Why We Need to Get rid of PICS

See this statement from the PA State Police:

PICS Letter

Outages of PICS are common, and far more prevalent than the federal system. This is several days that the people of Pennsylvania will essentially be denied their Second Amendment rights. The State Police has shown they are unable to run a reliable system, that’s respectful to the Constitution rights of its citizens. I think it’s time to end PICS, and switch to using the federal NICS system, which is doesn’t have severe reliability issues.

18 thoughts on “Why We Need to Get rid of PICS”

  1. Notice that the division is run by a trooper. This is the problem you have with the PSP, everything has to be overseen and directed by a trooper. So you have IT guys reporting to a trooper and a trooper trying to give IT guys technical direction. It’s a total cluster. Years ago, when I worked in county IT, we had to under go an IT security audit to certification for justice network access – access provided by the state of Pa . So here I am, the CISSP with more than a decade of experience, trying to explain to a trooper that AES is stronger than triple DES. He didn’t get it. It was a total joke of an audit. So, the memo posted does not come as any shocker to me.

    1. I am planning on going Tuesday. Just keep in mind that it will be held inside the capitol building, so you will need to go through the side entrance with the lockers to check your gun on the way in.

      1. I wad there Monday and Tuesday last year, and will be again this year as long as nothing changes.

  2. This seems very ripe for a constitutional challenge of the whole background check system in PA.

  3. Could be worse. *knock wood* Oregon’s background checks are also run by our State Police, but OSP charges $10 per transaction “to cover the costs of providing the service.” To top it off, they keep trying to raise the “fee” – last time they wanted to get $26 per transaction, but it was voted down, and hard.

    And if there’s a denial? http://oregonfirearms.org/alertspage/2012%20alerts/03.19.12%20alert.html

    Amazing how we the good guys always are asked to bend over and take it to support a system that doesn’t do a damn thing to keep the bad guys from getting things they shouldn’t have.

  4. How would eliminating PICS affect the State Police automated firearm registry? Answer that and I think you’ll predict the probability of PICS being eliminated any time soon.

    Recall that it took a monster fix in the PA Supreme Court for the outlawed registry to be declared just fine and dandy.

  5. So should I expect to see any of you next Tuesday in Harrisburg?

    Sorry, I’ll wait for the movie. If I wait long enough the Republicans will bring their campaign orations to me; I won’t have to drive 120 miles to them.

    But, that gives me an idea: Why don’t they just film one of these events, then re-run the film every year? Maybe if they did it in elementary “Clutch Cargo” graphics — only the lips moving — each year they could just paste in the faces of the latest latest Real Conservative candidates, and/or current Pro-Gun Hero in the General Assembly. Use the same sound track of the Same Old Shinola.

    But I guess even that wouldn’t make much sense. It will always be cheaper just to get us to go there to hear them, and call it a Gun Rights Rally.

    1. Like it or not, attendence at the rally directly correlates to how seriously our legislators take us as a group. In short, it reflects how much popular support our movement has. If attendedance is low, they don’t take us seriously.

      I know its a pain in the ass to miss a day of work, and expend a tank full of fuel, but it is what needs doing. Our legislators need to understand that we will hold them accountable for their actions.

  6. “. . .attendence at the rally directly correlates to how seriously our legislators take us as a group.”

    It more closely correlates with how big a set of suckers they take us for.

    What they take seriously is when we successfully throw one of their asses out in the street at an election, using our issue. That and nothing else. I spent enough time at the capitol to know there’s a staged rally as big as “ours” often a couple times a week, each with its favorite hacks at the podium spouting the expected rap. Only the rubes in the crowd don’t know where it hangs. They’ll go home and wonder why their event barely made the Page 12, two sentence news, or, accuse the media of conspiring to suppress their cause. Actually, it just wasn’t news.

  7. “. . .attendence at the rally directly correlates to how seriously our legislators take us as a group.”

    And another thing. . . :-)

    I’m afraid I’ll retell this story a lot, if I hang around here long enough, but:

    On June 14, 1994 we held the biggest gun owners rally ever in Harrisburg, and, I’m told, the biggest citizens’ rally of any kind, ever. There were 8,000 to 10,000 people there, and, looking out from the podium at the sea of bright faces, and feeling impressed with myself, I leaned toward the higher estimate. I still do.

    But, while we were posturing on the steps of the Capitol, and the Republican campaigners were setting us up for that November’s Republican UnRevolution, the other hacks were literally inside crafting the massive anti-gun bill they would spring on us that fall – before Election Day.

    So, don’t tell me how seriously they take the RKBA issue is based on how many people will pay for their own gas to drive to Harrisburg to hear campaign speeches. As I think Elmer Keith wrote, Hell man, I was there!

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