Archive for 2014

ON TWITTER, THERE IS MUCH DEBATE OVER THE QUESTION OF IDRIS ELBA AS JAMES BOND. My take: There is no Bond but Connery. Others are free to play Bond, as I once played Indiana Jones at a law school Halloween party. The relationship between them and James Bond is much like the relationship between me and Indiana Jones. Except, of course, that Jones and I are at least both professors.

WELL, THIS IS GOOD: Pain Relievers Tied to Reduced Skin Cancer Risk. “Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs taken orally may reduce the risk for squamous cell carcinoma, a review of studies has found.”

HOW TO SET UP your Apple TV.

SO I’VE MENTIONED MY K-CUP BREWER BEFORE, but one thing I’ve had trouble with is finding a really good decaf. I found some that were okay, but not great, but through the magic of Amazon recommendations I tried this stuff and I’m really happy with it: Nice and strong, not too bitter, good, rounded flavor. Just in case you’ve been looking too.

IN THE MAIL: From James P. Hogan, Worlds in Chaos.

EUGENE VOLOKH: Why Not Regulate Guns Like Cars?

A commenter on a recent thread asked — seemingly from a pro-gun-control perspective — “Why can’t guns be treated like cars, regulated and available, only to those who demonstrate competence and compliance with laws?” That is a perfect excuse for me to reprise my analysis of the guns-cars analogy.

Cars are basically regulated as follows (I rely below on California law, but to my knowledge the rules are similar throughout the country):

(1) No federal licensing or registration of car owners.

(2) Any person may use a car on his own private property without any license or registration. See, e.g., California Vehicle Code §§ 360, 12500 (driver’s license required for driving on “highways,” defined as places that are “publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel”); California Vehicle Code § 4000 (same as to registration).

(3) Any adult — and in most states, 16- and 17-year-olds, as well — may get a license to use a car in public places by passing a fairly simple test that virtually everyone can pass.

(4) You can lose your license for proved misuse of the car, but not for most other misconduct; and even if you lose your driver’s license, you can usually regain it some time later.

(5) Your license from one state is good throughout the country.

This is pretty much how many gun rights advocates would like to see guns regulated, and is in fact pretty close to the dominant model in the over 40 states that now allow pretty much any law-abiding adult to get a license to carry a concealed weapon: No need to register or get a license to have a gun at home, and a simple, routine test through which any law-abiding citizen can get a state license to carry a gun in public. And even if we require a test for all possession of a gun, at home or in public — again, something that’s not required for cars — that would still mean that pretty much any law-abiding adult (or 16- or 17-year-old) would be able to easily get a license to carry a gun. That would provide more functional gun rights in the remaining non-shall-issue states (including, for instance, New York) than is provided under current gun regulations.

Now I suspect that many gun control advocates would in reality prefer a much more onerous system of regulations for guns than for cars.

Yes, but they want to pose as advocates of “sensible gun control.”

THE FIVE MOST CONTROVERSIAL false confessions.