Special to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

You read it here first. Russia has taken some 19,000 children from Ukraine to Russia under less than salutary conditions. "Kidnapping" may not be too strong a word. We covered the issue in December by reprinting an article from Meduza, a Russian news web site now in exile in Lithuania. It's good to see Politico pick up the story.

I'm actually sorry to say "You read it here first." This is the sort of monstrosity that occurs when the State is more important than the rights of individuals. This should have been headline news all over the world. Libertarians have much to do.

More fallout from the Bruen decision. New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, 142 S. Ct. 2111 (2022):

Is a felon among "the people" who have the right to keep and bear arms? The federal government and most states have said that felons and some misdemeanants do not have that right. But that may be changing,

Bryan Range appeals the District Court's summary judgment rejecting his claim that the federal "felon-in-possession" law-18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)-violates his Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. We agree with Range that, despite his false statement conviction, he remains among "the people" protected by the Second Amendment. And because the Government did not carry its burden of showing that our Nation's history and tradition of firearm regulation support disarming Range, we will reverse and remand.

Range v. US, No. 21-2835, Filed: June 6, 2023

I notice, though, that Range is actually a misdemeanant, not a felon, and a non-violent one at that. This is in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and I await an appeal to the Supremes.

In This Issue

El Neil on how to end war. Where would Russia be today, more than a year after Mr. Putin's mind-bogglingly stupid blunder into Ukraine, if it didn't have the ability to conscript soldiers? Where would those 19,000 children be? Also, in the twentieth century, governments killed more of their own people than they have killed enemies in war. That sounds to me like another good reason to disarm governments.

Eric Oppen looks back on the 2016 presidential election and has some thoughts for 2024. Get plenty of popcorn.

Sean Gangol returns with more evidence for the aphorism, "Go woke, go broke."

Events

On August 16 – 19, 2023 Liberty International will host the 37th edition of the annual Liberty International World Conference in Madrid, Spain. This year’s main theme is “Prosperity and Longevity Through Liberty” and will encompass discussions on the past, present, and future challenges faced by the freedom movement and its evolution over time.

This year’s conference will reunite 200+ attendees and 10+ pro-liberty organizations from all around the world in the heart of Madrid at Ateneo de Madrid. The conference´s agenda will include keynote sessions, panel discussions, debates, film screenings and other entertaining activities. In addition, we will have two days of cultural tours around Madrid!

Your event here? Let your editor know!

Links! Have we got Links!

What Happens When the Competent Opt Out? Or: What happens when Atlas shrugs?

Jeffrey A. Tucker on Twenty Grim Realities Unearthed by Lockdowns

From : “This . . . Should Deeply Trouble Us All”: Hunter Biden Reportedly Planning a Second Amendment Defense Oh, the irony! Oh, the hypocrisy!

Walter Block on what to do about the ideological imbalance on campus, tongue firmly in cheek: Left Wing Academic Chickens Roosting: Right Wing Political Pressures on Universities

"It’s my impression that, over time, blind adherence to a basically incoherent ideology tends to make you stupider — but trying to demolish that ideology sharpens you up." Worth reading for that and a few other insights. The gender wars are not a gift to the Right Of course, not everybody wishes to sharpen themselves up.

Biden’s pick for new CDC czar Mandy Cohen embodies the worst of pandemic policy, says Jim Bovard. Like the Bourbons, the Biden administration learns nothing and forgets nothing.

Wide disagreement reigns in trial of deputy accused of not stopping Parkland killer Putting a cop on trial for failing to protect people (in this case, a school shooting)? That is a major change. Courts have consistently held that there is no right to be protected by the government.

PROF GIORDANO: How the Biden Administration is politically weaponizing higher education

Dam fools! Who destroyed the Kakhovka dam?: "Meduza examines the likelihoods that Russia blew up the dam, that Ukraine blew up the dam, and that the dam spontaneously collapsed"

Scandal-plagued civil rights group launches attack on parental rights groups Getting desperate?