Here’s a novel concept: enumerated civil rights apply equally in every state in the union. Can speech be more stringently regulated in Maryland than it can in Montana? Do police have broader search and seizure latitude in Arkansas than they do in Alaska? Why no, no they don’t. And that means that . . . States have a constitutional duty to recognize gun rights nationwide.
In response to the House of Representatives passing the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 (which would essentially require states to recognize concealed carry permits issued by other states) this month, those who oppose gun rights are invoking states’ rights — an argument conservatives favor in other contexts. But a federalism argument cannot stand where Congress is exercising authority that has been explicitly granted by the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment.
The Fourteenth Amendment (along with the Thirteenth and Fifteenth) is one of the Reconstruction Amendments, passed in the immediate wake of the Civil War. It (was) intended to redesign American federalism by requiring the states to respect basic rights of their citizens, including “the personal rights guaranteed and secured by the first eight amendments to the Constitution.”
Isn’t the Second Amendment one of those first eight Amendments in the Bill of Rights? Why yes, yet it is. But wait…aren’t gun rights somehow different?
The question then is: are gun rights protected by the Fourteenth Amendment? During the debates on the Amendment, and the related Civil Rights Act of 1866 and Second Freedman’s Bureau Act, the right to keep and bear arms was explicitly invoked frequently as one of the elementary civil rights and rights of citizenship that Freedmen, who were regularly and violently disarmed, were entitled to enjoy along with whites. The Supreme Court recognized this and more in 2010, in the case of McDonald v. City of Chicago. In that case, the Court unambiguously held that the Second Amendment is a “fundamental right” that “is fully applicable to the States.”
Huh. A precedent like that could be downright inconvenient for the forces of civilian disarmament if a national concealed carry reciprocity law ever comes before the Supreme Court.
To be sure, there are other considerations that should be part of the reciprocity discussion. For example, moving between and among the several states is a fundamental right upon whose exercise the states may not place a substantial burden. Nor can states discriminate against new residents by treating them differently in matters of importance, like medical care and welfare benefits. This has implications for American gun owners. If a state may not chill the freedom of interstate travel by placing restrictive conditions on certain benefits, it is reasonable to conclude that stripping one’s carry rights in order to cross state lines would also be impermissible under the Fourteenth Amendment.
So while we’re not constitutional law experts, national reciprocity would seem to be on good legal footing should the bill that’s currently in the Senate ever be signed into law, and challenged in the courts. Which you have to expect it would be.
The question now is, what are the chances of a bill reaching President Trump’s desk?
It’s not a “candid” (posed) picture like the Clintons dancing on the beach. It’s just a casual one of her pausing after the shot. Relax guys. We probably all look like that when someone is talking/interrupting us.
Generally speaking, no I would shoot an elephant, or any other animal except for protection or meat, but we will kill a man on his hands and knees in Mesa Arizona and feel justified.
So is Jeremy S. moonlighting as a model for Ruger?
http://shopruger.com/images/index/section/2.jpg
Y’know what? That’s a good point: do any of us REALLY want to bet our lives on a rifle we built ourselves? Or our homemade handloads?
I’ve heard a number of arguments from several angles (legal liability, mechanical reliability) regarding why this is one of those matters best left to the professional.
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My goto course taking home built AR has over 8,000 trouble free rounds through it for 2017 alone. Cost abut $600 to put together.
Home build hate is irrational and uncalled for. The same goddamned parts are in every AR on the planet.
“The same goddamned parts are in every AR on the planet.”
Whereas I agree with the overall sentiment of your comment, the above quote is not true. Not remotely. There is a vast difference among AR parts. The biggest difference out there I see is the barrel. The differences in materials, length, finish, and contours are pretty wide, and they make a clear difference in performance. There is also a difference in BCG parts, both in materials and finish. Those will definitely make a difference in long term performance. There is also a very wide difference in the quality of those parts, and little things, like how well the gas key is staked will directly affect the reliability of the gun. So can the gas port size. Lots of little things add up to a gun that works, doesn’t work, or works great.
3 prong flash hider for a modern look? The first M16s had those and the only practical use for them was to twirl up spaghetti in order to deposit it in your mouth.
“That’s what it’s like to be in occupied territory.”
That’s an interesting choice of words. Especially now, when Democrats have cynically opened up the floodgates of illegal immigration for the obvious purpose of creating an occupying force and suppressing the local population.
Call it “occupation by immigration.”
If I had not already pulled the trigger on a cz scorpion braced pistol, I’d be very interested in the Ruger offering now. I might still be interested because a magwell change later and the Ruger can accept my Glock mags.
Hey, take CNN down to Stuttgart for some duck hunting. They can lie about all the bands they got. Of course if you break the law in Arkansas and kill a bird illegally you’ll do more time than if you kill a man.
A name brand will definitely resale better than a a frankenRifle.
But a first rifle build is and should be awful. Bill Wilson didn’t build one 1911 and then called it quits. I would say it takes several builds, maybe even three, before a home gunsmith knows what a rifle needs to perform and which parts builders to avoid. What part to max out a budget on and where to go cheap
I enjoy hunting land that I scouted and put in the work to learn. While I support, I’m not even interested in paying for some guide to sit me in a tree in some place for which I have no connection. The whole Africa thing is that type of guided hunt on steroids. I have no connection to that land and I have no connection to those types of animals. I don’t see how that type of experience could be satisfying. Spending years for the opportunity to shoot a small doe with my bow in Colorado, now that’s satisfying.
Stop and frisk is ridiculously unconstitutional.
Not just no, but hell no.
what part of “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” does anyone not understand.
NO!!!!!! Does the 2nd, 4th and 5th Amendments mean ANYTHING!
2nd Amendment :A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed
4th Amendment: Prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and sets out requirements for search warrants based on probable cause as determined by a neutral judge or magistrate.
5th Amendment: Sets out rules for indictment by grand jury and eminent domain, protects the right to due process, and prohibits self-incrimination and double jeopardy.
Shilling for the industry now that people have figured out that reliable AR’s dont cost that much to build eh
You know what else is effective? Paramilitary death squads. So we should have those due to effectiveness.
day by day, one by one they are nullifying the constitution in northern states. seems like they havent changed their control freak ways since the Civil War.
In theory, I could live with Terry v. Ohio. The problem is that the standard of “reasonable suspicion” has been progressively diluted into nonexistence. It has been reduced to the requirement that an officer recite a litany of stock phrases when the case comes to court (“Furtive movement” is a great one. “Training and experience” in another).
Whether either bill progresses in the Senate is in the hands of Mr. McConnell, who does not seem overly concerned with doing so, but why I have no clue.
Adding to the intrigue is Senator Cornyn who, for reasons that seem to me to be little more than ego, wants his bill to pass and the FixNICS to be considered separately, rather than together as the House bill is. This is utter idiocy. The Democrats want FixNICS and if it is included with reciprocity, and the Democrats vote against the House bill, then they can be accused of failing to act to protect people from others who are barred from owning guns (which would be bad in the midterms). If the bills are separated, reciprocity will fail because there is no hook to hold the Democrats’ feet to the fire.
If this pistol and their matching carbine turns out to be winners, this will be a good year for Ruger.
Call your stock broker.
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With the way that even the slightest inch of rights are abused (look at knife stops in NYC and how many people get railroaded there) I say give the police the shortest leash possible.
It’s not just a case of a cop seeing a gun and searching the possessor, but a ‘civilian’ report of a ‘man with a gun’ isn’t far off that point:
https://cases.justia.com/pennsylvania/superior-court/2017-510-eda-2016.pdf?ts=1490822480
On June 28, 2014, at approximately 2:30 [a.m.], members of the Allentown Police Department were dispatched to the Pace Mart located at 640 N. 7th Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania[,] for a male with a firearm. The male, later identified as … [Hicks], was observed with the firearm by a city camera operator.
The camera operator advised officers that [Hicks] showed the firearm to another patron, put the firearm in his waistband, covered it with his shirt, and walked inside the Pace Mart. [Hicks] eventually got back into his vehicle and began to drive away. Based on the information provided, police stopped [Hicks’s] vehicle.
Officer Ryan Alles approached [Hicks] and observed him moving his hands to his waistband. As such,
1See 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3802(b).J-S95043-16-2-
[Officer] Alles drew his weapon and ordered [Hicks] to keep his hands up. Officer Kyle Pammer [(“Officer Pammer”)] held [Hicks’s] arms while [Officer] Alles removed the firearm from a holster on [Hicks’s] person, [Hicks] was removed from the vehicle for safety reasons and handcuffed. Officers smelled the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from [Hicks]. During a search of [Hicks’s] person, a small bag of green leafy vegetable matter was found in [Hicks’s] pocket. The substance field tested positive for
marijuana….
Hicks is appealing, which means that the courts that looked at it so far think it’s perfectly reasonable to stop a car because somebody said the driver had a gun and done nothing offensive with it.
NOOOOOOO
Yeah come knocking at a door after and don’t expect the person inside to be armed? Sorry bud you came here… I don’t care if the guy coming to the door had a battle axe. I understand you want to go home and all, but you came to the house ready to shoot and maybe that’s setting yourself up for a shoot and not something less permanent.
its so funny to read the comments sections for articles like this. its like some of these readers ACTUALLY think their suggestion is going to be heard in court or they are somehow going to influence the case by posting “lock’em up/arrest him”. thank you for your well thought out, paralegal advice.
Why is that MBUS mounted so far back on the rail?
Give them a little while, they’ll be wanting to confiscate your guns for using pain meds, epidemic and all that.