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You are here: Home / Gun Issues / Ammosexuals / Moloch is Hungry

Moloch is Hungry

by Tom Levenson|  June 5, 20216:37 pm| 103 Comments

This post is in: Ammosexuals, Gun Issues, Gun nuts, Open Threads

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So a George W. Bush appointed federal judge in California has decided that the state has no compelling interest in banning assault weapons, inter alia declaring that:

“Like the Swiss Army Knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment…”

I’ve always found my AR-15 to be the perfect tool for opening beer bottles–just make sure you hit the neck cleanly, and that no one’s behind the bottle for a few hundred yards.

Fuck that judge. Just fuck him. I’m not going to bother fisking his masturbatory 97 (NINETY-SEVEN) page opinion that seems to think that because other states permit weapons of mass murder, California must too. I’m not going to trot out careful arguments or mortality data or international comparisons or suicide numbers or any of that stuff because this is not a reasoned, coherent legal decision.

It’s just guns=good and if the tree of liberty gets watered from time to time, too bad.

Moloch is Hungry

I’m done. Guns wreck civil society. There’s no justification for allowing some asshole who has doubts about his sexual prowess to make life/death decisions whenever and wherever they want. Etc.

And note what I’m reading as a pretty damn clear signal in the quote-fragment above. Californians who are not sworn LEOs or members of the armed forces need “homeland defense equipment”?

That’s coup talk.

Fuck these vicious assholes. The state of gun jurisprudence since Haller is a murder-suicide pact and we have to get rid of it.

That’s all I got.

Open thread.

Image: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Slaughter of the Innocents, between 1308 and 1311.

 

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Reader Interactions

103Comments

  1. 1.

    rikyrah

    June 5, 2021 at 6:43 pm

    Like a Swiss Army Knife?
    PHUCK OUTTA HERE ?

  2. 2.

    dopey-o

    June 5, 2021 at 6:44 pm

    The Tree of Liberty must be watered with the blood of Innocents?
    I never signed up for that.

  3. 3.

    Bill K

    June 5, 2021 at 6:44 pm

    I’m sure the judge has a big gun collection, and he goes home every night and caresses them. That’s the only explanation I have for some of the nutty stuff he put in his opinion.

  4. 4.

    Cermet

    June 5, 2021 at 6:47 pm

    Maybe one of his guns will go off “accidently” and he will be found dead; Darwen would be most happy.

  5. 5.

    debbie

    June 5, 2021 at 6:48 pm

    The state AG has 30 days to appeal. Hope he gets busy soon.

  6. 6.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 5, 2021 at 6:49 pm

    FWIW the judge stayed his order pending appeal and the 9th Circuit will overturn the decision. He clearly is nuts but this isn’t going to change any laws anywhere.

  7. 7.

    WaterGirl

    June 5, 2021 at 6:52 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Do judges have to take some kind of oath when they are made a judge, to, you know, not pull rulings out of their behind?  Promise to make rulings that are in line with the law?  To not make shit up because of their political beliefs?

  8. 8.

    Joe Falco

    June 5, 2021 at 6:52 pm

    Chalk up another consequence of the Supreme Court endorsed 2000 presidential election theft. Bush v Gore should be considered a day that will live in infamy for our republic.

  9. 9.

    Tom Levenson

    June 5, 2021 at 6:52 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Your lips to appellate deity’s ear.

  10. 10.

    Cheryl Rofer

    June 5, 2021 at 6:54 pm

    Thanks, Tom. Well said.

  11. 11.

    Raoul Paste

    June 5, 2021 at 6:54 pm

    You know, a Swiss Army knife isn’t much of a home defensive weapon

  12. 12.

    feebog

    June 5, 2021 at 6:54 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: 

    There is no question the 9th circuit will overturn. The question is whether it then is appealed and then taken up by SCOTUS. Odds are not as good there.

  13. 13.

    trnc

    June 5, 2021 at 6:56 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: 

    FWIW the judge stayed his order pending appeal and the 9th Circuit will overturn the decision.

    Yup, if for no other reason than stating in the ruling that “some other states” allow these guns.

  14. 14.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    June 5, 2021 at 6:57 pm

    We had a ban on assault rifles?

  15. 15.

    TomatoQueen

    June 5, 2021 at 7:06 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:  A long time ago when the Earth was warm, yes we did, and it worked well, and its demise can be blamed on Newtie and the Blowhards.

  16. 16.

    sab

    June 5, 2021 at 7:09 pm

    My husband, being an urban Catholic school boy, knows a lot of cops. Most of them are his age (70) and long since retired. These guys started during or right after the late sixties riots. They have all worked their whole lives in urban policing. Hardly any of them have ever fired a gun in the line of duty. Some of them were street patrol cops. Others were detectives. Others worked undercover drugs.

    None of them think the level of gun violence lately is normal or safe.

  17. 17.

    Cheryl Rofer

    June 5, 2021 at 7:09 pm

    Here’s a detailed analysis of the decision. Looks to me like several places for appeal, but IANAL.

    1/ A federal judge has overturned CA's three-decade-old ban on assault weapons, calling the law a “failed experiment” & likening military-grade assault weapons to Swiss Army knives. 

    Follow this ? for a *thorough debunk* of the judge's infuriating ruling…

    — igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) June 5, 2021

  18. 18.

    Mike in NC

    June 5, 2021 at 7:11 pm

    Asshole activist judges!

  19. 19.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 5, 2021 at 7:11 pm

    @WaterGirl: There isn’t some Platonic ideal of the law out there that is just waiting to be discovered.  All lawyers and all judges are interpreting vague words.  And all, not matter how hard they try, bring their own prejudices and experiences into their decision-making.  We even consider some of that to be a good thing – hence the interest in diversity on the bench.  This guy is a kook, but I would bet that no real harm comes of this decision.

  20. 20.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 5, 2021 at 7:12 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: An notice of appeal will be filed no later than Monday morning.

  21. 21.

    Tom Levenson

    June 5, 2021 at 7:20 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Thanks Cheryl.

    I’ve instituted a Shabbat tradition that also really helps my mental health: no Twitter from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown. I appreciate you covering for me…;-)

  22. 22.

    Dan B

    June 5, 2021 at 7:22 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Volsky’s argument seems to be that Swiss Army knives are less likely to be used in mass murders.

    Or did I get that backwards?

  23. 23.

    Raoul Paste

    June 5, 2021 at 7:23 pm

    So this likely gets overturned, and rightly so .   But you just have to wonder what’s going to happen to Texas if it becomes Gun Chaos Central

    You probably saw the recent story about  a family out on a bike ride in Huston, where the mother shot at an an approaching dog and shot her five-year-old in the stomach instead (the kid is going to be okay )

    Who the heck brings a handgun along on a bike ride?

  24. 24.

    chopper

    June 5, 2021 at 7:25 pm

    i’m sure mr. “if other states do it all states have to” also fancies himself a ‘federalist’

  25. 25.

    RSA

    June 5, 2021 at 7:31 pm

    @Raoul Paste: My thought exactly.

    “Like the Swiss Army Knife [Cool, a simile. A Swiss Army knife is okay (but not great) for cutting small bits of wood, tweezing out splinters, using those little scissors before they break, opening bottles…], the popular AR-15 rifle [Wait, a gun can’t do any of those things] is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment [WTF? A Swiss Army knife isn’t worth shit for home defense, much less fighting foreign invaders]…”

    Huh. Some of our federal judges are not great at writing or logic.

  26. 26.

    Ksmiami

    June 5, 2021 at 7:33 pm

    I’ll be happy when he faces the end of an AR… after all, judges don’t really have divisions at the ready…

  27. 27.

    Seriously

    June 5, 2021 at 7:38 pm

    As the court decision correctly noted, more people are killed by knives in the US than by “assault weapons.”

    The push to ban assault weapons is illogical and silly.  It’s driven by hatred and emotion.  As in ” There’s no justification for allowing some asshole who has doubts about his sexual prowess to make life/death decisions whenever and wherever they want.”  This is the kind of absurdist reductive thinking you find among anti-abortion zealots who claims that “women who get abortions hate children.”

    The simple fact is that “assault weapons” are a comparatively trivial cause of deaths in the US every year.  That’s just reality.  Deal with it.  And, please spare me the “But, but, but, you wouldn’t be saying that if your sweet little child got his head blown off in preschool.”  Unfiltered emotion is not a valid basis for making public policy.

    There are plenty of things that can be done to reduce deaths caused by firearms such as training programs, handing out gun locks, advocating (or even legislating) safe storage requirements.  Those things work.

    But instead of taking concrete steps that actually make a difference, the gun control morons in this country expend vast amount of political capital advocating legislation about cosmetic appearance of firearms that has, basically, zero effect on reducing deaths.  What a joke.

    Despite the fact that there are 300 million plus firearms in this country and despite the fact that concealed carry has expanded to almost every state in the past 20 years, the murder rate is a fraction of what it was decades ago.  That ain’t because of gun control.

    Here’s and idea, try understanding reality and then let that guide your opinions as opposed to “Wah, wah, wah, gun people have short penises.”

  28. 28.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 5, 2021 at 7:39 pm

    @Ksmiami:  Your blood lust post are rather tiresome.  If you really want the violence you keep calling for, you are a ghoul.  If you don’t, then you’re a bit of a poseur, aren’t you?

  29. 29.

    orsonk

    June 5, 2021 at 7:41 pm

    Thank you for expressing exactly how I feel. So angry that a judge can do this!

  30. 30.

    Baud

    June 5, 2021 at 7:42 pm

    @Seriously:

    Nah, we’re good on this. But thanks for your help.

    “Wah, wah, wah, gun people have short penises.”

    Good point. It’s not just gun people.

  31. 31.

    JMG

    June 5, 2021 at 7:44 pm

    George Soros or some other left-leaning billionaire can reverse this ruling in a second. Just announce he or she is buying an AR-15 for every non-white male in California. Supreme Court would meet at 3 am to reverse it.

  32. 32.

    sab

    June 5, 2021 at 7:45 pm

    I am so old that, as a girl, I had NRA safety training when at summer camp.

    I cannot even watch old cowboy TV shows ( or Outlander.) They have absolutely no muzzle awareness. They point that gun at everyone, even when they are just talking among friends.

  33. 33.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 5, 2021 at 7:45 pm

    @Seriously: ​
      What harm does the ban cause? It keeps some weapons for which there is is no sensible civilian use off the streets. Trigger locks and other measures are also good ideas. Let’s see how many gun nuts approve legislation mandating those things. If you are a “responsible gun owner,” you should get your people to support those things, otherwise it will get harder and harder convince people that you want safe and responsible use and easier and easier for people to say “fuck it, ban them all.”

  34. 34.

    Tehanu

    June 5, 2021 at 7:47 pm

    @Seriously:  The simple fact is that “assault weapons” are a comparatively trivial cause of deaths in the US every year. That’s just reality.

    Uh … evidence? “Comparatively” — compared to what? And yes, you should talk differently if someone you care about gets their head blown off … so I guess there’s nobody you actually care about.  I for one am fkg sick and tired of being told to “understand” why this country is the only one where crowds of children get murdered and the reaction is “that’s trivial, we should allow more gun sales.”

  35. 35.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 5, 2021 at 7:49 pm

    @orsonk: Your expectations of judges are far too high.

  36. 36.

    PenAndKey

    June 5, 2021 at 7:49 pm

    @Seriously: Oh, this should be good. You’re new here, aren’t you?

  37. 37.

    Delk

    June 5, 2021 at 7:49 pm

    Well there was that episode of “Cooking with Cruz” that showed how to make bacon with an assault weapon.

  38. 38.

    sab

    June 5, 2021 at 7:50 pm

    @WaterGirl: They swear to uphold the Constitution, but Federalist Society guys don’t know which Constitution. They think it’s the Federalist Society Mission Statement. Not the sharpest knives in the legal drawer

    I am talking the honest ones. Some of the other knives are quite sharp.

  39. 39.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    June 5, 2021 at 7:50 pm

    @Seriously:

    Thanks for the condescending BS, commenter I’ve never seen before. Try telling that to the families of victims killed in the mass shootings using automatic weapons, like in Newtown or Parkland. I’m sure they’ll understand your high minded logic. And do you honestly think the gun nuts actually want to enact the suggestions you mention?

    People in other developed, industrialized countries don’t have to deal with worrying about being potentially killed every day

  40. 40.

    MagdaInBlack

    June 5, 2021 at 7:52 pm

    @PenAndKey: ? Yes indeed on both

  41. 41.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 5, 2021 at 7:54 pm

    @MagdaInBlack: I am pretty sure it is one of our long time guntrolls.  Just not sure which one yet.

  42. 42.

    Geminid

    June 5, 2021 at 7:54 pm

    I would disagree with Mr. Levenson on the state of gun safety jurisprudence since the Heller decision. Justice Scalia’s opinion did affirm an individual right to possess firearms, but he cited historical precedent that affirmed that governments have the power to reasonably regulate firearms sales and possession. Most gun safety legislation passed since Heller, including Connecticut’s assault weapons ban, have passed judicial review. The radicals in the present Supreme Court may uphold this California federal judge’s  opinion, but they will have to break with Scalia’s Heller precedent to do so.

  43. 43.

    sab

    June 5, 2021 at 7:54 pm

    Bush family can say whatever they want, but their judicial appointments are their legacy. That is who they are.

  44. 44.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 5, 2021 at 7:57 pm

    @sab: Susan Collins was invited to Walker’s Point so Jeb and Shrub could lobby for Kavanaugh. They have no problem with RW judges being their legacy.

    I just wonder if that’s the first time she’s been there, and how much something like that means to that jumped-up mediocrity

  45. 45.

    zhena gogolia

    June 5, 2021 at 7:58 pm

    @PenAndKey:

    This person has been here under another nym in the past. Can’t remember what the nym was, but the rhetoric is identical.

  46. 46.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    June 5, 2021 at 7:59 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I’m guessing Amarthine (probably screwed up the spelling) RBG

  47. 47.

    Professor Bigfoot

    June 5, 2021 at 8:00 pm

    Tulsa, 1921.
    Rosewood, 1923.

    The moment— the very moment— they’re taken away from these trump-sucking, boot-licking white supremacist “conservatives,” I’ll happily give up mine.

    ‘Til then…  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  48. 48.

    Kent

    June 5, 2021 at 8:02 pm

    @JMG:George Soros or some other left-leaning billionaire can reverse this ruling in a second. Just announce he or she is buying an AR-15 for every non-white male in California. Supreme Court would meet at 3 am to reverse it.

    Issue hundreds of AR-15s to BLM protesters to “Constitutional Carry” in the next big march in a southern state?

    Hah, that would scare some white folks.  Especially if they routed their marches through some rich white neighborhoods like those in MO where that crazy white couple decided to stand their ground.

  49. 49.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 5, 2021 at 8:05 pm

    Where’re the bottle and can openers, and the corkscrew on these murder machines?

    Fuck this guy.

  50. 50.

    sab

    June 5, 2021 at 8:06 pm

    @Professor Bigfoot: Akron burned stuff up about 1901. 1920’s wasn’t some weird aberration. This was who we had always been. And I am speaking as a very white midwesterner with roots back about 7 generations. This is who we had always been.

  51. 51.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 5, 2021 at 8:07 pm

    @Kent: That’s brave of you.  Asking BLM protesters to volunteer to get shot.

  52. 52.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 5, 2021 at 8:08 pm

    @Kent:

    Especially if they routed their marches through some rich white neighborhoods like those in MO where that crazy white couple decided to stand their ground. 

    There was no “stand your ground” with those two assholes.  The protestors were peacefully walking past their house.  They were (are) just gun-humping, paranoid shitforbrains.

  53. 53.

    West of the Cascades

    June 5, 2021 at 8:10 pm

    @feebog: Don’t be so sure the 9th will reverse this. The current breakdown of active circuit judges by presidential appointment is 16 by Democrats (9 Clinton, 7 Obama) and 13 by Republicans (3 GWB, 10 Trump). Add in 11 senior judges appointed by Republican presidents (vs. 7 appointed by Democrats), and the chance of drawing a three-judge panel that has two judges appointed by a Republican is roughly 50-50.

    And whatever that panel decides could get reviewed in turn by an en banc panel that includes the Chief Judge (Sidney Thomas, a Clinton appointee) and 10 of the active judges chosen at random … which with some bad luck could include seven or eight Republican appointees.

    Trump succeeded in really stacking the 9th with his appointees, which is scary for practitioners in the West these days.

  54. 54.

    Ruckus

    June 5, 2021 at 8:11 pm

    I am going to repost what I wrote in Adam’s post yesterday.

    I’ve lived in this country for over 70 yrs, I’ve served in the military and carried a loaded weapon. I’ve lived near two major riots in that time and never ever have I seen the need for a weapon like an AR15. Or any other weapon actually. The only people that one has to protect themselves from are the assholes who carry weapons of warfare around in an attempt to make up for their teeny, tiny dicks. And that doesn’t happen in CA because of laws to prevent it. Sure it has happened but it’s extremely rare and taken care of rapidly.

  55. 55.

    HinTN

    June 5, 2021 at 8:11 pm

    @JMG: Exactly what drove Saint Ronnie, when he was governator, to decide gun control was a fine idea: Black Panthers legally openly carrying!

  56. 56.

    Anotherlurker

    June 5, 2021 at 8:14 pm

    @Seriously: If you knew anything about guns, you would know that an assault rifle with a massive clip (triggering you yet, Spunky?) is a shit choice for home defense.  If you fire an AR or similar weapon in your house, you stand a good chance of firing right thru the walls and into your neighbor’s Double Wide.

    A better choice of home defense weapon is a shotgun.  I’m partial to a .410.   Effective and it won’t pass thru the walls of your mobil home

    And with that, I’m done feeding the asshole troll.

    Pied.

  57. 57.

    Ksmiami

    June 5, 2021 at 8:14 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: not bloodlust just good at gaming out scenarios. Rather be ahead of the planning than shocked by events

  58. 58.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 5, 2021 at 8:17 pm

    @Ksmiami: Are you wearing your black beret and cammo face paint as you post?

  59. 59.

    motopilot

    June 5, 2021 at 8:17 pm

    With so much “homeland defense equipment” already out in the general population now, does that mean we can start cutting back on DoD budgets?

  60. 60.

    Ksmiami

    June 5, 2021 at 8:19 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: in the future perhaps…

  61. 61.

    Percysowner

    June 5, 2021 at 8:20 pm

    @JMG: Yep. That’s what got at least one gun control measure passed. People suddenly heard that the Black Panthers were “stockpiling” (if they had been white it would have been called collecting) guns and all the white people who were pro-gun suddenly got antsy, for some reason.

  62. 62.

    A Ghost to Most

    June 5, 2021 at 8:20 pm

    Guns are the How. The Why is the compelling question. His Why is christian supremacy.

  63. 63.

    Ruckus

    June 5, 2021 at 8:23 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    I believe he’s been here under this name as well. And gun humpers are going to have similar talking points, as they all think that the world is trying to kill them, and they have teeny, tiny dicks. And I’m sticking with that till they can prove otherwise.

    How many towns in the old west banned the carrying of guns? I’d bet it was quite a few of them. That was any gun. And people used guns then for hunting and actual animal control. But the only reason they needed to carry them in town or at a bar was to kill someone. And it’s no different today.

  64. 64.

    BruceJ

    June 5, 2021 at 8:23 pm

    @Raoul Paste: You would be surprised how easy it is to disarm a putative invader with a freshly opened bottle of wine or beer :-)

  65. 65.

    laura

    June 5, 2021 at 8:24 pm

    @Seriously: Fuck you. Fuck your guns and fuck you.

  66. 66.

    BruceJ

    June 5, 2021 at 8:26 pm

    @Geminid: Precedent, schmecedent. The current Supreme Court has clearly shown that they only care about precedent so long as it suits their agenda. See Shelby County v Holder, where they MADE UP shit that exists neither in law, the Constitution or legal precedent.

  67. 67.

    Ruckus

    June 5, 2021 at 8:28 pm

    @laura:

    I like your style.

    I prefer to not interact with small dick morons, they are too unpredictable and ignorant.

  68. 68.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 5, 2021 at 8:34 pm

     

    @zhena gogolia:  Yup. He ( cause you know it’s a he) has some bat signal that goes up when guns are the subject here.

  69. 69.

    FelonyGovt

    June 5, 2021 at 8:36 pm

    Mmmm delicious pie!

  70. 70.

    Geminid

    June 5, 2021 at 8:55 pm

    @BruceJ: Well, you can assume that this court will overrule Heller of you want. They have had the chance already, and they certainly will have another opportunity this term, with a new Justice. But I’ll believe it when I see it. Roberts and Gorsuch have swung with the three liberals before, and if I had to bet money I’d put it on those two voting to uphold Heller and California’s assault weapons ban.

  71. 71.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 5, 2021 at 9:01 pm

    @Geminid: My guess is that the Court doesn’t take up the case.

  72. 72.

    Geminid

    June 5, 2021 at 9:05 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Regardless of how the 9th Circuit decides?

  73. 73.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 5, 2021 at 9:07 pm

    @Geminid: 9th reverses.  Supremes let it sit.

  74. 74.

    HarlequinGnoll

    June 5, 2021 at 9:11 pm

    @Seriously: maybe if someone invented a knife that can stab 60-90 times a second from a distance of 50 yards?  There’s a difference between multiple people makingin wage and a CEO giant.

  75. 75.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    June 5, 2021 at 9:12 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Based on West of the Rockies’ comment, I’m more concerned about two R judges getting on a three judge panel to hear the case. The 9th circuit has had a lot of Trump appointees put on it, so the odds aren’t great. What’s the next step after the 9th if this happens?

  76. 76.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 5, 2021 at 9:15 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Just because two Republican appointed judge end up on the panel does not mean that the decision will be upheld.

  77. 77.

    Geminid

    June 5, 2021 at 9:20 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I think you are right. The S.C. has accepted a case regarding New York’s carry law this term, I believe, but it does not seem likely to me that they will strike the state law down. If they do, they’ll open up challenges to a couple hundred laws in dozens of states. I think Roberts knows better than that, and Gorsuch will follow his lead on this issue.

  78. 78.

    trollhattan

    June 5, 2021 at 9:29 pm

    @Seriously:

    Yo, Stephen Paddock’s corpse, why aren’t you out skinning house cats?

  79. 79.

    Professor Bigfoot

    June 5, 2021 at 9:43 pm

    @sab: 

    Ayup. Thus my gun-buying and training spree in 2017.

  80. 80.

    Another Scott

    June 5, 2021 at 9:47 pm

    @West of the Cascades: You mention “senior status”.

    FJC.gov:

    Benitez, Roger T.
    Born 1950 in Havana, Cuba

    Federal Judicial Service:
    Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
    Nominated by George W. Bush on May 1, 2003, to a new seat authorized by 116 Stat. 1758. Confirmed by the Senate on June 17, 2004, and received commission on June 21, 2004. Assumed senior status on December 31, 2017.

    […]

    (Emphasis added.)

    In previous discussions about reforming the federal courts, some have (as I understood it) mentioned Senior Status as being a kind of “working retirement” where the judge in question helps out with routine/minor/less controversial cases.

    It looks like a judge in senior status can still work full time (depending on the circumstances).

    Someone semi-retired shouldn’t be in a position of making rulings like this, IMHO.

    Yet another reason to reform the federal courts.

    Fight for 15!!1 (on the SCOTUS)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  81. 81.

    West of the Cascades

    June 5, 2021 at 9:49 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: But it sure makes it more likely.

  82. 82.

    randy khan

    June 5, 2021 at 9:51 pm

    @Geminid:

    Justice Scalia’s opinion did affirm an individual right to possess firearms, but he cited historical precedent that affirmed that governments have the power to reasonably regulate firearms sales and possession.

    This is my cue to remind everyone that Justice Scalia, always *so concerned* about what the drafters of the Constitution meant and understood during their time, used at least one example of the kind of thing only the government ever owned that was utterly incorrect – it’s likely that before the Revolution, and maybe even afterwards, there were more cannon in private hands than in the hands of the government (and even if I’m wrong about the specific numbers, they absolutely were owned by private citizens who owned ships).  In other words, as usual, he made up the history to serve his pre-determined result.  (In this case, he did it to reassure people that the 2nd Amendment, despite having no actual words to support this reading, was intended to cover only “personal” weapons and, of course, any kind of weapon that might have evolved from those weapons, as allowing people own artillery and tanks probably would have been upsetting even to Republican politicians at the time.)

  83. 83.

    Lapassionara

    June 5, 2021 at 9:51 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    en banc review

  84. 84.

    Another Scott

    June 5, 2021 at 10:04 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: A march like that happened in Stone Mountain, GA in July 2020.

    According to the Facebook page of a man identifying himself as “The Real Grandmaster Jay,” who authorities said was a leader of the protest, Saturday’s march was supposed to have been one of two. Besides the Stone Mountain action, the other was scheduled for July Fourth as well in Phoenix, Arizona, according to the Facebook post. Based on news reports, however, it does not appear that the planned Arizona rally took place. The organizing group calls itself the NFAC, or Not (expletive) Around Coalition and began calling for the rally at least a week ago, according to the Facebook page.

    Organizers said in at least one video of the event posted to Twitter that NFAC was not affiliated with Black Lives Matter but saw themselves as an armed militia.

    Georgia’s open carry laws allow those with gun permits to visibly carry firearms into most public settings, though with some restrictions. This wasn’t the first time armed protesters held a rally in the park. In 2016, a group known as “three percenters,” a loose network of white men who also see themselves as a militia, were involved in pro-Confederate flag rallies at the park.

    A speaker at Saturday’s rally addressed that group.

    “I don’t see no white militia,” the man said. “To the three percenters and all the rest of those scared (expletive) rednecks, we here! Where the (expletive) you at? We in your house! Let’s go!”

    It would probably get more attention if it were more than a one-off thing. But not necessarily good attention.

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  85. 85.

    Shakti

    June 5, 2021 at 10:10 pm

    So basically we’re living in this Key & Peele skit now?  https://youtu.be/BDZ6ujYN610

  86. 86.

    The Moar You Know

    June 5, 2021 at 10:12 pm

    Issue hundreds of AR-15s to BLM protesters to “Constitutional Carry” in the next big march in a southern state?

    @Kent: We do not have the right to ask people of color to die for our policy goals.  And they would all die, every last one, participating in something that stupid.

  87. 87.

    Another Scott

    June 5, 2021 at 10:20 pm

    @randy khan: If Scalia were interested in presenting an honest history he could have visited Colonial Williamsburg (just a couple of hours or so down the road from DC) before writing Heller.  Or read about the Magazine:

    (repost)

    […]

    Built by Governor Spotswood to protect colony’s arms and munitions

    In 1714, the General Assembly had asked Governor Alexander Spotswood to build “a good substantial house of brick” precisely to protect the colony’s arms and munitions. The occasion was the shipment of powder and muskets from Queen Anne’s government in England. The city’s 17th-century magazine, if it still stood, seems to have been inadequate. Spotswood was authorized to spend £200 from taxes collected on the import of liquor and slaves.

    In 1715, he had erected a tall octagonal tower admired by a visitor, Sir William Keith, as “an elegant safe Magazine, in the Centre of Williamsburgh.” Spotswood also designed Bruton Parish Church and landscaped the Governor’s Palace.

    Spotswood’s Magazine safeguarded shot, powder, flints, tents, tools, swords, pikes, canteens, cooking utensils, and as many as 3,000 Brown Bess flintlocks – equipment needed for defense against Indians, slave revolts, local riots, and pirate raids. Its first keeper was John Brush, builder of the Brush-Everard House.

    So many munitions arrived from 1754 to 1763 in the course of the French and Indian War that the additions of a high perimeter wall and Guardhouse were necessary. But with the departure of the government for Richmond during the Revolution, the Magazine saw less service as a powder horn, as it was sometimes called.

    […]

    tl;dr – Defense of the colony was an organized undertaking and weapons were locked up in a central facility. Farmer James wasn’t bringing his personal AR-15 to fight off the natives.

    Indeed, as you say, as messed up as Heller is, even Scalia recognized that there’s nothing unconstitutional about regulating weapons of war. (Last I looked, pool cues have killed more Americans in the US than flamethrowers, but that doesn’t mean anyone can have a flamethrower…)

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  88. 88.

    persistentillusion

    June 5, 2021 at 10:20 pm

    @PenAndKey: Yup.  I don’t comment often, but I have read this almost top 10,000 blog for years .  I recall other sudden influxes of trolls.

  89. 89.

    Another Scott

    June 5, 2021 at 10:24 pm

    @Shakti: :-)

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  90. 90.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 5, 2021 at 10:43 pm

    @West of the Cascades: Sure.  But that doesn’t mean probable.

  91. 91.

    Other MJS

    June 5, 2021 at 11:23 pm

    So the AR-15 is a floor wax and a dessert topping?

  92. 92.

    lige

    June 6, 2021 at 1:17 am

    Guns are dangerous toys pure and simple any purported uses people have for them are just entertainment (hunting, target shooting) or deranged juvenile power fantasies that one needs a gun for personal protection.  No one needs them.

  93. 93.

    Mary G

    June 6, 2021 at 1:32 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Started in 1994, but had to be renewed in 10 years and that didn’t get done.

  94. 94.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    June 6, 2021 at 2:25 am

    Argh. I was stupid enough to make a tweet without a hashtag, stating that while a Swiss Army knife has many uses, the sole purpose of an AR-15 (or other military weapon) is to kill people. Some troll came up and got sarcastic about “good thing bullets don’t kill animals; imagine using guns to hunt?”

    Was I inaccurate to respond (before blocking the troll) that there are firearms far better suited to hunting animals than military weapons?

    (To be fair, the military rifle I was issued when I was conscripted was a G3, not an AR-15 style rifle, but the same principle applies. I figure it gives me enough personal experience to speak to the topic.)

  95. 95.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    June 6, 2021 at 2:29 am

    @lige: There are some limited use cases for firearms, especially in rural areas with aggressive wildlife, or when used by well-regulated militaries, but unrestricted private ownership of weapons of war is a recipe for disaster.

    (No, Mr. Heinlein, an armed society is not a polite society; it is a society at the mercy of the least stable person with a firearm.)

  96. 96.

    Berliner2

    June 6, 2021 at 5:40 am

    The Swiss army knife is a glorified household appliance for boys playing soldiers in the woods. I know. I served in the Swiss army. Part of my training was learn to how to operate AR-15 style weaponery. Those two are not remotely comparable.

  97. 97.

    Uncle Cosmo

    June 6, 2021 at 7:32 am

    @Anotherlurker: A better choice of home defense weapon is a shotgun. I’m partial to a .410. Effective and it won’t pass thru the walls of your mobil home

    The minute someone like me, who lives alone, brings home a “home defense weapon” like a Glock or an AR-15, it becomes the most valuable item in the house. If I don’t carry it on me, the weapon makes the house a prime target for burglary. If I do carry it, I become a prime target for a surprise mugging.

    FWIW a libertarian friend once suggested that in my situation the best “home defense weapon” is a pump shotgun with the shortest barrel allowed by law. Nearly impossible to conceal, so virtually worthless to a putative mugger; minimal training required, easy to wield, no difficulty aiming, no way for a potential target to tell if it’s loaded with lethal shells or salt shot. (My friend noted that the mere sound of a shotgun pump from upstairs – possibly accompanied by the redundant I have a loaded gun – may persuade breakers-and-enterers to retreat.)

  98. 98.

    brantl

    June 6, 2021 at 8:19 am

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: Heinlein wrote some great science fiction, his poli-sci slant was no better than the average 8-year-old’s.

  99. 99.

    way2blue

    June 6, 2021 at 11:53 am

    Please tell me his ruling will be appealed.  And heard by a judge (judges?) with common sense.

  100. 100.

    senyordave

    June 6, 2021 at 12:02 pm

    @brantl: I think more like many 12 year old boys.  Simplistic and misogynistic.

  101. 101.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    June 6, 2021 at 3:53 pm

    The thing that really pisses me off these days is, everyone knows an AR-15 is a *terrible* weapon for self defense, because of over-penetration. When defending yourself, especially in an urban setting, you want a round that has minimal penetration, but has maximum stopping power. An AR-15 does *not* fire such a round. A 12 gauge? Sure! A .357/.44 magnum, or .45 ACP? You bet! A 9mm? Eh, over-penetration is starting to be  a risk, and stopping power is “good enough, mostly”

    And the problem is, this is not me failing to appreciate the gun nuts current love of the AR-15. It’s a nice gun, it does a huge amount of work for the shooter, and doesn’t require truly learning and loving the gun to be really good with it. But tactically, self defense is at a maximum range of about 50 feet, and *at* 50 feet, you probably don’t have a legal right to use lethal force – unless there’s incoming fire, how do you know a person 50 feet away is a danger to you?

    This is why I find it completely *appalling* that people are trying to make Rittenhouse out to be a hero. If you’re in defense of *property*, especially, you have no need for the ability to fire at tens of yards, and a rifle can be a weakness in sufficiently close quarters… unless you’re willing to kill to retain possession. Oh, but they have to make him a hero, because he carried a gun that means “hero” to the gun nuts – just read the judges commentary to grok how he is (metaphorically) willing to be AR-15ed up the tailpipe.

  102. 102.

    Another Scott

    June 6, 2021 at 6:04 pm

    @LongHairedWeirdo:  Excellent points.

    Adam makes the point that if someone is determined to get you, and are within (what?) 25 feet of you, then even if you’ve got a gun handy, it won’t do you much good. (Insert ScreamingHulk.gif) How many homes have 25 (or 50) feet of clear sight-lines? Maybe a hallway, at most?

    Gun are for intimidating and killing people out in the open. Not for “home defense”.

    Some actual numbers (from 1998):

    Abstract

    Objective: Determine the relative frequency with which guns in the home are used to injure or kill in self-defense, compared with the number of times these weapons are involved in an unintentional injury, suicide attempt, or criminal assault or homicide.

    Methods: We reviewed the police, medical examiner, emergency medical service, emergency department, and hospital records of all fatal and nonfatal shootings in three U.S. cities: Memphis, Tennessee; Seattle, Washington; and Galveston, Texas.

    Results: During the study interval (12 months in Memphis, 18 months in Seattle, and Galveston) 626 shootings occurred in or around a residence. This total included 54 unintentional shootings, 118 attempted or completed suicides, and 438 assaults/homicides. Thirteen shootings were legally justifiable or an act of self-defense, including three that involved law enforcement officers acting in the line of duty. For every time a gun in the home was used in a self-defense or legally justifiable shooting, there were four unintentional shootings, seven criminal assaults or homicides, and 11 attempted or completed suicides.

    Conclusions: Guns kept in homes are more likely to be involved in a fatal or nonfatal accidental shooting, criminal assault, or suicide attempt than to be used to injure or kill in self-defense.

    (Emphasis added)

    10/626 = 1.6% were “home defense” by residents

    (54+118+438)/626 = 610/626 = 97.4% were “accidents” + attempted suicide + assault + homicide.

    Grr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  103. 103.

    Pat Hines

    June 10, 2021 at 2:58 am

    @Seriously:

    Well said, sir.  Judge Benitez ruling is in accordance with the Second Amendment of the US constitution as written.

    It appears that the comparison of the versatility and numerous functional enhancements available for the AR rifles with the versatile Swiss Army knife is lost on the communists posting here.  What a shame.

    Last, it’s unlikely that the 9th Circuit will overturn Judge Benitez ruling, they upheld his magazine ban ruling.

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