Penny Dean and Your Rights

Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe wants the capital's cops to be able to remotely disable people's cars, he told the London Assembly's police and crime committee today.

Hogan-Howe made the comments as part of a wider discussion between police and elected assembly members on police tactics for stopping cars being driven by criminals.

Asked by UKIP London Assembly member Peter Whittle about the potential for drones to be used in chasing car crooks making a high-speed getaway, Hogan-Howe said:

A 73-year-old retired librarian playacting as a victim in a "shoot/don't shoot" exercise at a Florida police community event was shot and killed Tuesday night by an officer who mistakenly fired live ammunition instead of blank rounds, according to Punta Gorda, Fla., police.

Mary Knowlton was shot several times by Punta Gorda police officer Lee Coel playing a "bad guy" in the scenario designed to demonstrate the quick decisions police must make on the job, said Sue Paquin, a photographer covering the event for the Charlotte Sun.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A $1,000 per gun tax should serve as a “role model” for states, according to the governor of the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands, which imposed the $1,000 gun tax earlier this month. An idea first endorsed by Hillary Clinton in 1993, steep gun taxes have now taken hold in Cook County, Ill. the city of Seattle, and now a U.S. territory.

Steven Crowder is given an opportunity to talk about gun rights in the USA.

A citizen denied his right to purchase a firearm even though he is not a prohibited person has won admission from the government that his appeal has been recognized, Stamboulieh Law, PLLC announced Thursday.  The client has been trying since 2010 to get his denial reversed.

It took retaining a lawyer and filing suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to force the needed government review of the case, and to finally obtain a positive response:

Brown said three people arrested following the shooting spree included two men who arrived at the protest carrying semiautomatic rifles and a woman who was with them. He said that after the shootings began and people were running everywhere, the group was arrested as a precaution. None had anything to do with the shooting, he added.

For more on this story, please visit Dallas police chief: Shooter scrawled 'RB' on wall in blood

[There is no mention whether the arresting officers were charged or disciplined for arresting these people who broke no laws. -Ed.]

First of all, they shouldn’t ask.

“As a basic principle, we can’t tell you to stop recording,” says Delroy Burton, chairman of D.C.’s metropolitan police union and a 21-year veteran on the force. “If you’re standing across the street videotaping, and I’m in a public place, carrying out my public functions, [then] I’m subject to recording, and there’s nothing legally the police officer can do to stop you from recording.”

Jonah Goldberg: The left doesn't treat all rights equally
By JONAH GOLDBERG

I have an idea.

The federal government needs to compile a list of women who shouldn’t be allowed to get abortions. The criteria for getting on the list must be flexible. If an official at, say, the NIH or FBI think that a woman should be a mother for some reason or other, he or she can block an abortion. Maybe the woman has great genes or a high IQ or the sorts of financial resources we need in parents. Let’s leave that decision where it belongs: in the hands of the government.

Here’s a hint for CNN anchor Carol Costello: If you’re going to question a knowledgeable guest on your show you need to have more than a few shallow phrases and talking points at your disposal.