If you missed our 8th Annual Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Party this past Saturday, my condolences. In my opinion, it was our best yet. But the good news is, they keep getting better each year. Well, either that, or I get more and more drunk each year.

For defending the Second Amendment rights of a Florida man. According to the Sun Sentinel (Broward County/Palm Beach area), the American Civil Liberties Union is petitioning a court to “help an 85-year-old man get his guns back from the Broward Sheriff’s Office.”

Says the ACLU’s cooperating lawyer:

Under the Second Amendment, he has a right to have his guns in his house. He’s not a convicted felon,” Butin said. “It is unusual for the ACLU. But the ACLU supports all constitutional rights. We don’t pick and choose.

Bravo to that.

There is no economist on earth, past or present, who did more for popularizing free market ideas than Milton Friedman. In a lot of ways, Milton was ahead of his time. When the world was turning towards the disastrous ideas of John Maynard Keynes, Friedman pushed back and helped the ideas of freedom gain a stronger foothold. School choice, vouchers, privatization, deregulation, an all volunteer military, and inflation control are all ideas we can thank Milton for championing. We owe Milton a debt for leaving this world a lot more free than when he entered it. So the least we could do is get together on what would have been his 98th birthday weekend to celebrate the man’s incredible life.

Therefore, we are hosting our annual Friedman Legacy for Freedom Day on Friday, July 30th (Milton’s birthday is actually July 31st). The event will be held at the Reiver’s Bar and Grill, from 5:30 to 7pm, down in the Wash Park area of Denver. We will be celebrating many of his ideas, but most importantly, the tried and true concept of “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” Demonstrating the accuracy of this wise theory, we will not be providing any free lunches. See, Milton was right. Instead, we’ve hired some professional quiz show guys to put on a Milton Friedman game show chock full of audience participation and wonderful competitive spirit. If you know economics, you’ll enjoy it. If you don’t know economics, we’ll enjoy making fun of your answers.

But in all seriousness, come on out and celebrate this great man’s life. Let’s continue honoring his legacy by sharing his ideas and paying for our own lunches. Because that’s what Milton would do.

Please RSVP to nancy@i2i.org or call us at (303) 279-6536

Here’s a short new paper, written by the Heritage Foundation’s Theodore Bromund and me: As the U.N.’s Arms Trade Treaty Process Begins, U.N.’s “Programme of Action” on Small Arms Shows Its Dangers.

If I were going to teach Government 101, the first lesson I’d teach the class would be that the government has no money of its own; it only has what it first takes from us taxpayers. Learning that simple, yet powerful concept is vital to understanding public policy because it pulls the mask off of the cries for more government spending. More government spending ultimately means more wealth taken from those of us who pay taxes. Since government money is in fact OUR money, it becomes obvious that it’s in our interest to make sure that the government spends our money wisely. Every week we hear horror stories of government waste and corruption, but how often do we take a moment to understand that it’s OUR money they are wasting?
Luckily for Colorado taxpayers, Amy Oliver of Colorado Spending Transparency (COST) and Mothers Against Debt always remembers that it is our money they are spending, and reminds us we ought to keep a close eye on how they are spending it.

This is why, with the help of Mothers Against Debt, the Independence Institute, Liberty on the Rocks and Americans for Prosperity, we are sponsoring Citizen Auditor training throughout Colorado. Everything you wanted to know about tracking your money through the bureaucratic nightmare of our state government awaits you in these sessions. After learning how to use the state’s transparency website, how to file Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests, and navigate the unfriendly waters of state and local government budgets, you’ll be ready to set off on your own and be a great citizen auditor.

In fact, those of you who become the best citizen auditors will be rewarded with cash for your efforts! That’s right, we’re going to have a little contest for the best example of wasteful, outrageous government spending uncovered by our new legion of citizen auditors. First place nets a cool $2,500! We’ll also be rewarding a second and third place, plus ten honorable mention prizes. If you’re interested in coming out for some training, we’ll be coming to a town near you.

Dates and locations for training:

Denver: Monday, July 26th, 5 to 7pm, at Pasquinis Restaurant, 8101 E. Belleview Ave. Denver, CO

Grand Junction: Tuesday, July 27th, 6 to 8 pm, at the Old Mesa County Courthouse, Multipurpose Room 544 Rood Avenue (east entrance) Grand Junction, CO

Colorado Springs: Thursday, July 29th, 6 to 8pm, at Rockrimmon Library, 832 Village Center Drive, Colorado Springs, CO

Loveland: Thursday, August 12 5:30 to 7:30pm McGraff’s Restaurant, 1602 East Eisenhower Blvd. Loveland, CO

For more information and to RSVP contact citizenauditor@libertyontherocks.org

This new article in Tax Notes, by Professor Steven J. Willis and recent graduate Nakku Chung, both of the University of Florida’s Fredric G. Levin College of Law, explains why the non-insurance penalty provision of the new federal health control law is unconstitutional, at least if it is a tax.

In brief, the argument is: The tax is not an excise tax, and it could not be a constitutional excise tax because it is not uniform. The tax is not an income tax, and it could not be a constitutional income tax, because it is not a tax on derived income. Accordingly, the tax must be a capitation or direct tax. Article I, section 9 provides: “No capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.” The tax is not apportioned, and therefore is contrary to Article I, section 9.

As the introduction indicates, I provided some comments to the authors on a pre-publication draft of the article.

The 1959 “time machine” episode of Colorado Inside-Out won the 2010 award (for 2009 programs) for best Interview/Discussion Program/Special from the Heartland Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

The lineup for tonight’s (Friday, July 16) Devil’s Advocate w/Jon Caldara has changed. Instead of Reason Magazine Editor-in-Chief Nick Gillespie as previously posted, tune in for a one-on-one conversation between Independence Institute president Jon Caldara and U.S. Senate candidate Jane Norton. That’s tonight at 8:30 PM, right after Colorado Inside Out, on Colorado Public Television 12.

You can still catch Jon Caldara and Nick Gillespie talking new media and the nanny-state on next Friday’s Devil’s Advocate.

If you’re a big Dave Kopel fan like myself, you probably find it difficult following everything the guy is doing. The man is prolific. Between writing a multitude of articles for a variety of different outlets, he’s constantly on the radio, on TV, in Washington DC testifying on something I probably wouldn’t understand, lecturing on Constitutional Law at DU, making an appearance somewhere on something I probably wouldn’t understand, or avoiding the rush of fans that descend on him when he’s in public. He does more in a day than I do in a decade.

Therefore, with a little help from Dave himself, here’s a quick list of stuff Dave’s done recently that most ordinary humans could not do:

Wrote an amicus brief in the McDonald v. Chicago Supreme Court case that was cited 3 times in the decision. Wrote a critical article for America’s 1st Freedom explaining the Supreme Court opinions in McDonald. Dave sat down with me for a podcast and a TV show about the crucial McDonald decision.

Here’s an America’s 1st Freedom article on Dave’s book Aiming for Liberty.

Dave flew to Washington DC to provide testimony on Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan and her Second Amendment views. Here is video of Kopel’s testimony with a couple of followup Q&A from the Senators.

Catch Dave at Liberty on the Rocks Red Rocks this coming Monday the 19th at the Old Chicago in Lakewood.

After you’re done catching up with all that, Dave will have a dozen new things out to read, watch, and listen to, so stay tuned here.  We are so honored to have him here at Independence.  Thanks Dave for all you do!