol permits. The reasons? Those interviewed at local shooting ranges and gun shops say they are anxious about the possibility of stricter gun laws under a new administration, and about their personal safety in a weakened economy. |
NRA threats on Sotomayor met with shrugs
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Larry
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The National Rifle Association's threat to punish senators who vote for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has been met with a shrug by Democrats from conservative-leaning states and some Republicans who are breaking with their party to support her.
The gun rights group is used to getting its way by spooking lawmakers about the political consequences of defying its wishes. But it never before has weighed in on a Supreme Court confirmation battle. It was cautious about breaking that pattern, and it looks like a losing a fight to defeat President Barack Obama's first pick for the court. |
Thou Shall Speak No Ill of the Police
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Larry
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In medieval English law, the crime of “high treason” included the offense of “compassing” (or imagining) “the death of our lord the king, of his lady our queen, or of their eldest son and heir.”
The equivalent practice in imperial America consists of making any comment, however flippant or implausible, that can be construed by professional paranoids in federal employ as expressing even a transient interest in harming the holy person of the President.
As American statism curdles into outright totalitarianism, it’s becoming a crime in some jurisdictions to express violent or hostile intentions toward the state’s armed enforcement agents.
Antavio Johnson of Lakeland, Florida was recently sentenced to two years in prison for a purported crime described as “corruption by threat of public servant.” His “offense” was to record a rap number (the word “song” is inapposite) entitled “Kill Me A Cop,” in which the parolee mentioned by name specific police officers with whom he quite obviously had serious grievances. |
Of "Zionist swine" and the "Gun Virus": It seems I am "a major disappointment."
Submitted by:
Mike Vanderboegh
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I found Anonymous' reference to "Zionist swine" interesting. I am in the middle of reading Victor Klemperer's The Language of the Third Reich. He speaks of the necessary process of "objectification" of people before they can be killed with justification by the state. . .
This objectification is major warning sign of collectivist language, which is a necessary predicate to excuse mass murder. some take it even further. Hitler referred to "the Jewish disease." For if people are not animals like swine, they are dehumanized even further to "viruses." And the Austrian homosexual prostitute is not the only practitioner of that objectification. |
"What are you doing to educate young people about that?": Napolitano on the "Collective Fight" against domestic terrorism.
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Mike Vanderboegh
Website: http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com
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Napolitano: "Yeah, that's the point I was making a bit earlier, about being very sensitive to that. And that's where education really can come in. What is something that should be reported? What isn't? And there are materials from a variety of aspects that help with that kind of education. And so really the first questioner said, what are you doing to educate young people about that? I think that's where it has to start."
Given that Janet's department has already evinced a staggering propensity to falsely label political opponents as "extremists" and proto-terrorists, I think she and Comrade NKVD agent Fedotov would understand each other. They certainly seem to be following the same tyrannical playbook.
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WV: When a Restraining Order Isn't Enough
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West Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
Website: http://www.wvcdl.org/
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Police say the shooting happened at a woman's home, where she had a man visiting her. Another man drove up to the house, knocked down the door and the two men got into an altercation. That's when police say the man who was banging on the door was shot, and the other man took off.
Police aren't releasing any names just yet, but they do believe they know the identity of the shooter.
Submitter's note: This appears to be a good self-defense shooting and another illustration of how ineffective domestic violence petitions (as they are termed in WV) by themselves are as a guarantor of personal protection. |
OH: Police in Parker-Broderick case arraigned in Ohio
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Two Ohio police chiefs accused of snooping on the surrogate mother for actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick were charged with several felonies on Friday.
Special prosecutor T. Shawn Hervey said the men conspired to take items from the woman's eastern Ohio home to sell to celebrity photographers.
At an arraignment Friday, Martins Ferry Police Chief Barry Carpenter was charged with two counts of burglary, one count of receiving stolen property, one count of theft in office, one count of unauthorized use of property or services and one count of tampering with evidence.
Bridgeport Police Chief Chad Dojack, 30, was charged with two counts of complicity to burglary and one count of complicity to receiving stolen property. |
Tragedy struck after judge put off security system
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A federal judge whose mother and husband were shot and killed by a disgruntled litigant said Saturday that she looked into buying a home security system but that it seemed too expensive and "we just didn't do it."
"I've gone over in my mind so many times what could have been done differently," U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow said during an American Bar Association panel in Chicago on how judges can keep themselves and their families safe.
Lefkow came home the evening of Feb. 28, 2005, to find her husband, Michael Lefkow, 64, and her mother, Donna Humphrey, 89, shot to death in the basement.
Ed.: It isn't a "security system", it is an alarm, and no alarm by itself will stop someone intent on murder. |
Take not counsel of your fears.
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Mike Vanderboegh
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I wrote this early last evening after some long talks over the past few days with current-serving military personnel . . . I waited until morning to re-read it in the cold light of day and having done so, I have changed very little. I will admit I was asked to write this piece, but as it happens I believe every word. If I have been a bit non-specific about exactly who I am talking about, it is for the same reason that the Baptist preacher while denouncing sin does not point out individual sinners in the congregation. If you are convicted in your heart, fine. Go forth and sin no more. If you're not guilty, what are you worried about? Don't you have some reloading to do?
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CA: When men are victims of domestic violence.
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R. Smith
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Four Sacramento County Sheriff's cars pulled up in front of David Woods's house. He tried to explain to them what happened. But the lead deputy cut him off: "Yeah, that's fine. Put your hands behind your back."
No," David protested. "She stabbed..."
The deputies drew their weapons. David's little daughters came running out of the back bedroom pleading, "Leave Daddy alone! Mamma tried to hurt him with a knife!"
David says there's a double standard when it comes to charging men. "Now, isn't that strange? When she had a fat lip, it was a felony and I was going to jail. But when they finally realized that she tried to stab me in the neck, it stopped being a crime, and instead it was a mental health issue
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