Thursday, August 14, 2008

Fincher Conviction Affirmed

We affirm the conviction and remand the issue of Fincher’s eligibility for court appointed counsel to the district court for further inquiry...

Accordingly, under Heller, Fincher’s possession of the guns is not protected by the Second Amendment. Machine guns are not in common use by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes and therefore fall within the category of dangerous and unusual weapons that the government can prohibit for individual use.
So much for the federal courts. So much for "every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American." We all see the "common use" citizen-instead-of-soldier bait and switch fraud here, right?

So much for "shall not be infringed."

Circular logic: We have usurped authority to prevent you from having arms that could threaten our grip on power, so they're not in common use.

Tell me the Founders intended for corrupt judicial decisions to be the supreme law of the land--yet that's what we have, when rulings affirm federal courtrooms are Constitution-free zones. Who are We the People to argue it in court, or to judge the law along with the facts?

There is no "legal" recourse--at least none that will be recognized by those rigging the game. Some will point out that contention is wrong, and argue something ultimately depending on majority rule--as if the hive has a collective claim to your rights.

No, the fraud has been nicely played. But then we knew those in power don't give it up if they don't have to.

More at The Volokh Conspiracy. Commentator Brett Bellmore has it exactly right:
No new innovation can start out "commonly owned", hence the government can ban every new firearm.
It's what I feared when I wrote "Things to Come" back in 2002 for Guns and Ammo (not online and it's copyrighted, so I can't post the entire essay here):
It's been said that a battle isn't won until a man with a rifle occupies the ground. We must keep in mind that someone probably once said the same thing about spears.
[Via Peter G]

Shameless Plug: The Heller High Watermark

I’ve said before magazines are poor places for developing stories — the time between events and publication may be months, and assumptions may be proven wrong in the interim.

Nonetheless, we’d be remiss if we didn’t highlight the June 26 Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v Heller, wherein the majority held “The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia …”

That’s the first time they’ve so ruled, and as such, it’s huge. But as with all things, read the fine print.
"The Heller High Watermark," dealing with this summer's Supreme Court Second Amendment ruling, is my Rights Watch column for the October 2008 (that does not seem right!!!) issue of GUNS Magazine, on sale now at judicious newsstands throughout the Republic.

BONUS: See page 108 to find out how you can win a Kimber Crimson Carry II 1911 .45 ACP Pistol.

Give Me My Firearm!

A licensed gunmaker who has reported retaliatory attacks on his work by federal agents upset over his testimony on behalf of a man sent to prison for having a broken gun has ordered the government to return one of his projects.
More on this.

We're the Only Ones Likeable Enough

A former police sergeant convicted of raping four women was sentenced to 440 years in prison Tuesday...

Prosecutors used dozens of witnesses and evidence found in Pelo's home to portray him as a man obsessed with violent pornography who paradoxically wanted his victims to like him.
I must have missed that chapter...let's see:
Six ways to make people like you
1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

Nope--nothing about raping them. Maybe that only works for "Only Ones."

[Via MacEntyre]

ObamaGun

Comparing Obama to McCain on the single issue of the right to keep and bear arms
Fine.

I would like to know who's behind it. I'd be surprised if I was surprised.

Here's the thing--we know The Lightworker is bad.

I need to hear more than the republican is comparatively less bad.

We just saw a reputed draft of the democrat platform on guns. In it, I see the Bush Doctrine on "assault weapons" and the McCain Doctrine on "gun show loopholes."

So warnings from the right notwithstanding, let's see what the GOP platform has to say. If it's more meaningless feel-good platitudes with no strong guarantees and pledges to roll things back, don't expect that to put a fire in anyone's belly.

[Via Ron W and Zachary G]

We're the Only Ones Snatching Opportunities Enough

Criminal sex-abuse charges were leveled yesterday at a suspended Ramapo police officer and a Monsey businessman accused of masquerading as gynecologists.
And I do apologize.

[Via Cigar Rollers]

We're the Only Ones Bridging the Gap Between "Us" and "Them" Enough

A New Orleans judge on Wednesday dismissed charges against seven policeman accused of killing two people on a bridge amid the chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Turns out not only did the dumb ass proscutor screw up, but:

Homicide detectives limited their extended probe into the incident to mostly police witnesses. The investigate report, which cleared the officers, based its conclusions, in part, on the statements of a man who was pretending to be a St. Landry Parish sheriff deputy, but who in fact turns out to be an impostor with a criminal record.

Physical evidence wasn't picked up by police right after the shooting. Instead, officers went back to the scene seven weeks later. At the same time, the police department allowed some evidence to be discarded, such as the rental truck used by officers after the storm, which they drove the bridge when they received a call about officers in possible distress.
Nothing to see here--just standard Big Easy "Only Ones" procedure.

[Via Cigar Rollers]

More from the "They Hate Us Because We're Free" Department

Answering a question about his approach to combatting crime, John McCain suggested that military strategies currently employed by US troops in Iraq could be applied to high crime neighborhoods here in the US. McCain called them tactics "somewhat like we use in the military...You go into neighborhoods, you clamp down, you provide a secure environment for the people that live there, and you make sure that the known criminals are kept under control."
I'd say this has the potential to be just as scary as anything Obama might be up to.

[Via Jeffersonian, who comments: "New and Improved, With 80% More Only Ones..."]

Republicans for Obama

The renegade Republicans are all "crossing the divide of old politics to support Barack Obama for president," the Democrat's campaign said in a statement.
This is what happens when you let Bolsheviks into the Big Tent. God forbid principle be factored into the equation, when it's more pragmatic to play a numbers game and appeal to everyone on the shallowest of terms.

Then we end up with a "lesser of two evils" non-choice and everybody falls in line out of desperation to play along.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Lincoln Chaffee and Jim Leach. Talk about moles hiding in plain sight. And the Brady's complain about Mary McFate!

When Gobstoppers* are Outlawed...

...only outlaws will have gobstoppers.

Good grief.

[Via Ron W]

*

This Day in History: August 14

August 14, 1775 in Bermuda - On August 14, Patriot ships raided Bermuda. They captured its forts and managed to carry off all of the powder in their magazines. Conclusion: American Victory