Archive for category Law

NC Bill Prohibits Cops From Destroying Guns

From WRAL:

The measure, House Bill 714, says departments may sell or auction weapons, use them for training or otherwise re-purpose them, but they may not destroy a gun if it is legal to own and in good working order.

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Silent Circle Comments on the NSA

Here is an excerpt of Silent Circle’s  editorial from their company blog:

We at Silent Circle believe these revelations and disclosures are some of the best things that could happen to the technology sector. In fact, the battle for your digital soul has turned strongly towards Privacy’s corner because we now know what we are up against. We are beginning to define the capabilities and tactics of the world’s surveillance machine. Before all of this -we speculated, guessed and hypothesized that it was bad –we were all way off. It’s horrendous. It’s Orwell’s 1984 on steroids. It doesn’t matter –we will win the war.

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The NSA and the Obama Administration

Just after the revelations about the NSA’s encryption-breaking abilities, there is now a story that the Obama administration let the leash off the NSA in 2011. In the encryption story published by The Guardian, New York Times and Pro Publica there was an interesting nugget of information. The programs run by the NSA are named after Civil War battles. Does that mean that the NSA sees the American public as its enemy? I have no problem with the NSA doing what they do and focusing that effort outward but as soon as that capability is turned inward on our own citizens that is when we have a problem. There is that pesky Fourth Amendment to the Constitution that specifically prohibits looking at our “effects”:

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.

Bruce Schneier, a security technologist, is now calling on engineers who work in the government or for companies that contract with the government to start blowing the whistle on these type of programs. This administration has a history of citing the dangers that certain citizens pose while ignoring the explicit threats from outside. Targeting Americans with these programs is unacceptable.

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Both Colorado Senators Recalled!

The New York Times has the story:

The recall elections ousted two Democratic state senators, John Morse and Angela Giron, and replaced them with Republicans. Both defeats were painful for Democrats – Mr. Morse’s because he had been Senate president, and Ms. Giron’s because she represented a heavily Democratic, working-class slice of southern Colorado.

 

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Emily Miller Talks About Her Book on Piers Morgan

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NRA News: Colorado Recall

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California Is Coming For Your Guns

The anti-gun bigots in the state of California continue to propose ludicrous laws that will make it harder for citizens to exercise their rights.

From Reason.com:

The piece detailed the California’s Department of Justice’s APPs (Armed and Prohibited Persons) program that sends armed agents to the doors of Californians “who at one time purchased firearms legally, but have since run afoul of the law.” It’s a first-in-the-nation program by which state officials cross-reference government crime databases. An agent might show up at the door of a person who legally purchased a gun, but was later deemed mentally ill or was convicted of domestic violence.

 

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Handgun Ban for Adults 18-20, Goes to Supreme Court

From SFGate.com:

The lawsuit— which is now before the U.S. Supreme Court — seeks to end a federal prohibition on the sale of handguns by federally licensed dealers to people aged 18 through 20.

Click here for the NRA’s take.

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“Using a weapon in self defense is absurd”

From Colorado Peak Politics:

But near the end of the interview, Hullinghorst lets her guard down and says, “The thought that the only way we can protect ourselves is to wield our own weapon is completely absurd and an argument that I absolutely discount as frivolous.” Apparently, Senator Evie Hudak’s notorious line that the woman testifying wouldn’t have been able to protect herself with a firearm anyway is more common among Democrats than originally thought.

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Mexico and the Arms Trade

From Free Republic:

It wasn’t sporadic.  It was continuous throughout the city.  For a country that bans guns I thought, how in the world did they get their hands on all these full-auto weapons?  Clearly what sounded like M16 fire was prolific along with 7.62 x 39 AK autos with a smattering of smaller caliber full-autos, most likely 9mm.  Gun fire can be heard in most American cities on New Years, but I’ve never heard full-auto weapons being fired, at least not in the San Diego area.

The next day I went into work and sat down with a trusted senior Mexican manager.  I looked at him and said, “I thought guns were illegal in Mexico.”  He chuckled and said, “So you stayed in town last night?”  As the conversation progressed, it became clear that guns are as common in Mexico as tamales at Christmas.  Everyone he knows, including himself, own at least one gun.  And, it matters not whether it’s a semi-auto or fully automatic, they’re all illegal, so why stop with semi-autos?  Though clearly illegal in the states in most instances, a lot of Mexicans have more firepower in terms of military weapons than we can only dream of owning here.

This article first appeared in 2009. The author describes how no one in Mexico is unarmed despite it being illegal to own a gun larger than .22.

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NY SAFE Act Side Effect

Rod and gun clubs in New York state have seen a spike in memberships mostly involving women.

From Syracuse.com:

Bill Parfitt, president of the Camillus Sportsmen’s Club, said his club has maxed out at 800 members, and has a waiting list of more than 100.

“We could have 2,000 members if we wanted,” he said. “We took 10 new applications just last weekend.”

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Microsoft and Google Sue U.S. Government

From: IGN

Back in July, Microsoft and Google were among a number of tech giants who signed on to a coalition movement asking the U.S. government for more transparency when it comes to sharing the private online data of citizens. Today, the two companies have decided to move forward with litigation against the government, asking the courts to uphold their right to “speak more freely.”

more

 

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Firearms Freedom Act Headed To Supreme Court

From World Net Daily:

The expected decision now clears the way for a battle that could end up in the U.S. Supreme Court over state sovereignty, alleged regulatory overreach, the right to self-defense and even the compact under which Montana became a state.

The Montana Firearms Freedom Act was enacted in Montana and signed into law by Gov. Brian Schweitzer in 2009.

It declares that a firearm made and retained in Montana is not subject to any federal regulation under the power given to Congress in the U.S. Constitution to “regulate commerce … among the states.”

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President Uses Mid-east Distraction to Pass New Gun Regulations by Diktat

From the Associated Press:

One new policy will end a government practice that lets military weapons, sold or donated by the U.S. to allies, be reimported into the U.S. by private entities, where some may end up on the streets. The White House said the U.S. has approved 250,000 of those guns to be reimported since 2005; under the new policy, only museums and a few other entities like the government will be eligible to reimport military-grade firearms.

The Obama administration is also proposing a federal rule to stop those who would be ineligible to pass a background check from skirting the law by registering certain guns, like machine guns and short-barreled shotguns, to a corporation or trust. The new rule would require people associated with those entities, like beneficiaries and trustees, to undergo the same type of fingerprint-based background checks as individuals if they want to register those types of guns.

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US Government Resorting to Mob Tactics

According to Reason.com the owner of the Lavabit email service has been threatened with arrest for shutting down the service rather than cooperate with the government.

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