A few Christmases ago, I wrote about the Nonmailable Firearms Act of 1927. You can read that post here. Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) formally opined that the act was unconstitutional and violates the Second Amendment, at least to the extent that it prohibited mailing firearms that are […]
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Have you ever had a day so good that you start worrying something must go wrong, because how can it stay that good, but then nothing bad happens? My whole week has been like that. I didn’t get hit by a bus. I didn’t trip and fall. I didn’t even spill anything on my shirt.
On January 8, I participated in a panel discussion on “Firearms and Lethality” at the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting. From the session description: “The concept of lethality features prominently in gun policy and litigation. Lethality has been used to justify banning machine guns and “assault weapons.” Civil lawsuits against firearm manufacturers
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It seems Nicholas Cage may have stolen the wrong document! America turns 250 this year. As we all know, on July 4, 1776, our Founders “signed” the Declaration of Independence. But apparently, when Nick Cage said he was going to steal the Declaration of Independence in the classic movie, “National Treasure,*” the correct response would
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I make my kids watch old movies with me. We recently watched “The Outsiders.” Sometimes they grumble a bit. “But they’re classics,” I tell them. “They’re useful to your foundational cultural knowledge.” (And besides, how else are they going to understand when I make a “Brewster’s Millions” reference?! That’s a classic, right?) When the movie
It’s NYE. Don’t shoot!! I spoke to reporter Pat Loeb about America’s long history with celebratory gunfire. Listen to the KYW Newsradio story here or read the transcript below. A Warning for Revelers Philadelphia was one of the first cities in the country — in the colonies, actually — to outlaw celebratory gunfire. But every
Without Yukon Cornelius, there’d be no Rudolph. He was the real hero that foggy Christmas Eve. And that peppermint prospector goes heeled!* I love Christmas movies. I never make it through them all every year but I try. Of course, there are a few we never miss. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of the
My experience is that most criminals are dumb and their crimes unsophisticated. (Or maybe those are the only ones I caught, and I’m the dumb one!) That certainly wasn’t the case with this conspiracy in Miami, and the investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that caught these would-be kidnappers is one of the
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“Let me guess…this isn’t about the alcohol or tobacco.” That awesome line is delivered by the global arms dealer played by Nicolas Cage in the 2005 movie “Lord of War,” when he is approached by ATF agents. In reality, while ATF does a lot to prevent the illegal smuggling of firearms out of America, it
I know how to build bombs. I could teach you (but I’d have to charge).* Is that legal? I read The Anarchist Cookbook as a kid. (Let’s leave it at that!) Thankfully, I had sense enough not to try anything in it. Years later, as an ATF agent, I’d see that book countless times on
