Citizen -
Please read Wickard http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0317_0111_ZS.html instead of relying on common (innboth senses of the term) discussion about it. Folks seem to miss the very broad point that he was NOT growing "just enough" wheat to bake his own bread - unless he devoured thousands of loaves a day.
Everybody -
The point has been made and repeated that there are literally thousands of laws regulating guns and that most of the cops do not even know the ones passed by their own jurisdiction, let alone their state. And there are 50 States, 7 Territories and (since PA, KY, VA [and I think but may be wrong one other] were counted as States) 3 Commonwealths where at some time find ourself and our gun, there are literally hundreds of thousands of laws we may be subject to. It is up to the individual to decide how much or how little they want to inform themself about the laws - be it their hometown, their state, or the places tey may sojourn through or visit. But the settled law is that unless you are a LEO, ignorance of the law is no excuse. Learn to live with it. Live with the consequences.
Constitutional scholars -
Thanks to Reconstruction and the 14th Amendment most of the Constitution has been "applied" against the States. SCOTUS has most recently left us with two decisions that say that now goes for the Second Amendment so far as it concerns possessing a handgun in loaded, operable condition in your home for self defense purposes - but they have not yet gone any further.
All this is why IANAL irritates me - most of the time I think folks are trying to say IANAA (I am not an attorney) and thus any opinion I might voice should not be taken as gospel. The reason for the distinction first - a "lawyer" is merely one who has made a study (how deep or how well is never in question) of the law, while an "attorney" is a lawyer who has been admitted to the bar - accepted into the guild and now allowed by his guild brothers and the law to charge money in exchange for giving you his advice on what the law says, means and how it will operate, while being protected by the notion that even an attorney can give bad advice but not be held liable unless it was so outrageously bad that they embarass the guild. The "practice" of law (when are they going to stop practicing and get it right?) is about getting money in exchange for the use of accumulated knowledge and experience. As long as one does not charge or accept compensation for their opinion/advice they should not run afoul of laws against the illegal practice of law. But it is nice and polite to remind people tat they bear the ultimate responsibility for deciding how to proceed - whether it be on the advice you paid an attorney for or on the advice from someone on the internet.
But trying to get back on track - the ownership, possession and use of a firearm is a serious undertaking. Anybody who does so has a better chance of staying out of trouble if they take the time to become aquainted with at least the basic laws they might encounter. That seems to be borne out by most of the folks who populate OCDO - the willingness and desire to learn, exchange valid information, and pass on our accumulated wisdom such as it is. I'd guess that goes for all the folks that populate all the other gun boards or read the gun blogs. But if you consider the number of gun owners compared to the number of folks who even just lurk and read you can see that we who think like that are in the vast minority. Be that as it may, we keep trying.
OK, I've run out of comments for the moment.
stay safe.
Please read Wickard http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0317_0111_ZS.html instead of relying on common (innboth senses of the term) discussion about it. Folks seem to miss the very broad point that he was NOT growing "just enough" wheat to bake his own bread - unless he devoured thousands of loaves a day.
Everybody -
The point has been made and repeated that there are literally thousands of laws regulating guns and that most of the cops do not even know the ones passed by their own jurisdiction, let alone their state. And there are 50 States, 7 Territories and (since PA, KY, VA [and I think but may be wrong one other] were counted as States) 3 Commonwealths where at some time find ourself and our gun, there are literally hundreds of thousands of laws we may be subject to. It is up to the individual to decide how much or how little they want to inform themself about the laws - be it their hometown, their state, or the places tey may sojourn through or visit. But the settled law is that unless you are a LEO, ignorance of the law is no excuse. Learn to live with it. Live with the consequences.
Constitutional scholars -
Thanks to Reconstruction and the 14th Amendment most of the Constitution has been "applied" against the States. SCOTUS has most recently left us with two decisions that say that now goes for the Second Amendment so far as it concerns possessing a handgun in loaded, operable condition in your home for self defense purposes - but they have not yet gone any further.
All this is why IANAL irritates me - most of the time I think folks are trying to say IANAA (I am not an attorney) and thus any opinion I might voice should not be taken as gospel. The reason for the distinction first - a "lawyer" is merely one who has made a study (how deep or how well is never in question) of the law, while an "attorney" is a lawyer who has been admitted to the bar - accepted into the guild and now allowed by his guild brothers and the law to charge money in exchange for giving you his advice on what the law says, means and how it will operate, while being protected by the notion that even an attorney can give bad advice but not be held liable unless it was so outrageously bad that they embarass the guild. The "practice" of law (when are they going to stop practicing and get it right?) is about getting money in exchange for the use of accumulated knowledge and experience. As long as one does not charge or accept compensation for their opinion/advice they should not run afoul of laws against the illegal practice of law. But it is nice and polite to remind people tat they bear the ultimate responsibility for deciding how to proceed - whether it be on the advice you paid an attorney for or on the advice from someone on the internet.
But trying to get back on track - the ownership, possession and use of a firearm is a serious undertaking. Anybody who does so has a better chance of staying out of trouble if they take the time to become aquainted with at least the basic laws they might encounter. That seems to be borne out by most of the folks who populate OCDO - the willingness and desire to learn, exchange valid information, and pass on our accumulated wisdom such as it is. I'd guess that goes for all the folks that populate all the other gun boards or read the gun blogs. But if you consider the number of gun owners compared to the number of folks who even just lurk and read you can see that we who think like that are in the vast minority. Be that as it may, we keep trying.
OK, I've run out of comments for the moment.
stay safe.
