More on Hunter's Case
"The state is an unnecessary evil." -- Richard A. Garner
From smith2004:
"As I've mentioned, whatever the BoR [Bill of Rights] says, I have no objection to quartering troops as long as I'm permitted to draw them first." -- Ward Griffiths
# I added permalinks to my stories today. The sharp sign ("#") at the beginning of each story is a permalink to that section of today's web page. Hopefully, I'll remember to keep creating them. I have to do a small bit of typing for each one to assign it a name, and that's not yet part of my blogging habit. Please remind me if I forget.
# Gary Galles at The Ludwig von Mises Foundation via Liberty Forum - Remembering Karl Hess - a good list of Karl Hess quotes. [libertyforum]
Libertarianism is the view that each man is the absolute owner of his life, to use and dispose of as he sees fit; that all man's social actions should be voluntary, and that respect for every other man's similar and equal ownership of life, and by extension, the property and fruits of that life, is the ethical basis of a humane and open society. In this view, the only--repeat only--function of law or government is to provide the self-defense against violence that an individual, if he were powerful enough, would provide for himself.
# The High Road - Please help! Good guy arrested in Ohio - discussion of Hunter's arrest. "Ian" quoted the following (unattributed, but I learned via the smith2004 mailing list that it's from Don Lobo Tiggre and Sunni Maravillosa) email that he received: [geekwitha.45]
Friends,
Thanks to one and all for your support, ideas, information, and willingness to pitch in. The outpouring of caring has really meant a lot to Hunter, and given him a lot of motivation to fight this injustice.
He's becoming quite keen on making these statist thugs wish they'd never pulled him over ... but it won't be cheap, so he's particularly grateful to those who've pledged funds to his legal defense. Fighting will certainly cost a bunch more than copping a plea, and it's risky for him. Not only would he be putting his freedom on the line, but if he loses, the govgoons will say he can never possess a firearm again.
Exactly what the final charges work out to be, and what difference a plea might make for Hunter's future will have a lot to say about what the final strategy. But even the minimum defense, aimed at keeping him out of jail and able to keep and bear arms w/o further imperial entanglements, will be costly. He's working with a SAF-recommended attorney in Ohio, James E. Brightbill, whom several of us have spoken with and seems very competent. He's also retained Marc Victor, the famous libertarian criminal defense attorney from Phoenix who was kicked off the bench for recusing himself from drug cases. Brightbill is willing to take help from more lawyers, as making a strong constitutional case will be challenging, and that could run into some serious cash ... but there are grounds on which to challenge the Ohio law (not to mention the bungled procedure of the traffic stop), so this could actually turn into a big win for RKBA. Hunter is seriously thinking about liquidating his house and assets and pouring everything into a strong constitutional challenge to the Ohio law.
So, for those who've pledged to help foot the legal bill, and those who are now thinking they want to help, here's the scoop: http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/ has agreed to accept the funds for Hunter and manage the account. They'll be setting up a web page soon to take donations online, but folks who would be sending a check can do so already by sending them to:
Keep And Bear Arms PMB # 141
15201 N Cleveland Ave.
North Fort Myers, FL. 33903-2715
(239) 560-7566
The check should be made out to KeepAndBearArms.com, with the memo reading: "Hunter's Defense".
Please spread the word. We want to teach the Bad Guys a lesson with this one!
# Lou Whitmire at The Mansfield News Journal - Police looking into gun charges - a little more on Hunter's arrest.
ASHLAND -- The Ashland post of the Ohio Highway Patrol and the Lyndeborough (N.H.) Police Department are working to learn more about a New Hampshire man's reasons for having weapons in his vehicle as he traveled through Ashland County last week.As if it's anyone's business.
The Ashland post released photographs of Jordan and some of the weapons seized.The Ohio State Highway Patrol has a media releases page. I saw nothing about Hunter there, but this release may appear next week.
An Ashland Municipal Court clerk Friday said Jordan will be arraigned at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 2 in Ashland County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Runyan's courtroom.The wheels of "justice" grind slowly. I hope it's not a condition of his bail that he not leave the county, or the state, but it probably is. That's a long time to be kept away from home.
# I watched Michael Jackson Number Ones on CBS last night. Man can that guy sing and dance! I like Michael Jackson. I think he's a sweetheart. I think his soft-spoken way is real, not an act. But he was the executive producer of this show, meaning he paid for it. A little PR in light of recent charges, or just a celebration of his love of life? Don't know.
# George Paine at Warblogging.com - Your bank account, your liberties - Mr. Paine learns first-hand how much his bank account transactions tell about his life. Then he warns us about the U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. act's invasion of our financial privacy.
My time with my banker today was innocuous. His hopefully brief foray into the details of my life were largely at my request, largely for my protection. But the USA PATRIOT Act requires financial institutions to report "suspicious activity" to federal law enforcement agencies. As Aquilan's Web site notes, "For most financial institutions, complex distribution channels, clients with multiple relationships, and disparate adminstration and transaction systems make compliance with the USA PATRIOT Act expensive and nearly impossible."
But here Aquilan's software -- and the software of so many other companies, including the one that provided that patriotic sign to my banker -- make the "impossible" possible. As Aquilan observes:Aquilan Patriot Manager offers the quickest path to full compliance with the USA PATRIOT Act, including Anti-Money Laundering (AML) screening requirements, Customer Identification Program (CIP) requirements, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) rules, and required Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) monitoring. By extracting essential information from both client and administration systems, Aquilan helps financial services institutions assemble the 360° view of customer relationships required to identify suspicious activity and meet regulatory requirements.Aquilan's software works, I am sure, much the same way as the software that identified possible banking fraud. It works quite the same way as the software that prevented me from removing cash from my own bank account, the software that forced me into my bank branch for a half-hour long meeting with my banker. The software that was wrong, that "red-flagged" my account as showing fraudulent activity when, in fact, it did not.
# John Lott at Fox News - Why People Fear Guns - because the media reports the harm done by guns, but shortchanges the much more prevalent self-defense stories. [geekwitha.45 kaba]
With the avalanche of horrific news stories about guns over the years, it's no wonder people find it hard to believe that, according to surveys (one I conducted for 2002 for my book, "The Bias Against Guns," and three earlier academic surveys by different researchers published in such journals as the Journal of Criminal Justice) there are about two million defensive gun uses (search) each year; guns are used defensively four times more frequently than they are to commit crimes.
