I Took The Girls For Their First Ride in the Cadillac

A realtor wanted to show the house and  Mom's taxi was not around so I loaded them in the back seat.  Lillie tried to get in the front seat but I explained that she was not allowed to drive and she sat down.  One we got on the Interstate, both of them calmed down and look out the windows.  I think the cross- country two trip in Rhonda's Hyundai will work well without sedation. 

While Driving Miss Lillie, I was again struck by what am amazing car the CT5 is. In SuperCruise mode, I have been slightly annoyed that turning on the turn signal does not turn it off after completing the lane change.  I learned from a YouTube video recently that on many cars now, pressing the blinker control lightly causes a temporary indicator, just enough to tell other drivers you are about to make a change.  When I did this instead of full movement, SuperCruise changed lanes without requiring me to turn off the indicator. Very nice. It is still a little unnerving when it decides to make an unrequested right lane change to get around slow traffic, but while it sometimes surprised me, it had never made a dangerous decision. 

Bizarre Reasoning Screaming for Cert

 Barnett v. Raoul Nos. 24-3060, 24-3061, 24-3062 & 24-3063.(6th Cir. 2026). Curiously:

Contrary to the dissenting opinion's efforts (often without citation) to conclusively link Bowie knives to criminality, however, Bowie knives were both widespread and used for lawful purposes. One expert in the history of arms in America, for example, explained that in the nineteenth century, "European visitors who ventured beyond the Appalachians found [the Bowie knife] such an integral part of the American way of life that they felt compelled to comment on it at length in accounts of their adventures.... In many communities, no man, whether hunter, gambler, tradesman or political leader felt himself fully clothed without one." Peterson, supra, at 25. Similarly, the historian who (literally) wrote the book on Bowie knives noted they were "widely carried by Americans of all stripes"; "served everyone equally, upstanding citizens and villains" alike; were "wide[ly] popular[], in the North and South" during the Civil War; and were "common[]"—"a weapon carried by men of all walks of life." Norm Flayderman, The Bowie Knife: Unsheathing an American Legend 20, 125, 130 (2004). Other scholars agree. See David B. Kopel, Clayton E. Cramer & Joseph Edward Olson, Knives and the Second Amendment, 47 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 167, 184 (2013) ("During the nineteenth century, Bowie knives were commonly present in many areas of the United States. Contemporary sources leave no question that Bowie knives, Arkansas Toothpicks, and similar knives were a common part of American life until well after the Civil War....").

The test that Heller imposed recognized that arms in common use are protected. Their dangerousness did not matter; their commonness did matter.

New York Must Accept Concealed Carry License Applications from Non-Residents

Higbie v. James, 795 F.Supp.3d 307 (2025) directs New York State to accept applications for concealed carry licenses from non-residents. This is not surprising: Hoffman v. Bonta imposed a similar requirement on California.  Some counties there are already doing so.

The decision refused to require New York to recognize licenses from other states. This is unfortunate because the license process is slow and costly in these states. It may take a few more cudgelings by the Court. 

I Saw This And I Found It Completely Plausible

This means it probably should be evaluated for accuracy.

Subsidies mean more money chasing same pile of goods or services. 

Final Negotiations for House Repair Complete

We negotiated the price down $2000 to cover some important repairs that the selkers are too strapped to pay for. We have a number of ambitious renovation plans to bring it into the 21st century which we can afford to do.

We leave on August 4th and become Tennesseans August 12th.

Carrying on Public Transit

Certain governments seek to maximize terror and murders. One strategy is to prohibit concealed carry licensees from carrying on public transit systems.  Angelo v. District of Columbia challenged this ban. The district court denied that these licensees had standing to challenge the district's law. The D.C. Court of Appeals reversed that decision:

Otherwise, because the pistol owners have alleged a pocketbook injury that is caused by their compliance with an allegedly unconstitutional criminal statute, we reverse and remand the case for additional proceedings.

Most of this decision is about decisions concerning whether the economic injuries suffered by the ban qualify them to sue. At district court, the plaintiffs also need to raise a Second Amendment challenge. In the Framing Era "sensitive places" did not include either public transit (there was none) or private transit. In various cases in which I have worked, their side has attempted to argue that post-Civil War railroads prohibited private possession of firearms. Their evidence has been either weak or non-existent. Railroads often required long guns to be checked. (People were going west to hunt.)

Memories of Being a Cool Kid

Remember these?

All the cool kids listened to these after 8-track went the way of the buffalo.  There were pre-recorded ones made very cheaply and short-lived. Or if you had the most minimal of technical know-how, you recorded from your turntable onto a cassette tape deck for your car. 

I had one of the highly hyped Pioneer AM/FM/Cassette decks in several of my silly cars as a young adult: 1977 Chevy Nova; 1978 Camaro Z28; 1979 Pontiac Grand Am.

The case was 1970s cool also:

Making a 1970s period piece? Let me know or in the trash it goes.