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The Second Amendment and Unmarked Firearms
The Third Circuit has handed down an interesting Second Amendment decision, United States v. Marzzarella. It begins:
This appeal presents a single issue, whether Defendant Michael Marzzarella’s conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 922(k) for possession of a handgun with an obliterated serial number violates his Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. We hold it does not and accordingly will affirm the conviction.
From the opinion:
The District Court could not identify, and Marzzarella does not assert, any lawful purpose served by obliterating a serial number on a firearm. Because a firearm with a serial number is equally effective as a firearm without one, there would appear to be no compelling reason why a law-abiding citizen would prefer an unmarked firearm. These weapons would then have value primarily for persons seeking to use them for illicit purposes. . . . . An unmarked firearm, on the other hand, is no more damaging than a marked firearm.
Accordingly, while the Government argues that § 922(k) does not impair any Second Amendment rights, we cannot be certain that the possession of unmarked firearms in the home is excluded from the right to bear arms. Because we conclude § 922(k) would pass constitutional muster even if it burdens protected conduct, we need not decide whether Marzzarella’s right to bear arms was infringed.
The court concludes that different levels of scrutiny should apply to different Second Amendment restrictions, but that intermediate scrutiny should apply to this particular restriction. According to the Third Circuit, the restriction satisfies the intermediate scrutiny standard (and would even satisfy strict scrutiny, the court indicates):
[P]reserving the ability of law enforcement to conduct serial number tracing—effectuated by limiting the availability of untraceable firearms—constitutes a substantial or important interest. Section 922(k) also fits reasonably with that interest in that it reaches only conduct creating a substantial risk of rendering a firearm untraceable. Because unmarked weapons are functionally no different from marked weapons, § 922(k) does not limit the possession of any class of firearms. Moreover, because we, like the District Court, cannot conceive of a lawful purpose for which a person would prefer an unmarked firearm, the burden will almost always fall only on those intending to engage in illicit behavior. Regulating the possession of unmarked firearms—and no other firearms—therefore fits closely with the interest in ensuring the traceability of weapons. Accordingly, § 922(k) passes muster under intermediate scrutiny.
Eugene is cited along the way, but for a First Amendment article rather than a Second Amendment article (see p.30).
Thanks to Howard Bashman for the link.
Obama's Mean Streak
The Obama Victory Reconsidered
The Thunder and the Firecracker
Why the Electoral College Matters
The Democrats 'Do as I say, not as I do' culture
Obama Uses Convict in Photo Op for Unemployed
Is there a competency problem at the White House?
Remember this recent photo of Obama trotting out three unemployed persons to use as props as he demanded that Congress increase the budget deficit and pass a further extension of unemployment benefits without paying for it?
Well, turns out the reason the woman on the right is unemployed is that she was convicted of prescription drug fraud charges in 2009 and is currently serving her sentence:
Leslie Macko, a Charlottesville resident, stood next to President Obama as his example of the need to extend jobless benefits.
“We need to extend unemployment compensation benefits for women like Leslie Macko, who lost her job at a fitness center last year, and has been looking for work ever since. Because she’s eligible for only a few more weeks of unemployment, she’s doing what she never thought she’d have to do. Not at this point, anyway. She’s turning to her father for financial support,” Obama said in his speech at the White House on July 19th.
Macko was once employed at ACAC Fitness and Wellness Center in the Albemarle Square Shopping Center. However, in April 2009, a month after being found guilty of prescription drug fraud, she lost her job as an aesthetician in the spa at ACAC.
…
CBS19 also learned Thursday that Macko has had more than one run-in with the law. In June of 2007, Macko was charged with grand larceny. The charge was reduced in court to petit larceny, and she was sentenced to two years probation.
Well, I suppose we really can’t fault Obama’s White House on this one. After all, there are so many criminals running around the place who don’t pay their taxes as well as a host of other nefarious activities that this woman fits right in. Or maybe White House staffers just confused Macko’s former employer ACAC with Obama’s former employer ACORN.
The real issue here is the gross incompetence of the Obama Administration. With millions unemployed they can’t find one three that haven’t been convicted of a crime?
I wonder if she will be offered a job in the Obama Cabinet? She’d fit right in!
Self-Defense as a Defense Against a Charge of Being a Felon in Possession of a Gun
Friday, the Michigan Supreme Court handed down an interesting case — People v. Dupree on this. The case is not novel, and my sense is that the defense is generally recognized: Just as what would otherwise be the crime of murder, attempted murder, battery, and the like might be justified if done in defense against an imminent threat, so a felon’s taking possession of a gun is justified if done in defense against an imminent threat. (The defense does not apply to a felon’s arming himself against a possible threat of attack at some indefinite future time.) Still, the case struck me as an interesting illustration. Thanks to Jason C. Miller for the pointer.
Barbara Says He’s Sexy, As We Slide Into A Socialist Cess Pool [Reader Post]
We have a war that is going sour, our Justice Department has become the Department of Social Injustice run by a radical racist who refuses to prosecute Blacks and minorities, the federal government refuses to secure the border and welcomes illegal aliens to gut our states’ welfare entitlements and denies local law enforcement the right to prosecute illegal aliens, Obama’s administration is riddled with tax cheats and criminals who get an ongoing free pass for felonies that would put the common man in prison, and an energy policy that has our adversaries laughing their asses off, our citizens are lucky to buy a job and our president need more illegal aliens to get reelected and we are facing ruinous debt and massive tax increases. And now we have our teleprompter reading president, who was ordained by a corrupt Main Stream Media as the most intelligent man to ever hold the office and who was supposed to find the solutions to all our problems and bring this country together, is facing a midterm election and dismal polls; so in desperation, he decides to campaign to try and recapture the White soccer moms who voted him into office by sitting with women and posing like a woman with his legs crossed even tighter than the thinnest woman on the set. Using his most effeminate mannerisms and charm he hopes to tap into the frustrated psyche of the white middle-aged female and tickle their subliminal libido, to keep from being humiliated by losing majorities in both houses.
Not only is he the first Black President, but he is the first President to humiliate himself groveling in front of a cheesy gossip show like a celebrity looking for fans. It’s true his base was entrenched solidly in the black vote, that is a comfortable voting block of 15% for any Leftist who can promise a form of reparations, as well as the White women who were looking for a change of direction or an exotic stimulant for a life of unfulfilled dreams. The Blacks have their savior and he is unlikely to lose that core group, no matter what direction he takes; however, White women have realized Barack is a pathetic poser who eats cake and is a quintessential dilettante who would be kicked out of their homes for the same displays of irresponsibility and a preference for silly games rather than serious work, at least if he approached making a real living like he approaches performing the duties of a president rather than the ceremonial Narcissus type appearances, at those our president excels, especially if the involve reading a teleprompter and hearing that he is sexy.
Something tells me, Mr President, the jig is up and America would much rather have a homely hard working President than a Jive Ass Teleprompter Reading Socialist posing as a statesman.
GOP Tries To Repeal Tree-Killing Obamacare 1099 Provision
Think about it for a moment. Imagine all the 1099s office supply stores will receive from small business owners. Imagine the back-office policies, procedures and new staff they will need to gather the forms and store data from these tens-of-thousands, if not millions, of forms.And they not only will be reviving 1099s, they will be issuing the forms. Imagine the burden to small businesses. Congressional Republicans are trying to change all that.House Republicans will try to use legislation by Ways and Means Chairman Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) that extends Build America Bonds to repeal the mandate requiring small businesses to file 1099 forms to the IRS for any purchase over $600.
"This expanded 1099 reporting mandate has really gotten under the skin of small business owners, and rightly so," said Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council president and CEO Karen Kerrigan in prepared remarks. "The burden of the new mandate will be tedious, time-consuming, and costly. Business owners across the country are furious that Congress slid the measure in a massive health care bill without understanding its deep impact."
House Republicans claim the mandate's expense will take money away from businesses that otherwise could have been used to hire additional workers or retain existing ones.
The mandate was added to the health care bill to ensure small business tax compliance. Even the National Taxpayer Advocate within the IRS is dissing the 1099 provision
An estimated 40 million taxpayers will be subject to the requirement, including 26 million who run sole proprietorships, according to a report released this week by National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson.. Olson's office, which operates independently within the IRS, flagged the new reporting requirements as one of its priority issues for the next year. Like many who have delved into the details of the new rules, Olson is concerned about their far-reaching scope and potential unintended consequences.
"The new reporting burden, particularly as it falls on small businesses, may turn out to be disproportionate as compared with any resulting improvement in tax compliance," the Taxpayer Advocate Service wrote in a report released this week.In its letters to the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) asked for a repeal of the provision:
"We believe section 9006 of the Act should be repealed because the provision imposes extremely burdensome information reporting requirements on business taxpayers that cannot be justified in terms of the limited utility such information reports will provide to the government."
The letter went on to say, "The expansion of information reporting may prove to be so burdensome to small businesses that we believe it will significantly contribute to the hurdles to growth and formation that businesses face."
While acknowledging the IRS's concern to reduce the tax gap and indicating support for that task, the AICPA suggested that, "the extraordinary burden in this instance far outweighs the potential benefits."The Republican proposal to repeal with mandate is paid for by reigning in subsidy overpayments related to the new healthcare law. The offset would better ensure that individuals taking part in the insurance Exchange are eligible for the subsidies claimed on their tax forms. Lets hope the GOP is successful (my wife the CPA is exploring the possibility of putting a cot in her office for tax season-not a pleasant thought).
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Do as I say, not as I do
The Traitorous Main Stream Media [Reader Post]
The Left’s defense for the behavior of the Journolistas is that it is just media types pooling their ideas; true enough, unfortunately, their ‘ideas’ were propaganda and lies that swayed an electorate so that the United States now has to endure its first Socialist Racist President.
Unlike Duranty, who held Communism in contempt at least privately, but was willing to sell out his personal integrity to assuage his hedonism and promotion of Duranty by playing up to the mass murderer Joseph Stalin and The New York Times. Consequently, FDR was deluded by men like Durant and the Soviet Agents, like Alger Hiss that had infiltrated his confidence and advised him with advice that has influenced and endangered the United States to this day.
Therein is the rub or treason; of course, a Socialist will always retort that the “Ends Justify The Means” and that lies or propaganda is doing the United States a ‘collective good’ and therefore they are more than justified in their lies to promote the cause of Socialism against the hard headed people who actually believe that the Constitution contains the secrets of our exceptionalism and success. Thus theirs is the “Good Fight” and presenting propaganda and lies as news is justified; to a Socialist this is logic and therefore acceptable; unfortunately, the non-Socialist is left feeling bewildered and confused. With sincerity he asks, “When did the news stop becoming the news and evolve into being merely a subliminal political message?”
Obviously this has been an excepted method of execution since the thirties. There has probably been a 70 year period of only hiring Socialist sympathizers to derive the Yellow Press of today, but now that they have achieved their goal, they are losing their audience and credibility at an astronomical rate.
Here are five of the most blatant excesses in journalistic malfeasance.
- the Journolisters’ attempt, during the 2008 presidential campaign to kill and bury stories about Obama’s relationship with “Reverend” Jeremiah Wright;
- their push to deliberately smear innocent conservative journalists and politicos as “racists” and “bigots”
- their twisted passion to see Rush Limbaugh killed off and dead;
- their intolerant desire to have the government censor and shut down Fox News; and
- their baldly partisan effort to coordinate liberal talking points that would discredit Sarah Palin and John McCain, while helping to elect Barack Obama president.
Many of these conspiring journalists who took it upon them selves to pervert the news to enable a Socialist Agenda were from previously respected news sources.
Considering that Journolist included journalists from Washington Post, the New York Times, National Public Radio, New Republic, and Time, one has to wonder if the biggest story covered up in 2008 was the illegal coordination between ACORN and the Obama campaign.
Unfortunately, the Socialist Left is so devious in their efforts to bring down the United States and create their Socialist Utopia, that they manage to have the taxpayers pay to fund entities like NPR and soon we will be paying to keep corrupt and obsolete news sources like the New York Times alive so that they can plot to throw more elections just like the low life’s who are always trying to manipulate horse races, with one exception, manipulating a horse race will get you time in prison, manipulating a federal election is OK if you are a Socialist.
Thousands of New Bureaucrats to 'Protect' Consumer Finances
A Sordid Tale at the University of California
