Breyer’s ‘Pragmatic’ Approach to Destroying the Second Amendment

Former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer may no longer be in a position to decide cases that come before the Court, but he’s still trying to shape the judiciary in a way that would allow for judges to uphold virtually every gun control law the anti’s could dream up.

Breyer’s new book Reading the Constitution; Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism outlines his approach to interpreting the Constitution. I’m actually surprised he managed to fill several hundred pages with material, given that his view is basically that judges should have the power to ignore what the text of the Constitution has to say if they don’t like it.

Breyer highlights the need for considering the broader context in which laws are passed and the “practical consequences” of different interpretations. He refers to the majority judgment in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), in which he dissented. The Court held, 6–3, that New York’s law requiring a citizen to have a license to carry a gun outside his home violated the right to carry arms under the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Breyer expresses his disagreement with the ruling by emphasizing his preference to prioritize the practical implications. Considering the alarming patterns of gun violence in the US, Breyer believes the Court should have limited the access to firearms.

Does Breyer not know his history, or is he just choosing to ignore it? The Second Amendment was ratified shortly after a civil war that not only brought the United States its independence but led to small-scale reprisals between patriots and loyalists throughout the course of the war. As the Bill of Rights was being drafted and debated, the memory of Shay’s Rebellion was fresh in the mind of the Framers, while the Whiskey Rebellion broke out along the western frontier the same year the Second Amendment was ratified. The Founders knew all about “gun violence”. They just didn’t believe that disarming the American people was the answer.

Breyer’s criticism of textualism is based on his adherence to pragmatism. He contends that judges should endeavour to interpret the Constitution in a manner that is pragmatic and adaptable to the requirements of modern society. According to him, this approach is better aligned with the intentions of the Constitution’s framers, who intended for the constitution to be “workable” and responsive to evolving circumstances.

The Constitution is responsive to “evolving circumstances”, but the proper way to do that is through an amendment, not a panel of nine justices deciding that is language can be discarded because they think it’s right thing to do in our modern age.

Breyer’s not the first to adopt a “pragmatic” approach to the Constitution, of course. I’d argue that Roger Taney’s decision in Dred Scott is actually a pretty good example of the pragmatic philosophy that Breyer espouses. Taney twisted the Constitution’s text beyond recognition in order to reach his conclusion that black Americans could never be entitled to citizenship and that Congress had no power to regulate slavery in the territories. He did so in the belief that the practical implications of his ruling would make the country a more peaceful place by removing the issue of slavery and abolition (which Taney considered an act of “Northern aggression” from the national debate.

Pragmatism, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. In Bruen, Breyer (joined by Justices Sotomayor and Kagan) argued that the majority opinion “refuses to consider the government interests that justify a challenged gun regulation, regardless of how compelling those interests may be,” adding “the Constitution contains no such limitation, and neither do our precedents.”

The text of the Second Amendment doesn’t include a clause after “shall not be infringed” that says “unless the government thinks there’s a good reason to do so”. The entire purpose of the Bill of Rights is to restrain the government from violating our individual rights, and the Fourteenth Amendment applies those protections to abuses from state and local governments as well. The only pragmatic way to change that while remaining faithful to the Constitution is to pass another amendment negating the right to keep and bear arms. That option has been available to the gun control lobby for decades, but as we’ve seen with Gavin Newsom’s proposed constitutional amendment, it’s not feasible because the support simply isn’t there.

Since repealing the right to keep and bear arms is off the table, Breyer (and others) are left to insist that the Constitution is essentially whatever they want it to be. That judicial arrogance is at the heart of some of the worst legal decisions in this country, including Dred Scott, but thankfully was consigned to the minority in Bruen. If Democrats are able to reshape the court in their image after the November elections, however, that “pragmatic” approach could very well become the majority view on the Court. Our right to keep and bear arms could disappear as quickly as Dred Scott’s right to live free did in 1857; not because the Constitution demands that result, but because the “pragmatic” enemies of individual liberty do.

Just Stop Oil Tries to Destroy Magna Carta

Older than Joe Biden and perhaps more brain-dead, too.

Two Just Stop Oil idiots took a hammer and chisel (it should have been a Hammer and Sickle!) to the protective glass case in which the Magna Carta was displayed. The attack took place at the British Library.

 

There are only four surviving copies of the Magna Carta. Four.

For those of you who don’t remember your civics lesson, the Magna Carta is the agreement between the nobles and the king of England that limited the king’s power and helped set Britain on the path to a parliamentary democracy. It was a small but crucial step in the evolution of our system of government.

Ironically enough, our word for such people is “vandals,” named after the group that helped bring down the Roman Empire, plunging Europe into the Dark Ages–which is exactly what these despicable people are trying to do again.

The glass case protecting the document appears damaged but not pierced. It likely has a nitrogen atmosphere within to protect it from decay.

The Just Stop Oil tactic of attacking priceless works of art and other artifacts is an attempt to duplicate the Taliban campaign to erase non-Muslim culture in Afghanistan. It is a tactic of cultural terrorists and, in my view, should be treated in exactly the same manner.

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Ninth Circuit Panel Rules Non-Violent Felons Can Own Guns

Another federal appeals court has determined the Second Amendment protects the gun rights of at least some convicted felons.

On Thursday, a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with defendant Steven Duarte and vacated his conviction. They found the federal ban on felons possessing firearms was unconstitutional as applied to Duarte because his underlying convictions didn’t involve violent crimes.

“Duarte is an American citizen, and thus one of ‘the people’ whom the Second Amendment protects,” Judge Carlos Bea wrote for a 2-1 court in US v. Duarte. “The Second Amendment’s plain text and historically understood meaning therefore presumptively guarantee his individual right to possess a firearm for self-defense. The Government failed to rebut that presumption by demonstrating that permanently depriving Duarte of this fundamental right is otherwise consistent with our Nation’s history.”

The ruling deepens the federal circuit split over the constitutionality of the law that bars anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than two years in prison from ever owning or handling firearms again. Felon-in-possession charges are the most common federal gun prosecutions in the nation. Continued disagreement over the constitutionality of the law underlying those charges may motivate the Supreme Court to address the issue itself directly, especially the question of whether people who aren’t violent present enough of a dangerous threat to be worthy of a lifetime gun ban.

The history and tradition test the Court set in 2022’s New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen has opened up new challenges to all kinds of gun laws, and the Court has yet to hand down another Second Amendment ruling, though the case its current considering is likely to delve into the dangerousness question.

The Department of Justice, which defended the federal law, did not respond to a request for comment. However, it already requested that the Supreme Court review Garland v. Range, the other case in which a federal appeals court found the gun ban unconstitutional as applied to non-violent felons.

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Day Before Biden Admin Announced It Would Withhold Weapons From Israel, It Issued Sanctions Waiver To Allow Arms Sales to Qatar and Lebanon.

Less than a day before the Biden administration announced its intent to cut off U.S. arms sales to Israel, it issued a sanctions waiver to bypass congressional prohibitions on arms sales to a host of Arab nations that boycott the Jewish state, including Hamas ally Qatar and Iran-controlled Lebanon, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

On Tuesday—just a day before President Joe Biden threatened to withhold key weapons deliveries from Israel if the country moves forward with an incursion in the Gaza Strip’s Rafah neighborhood—the State Department informed Congress that it intends to bypass laws that bar the United States from selling weapons to nations that boycott Israel, according to a copy of the notification obtained by the Free Beacon.

The Biden administration, which has waived these sanctions in the past, said in the notification that it intends to extend the waiver through April 30, 2025, allowing weapons to be sent to a host of nations that work closely with the Hamas terror group and other Iran-backed terror proxies.

While the administration determined that these countries engage in Israel boycotts, a condition that triggers American anti-boycott laws, bypassing these restrictions remains “in the U.S. national interest” to maintain regional stability, according to the waiver. But this justification is drawing scrutiny on Capitol Hill as the Biden administration threatens key arms shipments to Israel in a bid to force it into abandoning its campaign to eradicate Hamas.

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Well, it is political Kabuki Theater, but it’s better than summer reruns…

Joe Biden Faces Impeachment Calls After Threatening to Withhold Weapons From Israel

Republicans are calling for immediate disciplinary action against President Joe Biden after he threatened to withhold ammunition from Israel. 

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) suggested that Biden should be impeached for caving to pro-Hamas agitators and halting the shipment of offensive weapons to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in an attempt to prevent the Jewish state from attacking the terrorist group in Rafah.

Several GOP lawmakers, including Cotton, say Biden deliberately did it as a “political decision” ahead of the 2024 presidential election. 

“The House has no choice but to impeach Biden based on the Trump-Ukraine precedent of withholding foreign aid to help with reelection,” Cotton wrote on X. “Only with Biden, it’s true.”

In response to Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) drafting impeachment articles against the president, Kash Patel, former DoD Chief of Staff, drew comparisons of Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan to his threatening to cut off aid to Israel. 

He noted that Biden’s reckless actions have abandoned the nation’s allies that have resulted in the release of terrorists. 

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Ignore the Shocking Number of Rapes Committed by ‘Newcomers’ or You’ll Be Punished, You Bigot

As I’ve written before, the globalists have spent decades indoctrinating Westerners to believe that legitimate criticism of people with darker skin is a sign of racism, if not “proof” of so-called “white supremacy.” That includes speaking out against the epidemic of illegal immigrants, or asylum-seekers — call them what you will — committing unspeakable levels of sexual assault against Western women.

Most Americans have no idea what has been happening in Europe for two decades. But as I’ve warned in the past, the United States is only five to seven years behind the UK. Watch our Brit friends if you want to see what the pinkos have planned for “The Great Satan,” otherwise known as We the People.

Gang rapists in Britain, a vast majority of whom are/were Pakistani Muslims, had been sexually assaulting thousands of young girls and women with near impunity. How was such a heinous, nationwide calamity allowed to take place? Once the “woke” British cops realized most of the rapists were Muslims, they tucked their cowardly tails between their smooth, Ken-doll legs and said nothing for fear of being called “racists.”

When it comes to an alarming and fairly secret wave of crimes being committed by “diversity delegates,” England isn’t alone. Danish crime stats from 2010-2021 revealed the dirty little secret that “asylum seekers” committed far more crimes than citizens born in Denmark. Roughly 58% of the sexual assaults in Malmo, Sweden, considered the “rape capital” of Europe, were committed by minority “foreign-born” attackers.

FACT-O-RAMA! Gropey Joe Biden referred to Laken Riley’s murderer as an “illegal.” Realizing his faux pas, he apologized to the woke gods for his insolence, claiming he should have referred to the animal as “undocumented.”

Merely being quiet about the tens of thousands of Western women being raped seems not to be working anymore, so the globalists allowing the carnage have begun punishing those who speak out.

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Juvenile that shot, killed man in Lancaster County will not face charges
“Based upon what we know from the investigation up to this point, the shooting was justified,” the sheriff said.

LANCASTER, S.C. (WBTV) – The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a deadly shooting that claimed the life of a 29-year-old male.

The sheriff’s office stated that on Thursday, May 2, around 6:40 p.m., they responded to a reported shooting in the 1600 block of Hillcrest Avenue.

When deputies arrived on the scene, they found a 29-year-old male on the ground next to a Chevrolet Avalanche, suffering from a gunshot wound.

Deputies attempted to render aid, and when Lancaster County Emergency Medical Services personnel arrived, they pronounced him dead.

Officials state that they obtained a search warrant and the property was searched, and evidence was collected.

The sheriff’s office stated that when they first arrived on scene there was a 31-year-old male and a 14-year-old juvenile near the truck. The 31-year-old owned the Avalanche and is a friend of the juvenile.

Deputies stated that both were cooperative, and the juvenile stated that he was the one who fired shots at the 29-year-old.

During their investigation, it was revealed that the 29-year-old lived behind the juvenile and came on the property uninvited several times Thursday, causing issues. The final time he was there he assaulted the juvenile’s brother, who is also a minor.

Officials stated that the 29-year-old had a knife and ran at the juvenile, who then jumped into the Avalanche and was trying to shut and lock the door. The juvenile then grabbed a gun from the truck and fired at the 29-year-old.

According to the sheriff’s office, the juvenile will not be facing charges in connection with the shooting, and he was released to the custody of his mother.

“This was a tragic result from an unfortunate set of circumstances,” said Sheriff Barry Faile. “Based upon what we know from the investigation up to this point, the shooting was justified. The investigation is continuing, and we are following up on additional information. We will also look at the autopsy report and the results of forensic testing on the evidence collected. We will take appropriate action if any information we develop changes our initial assessment of this incident.”

The guy on the right is Mosab Hassan Yousef. His father was the co-founder of HAMAS. Mosab defected to Israel and went undercover for Shin Bet. If anyone knows HAMAS every which way, he does and he tears the ditzhead on the left a new one.

Anti-Gunners’ Lawsuit Against Smith & Wesson Dismissed

A lawsuit brought against Smith & Wesson by anti-gun shareholders within the company was dismissed Monday in Nevada’s Clark County District Court.

On December 5, 2023, Breitbart News noted that shareholders disgruntled over Smith & Wesson’s continued manufacture of AR-15 platform rifles had filed the lawsuit.

Plaintiffs in the case included the Adrian Dominican Sisters, Sisters of Bon Secours USA, Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, and Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus & Mary. Their suit claims that the defendants, who are Smith & Wesson board members and the company’s senior management team, “knowingly allowed the Company to become exposed to significant liability for intentionally violating federal, state, and local laws through its manufacturing, marketing, and sales of AR-15 style rifles and similar semiautomatic firearms.”

The plaintiffs acknowledged the lawsuit protection provided to firearm companies via the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). However, they claimed Smith & Wesson had foregone such protections by continuing to manufacture AR-15s after a Smith & Wesson AR-15 was used in a mass shooting.

On March 13, 2024, Breitbart News reported that Nevada’s Clark County District Court signaled no “substantial likelihood” Smith & Wesson would be found liable, saying the activist shareholders appear not to be aligned with the company’s best interest and requiring them to post a half-million-dollar bond to continue their suit.

The plaintiffs were instructed to post the bond by April 23, 2024, but they did not.

On May 6, 2024, Judge Joe Hardy pointed to their failure to post the bond as ordered and dismissed the lawsuit against Smith & Wesson.

The suit is Adrian Dominican Sisters v. Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc., No. A-23-882774-B in the District Court of Clark County, Nevada.

Insiders Reveal the Rot Within the NRA

AmmoLand News has been speaking to several insiders on the condition of anonymity at the National Rifle Association (NRA) and NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) about the state of the historic gun rights organization since former Executive Vice President Wayner LaPierre and the NRA was found liable in a civil corruption case out of New York State. With the NRA Annual Meeting (NRAAM) coming up at the end of the month, many wonder about the health of the organization.

Recently, prominent figures inside the organization, like Marion Hammer, have had their pensions cut or have been forced out. Although some members see this as a possible “righting of the ship,” those on the inside claim it is a power struggle between the top brass at the NRA trying to protect themselves and former LaPierre loyalists. Since LaPierre left, insiders claim that lawyer William Brewer’s control over the NRA has grown by leaps and bounds. They claim he is pulling the strings of the organization.

Mr. Brewer is a high-priced attorney who practices out of New York and Texas. Brewer has had a long-term relationship with the NRA and has influence over the organization, which seems to have expanded over the past year, according to sources. Although Brewer represents the gun rights organization, he has also donated thousands of dollars to anti-gun candidates like Beto O’Rourke, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton. Insiders believe he has control over interim CEO and Executive Vice President Andrew Arulanandam.

Sources have reported that the NRA is forcing out those who do not comply. One of the first pushed out for speaking their minds was long-time board member Buz Mills, who wrote a letter to the Board of Directors in January calling the organization out for abusing the membership funds instead of being good stewards of the money given to the NRA by people concerned with protecting their gun rights.

“Again, I emphasize, it was not miscreant’s money, and it was not the facilitator’s money,” Mills wrote in his letter to the Board. “It was the MONEY OF OUR MEMBERS and the MONEY provided by the BENEVOLENCE OF OUR DONORS. There is something deeply wrong when you continually permit and encourage this serial abuse.”

Mills might have been one of the first to be pushed out, but he would not be the last to be exiled from the gun rights group. Our sources say other staff members have been fired for speaking out against alleged abuses by the organization. According to insiders, the State and local lobbying groups have been gutted, and the Southeast Director is leaving this month. AmmoLand News was told by former and current staff that anyone who questions the establishment thinking is risking their careers within the NRA.

One person who has questioned the NRA publicly was NRA Board member Willes Lee. Mr. Lee was in line to become the organization’s next President before questioning the NRA establishment. Several insiders told AmmoLand News that the NRA bylaws were changed to allow Charles Cotton to continue as President to avoid Lee from taking over the office. Many believe that the act was that of self-protection instead of protecting the NRA and Second Amendment rights of its members.

The NRA-ILA has always operated semi-autonomously from the rest of the organization, but that has changed in recent years. Insiders have told us that the National Rifle Association is calling the shots more than ever. The lack of autonomy led to Jason Ouimet’s departure from the head of the ILA. When Ouimet left, it was a sign to many lobbyists that it was time to get off “a sinking ship.”

Randy Kozuch is now running the ILA, but people on the inside complain about a lack of leadership and feel that NRA is handcuffing the lobbying wing. The ILA has also been having trouble fundraising, which has hurt lobbying efforts. Our sources inside the NRA also claim that the NRA has been filtering money away from the ILA and its lobbying efforts. Sources on Capitol Hill have also told AmmoLand News that the NRA’s influence is a shadow of what it once was, although other gun rights groups have stepped up their lobbying effort since there seems to be a power vacuum.

The leading lobbyist is a contractor named Raymond White, who is being paid as a consultant by the NRA-ILA. Mr. White and Kozuch have a long history of working together. Although acting and being paid as a consultant, we have not been able to determine the amount of money that the ILA is paying White. Morale at the ILA is at an all-time low, with many employees leaving or looking to leave the organization.

AmmoLand News has also been told that former Congressman Bob Barr will be the next President of the NRA. Mr. Barr is currently on the Board of Directors and is the only one that AmmoLand News knows of who has had a negligent discharge of a firearm. According to our sources at the NRA, Mr. Barr is a Brewer loyalist.

There have been talks about shrinking the Board, but our sources do not believe that will happen. Our sources state that at least 80% of the Board is more concerned about self-interest and self-protection rather than the overall health of the NRA. The bylaws would have to be changed to shrink the Board, and there is no will to change them. While some in the gun community think the court will appoint an overseer, and that overseer could be an anti-gun appointee, the members of the Board do not believe it will happen. Multiple sources have told AmmoLand News that many on the Board act like the NRA is there to cater to them instead of them working for the NRA membership and to further gun rights.

Not all hope is lost for the NRA. All four of the reform candidates have won seats on the Board of Directors. The only question is, will they have enough influence to change things at the historic gun rights organization, or is the NRA a lost cause?

US says no aid entered Gaza via Kerem Shalom; IDF releases footage showing trucks crossing

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says that while Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing this morning, no trucks carrying humanitarian aid actually went through the gate today due to logistical and security concerns.

Hours earlier, though, the IDF released drone footage showing the entry of trucks carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip today via the crossing.

Miller also says at the press briefing that despite assurances from Israel, the Rafah crossing into Gaza wasn’t opened to fuel shipments either, and urges Israel to immediately ensure the delivery of aid into Gaza.

Defense sources tell The Times of Israel that the Rafah crossing with Egypt will remain closed amid the ongoing IDF operations on the Gazan side of the crossing. The IDF hasn’t given any timeline regarding its operation in eastern Rafah or what will subsequently happen with the border crossing with Egypt.