The Charade Is Over: Senate Judiciary Committee questioning of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor ended Thursday on a friendly note, with Republicans joining Democrats in praising her demeanor and thoughtfulness, even as GOP senators expressed frustration that she had not fully answered their concerns. "You've been great during this process," Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told the 55-year-old judge from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, appointed by President Barack Obama to replace retired Justice David Souter. Committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) praised her "intelligence, grace and patience." Whether or not the cordial ending of three days of grilling will translate into more than a handful of Republican votes for Sotomayor is unclear. But confirmation seems assured, as Republicans pledged not to filibuster her nomination and a committee vote is likely to come before the end of July. If followed soon by a vote of the full Senate, she could easily join the Court before Sept. 9, when the Court has scheduled an unusual summer argument in a key campaign finance case... http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202432309114&Cordial_end_to_Senate_hearing_paves_way_for__confirmation=&src=EMC-Email&et=editorial&bu=National%20Law%20Journal&pt=NLJ.com%20-Legal%20Times%20Afternoon%20Update&cn=20090716lt&kw=Cordial%20End%20to%20Senate%20Hearing%20Paves%20Way%20for%20Confirmation&slreturn=1 ...If there's a silver lining for legal conservatives in all this, it's that the Obama administration and Sonia Sotomayor didn't even try to defend her past speeches; every glimpse of "legal realism" or potential radical views was explained away as a misunderstanding, a poor word choice, a rhetorical flourish that was a bad idea, or others' completely misconstruing what she meant. It is a strange habit for a highly regarded judge who told the committee she so prizes clarity that she dislikes metaphors. (When she earlier said that foreign law includes ideas that "set our creative juices flowing," she must have meant it literally.)... http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZjU0MTgyYTY3MGU4YjZiMDAwNGQyMjAwNjBhOWE3YTQ= NRA Finally Takes a Stand: The National Rifle Association announced Thursday that it opposes Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. "We believe any individual who does not agree that the Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental right and who does not respect our God-given right of self-defense should not serve on any court, much less the highest court in the land," said a joint statement by Wayne LaPierre, the NRA executive vice president, and Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Reform. Opposition to Sotomayor by the powerful gun lobby reflects conservative unease with President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court nominee, but is considered unlikely to prevent her confirmation by the U.S. Senate... (Leave it to CNN - the NRA has an Institute for Legislative Action.) http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/16/nra-opposes-sotomayor-nomination-to-supreme-court/ Brady Bunch's Predictable Response: http://www.bradycampaign.org/media/release.php?release=1161 Gun Rights Examiners vs. Sotomayor: David Codrea has compiled links to numerous columns on Sonia Sotomayor and the RKBA. http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m7d16-Gun-Rights-Examiners-take-on-Sotomayor Tangentially Related: Even some liberals are not enamored with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. It turns out that many on the left are insulted that Judge Sotomayor has run away from her radical record to appear more moderate during her Senate confirmation hearings. ...Dahlia Lithwick, a contributing editor at Newsweek, complained on MSNBC Wednesday night that Democratic senators and Judge Sotomayor "are promising us that Sotomayor is going to be tough on crime, loves guns, is a strict constructionist, is a minimalist. It is just bizarre." Ms. Lithwick also was very upset that Judge Sotomayor and the Democrats had publicly "bought into [Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.'s] notion that judges call balls and strikes" without introducing their own personal opinions... http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/17/sotomayors-liberal-critics/ --- Licensed Handguns in DC, One Year Later: It's been a year since a Northwest D.C. housewife carried a Ruger .357 Magnum into police headquarters in a blue plastic grocery bag and became the District's first legal handgun owner since the Supreme Court overturned a decades-old ban. Today, Amy McVey's handgun is one of just 515 that have been legally registered with the Metropolitan Police Department - a number that pales compared with more than 2,000 illegal weapons that have been seized in the same period. She hasn't had to use it to defend her home. Nor has anyone attempted to steal it and use it against her or to commit some other crime - undermining the most widely used arguments for and against permitting guns. In fact, police say they have no information that would indicate any gun legally registered since July 17, 2008, has been fired by its owner in defense of life or property, or that one has been stolen or used in the commission of a crime... http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/17/legal-guns-not-used-one-year-later-no-report-of-on/ --- Does Civilian Gun Ownership Cause Bloodshed?: ...Don't like Jews or Catholics? Hitler disarmed them and then murdered millions in concentration camps, along with Gypsies, homosexuals, etc. Hate Christians? After Uganda banned guns, 300,000 were rounded up and murdered. Don't like "smart" people? After banning guns, Cambodia rounded up and murdered over one million of them. Hate people who disagree with you? After the Soviet Union established gun control, over 20 million dissidents were rounded up and killed. By comparison, the Second Amendment has actually saved millions of lives. It also protects your right to religious freedom, your pursuit of happiness, and your opportunity for upward mobility. It raises the cost for thugs who want you rounded up and murdered. It also shows that anybody who is against the civil right of self-defense is a person who hates your life, liberty, and happiness. Why would you want to be disarmed before such a person? http://www.examiner.com/x-2879-Austin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m7d16-Does-civilian-gun-ownership-cause-bloodshed --- Lessons from "Bring Your Guns to Church Day": Lloyd Garver writes for the Huffington Post, and commented on the Louisville, Kentucky church that had a "Bring your gun to church" Sunday on June 27th to celebrate Independence Day and the Second Amendment. In his column of July 2nd, he raised some interesting objections that I wanted to answer. Pastor Pagano had told him many pictures from ancient, medieval, and our own revolutionary time show people attending church while obviously armed. He responded "I reminded him that there were many things that were done hundreds of years ago that aren't done today - like sacrificing goats, having slaves, and avoiding baths." I would add that many, many more things done for hundreds of years endure such as communal worship, providing for our families and protecting our herds and flocks. Today's banditry might not be from Visigoths, but modern gangs can kill you just as dead, and for many of the same reasons that motivated violence of old... http://www.examiner.com/x-2944-Denver-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m7d15-Lessons-from-bring-your-guns-to-church-day --- Err, Maybe It's Not 90%: Barely 8 percent of the estimated 100,000 firearms seized in Mexico's drug wars over the last three years have been traced back to U.S. sales by licensed gun dealers, a top federal law enforcement official told Congress on Thursday. The finding suggests that many firearms with U.S. origins in the hands of Mexican drug cartels have been stolen or bought at gun shows without federal record-keeping, making it extremely difficult to track and disrupt the illicit firearms trafficking at the heart of cartel violence. Bill McMahon, deputy assistant director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said Mexican authorities claim to have seized an estimated 100,000 firearms from gangland-style drug cartels during the offensive launched by Mexican President Felipe Calderón... (It actually sounds as though F Troop is ready to open a major offensive on gun shows.) http://www.azstarnet.com/news/301234 --- The Beat Goes On: ...Why the sudden rush to buy a gun? Some gun owners fear that the current administration may reinstate the assault rifle ban that expired during the Bush administration. These weapons are often referred to as the "black guns" which are designed for combat, with selective fire capable of shooting both fully- and semi-automatic. These are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies, such as the M14, FN, FAL, etc. I spoke with the proprietors of several local gun shops about this increased demand for guns and its effect of them, and here is what they had to say. This rush to buy a gun attitude has spread to not just "black guns," says Brian Olesen, proprietor of B and J Guns in Albany and Rensselaer. He has had substantial sales increases of handguns and home defense guns. An example of a home defense gun, besides the handgun, is a 12- or 20-gauge pump shotgun with an 18- or 20-inch barrel and having a magazine capacity of six shells or more. Many of the more popular of these shotguns have a pistol grip, rather than the traditional shoulder stock. As for the increased sales, he said that his sales for this year are already 2 1?2 half times higher than last year... (Mr. Noonan needs some help extracting his head from his rectum. Rifles with selective-fire capability fall under the National Firearms Act, as machine guns, and were not further affected by the 1994 ban on similar-looking semiautomatic versions. While there are shotguns that omit the shoulder stock in lieu of a pistol grip, the reference to a pistol grip on a shotgun, in today's world, usually refers to the incorporation of a pistol grip, such as the one on an AR-15, into an otherwise conventional shoulder stock. To avoid falling under the NFA, a shotgun must have a barrel of at least 18 inches and an overall length of at least 26 inches.) http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009/jul/16/0716_shootingsports/ --- Chicago: Focus for the RKBA: Today, a prediction: Chicago is going to be the most crucial battlefield in the struggle for gun rights for at least the next two years. If you care about gun rights, no matter which side of the debate you favor, then you need to know what's going on in Illinois - and in Illinois, the center of any political fight will always be in Chicago. The battle lines are being drawn already... http://www.examiner.com/x-17034-Chicago-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m7d16-Chicago-national-gun-rights-battleground --- Anti-RKBA Republican to Run for Ohio AG: Montgomery County Republican Party Chair Greg Gantt is circulating an email to "Republican insiders" that Mike DeWine will announce his candidacy for Ohio Attorney General on Wednesday, July 22nd at 9:45am at the Greene County Courthouse. That's right, Mike DeWine. The same Mike DeWine who was thrown out of his U.S. Senate seat by voters in 2006, after running around sporting a Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly Handgun Control Inc.) endorsement because "his record really wowed the group." The same Mike DeWine who Human Events Online named among the Top 10 anti-gun U.S. Senators, noting that he was "consistently the only Republican to speak in favor of anti-2nd Amendment legislation on the Senate floor." The same Mike DeWine who, shortly before his defeat in 2006, took a position in opposition to legislation which barred gun manufacturers, distributors, dealers or importers from frivolous lawsuits designed to put them out of business... http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/6788 --- Harold Fish Will Not Be Retried: There will be no new trial for Harold Fish says Coconino County Attorney David W. Rozema. Rozema said today, July 16, that his office will not conduct a second trial in the Fish case, in the event that the recent decision to vacate Fish's initial trial conviction is upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court. Rozema says they are working with Fish's attorneys to have him released from custody. The Arizona Court of Appeals had ordered a new trial for the 62-year-old retired schoolteacher who shot and killed a Payson man four years ago at a trailhead north of Strawberry. The state legislature just passed new self-defense rules and made those new rules retroactive so they would apply to any new trial for Fish... (No, the legislature passed those "rules," involving the burden of proof for claims of self-defense cases, back in 2006 and former governor Janet Napolitano vetoed prior attempts to make them retroactive.) http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/2009/jul/16/no_trial_fish/ http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2009/07/17/news/20090717_front_200040.txt http://www.haroldfishdefense.org/ http://azcapitoltimes.com/blog/2009/07/14/new-law-makes-self-defense-protections-retroactive/ --- Arizona Bar Owners Bemoan New Law: Scottsdale bar and restaurant owner Les Corieri said he thinks the new law permitting the state's 137,766 carriers of concealed-weapons permits to bring firearms into bars and restaurants is insane. He said he's been fighting against the legislation for years, adding that words can barely describe his incredulity, anger and frustration at the bill Governor Jan Brewer signed into law Monday. "It's a lousy law. It just shows how powerful the NRA is," said the owner of Axis/Radius, Suede and Myst, among other Valley hotspots... The new law goes into effect in September and in addition to allowing entry to bars for those who have concealed-weapons permits, bar owners may prohibit firearms by posting signs next to their liquor permit sign in a "conspicuous" place. Permit-holders are not allowed to drink alcohol while carrying their firearms. But if they do, Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, who supported the bill, said neither the server nor the establishment owner would be held responsible. It is already legal for people to carry exposed firearms into any place that doesn't prohibit it... (The bar lobby lost their gamble to remove a provision that sought to distinguish restaurants from bars by means of requiring an on-site kitchen in order for a licensed establishment to qualify for CCW. It's likely that the bar owners are more concerned about the loss of income from "designated shooters" not purchasing alcoholic beverages than they are about the costs of posting the signs, which I believe will be furnished by the state. This article contains many errors - it is not currently legal to carry an exposed firearm into a commercial establishment licensed to serve alcohol nor will it be on September 30.) http://phoenix.metromix.com/bars-and-clubs/article/bar-owners-politicians-differ/1329480/content#post-a-comment --- Buy a Truck, Get an AK-47: Max Motors (http://www.max71.com/), a Missouri-based, nationwide discount vendor of American automobiles, is currently offering an AK-47 with every truck purchase. The owner does a darn good job of frustrating a CNN talking-head who tries to embarrass him. If you only watch one online video this week, make it this one. http://planetgore.nationalreview.com/ --- Oops, Wrong House, Georgia Version: A quick-thinking 83-year-old Mableton man foiled a home invader's plans when he escaped bondage and shot the bandit. John Parrish saved the day Tuesday with a pair of scissors and a .22-caliber revolver, police and a grateful son-in-law said... Tuesday before 1 p.m., an armed man entered the basement of Carlson's house on Nickajack Road, and encountered Parrish's wife, Margaret. Parrish and his wife occupy the basement's in-law suite. She'd heard her puppies barking and went to the bathroom to check on them, Carson said. The intruder forced Parrish's wife to the ground, tied her hands and feet with duct tape, and put a blanket over her head. Parrish said he went to find his wife, and soon met the same fate - lying face down with his hands taped behind his back... As the intruder stalked through the house, the retired freight dockworker hustled to free himself, twisting and wriggling his arms first, then crawling to the kitchen to find scissors to cut his legs free. "I had to get my gun," Parrish said... (All's well that ends well but, once again, we see the advantage of keeping a gun on your person inside your own home.) http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/i-had-to-get-my-gun-said-mableton-man-83-in-shoot-out-with-home-invader-92211.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab --- Oops, Wrong House, Texas Version: A teenager shot and killed an armed intruder who broke into a Spring Branch home where the youngster was sleeping early Thursday, police said. Houston police said they believe the shooting was a case of self-defense. The incident happened shortly before 7:30 a.m. Thursday at a house that was being remodeled in the 9000 block of Kerrwood, northwest of Hammerly and Bingle... Neither the teenager's name nor the dead man's name were immediately released. Neighbors said there had been at least three break-ins at other houses in the neighborhood recently, but police were not immediately aware of any prior burglaries at the modest wood-frame residence where Thursday's shooting occurred... The teenager had been spending the night at the house to protect the residence and was asleep when the intruder, armed with a pistol, kicked in the back door, said Sgt. Bobby Roberts of the Houston Police Department's Homicide Division... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6531977.html -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .