Queens Libertarians will host an open discussion of issues related to the recent judicial decisions announced by the high court on Saturday, August 13 at 12:00 pm at Tu Casa restaurant in Kew Gardens, under the topic, “Is the Supreme Court Moving Towards Liberty?” Discussion will be carried by our local “bullpen” of commentators like Alton Yee, professors Schoenberg and Luster, meetup host John Clifton and others.

Among the questions explored by Yee are, were libertarian principles addressed by the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the curtailment of the powers presumed by the EPA? Clifton will review the impact of the right to carry guns ruling on New Yorkers in the Bruin opinion, and the implications for religious liberty of the new prayer decision. Does this represent a renewed constitutional approach by the court, or judicial activism in a conservative direction? Is current Washington, DC capable of dealing with the changes? And more.

Details and Directions

A podcaster reminisces on the bad old days of unconstitutional beatdowns by the NYPD:

The implications of the recent spate of court rulings are still reverberating throughout the nation. Queens Libertarians will be devoting its August 13 meeting to the subject, but for now here’s how one site is covering it:

Included in the historic and dizzying litany of U.S. Supreme Court decisions the last ten days are rulings on 2^nd Amendment rights and free exercise of religion.

These decisions, when analyzed in conjunction with landmark pro-democracy decisions defending the rights ‘of the people’ through their elected representatives to choose to protect pre-born human life and requiring that the U.S. Congress determine major environmental policy—not unelected bureaucrats unaccountable to the people—the Supreme Court has returned “We the People” to a constitutional republic and a ‘government by consent of the governed.’

Let’s begin with the 2^nd Amendment case.

The Supreme Court held that New York’s handgun licensing regime was unconstitutional.  Why?  Because NY was forcing its citizens who wished to apply for and receive a permit to carry a handgun to prove that they had “proper cause” to carry the handgun and that the applicant had demonstrated a “special need for self-defense.”

The Supreme Court flatly said “no.”  What was the Court’s reasoning?

The Court refused to leave in the hands of NY state bureaucrats the discretion to determine to grant or disallow a citizen’s 2^nd Amendment right ‘to keep and bear arms’ based on what the bureaucrat deems to qualify as a “special need” for self-defense.

The Court held that “the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”  The Court underscored this point adding that “individual self-defense is the central component of the Second Amendment right.”

Why is this important? At a time when the Lunatic Left are defunding and disrespecting the police, and police coverage and response times are negatively impacted; when bail to keep dangerous criminals off the streets is being reduced and ended in many jurisdictions; and prisons are being emptied of lethal threats to society; this Supreme Court decision reaffirms the principle that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right.   Read the rest

Mayor Glenn Jacobs (fka, WWE’s “Kane”) expressed support for the recent overturning of Roe v Wade, which has led to an inevitable woke backlash. Libertarian commentator Eric July responds (caution, lots of bad language):

Lawyer with a self defense video channel explains at length the decision of the Supreme Court striking down a restrictive right to carry law , as per a suit brought by New York Rifle and Pistol Association:

Join us on Saturday, July 9, 2022 at 12:00 pm (noon) at Tu Casa Spanish Restaurant (119-05 Metropolitan Ave in Kew Gardens, New York) to hear Philip Ernest Schoenberg, PhD speak on the subject, “The Six Dooms of Earth Day 1970 that Never Happened.” According to Dr. Phil, “On April 1, 1970, the first Earth Day, six dooms were predicted within a decade. Doesn’t this sound familiar to us today; Back then, they were fresh and imminent: We were warned of a new ice age, overpopulation, famine, running out of natural resources especially oil, poverty growing, and pandemics will sweeping the globe. Doom was around the corner and we had to do something about sacrificing everything material and spiritual to save humanity and the planet.”

Dr. Philip Ernest Schoenberg will explain why none of this never happened, including the COVID crisis that doomsayers and prophets of gloom kept on saying was bound to happen unless we sacrificed everything to survive these forth coming catastrophes.

Details and Directions

From a Reason video on the changes following its annual national convention in Reno. New incoming Chair, Angela McArdle, won with 70% of the vote. For those interested in laborious details concerning budget and ballot access issues, a video of the last LNC meeting (June 9) can be seen at https://youtu.be/8XgCmtnXr1k :

From Mises.org:

For parents who rely on baby formula—whether by choice or due to medical necessity—the nationwide baby formula shortage has become increasingly difficult to ignore. According to the Wall Street Journal, Walgreens, Target, CVS, and Kroger have all begun rationing supplies of formula.

Covid lockdowns, combined with a product recall by formula manufacturer Abbott Nutrition, have created a very real shortage in a product that is key for proper nutrition in many children.

With the shortage have come the usual half-baked bromides about “evil corporations” and how baby formula companies are supposedly not regulated enough. Throw in a few references to “late-stage capitalism,” and you’ll get a good taste of the usual “blame capitalism” narrative that accompanies every bout of shortages or rising prices.

Formula Is Heavily Regulated and Subsidized

In reality, federal government intervention in the formula market is rampant. Thanks to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), formula companies are heavily subsidized by voucher programs, which means that the US government is “provid[ing] more than half of the formula that is used in the US.”

Within these voucher programs, funds are funneled to select corporations through programs that grant a company “the exclusive right to have its formula provided to WIC participants in the State.” In practice, this means the largest companies with the most lobbyists are able to dominate the subsidized portion of the market. Since the subsidized portion of the market is so huge, usually those subsidized companies dominate the market overall. This makes it harder for newcomers to break into the market and offer any real competition. This means the marketplace becomes reliant on a small number of large firms… Read the Rest, or hear the Audio:

The real politics of the alleged “insurrection” events of January 6, 2021 are explored by the other side of the election integrity issue, as per the 40% of the American public who question the official story. Keep this counter position in mind if you are going to watch the J6 committee public hearings on the matter this week, and ask yourself, why are none of the issues brought up in this documentary being mentioned?

New tech commentator Styx on recent trends affecting the national Libertarian Party:

The recent and tragic mass shooting incidents in Texas and elsewhere have provoked new debate over “gun violence” (i.e., violent acts committed by people, using guns). It has also led to inevitable election year emotional demagoguery (“let’s ‘do something’ about increasing gun control, or else you don’t care about children”). Here are excerpts adapted from one email discussion that include remarks by QL members and former LPNY Chairs Mark Glogowski, and John Clifton:

Steve James:
…Let me expand on what I am proposing. I am saying repeal the second amendment that radicals have used to forbid any common-sense regulation of killing machines. Our country needs to do away with the militia amendment which is hopelessly out of date and adopt rules that license and regulate the use of these exponentially more lethal machines than the muskets of the authors of the constitution could possibly have imagined. We need about 300 million fewer guns in circulation, age limits, licensing that requires training, bonding, insurance, background checks so that guns are not sold to international and domestic terrorists, and other rules of use. The rules should be as restrictive as the rules for driving trucks and cars that are also lethal but not designed to be as dangerous as automatic weapons.

Canada and Mexico are far less dangerous than the US. We can debate the reasons why, but whatever the reasons, at the very minimum, we should have enough sense to not put assault weapons and 375 rounds of ammunition in the hands of teenagers.

If you want protection, use body armor and a helmet like our soldiers and SWAT teams. A killing machine will not protect you. That’s a fantasy.

One more thing. My nephew died by gun-related suicide or accident — no one knows for sure. “In 2020, 54% of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides (24,292), while 43% were murders (19,384), according to the CDC. The remaining gun deaths that year were unintentional (535), involved law enforcement (611) or had undetermined circumstances (400).” https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/02/03/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/ Suicide or accident by gun takes a spilt second, often alcohol-related. That alone is a good reason to change the constitution, get rid of the militia amendment, and make guns available only to responsible, trained adults.

Mark Glogowski:
… Repealing the 2nd amendment is not necessary. No elected officials are enforcing it. They ignore the fact that the 10th amendment mentions specifically ‘restrictions’ in the constitution that governments must follow, especially the states. Your right to bear arms is a 9th amendment right. Sort of like your right to own property, and your right to raise your family as you please, and your right to accept any job that you want that someone would offer you, and your right to work, too relax, to interact with people you choose, your right to travel. These are all 9th amendment rights. But not one Grand Jury will protect them. Your right to use deadly force to protect those rights is part of the 10th amendment powers we never gave up. The same as the right to vote and choose individuals we want to place into office. If none of the rights alluded to in the 9th and 10th amendments mean anything to you, then by all means don’t get a weapon because when you completely lose your unenumerated rights, it probably won’t mean anything to you anyway.

As a Libertarian, I will not comply with any of the registration laws nor the requirements to have a license or permit. But I also will not violate the law. The consequence is, I am unarmed. If I see someone in trouble, being robbed, butalized, or a victim of any crime, I am going to look the other way, or flee. That is because people like you want honest people to be totally defenseless. Consequently, we have shootings, and murders, and muggings, and robberies galore – because good people have had their hands legally tied. A person who fires a warning shot to ward off a criminal will go to jail in most cities, almost 100% of the time. The criminal, who just robbed a store or shot someone will get away with it nearly 80% of the time (and that is giving the benefit of the doubt to the police and courts that they will do their job). I can cite many incidents – from Kathy Gifford to police strikes, to countries going 100% gun free, to prove that an armed citizenry, empowered to use weapons to defend themselves, their families, and their neighbors, will actually produce a more civil, peaceful society than all the gun restrictions in the world. Only honest people obey the law. Criminals are criminals and they want gun control. That makes their job much easier because they don’t have to worry about the ‘honest citizen’ interfering. So, next time you know of someone being shot, you can think of me, because if I were there, all I would do is watch, and I might even say to myself is – oh well,too bad for them. And I would move on as quickly as possible.

The violent world we live in was not created by Libertarians, it was created by people like you. Apparently you enjoy being powerless and want everyone else to be at the mercy of the no-goods in our society too. With every new gun restriction you are getting your dream come true. Can’t wait to hear of another shooting in a safe ‘gun free’ zone. What a utopia you seem to be creating.

John Clifton:
Steve clearly wants effective self defense to be a government privilege, not a basic right of a sovereign people whether government recognizes it or not. Which means, of course, a bureaucratic managerial elite will be deciding (and endlessly extending) the “common sense” restrictions that will be imposed upon the peasants. Would there have been a US at all, if the British regulars were appointed to be the deciders?

There are already over 300 “common sense” gun control laws at the federal, state or municipal levels. How much “common sense” do we actually need? The elite never answers this question, and just keeps on advocating to pile on more restrictions. Would we put up with 300 such restrictions on our 1st amendment rights, or our 4th amendment rights, and so on?

The notion that this nation is more gun-dangerous than other countries (such as our neighbors Mexico and Canada, or in terms of mass shootings) is vastly overstated. The Lott studies have shown the number of such shootings in the US is only 2% of mass shootings worldwide:
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Comparing-the-Global-Rate-of-Mass-Public-Shootings-Lott/fbbbcb6b32e57c07334cfab0a1483063f5fa1a98

Finally, the point of specifying no infringements on keeping and bearing arms in the Bill of Rights, was to recognize the federal government did not have the authority under the Constitution to even be legislating in this area at all—it was reserved to the people, or the states. Currently, the states that recognize this Constitutional consideration have responded to the gun incidents by REMOVING gun restrictions, not adding more gun control freak laws to the books.

P.S.: Guns Prevent Thousands of Crimes Every Day, Research Shows

“Guns prevent an estimated 2.5 million crimes a year, or 6,849 every day. Most often, the gun is never fired, and no blood (including the criminal’s) is shed. Every year, 400,000 life-threatening violent crimes are prevented using firearms.”

Due to acoustic complications at the OBA Grill, QL will be moving its monthly location to Tu Casa Restaurant (119-05 Metropolitan Ave in Kew Gardens, New York, corner of Lefferts Blvd and Metropolitan Ave.) beginning with the June and July meetings. Tu Casa was the venue for the last Christmas/Holiday luncheon in December, was its second choice for a permanent meeting site, and overall has the positive elements needed to serve QL going forward. If other members have a better site in mind, please contact us by email or in person with that info. Upcoming meeting speakers for June 11 (Dr. Luster) and July 9 (Dr. Phil) remain the same, meeting time 12:00 pm, details here.

Wow, who knew? From Reason:

The Internal Revenue Service demands transparency when its agents conduct audits. They open ledgers, snoop through bank accounts, and review receipts. But its appetite for disclosure disappears when the roles reverse.

The IRS stonewalled for more than six years when our public interest law firm, the Institute for Justice, sought access to the agency’s forfeiture database. Initially, the IRS wanted $750,000 in fees before it would accommodate the request—an unreasonable demand that would render the Freedom of Information Act useless for all but the wealthiest citizens.

Once in court, the IRS attempted a bait and switch. Rather than provide the actual data, it released a summary report that was 99 percent redacted. It then declared that it had gone above and beyond the legal requirements. The ruse worked at the district court level, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled against the agency in 2019. After a second trip to the district court, the IRS finally coughed up the full database in April 2022.

For anyone without a law degree or the resources to endure a long legal battle, the message from the IRS is clear: Do not try this at home. Accountability is good for the taxpayer, but not for the tax collector… (Read the rest)

Join us on Saturday, June 11, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. at OBA Mediterranean Grill (corner of Austin St and 70th Rd) in Forest Hills, New York to hear retired NYU Professor Robert Luster speak on the topic of “Is Vladimir Putin a Master Poker Player in Foreign Policy?” Luster will discuss the background and history of Putin during his past two decades as ruler of Russia, and his motives and tactics in conducting Russia’s “special operation” of invading Ukraine. What do Putin’s foreign policy aims or skills say about those of the US, NATO or EU going forward? Luster will speak for about 45 minutes, followed by interactive conversation. Details and Directions

Note: Reminder, QL meeting time has been moved up to 11:00 am at the request of OBA Grill. Also, reminder that LPNY candidate for Comptroller Bill Schmidt will be speaking on May 14.

Long time QL supporter and speaker, as well as mighty champion of liberty Becky Akers passed away this week, and her partner and fellow QL supporter Mark Axinn related the following words below to Lew Rockwell. We honor her passing with videos of her remarks at the End the Fed rally in 2009, and appearance on the Alex Jones show about the tyranny of the TSA:

Three months ago, Becky was diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer in her colon, liver and lungs. Of course, she tenaciously fought it with every ounce of her being.  

My darling Becky went very peacefully at 1:10 Monday morning. She made a beautiful little sound of goodbye and a tear formed in her eye. She is at peace.

Becky wrote for several different organizations, but many readers knew her as Becky Akers of LewRockwell.com. Thank you so very much for your support of her efforts to promote liberty for over twenty years.  

God bless you.