Next in Bus & Driver: Obama’s position on guns
Who would have ever guessed Obama would flop on this one?

Stevens’ dissent–egad!
I guess I’m not surprised by the inaccuracies in there. Sometimes I wonder if people are maybe motivated by idealogical agendas.

The spirit of liberty that animates the Second Amendment has survived today’s narrow decision in D.C. v. Heller
Hooray liberty!

SCOTUS Decides For Individual Rights in Heller, Liberal Blogger Calls on Scalia to be Murdered
Most of the most deranged and potentially violent people seem to be those calling other people deranged and violent.

Seen At Think Progress
See? Deranged.

Recognizing Property Rights Without Actually Protecting Them
The time for high-fives and champagne was yesterday, people. Keep on fighting the good fight, because it’s far from over.

And The “Reasonable Restrictions” Start…
See? Far from over.

Uhm, you were just told no to that one
DC still claiming that weapons should always be locked or disassembled. They don’t think it’s over.

Down Range Radio Special Edition
For your listening pleasure.

The Candidates on Heller
Obama, of course has an “I believe in an individual right BUT…” lede. Remember, this is the guy who said he believes in the individual right to keep and bear arms so he would use California’s model as the basis for his system of gun control.

When it rains, it pours
Taking on Chicago’s gun control post-Heller. It is crucial to push Obama on this and keep on pushing no matter who he blames things on.

Rolling It Out
Sort of “The Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Inc.”

I Just Spoke to Alan Gura
Very cool.

Paul Hemlke responds to the SCOTUS Heller ruling
Clearly a case of “inaccurate but true.”

Helmke: We Lose…But We Win Anyway!
This one is actually accurate but true. Well, “accurate” in the sense that it’s really Helmke. The rest of the accuracy is a bit, well, less accurate.

Let’s play spot the hysteria and spot the outright lies
I don’t understand why the ACLU isn’t celebrating this great victory for civil liberty and freedom. Well, okay. I do understand.

And anybody that thinks Al Gore or John Kerry wouldn’t have been much different than Bush, should think again.
But I doubt they will.

The Heller Victories
Ride Fast. Shoot Straight. Repeat as necessary.

Special edition of the Second Amendment News Roundup
Even more links.

Reuters:

Although an individual now has a constitutional right to own guns, that new right is not unlimited, wrote Scalia, a hunter. [emphasis Murdoc's]

Via the Free Constitution Blog.

As I noted earlier:

No matter which way the SCOTUS goes, their decision will define what the 2nd Amendment has been all along.

It’s not that they’re redefining it, and that this afternoon it will mean something different than it did yesterday. It’s that they’re going to decide what it’s meant since the day it was written.

This is not a “new right.” People are going to tell the story that way, but they’re either mistaken or lying.

Here are the quick points I posted over at Murdoc Online:

1. The official position of the United States of America is that the keeping and bearing of arms is an individual right.
2. The 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution does not grant that right to citizens.
3. It guarantees that government cannot infringe upon that right, the right that Just Is.
4. The Court’s ruling does not change what the 2nd Amendment means. It doesn’t mean something different this afternoon than it meant yesterday. It has always meant it. Some people and some laws were just wrong when they claimed otherwise.
5. This isn’t the end of the gun control battle.
6. But, to coin a phrase, it might be the end of the beginning of the gun control battle.
7. Future debates will center on thing like the definition of “arms” and what “shall not be infringed” and “keep and bear” mean.

A female police officer aims her weapon at a practice range during a graduation ceremony in Karbala south of Baghdad, Iraq.

Found at MP.

Individual Right.

And that is how history is made.

Wyoming:

CHEYENNE – A magistrate in Sweetwater County has sentenced a Tennessee man to serve 100 days in jail and pay $6,000 in fines and restitution for shooting a doe antelope several times with a semiautomatic rifle last weekend. Officials say the case is only the latest in a disturbing pattern of out-of-state energy workers wantonly killing Wyoming wildlife.

Tori Stephen Bowman, 23, of Cookeville, Tenn., pleaded guilty Monday to wanton destruction of a big-game animal.

In addition to imposing the jail time, fines and restitution, Magistrate Stephen K. Palmer forfeited Bowman’s rifle to the state and revoked his hunting and fishing privileges for five years. Palmer also fined Bowman $350 on his guilty plea to a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge, court records show.

Forfeiture of a firearm and a $6,000 fine seems pretty steep, never mind the 100 days in jail. Then again, shooting a lactating antelope doe for the hell of it is ridiculous beyond reason, and it’s tough to really argue hard with any sentence.

The rifle was an AK.

Via GunPro.net.

Legions Fate has another excellent rundown with screen captures.

A PPSh makes an appearance.

Via Rummell.

We’ll learn of the Supreme Court ruling today.

I predict a solid win for the “individual right”-view. Either way, it’s going to be an historic day in the history of the gun control debate.

UPDATE (9:50am): Heller poll at Uncle’s.

I don’t know how to answer, because A) I didn’t buy an booze or cigars, good or otherwise, and B) guns and ammo have been buried in the back yard for months.

Also:

I think we’ll probably be spending the next several decades arguing over exactly what Shall not be infringed means.

Absolutely we will.

Finally, he notes that both sides are going to be claiming victory, whatever the decision is. He’s right, but I think most folks (at least those who aren’t 100% invested in the losing side) will know that BS for what it is.

The coworker of mine who has said “What? You mean the National Guard?” every single time someone brings up the 2nd Amendment will have lost all of his previous arguments if the “individual right” view carries the day. He won’t admit it, of course, and will adopt new tactics. But years of what he claimed was an argument-winning point will have evaporated in one morning.

A last thing to keep in mind is this: No matter which way the SCOTUS goes, their decision will define what the 2nd Amendment has been all along.

It’s not that they’re redefining it, and that this afternoon it will mean something different than it did yesterday. It’s that they’re going to decide what it’s meant since the day it was written.

Ten minutes to go.

Jared Allen craves the thrill of the hunt

Defensive End Jared Allen, traded from the Kansas City Chiefs to the Minnesota Vikings in April, is featured in a Sporting News article out on a bear hunt with Gary Stueve’s 3 Heart Outfitters in northern Idaho:

Allen, who led the NFL in sacks last season and then moved to the Vikings in the biggest trade of the offseason, is an accomplished hunter. He has bagged numerous deer and pheasant in the Midwest, a red stag in New Zealand, even a wild boar–with a knife, no less–in Texas. But this is his first bear hunt, and he’s stoked…

Allen, a vacuum cleaner for information, peppers Stueve with questions. Are bears creatures of habit? (Yes.) Do bears travel in packs, or are they loners? (Loners.) What do you call the male and the female? (Boar and sow, just like hogs.) Can I finish off the bear with a knife? (Yes, but it sounds like a really bad idea.)

All in all, an interesting article.

But the reaction on SN’s web site is quite something to behold.
(more…)

Press Release:

Don’t climb down…send the TreeTalon!

Bucksport, ME – We’ve all done it…dropped our release, a glove, a grunt call while perched in our tree stand. Which leave us two choices – do without for the remainder of the hunt or unhook your safety belt and climb down risking that we’ll spook game. TreeTalon solves this problem quickly and quietly. Now you can get your item without getting down.

With the Tree Talon You simply pull back the arm or “Talon”‘ and cock it at 90 degrees. Lower the unit so it lands next to your dropped item. Once the TreeTalon hits the ground, the impact activated “talon” grabs your dropped item for you to pull back up! TreeTalon is strong and built to hold up to 35 lbs. You can even use TreeTalon when first climbing into your stand to haul up your bow or pack or to lift tree stands.

With an adjustable “foot” at the bottom of Tree Talon you avoid grabbing leaves and other forest litter when picking items up. An internal rubber bumper stifles noise when the “Talon” closes, while a serrated edge and specially designed teeth enhance grip on objects.

or to lift tree stands. Pick up your gloves, arrows, releases, hats, calls, facemasks, binoculars, packs, etc. Virtually anything you didn’t mean to drop.

Don’t go hunting without your TreeTalon. For more information visit www.treetalon.com.

I can see how this would be quite useful if it works as advertised. They note that you shouldn’t use it to retrieve loaded firearms, something I was going to point out.

Incidentally, I absolutely REFUSE to stoop down to the level of funny little third-grade word games with “Heller” like some folks insist on.

Pretty childish, really. Murdoc doesn’t do that sort of thing.

(Besides, for the life of me I can’t think of any good ones that haven’t already been taken…)

UPDATE: No, not today. That means tomorrow for sure.