McDonald v. Chicago: Respondents' Brief Filed

Counsel for the City of Chicago and Village of Oak Park have submitted their brief [pdf], and just under deadline.  It's better written (and longer) than I'd expected, but it's still not going to do much for their case.

Their primary argument is that regulation, including outright bans, of handguns "may reasonably be thought to preserve, not intrude on, ordered liberty."  Of course, the Supreme Court ruled otherwise just last year.  Never mind that—respondents are smitten with the phrase "ordered liberty," so much so that their brief uses it no less than 27 times.

Much of their work is concerned with contradicting the Heller decision, claiming that the right to keep and bear arms refers to a "right" of the states to arm militias, rather than the right of the individual to keep arms for self protection.

The scope of the Second Amendment right—weapons in common use—also reflects its purpose of protecting the militia, rather than an individual right related to self-defense, since the Second Amendment protects weapons regardless of whether they are useful for self-defense. p. 6

Yep, they're going to get real far with that.

Is this where it's going?

Last week, Leonard Embody donned a fetching camouflage and GoreTex ensemble and paraded around Radnor Lake Park carrying this:



It's an AK-47 pistol, with the tip painted orange to resemble an Airsoft gun. His reasoning is that "cops don't shoot people with airsoft guns. If this handgun looks like an airsoft the cops won't shoot me."

I can certainly see his concern. Apparently, he'll be repeating this questionable behavior. According to one paper, “I guarantee that when I carry in Bicentennial Mall I will be stopped. You're more than welcome to come and watch or video.”

This is the crux of the matter: Mr. Embody (known as kwikrnu on the forums) likes to be the center of attention. His hobbies include freaking out the squares, being stopped by the police and filing lawsuits.

Yep, this guy's a winner. Far from being alone, he's emblematic of the self-defeating caricature that is overtaking the open carry movement.

It's Not the Guns

The preliminary Uniform Crime Reports are in for 2009, and the results are promising.  Murder is down 10%, robberies are down 6.5%, and motor vehicle thefts are oddly down 18.7%.  As many in our camp have pointed out, this takes place during an unprecedented year-long surge in firearms ownership.  According to NICS, there are at least 25 million more guns in circulation than there were before the election.

The obvious conclusion is that more guns do not equal more crime.

However, this does not mean there is a direct relationship between increased firearms ownership and this drastic decline in crime.  Without more data, causality would be difficult to prove, so that's probably a point best avoided in debate for now.

Now It's Just Silly

Domino sugar, "now certified Carbonfree."  Spotted in WalMart.

I am, of course, compelled to point out that the molecular formula for sucrose is C₁₂H₂₂O_{11.  That's 12 atoms of carbon.}

According to Domino, what they actually mean is that the "carbon footprint" of the production process is neutral.  Evidently, that was just too clunky of a slogan to put on the label, so they settled for implying that their product is composed only of colorless gases.

Hey, whatever makes you feel all self-righteous...

GCO v. MARTA

The Northern District Court has ruled against Georgia Carry in a case they brought against the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). According to the ruling [pdf]:

On October 14, 2008, Christopher Raissi drove to the Avondale MARTA station and parked his car in the south parking lot. He got out, went to the back of his car, and pulled out a handgun in a holster. Raissi reached behind his back and clipped the holster to the waistband of his pants. He pulled his shirt over the holster so that it was completely covered and then walked toward the station. All of this was seen by Malcolm Nicholas, a MARTA police officer who had been patrolling the parking lot.

Responding officers detained Mr. Raissi while they verified that he had a Georgia Firearms License and ran a GCIC check for warrants. After the check was completeted, Mr. Raissi's gun was returned to him, and he was released.

Raissi claimed that he was unlawfully detained without probable cause, that it was illegal for officers to request his social security number, and that MARTA failed to respond to Open Records Act requests on the matter.

Frankly, the merits of this case are questionable at best, and I'm surprised anyone took it.

Three Degrees of Untruth

These are the 2006 mortality statistics, straight from the CDC National Vital Statistics System (NVSS).  The actual report you want is R00.1-Y89.9 [pdf].  The relevant statistics begin on page 4515 (727 in the browser).

And yes, they do a great job of burying this stuff.

Want to know how many children under the age of 15 died of negligent discharges from handguns in 2006?  9.  Homicides?  29.

I'll start with interpretations and follow with the original data.  The data is broken up into three categories:

• Handgun discharge


• Rifle, shotgun, and larger firearm discharge


• Discharge from other and unspecified firearms

In each case, the first number is an aggregate of all types of firearm, while the second includes only handguns.

We'll begin with unintentional and accidental shootings (W32-34).

Total: 642/107
All Children under 10: 31/6
All Children under 15: 57/9
Age 15-19: 100/26
Age 19-24: 93/21
Age 15-24: 193/47
Age 30-50: 161/15

All said, there were 642 deaths from negligent discharges.  There were 157 deaths before age 19, 35 of which were from handguns.  While certainly tragic, this hardly constitutes the epidemic some claim it to be.

Replying to the Naysayers

An organization called the Arms Keepers wrote a brief in the McDonald case.  In it, they argue for an odd model of "selective" incorporation through the Privileges and Immunities (PorI) clause, while strangely insisting that Slaughterhouse can (and possibly should) be preserved.

They were just formed this year, and there's scant information on them.  Their website is registered to a lawyer named Andrew Hyman.  The brief describes them as, "a volunteer organization that supports reasonable regulation of handguns and rifles, instead of prohibition."

The phrase "reasonable regulation" is a red flag, being appropriated as it's been by the Brady Campaign, and it makes me wonder.

Alan Gura has a few notes on the matter.  Apparently, Orin Kerr is involved with Arms Keepers and was one of the co-authors of the brief.  Although he seems open to the idea of visiting PorI, he cast some grim predictions about its revitalization on the Volokh site.

Town Center Mall Off-Limits

Today, I made my once-a-year trip to the mall to finish Christmas shopping. Given that bad things can happen in places where large numbers of people are gathered, I tend to be pretty vigilant. As such, I took notice of their new policy sign.



Rule #6 is a new wrinkle:  Possession or carrying of firearms or weapons of any kind, openly or concealed, with or without a permit is prohibited.

That wasn't there last year.

People have been open-carrying there.  I know; I spoke to one a few months back who bragged about it.  This is the result.  Yet again, those of us who exercise discretion and common sense have to suffer for the actions of those who choose not to.

Grips by Esmeralda

New stocks for the Dan Wesson, courtesy of Esmeralda O'Sheehan.

Still a Ron Paul Fan?

I wrote briefly about the Congressional amicus curiae brief [pdf] in support of the petitioners in McDonald v. Chicago when it was submitted.  We saw a great deal of support from both sides of the political spectrum, but one signature was notable for its glaring omission: Ron Paul.

I'd been wondering about that, and Howard Nemerov was able to get a statement from Dr. Paul's office:

Congressman Paul’s DC office said he didn’t sign the brief because he believes that it interferes with state’s rights, whose policies shouldn’t be dictated by the federal government.

Let's get a few things straight here, people.  First off, states do not have rights. Like any other government, they have powers that are delegated to them by the people.  Only people have rights.

Second, the 14th Amendment does not conflict with the 10th, and in no way does it interfere with the agendas of individual state governments.

Dan Wesson Bobtail Commander

I got out of 1911's for a number of reasons.  This gun seems to address every one of those concerns.

The Dan Wesson company was founded Daniel B. Wesson's grandson.  He left the employ of Smith & Wesson during the Bangor Punta years, and the new company focused on a unique modular revolver design, which was very popular with silhouette shooters.  In the 1990's, the company passed out of the Wesson family's hands, and the focus was shifted to automatics.

I'd heard good things about Dan Wesson's 1911's, and they certainly deserve praise for keeping the 10mm cartridge alive.  It wasn't until a few months ago that I actually had a chance to shoot one, though.

I found myself very impressed.  The gun was accurate, controllable and reliable.  It's also quite unique.