Random News and Notes 22 October

On this date:

• 741 – Charles Martel of Gaul dies at Quiezy. His mayoral power is divided between his two sons, Pepin III and Carloman.
• 1746 – Princeton University, in New Jersey, receives its charter.
• 1797 – The first successful parachute descent is made by Andre-Jacqes Garnerin, who jumps from a balloon at some 2,200 feet over Paris.
• 1836 – Sam Houston sworn in as the first president of the Republic of Texas.
• 1859 – Spain declares war on the Moors in Morocco.
• 1862 – Union troops push 5,000 confederates out of Maysbille, Ark., at the Second Battle of Pea Ridge.
• 1918 – The cities of Baltimore and Washington run out of coffins during the “Spanish Inflenza” epidemic.
• 1934 – Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd is shot by FBI agents in a corn field in East Liverpool, Ohio.

• 1938 – Chester Carlson invents the photocopier. He tries to sell the machine to IBM, RCA, Kodak and others, but they see no use for a gadget that makes nothing but copies.
• 1954 – As a result of the Geneva accords granting Communist control over North Vietnam, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes a crash program to train the South Vietnamese Army.
• 1955 – The prototype of the F-105 Thunder Chief makes its maiden flight.
• 1957 – U.S. military personnel suffer their first casualties in the war when 13 Americans are wounded in three terrorist bombings of Military Assistance Advisory Group and U.S. Information Service installations in Saigon.
• 1962 – U.S. reveals Soviet missile sites in Cuba. President Kennedy orders a naval and air blockade on further shipment of military equipment to Cuba.

• 1966 – The Soviet Union launches Luna 12 for orbit around the moon
• 1967 – The Managing Editor of this site is born.
• 1972 – Operation Linebacker I, the bombing of North Vietnam with B-52 bombers, ends.
• 1978 – Papal inauguration of Pope John Paul II; born Karol Jozef Wojtyla. The Polish-born Wojtyla was the first non-Italian pope since Pope Adrian VI died in 1523; he would become the second-longest serving pope in the history of the Papacy and exercise considerable influence on events of the later portion of the 20th century.
• 1981 – The US Federal Labor Relations authority decertified the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) from representing federal air traffic controllers, as a result of a PATCO strike in August that was broken by the Reagan Administration.
• 1999 – Maurice Papon, formerly an official in the Vichy France government during World War II, is jailed for crimes against humanity for his role in deporting more than 1,600 Jews to concentration camps.
• 2012 – Lance Armstrong is formally stripped of the seven Tour de France titles he won from 1999 to 2005 and banned for life from competitive cycling after being charged with systematically using illicit performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions as well as demanding that some of his Tour teammates dope in order to help him win races.

We start today’s news with a pair of court rulings on the 2nd Amendment. First, in New York, federal District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. granted summary judgment to Benjamin Heeter, Joseph Wurtenberg, and the Firearms Policy Coalition, permanently blocking enforcement of New York’s law that barred most residents from purchasing body armor. The judge found body armor qualifies as a protected ‘Arm’ under the Second Amendment, citing Supreme Court guidance on ‘weapons of offence or armour of defence,’ and noted no historical tradition for such bans.

New York was the only state to have an outright ban on civilian purchases of body armor. The judge stayed his decision for 14 days to allow an appeal.

The other 2A news involves switchblades. A three judge panel of the 5th Circuit ruled that the Federal Switchblade Act is unconstitutional. Applying the Bruen framework, the court found that switchblades are “Arms” covered by the Amendment’s plain text and that the government failed to show the restrictions align with historical tradition.

The panel reversed the district court’s dismissal of that claim but rejected a facial challenge to a separate provision (§ 1243) limiting possession in certain federal jurisdictions.

Virginia State Senator Louise Lucas has been indicted and arrested on federal charges. The sweeping indictment charges Lucas with racketeering, conspiracy to distribute marijuana, money laundering, honest-services fraud, and maintaining a drug-involved premises, alleging she used her Senate position to shield the scheme and conceal proceeds through business entities. Co-defendants include family members like daughters Lisa Lucas Burke and Theresa Lucas-Lamb, and grandson Prince Albert William Hudson III, as part of a multi-year enterprise detailed in a 45-page federal document from the Eastern District of Virginia.

The case follows an FBI raid on her office and a co-owned cannabis shop earlier this year, with Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel set to discuss it at a Norfolk press conference.

A Florida attorney is now sitting in jail after threatening to kill ICE agents. Lisa C. White, a Florida Bar member since 1995 now living in Mississippi, entered High Caliber Guns in Long Beach, Mississippi on Sept. 23 and asked about pistols that could pierce body armor, saying she’d target agents’ heads or limbs if needed. Store employees refused the sale, notified federal authorities, and White was arrested the next day by Homeland Security Investigations.

She faces up to 10 years in prison for threatening a federal official. She is being held without bond with her trial set for Nov. 16.

There is a sad note to pass along. New York Rangers star forward Ron Duguay has passed. Duguay was known for his speedy play, feathered hair, and outgoing personality, died Thursday at age 69 following a stage 4 colon cancer diagnosis that spread to his liver. Drafted 13th overall in 1977, Duguay helped the Rangers reach the 1979 Stanley Cup Final, set a franchise record for the fastest goal just nine seconds into a game, and tallied 164 goals over 499 games with New York during a 12-year NHL career.

Ron Duguay was 69. Resquiecat in Pace.

The Ilhan Omar thing is turning into a trainwreck. The feds raided her DC residence, seized her electronic devices and obtained DNA evidence in the past couple of weeks. Among the things DHS is looking into are accusations of immigration fraud. Omar went on MS Now and the interviewer asked if she had married her brother. Her answer:

Not to my knowledge. Seriously? If a quarter of the allegations flying around are true, she’ll be back in Somalia pretty quickly.