Riehl World View

Obama Reveals Pro-Gun Position

Via CBS' Mark Knoller on Twitter - turns out Obama likes him some bitter clingers, after all - at least where guns are concerned. It's a shame his record indicates he's a lot less receptive to you protecting your family with one, given that most can't afford a Secret Service detail.

Pres Obama said he's glad he's got "men with guns" to protect his daughters.

Judge: Wisconsin Right To Carry Ban Un-Constitutional

Via ExposeLiberals on Twitter. Headed for appeal, most likely. It's a liberty thing!

The decision was disseminated around the state Wednesday, and Poss already had 50 congratulatory phone messages or e-mails from colleagues by Wednesday afternoon. “There’s a lot of interest in this obviously,” he said. “It’s not a left or right type of thing quite frankly. It’s a liberty thing.”

A Clark County judge says Wisconsin’s ban on carrying concealed weapons is unconstitutional. In the case, authorities charged a Sauk City man with carrying a concealed weapon, after he admitted he had a knife in his waistband. He never threatened anyone. In light of the landmark Supreme Court ruling in McDonald v. City of Chicago, attorney William Poss filed a motion to dismiss the case on constitutional grounds. Judge Jon Counsell obliged Wednesday, ruling the law is overly broad and violates both the Second and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution.

“The government has to have a compelling state interest to do so (restrict the right to carry) and they have to have the least restrictive means of doing that,” said Poss. “Public safety obviously is a state interest, but there’s all kinds of ways to do that in this regard.” In his decision, Counsell states the law forces citizens to “go unarmed (thus not able to act in self defense), violate the law or carry openly,” but notes displaying weapon’s openly isn’t a “realistic alternative.”

Five Man Burglary Team Enters Home, Homeowner Opens Shooting Gallery

I'd want to know more about this one. It doesn't take five guys to break into a home, unless of course they have a union now. In any event, they picked the wrong home!

LAKEBAY, Wash. – One suspected home invasion robber is dead and four others may be wounded after the homeowner fought back and turned a gun on the intruders Thursday night.

It happened around 8:30 p.m. near Tiedman Road and Herron Road.

Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Detective Ed Troyer says as many as five suspects broke into the home. The homeowner turned a gun on the suspects. Troyer says two of the suspects were shot. One died at the scene.

Troyer says the other three may have been wounded because the sheriff's department received phone calls from other locations in the area from suspects claiming to have been shot.

Annie Gets Her Gun

Well, here's an interesting image and Q and A from the lifestyle section of Marie Claire.

If self-defense expert Paxton Quigley had her way, every woman would be toting a gun around like the latest It bag or iThing. Why? Handguns are the best way for women to protect themselves from violence and rape, says Quigley, who has taught more than 7,000 women how to pull the trigger. For her new book, Armed & Female: Taking Control, she talked to dozens of female victims of violent crime, many of whom said a gun could have prevented the attack. We met up with the petite, blonde, 55-year-old gun guru in Manhattan to see if her argument is bulletproof. You decide.

NRA Endorses Christine O'Donnell In DE Senate Bid

Looks as if the NRA drew a bead on Mike Castle's F NRA rating and has fired a shot, rhetorically speaking. I don't want to be accused of sounding eliminationist, or anything.

The NRA's Political Victory Fund cited O'Donnell's "commitment to preserving the Second Amendment" in its endorsement of her Friday.

“Christine O’Donnell will be a strong voice in fighting ongoing efforts by anti-gun politicians to dismantle the Second Amendment,” chairman of the NRA's Political Victory Fund Chris Cox said in a statement. “We ask all Delaware gun-owners and hunters to vote for Christine O’Donnell in the U.S. Senate Republican primary on September 14th.”

Irony: Senate Gun Hearing Day Of DE Primary

An interesting coincidence for anyone who thinks it doesn't matter if the GOP wins with a liberal like Castle, versus trying to at least fight for a win with a more conservative candidate. This firearms hearing is set for September 14. That's the same day Mike Castle and his F rating from the NRA faces voters in the Delaware Primary.

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE HEARING The Senate Committee on the Judiciary has scheduled a hearing entitled "Firearms in Commerce: Assessing the Need for Reform in the Federal Regulatory Process" for Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Are you really willing to support a gun grabbing liberal so McConnell may eventually have more clout to reach across the aisle? Personally, I'd rather have the battle lines more clearly drawn on issues like this, than eventually have a Republican standing up at the press conference going on about the danger of guns in America and the need for increased regulation.

Open-Carry Preserved In California

Interesting gun news out of California. It would have been highly inappropriate to ban open-carry when your Gov is known as The Terminator, I supose.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California lawmakers have rejected a bill that would have made it illegal to carry unloaded guns in public. The Senate narrowly approved the measure Tuesday, the last day of the regular legislative session, on a 21-16 vote. But it failed in the Assembly. The bill would have made it a misdemeanor to openly carry a handgun in a public place. Current California law permits carrying a rifle or a handgun in a holster if it is not loaded.

Lawmakers did not act on a second bill that would have required owners of rifles and shotguns to register their weapons. The bill fell short during an initial vote Monday.

If I'm reading this correctly, this was step two, they did ban open carry for loaded weapons in June, to push back against a pro-gun protest movement. They never do stop coming after guns.

California lawmakers are taking aim at a protest movement that encourages participants to show up at public places en masse with handguns strapped to their side.

Texas Capitol: Where Term Limits Meet The 2nd Amendment

If you forget your gun, you have to wait in line. But not if you're carrying. They should apply this rule in more legislatures, including DC. Maybe the bastards would start shooting one another. Save us from having to vote them out.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Everyone from lobbyists to lawyers and journalists is rushing to get permits to carry guns inside the Texas Capitol, where legislators already often tote pistols in boots and purses or stow them away inside their desks.

A unique loophole in a new security procedure means a gun permit is like a special-access pass into the domed building, allowing people who are certified to carry a gun to bypass lines at the metal detectors that were set up after a shooting incident earlier this year.

Gun Rights: You've Come A Long Way, Berreta

Glenn Reynolds on the state of gun rights in America and what it could mean for liberty in general.

Both of these views have their merit, but because I'm a glass-is-half-full kind of guy, let me offer a positive lesson from this experience, one with relevance for today's motivated Tea Party activists and depressed conservatives and libertarians alike. Because the story of the Second Amendment, and of gun rights generally, over the past two decades is a story that offers hope for those interested in protecting and restoring liberty in all sorts of areas.

Chicago Bans Gun Shops, Restricts Gun Owners To House With Handguns

Only cops and robbers are allowed to have guns in Chicago. Okay, that probably covers almost everyone, especially the politicians. But still.

CHICAGO (AP) -- The Chicago City Council on Friday approved what city officials say is the strictest handgun ordinance in the nation, but not before lashing out at the Supreme Court ruling they contend makes the city more dangerous because it will put more guns in people's hands.

The new ordinance bans gun shops in Chicago and prohibits gun owners from stepping outside their homes, even onto their porches or in their garages, with a handgun. It becomes law in 10 days, Corporation Counsel Mara Georges said.

The vote comes just four days after the high court ruled Americans have the right to have handguns anywhere for self-defense - a ruling that makes the city's 28-year-old ban on such weapons unenforceable.