Random Roundup

New York

It seems California doesn't have a monopoly on whacky legislatures.  Consider the news out of New York's capital recently.  After the controversial police shooting of Sean Bell, legislators decided the current rules favored police far too much.

A bill, sponsored by Brooklyn Assembly Members Annette Robinson (D-Bedford Stuyvesant) and Darryl Towns (D-East New York) shows utter incompetence violent encounters involving law-enforcement.  This new bill would require police to use their weapons "with the intent to stop, rather than kill" a suspect. They would be mandated to "shoot a suspect in the arm or the leg."

Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, the Codes Committee chair from Fort Greene and Williamsburg, said that the bill is well-intentioned but that the language may need changing.
 
Ya think? 

U.S. v. Skoien
Oral arguments have been heard en banc in a Seventh Circuit appellate court case that promises to be crucial to future Second Amendment cases.  The Skoien case challenges the constitutionality of 1996 Lautenberg Amendment on Second Amendment grounds.

Specifically, it argues that the courts should use a standard of review called strict scrutiny.  The original three judge panel of the Court of Appeals used intermediate scrutiny review standard instead.

Under intermediate scrutiny, the government must establish only that the law is related to an important government interest and in a way that is substantially related to that interest. 

On the other hand, strict scrutiny requires a compelling governmental interest, that any legislation enacted to address that interest must be narrowly tailored to achieve that goal or interest and it must be the least restrictive means for achieving that interest.

The audio of the oral arguments can be heard here.


LA-LA land moves to Chicago
For decades, Los Angeles (or "LA") has been known as LA-LA land for it's wierd trends, bizzare styles, off-beat characters and goofy politics.  But there must be some kind of migration going on from southern California to Chicago.  Almost every week we hear some kind of whacky, goofy political story out of the Chicago area.  

By now, you've heard about the 80-year-old Korean war veteran who defended himself, his wife and his great-grandson inside his from a violent predatory intruder with a 13-page rap sheet.  After previously being victimized, the veteran, who uses a walker to get around, obtained a handgun in violation of Chicago's gun ban.  But when the predator couldn't break open a door at 5:20am, he fired two shots through the man's bedroom window.  The veteran returned fire and with one shot ended the criminal's career.  Yet, the comments from Chicago's Mayor Daley almost tax credibility.

I understand the situation and I understand. What I'm saying is all of us have to understand that guns is [sic] not the answer to problems we see in homes and on the streets of America. It's just has simple as that.

Besides the bad grammer in saying "Guns is not the answer", it is obvious that Daley doesn't see the appropriateness of the senior citizen's actions.  Daley must believe that an 80-year-old man and his 83-year-old wife should somehow be capable of fending off an armed 29-year-old felon with a 13-page rap sheet full of drug & weapons convictions. Or maybe he expects their 12-year-old great-grandson to engage the man.

Of course the resident's handgun was confiscated and he'll probably never see it again.  Adding to the absurdity is Mayor Daley pretending he doesn't know if the resident will be prosecuted.  When asked about the possibility of charges, the mayor ended a news conference he had called about summer curfew in the city.
 
"I don't know. Thank you very much," Daley said and stepped away from the microphone.
 
Shame on Daley.  He knows full well that the resident cannot be charged.  Illinois state law prohibits his prosecution under the so-called "Hale DeMar Act" – named for a Wilmette, IL resident who shot a burglar with a handgun, a violation of Wilmette's handgun ban.  Yet Daley has several times said he didn't know if charges would be filed or referred questions to the Chicago Police Department. 

It's not a crime if Mayor Daley says it!
I noted on May 22 that Mayor Daley threatened to stick a rifle (with bayonet!) up a reporter's posterior and pull the trigger when the reporter asked if Chicago's handgun ban really worked.  Daley was quoted saying "If I put this up your—ha!—your butt—ha ha!—you’ll find out how effective this is! If I put a round up your—ha ha!”

This press conference so outraged San Jose, Ca. resident Christopher Fox that he called the mayor's office to give Daley a piece of his mind.  Saying Daley's comments were "grossly inappropriate"  Fox, 39, says he asked him 'How would you feel if somebody did that to you?'" in the 45-second phone call.  He also admits he did toss in a few profanities too.  

According to a criminal complaint signed on the mayor's behalf, Fox's message contained "a threat to shoot with a firearm Mayor Richard M. Daley." He is being held without bail on suspicion of making telephone threats against a public official, according to Chicago police and jail booking records.

On May 28th, Fox was being held in the Santa Clara County jail, charged with making "terroristic threats" to a public official. A plumber who lives with his mother in San Jose, Fox says he doesn't have a bus, plane or train ticket and isn't a flight risk.  Yet his incarceration was a no-bail one - the same as used for murder suspects. 

I'm upgrading Mayor Daley's "Buffoon of the Week" award to Buffoon of the Month. I'll accept any suggestions for what kind of image should appear on his plaque. 


Murder up 3.8% in Chicago
More bad news for the "gun free utopia" of Chicago came when crime statistics were released earlier this week.  Despite a 5.8% overall drop in crime, homicides were up 3.8% over last year and auto-theft jumped 20.4%.  The release touted successful police efforts to seize weapons. Police took away 3,513 weapons in the month of May, 189 more than in May of last year, a 5% increase. Of the weapons seized in May, 130 were assault weapons - or if you prefer, 96.7% were not assault weapons.
 
Yes, the Chicago gun ban really does seem to be working. It's keeping law-abiding citizens from obtaining guns while criminals are increasingly better armed.
 
 
Kahr Arms Purchases Magnum Research
In another consolidation in the firearms industry, Kahr firearms added the Magnum Research brand name to its product line. Kahr Arms also owns Auto Ordnance, maker of the Thompson and .30 M1 Carbine rifles and a 1911 pistol. If you've been holding off buying a Desert Eagle, Baby Eagle, BFR or their other products, I'd suggest doing it now. Any time a company changes hands there are good odds that guns made before the buyout will be more desireable and collectable than afterwards.