Throughly Ineffective Ban Declared Void

The only thing better than reading about the Supreme Court's overturning of the DC gun ban in today's paper is reading the hissyfit reactions of pro-gun control columnists.

A Culture of Knife Violence

A political SNAFU, or a glimpse at reality in a gun-free country?

Harriet Harman, the leader of the House of Commons, has been drawn into an embarrassing row after being pictured wearing a stab-proof vest as she toured her own constituency.

Ms Harman took to the streets of Peckham, south London, at 9am on Monday surrounded by several police officers wearing a kevlar-reinforced jacket.[...]

However the picture has annoyed some of her constituents, while Opposition leaders seized on the picture to prove Labour's poor law and order record has made the capital one of the most dangerous cities in the world.

Pretty stupid move. Wait, scratch that. It was a pretty stupid political move. Very smart move for her own personal safety.

I'll take our "gun culture" over their "knife culture" any day of the week. When it comes to self-defence, my knife fighting ability is limited to what I've picked up watching West Side Story a dozen or so times. Needless to say I can sing a mean show tune, but I'm not too handy with a knife.

Full story here.

D.C. Worried About Supreme's Decision

They may be voluntary searches, but that doesn't stop me from having some serious issues with police going door to door, in an intimidating fashion, asking residents if they can search their homes. With no cause at all.

NBC 4:

WASHINGTON -- A crackdown on guns is under way in the District. Police are asking residents to submit to voluntary searches in exchange for amnesty under the District's gun ban.

The program is starting in the Washington Highlands neighborhood of southeast Washington on Monday and will later expand to other neighborhoods.

Officers will go door to door asking residents for permission to search their homes.

Supreme Court Today

hears the Heller case. Read Cato's Bob Levy in the Globe.

Reuters Discovers Gun Collectors

Who knew they existed?

The American affinity for guns may puzzle foreigners who link high ownership rates and liberal gun ownership laws to the 84 gun deaths and 34 gun homicides that occur in the United States each day and wonder why gun control is not an issue in the U.S. presidential election.

The owners are not just urban criminals and drug dealers. There are hunters and home security advocates, and then there are the gun collectors.

Wait...you're blowing my mind Reuters...You mean all firearm owners AREN'T violent criminals?

Story here.

I Betcha' She Licks a Mean Asshole*

When beauty queen law-clerks go bad:

TUCSON, Ariz. - A law school student and former beauty queen who has posed for a racy calendar while brandishing a weapon has been accused of kidnapping, biting and threatening a former boyfriend with a handgun. [...]

In the Dec. 18 indictment, Fulbright is accused of holding and torturing her 24-year-old ex-boyfriend in early December with the help of three other men, including another man she had previously dated.

Authorities think the dispute began because the ex-boyfriend was believed to have stolen jewlery given to Fulbright by the former beau suspected of helping in the attack.

Fulbright invited the man to her apartment, then excused herself to shower, said police spokesman Sgt. Fabian Pacheco. Then two men showed up and bound him with plastic ties and duct tape, accused him of taking the jewelry, and threatened to shoot him with pistols, Pacheco said.

When Fulbright finished her shower, she allegedly bit the man on his forearm, right hand and ear, held a butcher knife to his head, and told him she was going to kill him.
Authorities said the man was taken to another home, where the assault continued, then took him back to Fulbright's house, where she guarded him with a gun.

The man finally managed to free a hand and grabbed the gun, which discharged but hit no one, authorities said. As their struggle spilled outside, the man screamed for help, then ran to a home down the block, while Fulbright returned to her apartment, Pacheo said.

Reminds me of a similar story involving me, a team of hookers, lots of meth, and a cage. But it was voluntary. And they were ugly. And possibly dudes...Come to think of it, it wasn't anything like the story...But boy was it fun. Expensive, but fun.

Story here. Thanks to Sean Higgins for link, who I'm sure is always appreciative to have his name associated with our posts.


*No title reference to explain...I just bet she licks a mean asshole.

Update: Added "Armed Women" Tag

Milk, Bread, Eggs, and an Uzi

Ahhh...The American Supermarket. [emphasis mine]

"I think the reason it happens in America is there's access to weapons -- you can go into a supermarket and get powerful automatic weapons," Keith Ashcroft, a psychologist, told the Press Association. Ashcroft said he believed such access, along with a culture that makes gun ownership seem normal, increases the likelihood of such attacks in the United States.

[...]

"In France, it is incomprehensible for us to understand what could prompt someone to own a handgun," a blogger identified as Aliosha wrote on the Web site of the daily newspaper Liberation, adding that it is "the right (almost the duty) for each American to be able to obtain a weapon without much trouble."

More world reactions here.

Baltimore to Ban Air Guns, Sticks and Stones to Follow

OK, I made that second part up. But the omnipresent City Council really is trying to ban all air rifles (I'm assuming handguns as well), which would include BB guns like every boy's favorite, the Red Ryder . From the Baltimore Sun:

Air rifles and BB guns would be prohibited in Baltimore under a proposed ordinance introduced in the City Council yesterday, a response to a series of robberies in which the weapons have been used, supporters said.

The legislation, which was referred to the council's public safety subcommittee, was proposed weeks after Baltimore outlawed the possession and discharge of paintball guns - except for on private property - and days after a federal court struck down portions of the District of Columbia's stringent gun law.

They're being used in a disruptive way, in a dangerous way," said the bill's lead sponsor, City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, who represents portions of Northeast Baltimore.

I'll gladly admit that I do not think a single gun restriction should be in place at the local, state or federal level. I think I remember writing some paper for some class, titled "More Guns, Less Crime." That being said, I think all of us can agree that this is stupid. They reference robberies -- being committed with air guns -- as well as some attacks. Aren't all those crimes illegal as it is? I'm pretty sure that those are still armed robbery and assault. Does it not also seem a bit silly to ban BB guns in a city with 52 murders already this year? Is it just a symbolic piece of feel good legislation? Shouldn't we despise that type of legislation more than any other? How many questions can I end a post with? Full article here.

Appeals Court Strikes Down DC Gun Laws

It is, as of this very moment, legal to own a fully assembled handgun in one's home in DC. The DC Court of Appeals struck down the District's gun laws this morning on Second Amendment grounds. From the decision:

Appellants, six residents of the District, challenge D.C. Code § 7-2502.02(a)(4), which generally bars the registration of handguns (with an exception for retired D.C. police officers); D.C. Code § 22-4504, which prohibits carrying a pistol without a license, insofar as that provision would prevent a registrant from moving a gun from one room to another within his or her home; and D.C. Code § 7-2507.02, requiring that all lawfully owned firearms be kept unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock or similar device. Shelly Parker, Tracey Ambeau, Tom G. Palmer, and George Lyon want to possess handguns in their respective homes for self-defense. Gillian St. Lawrence owns a registered shotgun, but wishes to keep it assembled and unhindered by a trigger lock or similar device. Finally, Dick Heller, who is a District of Columbia special police officer permitted to carry a handgun on duty as a guard at the Federal Judicial Center, wishes to possess one at his home. Heller applied for and was denied a registration certificate to own a handgun. The District, in refusing his request, explicitly relied on D.C. Code § 7-2502.02(a)(4).

Essentially, the appellants claim a right to possess what they describe as “functional firearms,” by which they mean ones that could be “readily accessible to be used effectively when necessary” for self-defense in the home. They are not asserting a right to carry such weapons outside their homes. Nor are they challenging the District’s authority per se to require the registration of firearms.

[Ellipsis]

[J]udicial lenity cannot make up for the unreasonable restriction of a constitutional right. Section 7-2507.02, like the bar on carrying a pistol within the home, amounts to a complete prohibition on the lawful use of handguns for self-defense. As such, we hold it unconstitutional.

Wow. Whole thing here. Note that one of the plaintiffs is this guy.

Thanks to my my ConLaw professor for the tip.

Update: Cato's Tim Lynch has analysis and implications here.