Dave Kopel's Second Amendment Newsletter. April 6, 2004.

1. New by Kopel: Ex Parte Milligan, the Civil War case which demonstrates the 2nd Amendment is an individual right. Gun control in Sri Lanka.
"Cop-killer" ammunition. Congress rolls back Clinton gun rules.
Global deaths from firearms.

2. Dave's National Review Weblog Entries. Will Kerry promise to appoint judges who support the Second Amendment? Concealed carry victory in Missouri.

3. Self Defense. Good Samaritan on NYC subway. Teenager with a gun.

4. International. Sword prohibition in Australia. Canadian gun law cannot be applied to Indians. Elderly man in Netherlands arrested for shooting armed robber. British polls favors restoration of right of home defense. CCRKBA opens British office.

5. Terrorism. TSA follies.

6. History. Bellisles hoax continues. Randy Barnett debunks Uviller & Merkel.

7. Law. Minnesota churches may ban CCW, even without posting notice. Another 10th Circuit opinion that 2d A. is not an individual right.

8. Research: Halbrook, Malcolm, and Swan articles in new law review symposium.

9. The States. Progress in Florida and Illinois. Crackdowns on  imitation guns in New York and Kansas City.

10. Politics. Americans for Gun Safety strategy presentation tells Democrats to claim to support the Second Amendment, while still voting for gun control.

11. Useful tools. Great ear muffs. Excellent reloading site.

=======================

1. New by Kopel

Rights During War.
In 1864, the U.S. Army court-martialed an Indiana civilian and
sentenced him to death. What does this case teach us about the
Second Amendment and the limits of presidential powers?
Liberty magazine, April 2004.
http://www.davekopel.com/2A/Mags/Rights-During-War.htm

Lions vs. Tigers. The precarious state of Sri Lanka.
National Review Online. Mar. 3, 2004. With Paul Gallant & Joanne D. Eisen.

The Return of a Legislative Legend.
Debating "cop-killer" ammunition.
National Review Online. Mar. 1, 2004.
http://www.nationalreview.com/kopel/

kopel200403010926.asp

Erasing A Clinton Legacy:
Rolling Back Antigun Regs.
New law protects privacy rights of law-abiding gun owners.
National Review Online. Jan. 27, 2004.
http://www.nationalreview.com/

kopel/kopel200401270928.asp

"Global Deaths from Firearms: Searching for Plausible Estimates."
Texas Review of Law & Politics, Vol. 8, no. 1 (Fall 2003)
http://www.davekopel.com/2A/Foreign/Global-Deaths-from-Firearms.pdf

Coming soon on National Review Online:
Automobiles are 48% more dangerous than guns.
Analysis of Johnson v. Eisentrager, the 1950 Supreme Court
case which is at the heart of current Supreme Court cases
over detaining enemy combatants—and which provides further
proof that the Second Amendment is an individual right.

====================
2. Kopel weblog entries on the National Review Online's "The Corner"
http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/corner.asp

Feb. 26, 2004
GUNS IN MISSOURI [Dave Kopel]
http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/

04_02_22_corner-archive.asp#025955
The gun-prohibition lobby has suffered a major defeat in the Missouri  supreme court. Today the court ruled that Missouri's new law to create  concealed-handgun permits for licensed, trained citizens who pass a  background check. The law was enacted last fall, when the Missouri  legislature over-rode the governor's veto. The gun-prohibition lobbies  quickly filed suit against the new law, shopped for an anti-gun judge,  and obtained a temporary injunction against the concealed-carry law.  The Missouri supreme court overturned the injunction, thereby allowing  the law to go into effect.

Article I, section 23, of the Missouri constitution states: "That the  right of every citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home,  person and property, or when lawfully summoned in aid of the civil  power, shall not be questioned; but this shall not justify the wearing  of concealed weapons." The obvious meaning of the final clause is that  concealed carry is not part of the right to keep and bear arms. The  Missouri legislature could prohibit concealed carry entirely, could  allow unrestricted concealed carry, or could allow concealed carry  under certain circumstances. The Missouri legislature chose the third  option: prohibiting concealed carry except for people who are given a  license according to state standards.

The gun prohibition groups made the preposterous argument--which the  trial judge in Saint Louis accepted--that the constitutional clause  forbids concealed carry under all circumstances. The Missouri supreme  court rejected this absurd claim. The court wrote: "There is no  constitutional prohibition against the wearing of concealed weapons;  there is only a prohibition against invoking the right to keep and bear  arms to justify the wearing of concealed weapons." A contrary decision  would have made it illegal for even police officers to carry concealed  guns.

Not long ago, the New Mexico supreme court rejected a similarly  nonsensical claim against a new concealed-carry law in the  Land of Enchantment.

The Missouri supreme court did rule that the new law cannot go into  effect in four counties, because the law, at least arguably, imposes an  unfunded mandate on local law enforcement for the cost of issuing the  permits. The Missouri constitution's "Hancock Amendment" prohibits  unfunded mandates. Sheriffs are allowed to charge a fee of up to $100,  but a few sheriffs have argued that the fee is inadequate. It is  expected that the issue regarding appropriate fees will not be  difficult to fix by the state legislature.

Feb. 26, 2004
READY, AIM….
http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/

04_02_22_corner-archive.asp#025932
Collection of links providing background on gun issues
being debated by the Senate.

Feb. 2, 2004
SECOND AMENDMENT AND KERRY [Dave Kopel]
http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/

04_02_22_corner-archive.asp#025932

After winning the New Hampshire primary, John Kerry told CNN, "I've been a hunter all my life, and I'm a gun owner, and I've never thought  of going hunting with an AK-47. I believe in the Second Amendment."  Indeed, while Kerry has almost always voted with the anti-gun lobby, on  May 17, 2000, he was part of the 69-30 Senate majority that passed a  non-binding resolution urging respect for Second Amendment rights. The  resolution, Amendment no. 3150 by Senator Lott began: "(a)  FINDINGS.--The Senate makes the following findings: (1) The Second  Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right of each  law-abiding United States citizen to own a firearm for any legitimate  purpose, including self-defense or recreation." The resolution  concluded that "It is the sense of the Senate that:...The right of each  law-abiding United States citizen to own a firearm for any legitimate  purpose, including self-defense or recreation, should not be  infringed."

Senator Kerry has pledged that as President he would only appoint  judges who support Roe v. Wade. Accordingly, it is reasonable to ask  Senator Kerry if he will promise to appoint only judges who agree with  Kerry that "The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution  protects the right of each law-abiding United States citizen to own a  firearm for any legitimate purpose, including self-defense or  recreation."

========================
3. Self-defense

Subway Hero: No One Helped
Neil Graves
New York Post
Jan 14, 2004
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nypost/524476111.html?did=524476111&FMT=CITE&FMTS=

FT&date=Jan+14,+2004&author=

NEIL+GRAVES&desc=SUBWAY+HERO:+NO+ONE+HELPED
"A good Samaritan who was viciously slashed as he defended another  subway rider from a razor-wielding robber said yesterday no other  passengers came to his aid."
 
Sword-Wielding Teen Captures Suspect
Greg Jonsson
St Louis Today
Jan. 30 2004
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1068689/posts

========================

4. International

Sword Ban After Attacks
Misha Ketchell
The Age Online (Australia)
March 9, 2004
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/08/

1078594297517.html?from=storyrhs

Canada's Gun Law Unconstitutional
CBC North News
March 4, 2004
http://north.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=nor_guns20040304
Canada's gun registry violates treaty rights of Aboriginal hunters.

Disabled Man, 71, Arrested For Killing Armed Robber
Expatica (Netherlands)
13 January 2004
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=

19&story_id=3585

More Guns, Less Beeb?
By Scott Norvell
Tech Central Station
March 12, 2004
http://www.techcentralstation.com/012304A.html
BBC Radio show organizers were obviously aghast when the winner in a  'Best Law for the New Year' call-in poll, with 37 percent of the vote,  was a law allowing homeowners to use "any means" to defend their  property from intruders.

Calls to Sack 'Gun Lessons for Children' MP
Rod Minchin
The Scotsman
March 9, 2004
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2627365
"Mothers Against Murder and Aggression" said that Patrick Mercer's comments that the British gun ban was useless and that children should  be taught to handle firearms were "crass" and "appalling", while the  SNP said the Tories should either "back him or sack him".

Second Amendment Set to Go Global With First Stop England

Jan Ireland
Mensnewsdaily.com
March 20, 2004
http://www.mensnewsdaily.com/

archive/j/ireland/2004/ireland032004.htm
Alan Gottlieb's Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms  is opening a branch in England with plans to agitate for the right of  citizens to keep arms for their defense in countries besides the United  states.

========================
5. Terrorism

Senator Tells TSA: Arm Pilots or Lose Funding
CNSNews.com
April 2, 2004
http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200404\NAT200404
02a.html
Senators Bunning and Boxer tell TSA to stop obstructing
the armed pilot program.
 

Dominate. Intimidate. Control:
The Sorry Record of the Transportation Security Administration
James Bovard
Reason Online
February 2004
http://www.reason.com/0402/fe.jb.dominate.shtml

=======================

6. History

Bellesiles Hoax Continues: Shameless liar returns.
Kimberley A. Strassel
The Wall Street Journal
February 6, 2004
http://opinionjournal.com/columnists/

kstrassel/?id=110004653
Michael Bellesiles, author of the discredited 'Arming America,' has  found another publisher after his first abandoned him. Soft Skull  Press has not only agreed to reissue "Arming America" but has decided  to release Mr. Bellesiles's latest response to his critics. It does  not convince Ms. Strassel.

"Was the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Conditioned
on Service in an Organized Militia?"
Randy Barnett
Forthcoming in Texas Law Review
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=420981
Debunks recent book by Richard Uviller & William Merkel claiming that the Second Amendment right has vanished  because the government has failed to maintain the militia.

======================
7. Law

Church Ban On Guns Allowed
Bill Gardner
St. Paul Pioneer-Press
March 17, 2004
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/8203113.htm

U.S. v. Parker
10th Circuit
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?

court=10th&navby=case&no=034119
Concurring Judge Kelly chides majority for overly broad opinion negating Second Amendment rights.

Nordyke v. King
9th Circuit.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/9917551p.pdf
Rehearing en banc denied. Forceful dissent by 5 judges.

======================
8. Research

Stephen P. Halbrook
"Citizens in Arms: The Swiss Experience"
Texas Review of Law & Politics
Volume 8, Issue 1 (Fall 2003)
https://webspace.utexas.edu/starrbd/articles/Halbrook.pdf

Joyce Lee Malcolm
"Lessons of History: Firearms Regulation and the Reduction of Crime"
Texas Review of Law & Politics
Volume 8, Issue 1 (Fall 2003)
https://webspace.utexas.edu/starrbd/articles/Malcolm.pdf
Increasing gun control in England has resulted in increasing  violent crime.

James Swan
"Peaceful Arms: Hunting and Sport Shooting"
Texas Review of Law & Politics
Volume 8, Issue 1 (Fall 2003)
https://webspace.utexas.edu/starrbd/articles/Swan.pdf
Positive impacts of hunting and sport shooting on the  economy, the environment, the culture, and mental  health.

Do Gun Control Activists Pad Gun Death Statistics?
Wendy McElroy
Fox News Commentaries
March 03, 2004
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,113094,00.html

======================

 9. The States

House passes ban on listing gun owners
Miami Herald
April 2, 2004
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/

news/politics/8334555.htm
Legislature protects gun owner privacy.

Home Protection' Gun Bill Passes Illinois House
Leslie Griffy and Dave Mckinney
Chicago Sun-Times
March 25, 2004
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-leg25.html
Bill would prohibit punishment of citizens who act in self- defense, while violating gun prohibition laws.

Concealed gun bill passes but faces veto
Kansas City Star
April 2, 2004
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/

kansascity/news/local/8334197.htm
Veto-proof margin in the Senate but not the House.

Bloomy's 'Fun' Gun
David Seifman
New York Post
March 17, 2004
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/21071.htm
New York City Mayor Bloomberg demand banning of realistic toy  guns.

Airsoft Guns A Rage With Young Boys; Dangers Cited
John Sleezer
Kansas City Star
February 10, 2004
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/7915178.htm?

ERIGHTS=-955011171770345056

======================

10. Politics
 
Mark J. Penn & Peter Brodnitz
Winning the Gun Vote
New Democrats Onlin
October 16, 2003
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=119&subid=157&contentid=252103
Americans for Gun Safety strategy presentation to Democrats.  Basic point: Claim to support the Second Amendment, while also supporting any gun control that has a realistic chance of passing.

========================
11. Useful tools

Review: Dillon Precision Hp-1 Hearing Protectors
The Sight
http://www.sightm1911.com/lib/review/hp1.htm
This is a great product. I own a pair, and they work beautifully!

AmmoGuide Interactive
http://ammoguide.com
Provides data on over 2,500 loads for 245 cartridges, plus lots of additional information for serious reloaders.

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This newsletter is compiled with help from Dr. Rob S. Rice. Dr. Rice,  who will not testify in public, is a historian, writer and factotum of  matters electronic to Dave Kopel.

Sheik Yassin mortus est. Abu Abbas mortus est. Sic melior.
Al Qaeda delenda est!