The Stories and Novels By Derek Ward
DC officials were given 90 days to come up with a concealed carry permitting system. Somewhat predictably, they decided to go with a “may-issue” system.
Of course, the applicant has to have a good reason, like being stalked, under a specific threat, or be politically connected (because if you don’t think those people will get their permits befit the people’s, you’re deluding yourself).
It looks like time for another court case.
Let me make a short opening statement. There are no good guns. There are no bad guns. Any gun in the hands of a bad man is a bad thing. Any gun in the hands of a decent person is no threat to anybody – except bad people.
Charleston Heston
With the events in Ferguson, Missouri, the public has rightly been discussing the growing militarization of the police forces in this nation. The flip side to that coin has been the increasingly reckless conduct by prosecuting attorneys, both at the state and federal level. Radley Balko, formerly of Reason and HuffPo, and now at WaPo, has done yeoman work documenting cases of prosecutorial misconduct and overreach. Just like the police, prosecutors are protected by qualified immunity and are rarely held to the same professional standards that their civilian* counterparts.
Prosecutorial misconduct is the reason I stopped supporting the death penalty. I can’t trust that the people exercising the ultimate government power are working within the law or even in the interest of justice.
That same reckless conduct led to the overturning of the convictions of police officer convicted for the killing of civilians on the Danziger Bridge during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. For those of you who don’t remember this:
From the article:
“The case started as one featuring allegations of brazen abuse of authority, violation of the law, and corruption of the criminal justice system,” [Judge] Engelhardt wrote in his decision alluding to the Danziger prosecution. “Unfortunately, though the focus has switched from the accused to the accusors, it has continued to be about those very issues. After much reflection, the court cannot journey as far as it has in this case only to ironically accept grotesque prosecutorial misconduct in the end.”
This is unacceptable. The War on Nouns has lulled the populace into surrendering their liberty to the police and prosecutors. It’s time that those liberties were taken back and the offenders suffer the consequences.
h/t Ken Ostos, from the Book of Faces
* – Yes, I know that police and prosecutors are also civilians. It was a useful literary tool. It instantly made the dichotomy clear in your mind, didn’t it?
When someone looks at me and says “I know what I saw,” I am fond of replying “No, you don’t.” You have a distorted and constructed memory of a distorted and constructed perception, both of which are subservient to whatever narrative your brain is operating under.
Dr. Steven Novella, neurosurgeon and skepticism advocate
Someone gives you one of those novelty mugs with a pistol grip for a handle, and one of the first things you think is How do I hold this without breaking Rule 1?
I offer my condolences to his family.
To come up with concealed carry that will meet the court’s approval.
Bitter, over at Shall Not Be Questioned, had perhaps the best comment:
It will be interesting to see what happens come October 22 – the deadline. It’s clear that the DC police proved they could come up with a somewhat workable policy on the fly with multiple memos that covered most situations for lawful carry. I see no reason why the DC City Council can’t come up with a clearer policy similar to the Police Chief’s in 90 days – assuming they don’t just appeal this and hope for more favorable decisions.
Honestly, although I hope the city would just codify the memos the police chief circulated, I think they will try for something “may-issue” that they can use to deny it to as many as possible.
What a weekend! DC has suddenly become a lot more gun friendly. At least until the opposition has time to catch their breath and start filing appeals.
Saturday – Palmer V DC –
In light of Heller, McDonald, and their progeny, there is no longer any basis on which this Court can conclude that the District of Columbia’s total ban on the public carrying of ready-to-use handguns outside the home is constitutional under any level of scrutiny. Therefore, the Court finds that the District of Columbia’s complete ban on the carrying of handguns in public is unconstitutional. Accordingly, the Court grants Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and enjoins Defendants from enforcing the home limitations of D.C. Code § 7-2502.02(a)(4) and enforcing D.C. Code § 22-4504(a) unless and until such time as the District of Columbia adopts a licensing mechanism consistent with constitutional standards enabling people to exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms.4 Furthermore, this injunction prohibits the District from completely banning the carrying of handguns in public for self-defense by otherwise qualified non-residents based solely on the fact that they are not residents of the District.
And if that wasn’t enough, Sunday we get word that DC Police leadership has sent down new guidance to its officers. Emily Miller tweets:
STUNNING DEVELOPMENT: DC Police Chief Lanier just told force not to arrest a person who can legally carry a gun in DC or any state.
I almost called into work so that I could drive up to DC and do a victory walk around the Mall while carrying my sidearm.
We should not forget the spark that ignited the American Revolution was caused by the British attempt to confiscate the firearms of the colonists.
Patrick Henry
Governments confiscate arms for their safety, not the citizenry’s.
Because you never know when trouble is going to be spurred up against you. Also, that the police may not be there to help you when all hell breaks loose.
One account:
Congregants watched in horror as protestors – many armed with knives, axes and broken bottles – stormed the building. The synagogue’s security guards rushed to keep out the intruders. For a few long moments, they fought alone; five sustained light injuries. Then they were relieved by police.
The battle outside raged for hours. Another nearby synagogue was pelted with stones. “So we closed the synagogue and we asked everybody to stay inside until everything would be okay,†Monsieur Benhaim said. He heard the mob outside “all the time singing ‘Allah Akbar’ and ‘Kill the Jews’ – if you can call that a song.†Congregants were particularly concerned that police secure a nearby metro station, to stop them being attacked as they and their families made their way home at night.
(Emphasis mine)
Whether you support Israel or Hamas in the current conflict, can we agree that looting and burning of people’s homes, businesses, and places of worship is wrong?
Now, compare what happened in France to what happened when Korean business owners took up arms to protect their businesses during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
By the end of the day storeowners had slain four looters and fended off the mob. It would be 24 more hours until the National Guard arrived and another two days before the riots were completely put down.
This is why I say the right to self-defense, and by extension, the right to own arms to exercise self-defense, is a human right.