We’ve noticed several independent minded blogs beginning to pose the ultimate question around full-scale legislated gun confiscations in Connecticut.  (Links follow Summary Article)

(The Courant)  Everyone knew there would be some gun owners flouting the law that legislators hurriedly passed last April, requiring residents to register all military-style rifles with state police by Dec. 31.

But few thought the figures would be this bad.

By the end of 2013, state police had received 47,916 applications for assault weapons certificates, Lt. Paul Vance said. An additional 2,100 that were incomplete could still come in.

That 50,000 figure could be as little as 15 percent of the rifles classified as assault weapons owned by Connecticut residents, according to estimates by people in the industry, including the Newtown-based National Shooting Sports Foundation. No one has anything close to definitive figures, but the most conservative estimates place the number of unregistered assault weapons well above 50,000, and perhaps as high as 350,000.

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NO, actually having a Supreme Court Justice who cannot apply the term “illegal” to unlawful criminal behavior is what I would consider insulting.

Remember, this is one of the Supreme Court Justices. 

As in – a co-equal branch of government whose very charter is “interpreting” laws, and legal definitions therein.   Legal definitions are then used to frame judicial opinion toward the constitutional authority of the law to stand.  

In a very specific sense all the Supremes do is interpret law 24/7/365 and apply opinion toward definitions contained within the words.

CBS – […]   On the Supreme Court since 2009, Sotomayor said it was tough at first as justices made references that went over her head. She said joining the high court amounted to joining an ongoing conversation among justices who had served for years.

“I figure I may not be the smartest judge on the court but I’m going to be a competent justice,” she said. “I’m going to try to be the best I can and each year I think my opinions have been getting better. And I’m working at finding my voice a little bit.”

Sotomayor was asked at a talk at Yale Law School later in the day about her use of the term “undocumented immigrants” rather than the traditional illegal alien. Sotomayor characterized the issue as a regulatory problem and said labeling immigrants criminals seemed insulting to her. (more…)