Twisted history

Here’s a quote that will darken your day: “The District Court found that there are around 24 million AR-15s and similar sports weapons in circulation.”

That’s from a recent Third Circuit Cout of Appeals ruling that struck down a ban on AR-15s in New Jersey. AR, of course, refers to types of semiautomatic rifles.

No need to rehash the arguments over guns here — and, besides, I really don’t want to argue with someone who has guns — but see if reading this ruling makes your head hurt.

Apparently, we’re supposed to adhere to the Founders’ supposed intent that individuals can keep and bear arms and then apply modern “common use” that no Founder could have imagined to decide which arms can be regulated.

According to the court “the many millions of semiautomatic rifles in circulation for lawful purposes are plainly in common use.”

So if we’d managed to ban the rifles before millions got sold, they could have been regulated.

Too late now.

Now go take something for your migraine.

Sign of the times. What price fame? For that matter, how do you price posterity?

Beats me, but if there’s no settlement, we may eventually find out because of a recent lawsuit filed on behalf of a sign magnate, because signs honoring him were taken down.

Irony abounds in this one and I’m not picking a side.

The complaint, filed in Los Angeles, is on behalf of Brian Kennedy, the founder of Regency Outdoor Advertising, a major billboard company. The defendant is the University of Southern California.

According to Kennedy, he has contributed more than $4 million to the school — most of it apparently for athletic stuff.

About 27 years ago the school wanted a new football practice field, he says in the suit, so “motivated by Defendant’s representation that the football practice field would forever bear his name, and be known as the ‘Brian Kennedy Field,’ Plaintiff agreed to donate $400,000 and to fund the construction of the field.”

So was he donating because he wanted to support the school or because he wanted to support his ego? It’s probably both.

You can guess what’s happened now. The field got demolished and the Brian Kennedy signs were taken down.

“Plaintiff attempted in good faith to work with Defendant to identify a mutually acceptable means of preserving and honoring the recognition previously afforded and promised to Plaintiff. Defendant however declined to provide any comparable recognition,” he says in the complaint.

So what we have here is an 85-year-old guy who loves USC suing USC. And a school that took down signs honoring a guy who gave them millions. You can decide for yourself who the villain is. Is it the guy with the ego or the school that won’t put up a sign?

How hard could putting up a sign be?

I don’t know, but if the plaintiff wins, what are the damages? What’s the price of ego? What’s the price of history?

I’m hoping this doesn’t settle and we get a ruling.