The Supreme Court handed down some of the final decisions in their current term this past week and the Second Amendment was on their docket. In United States v. Hemani, the court unanimously ruled that federal laws permanently banning regular drug users from possessing firearms violates the Second Amendment. The case narrowly focused on marijuana use. Plaintiffs attorneys and amicus supporters convincingly argued that with 40 states having some form of legal marijuana regulations a lifetime ban on firearms ownership was unconstitutional. The proper understanding of the 2A, according to the Second Amendment Foundation’s Alan M. Gottlieb “only provides for disarming those who are actually dangerous..simply being an unlawful user of any drug fails to meet that standard.”
It wasn’t all wins....the high court also declined to hear the NSSF’s appeal in its challenge of New York’s public nuisance law targeting lawful firearm industry members. The law allows victims of firearms crimes to sue gun companies for “downstream harms resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of lawful products, even if a criminal is responsible. Look out Chevy, MADD may be coming for you next.
With the announcement of a tentative agreement in the Iran/U.S. conflict dropped gas prices back below $4/gallon for the first time in months. On Friday, Israel announced a tentative cease-fire with Hezbollah -a condition of the Iranian negotiators. Should a permanent deal not happen in the 60-day window, President Trump says the U.S. will “bomb the hell out of them (Iran) if they violate the deal.”
We’re looking in the rear view mirror and down the road- simultaneously- for the announcement and arrival of the Slate electric pickup truck. The Slate may be the answer to all the jacked-up, chromed-up, coal-rolling, gas-guzzling, butt ugly trucks out there today. The base model is called the “blank Slate” -a vehicle you can wrap, modify or otherwise customize to be what you want in a sensible, useful vehicle. Granted, it looks more like a shoebox than a space ship, but it's priced accordingly. No leather, no bespoke features and a Frank Lloyd Wright “form follows function” ethos that will retail for…(wait on it)…under $28,000. That’s like the current lines of trucks and SUVs - with $75,000 in spare change.
The highway ahead is looking foggy this coming week, primarily because there’s really no way to predict the future. While the Gulf of Hormuz is ostensibly free of suicide boaters, mines and other general navigational hazards, but the talks between the United States and Iran still look more like a contentious divorce than a peace negotiation. The coming economic calendar has the May New Homes Sales report and a follow-on Fed assessment of inflation and interest rates. Don't expect either to be better.
With Ukraine’s successful attack last week on a major Russian oil refinery (and Moscow), the idea of no escalation between Russia/Ukraine looks slim.
Next week’s SCOTUS sessions should have major decisions on Birthright Citizenship and Temporary Protected Status and will deciding the administration’s authority to end deportation protections for over a dozen countries, a ruling regarding transgendered sports participation and the president’s oversight power over independent federal agencies.
And there’s lots of last-minute planning for the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Whew.
– Jim Shepherd