The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …
I’m heavily medicated today, so when I’m not sleeping I’ll be laying pretty low. I just got back from the store where I bent over for Uncle Sam so I could get some Sudafed. The real stuff, not the crap they sell OTC now. You know what PE in Sudafed PE stands for? Placebo Effect. That stuff doesn’t work at all.
I’m not a big believer in Claratin either. It helps, but not anything like Benadryl. Benadryl is the shit, but it totally screws me up.
One of these days I would like to do one of Mr. Completely‘s e-Postal matches. Tonight I went to the range with the aim of seeing how I’d do. I’m not much of a presicion shooter. I generally practice to be good enough in a self-defense situation, but not too much on slow and deliberate fire.
I tried both my Ruger Mk.II 50th Anniversary edition pistol and my normal carry pistol, the Glock 19. I shot a few targets to warm up, because it’s been several weeks since I had shot. First I tried the Glock 19. This edition of the e-Postal match is Golf. The shooting was from 25 yards feet, weaver stance. My pistols have no optics or modifications. It’s all factory. I have to admit, this was pretty difficult.
The USS Winston Churchill, which was docked at Penn’s Landing this weekend and which Bitter and I took a tour of. Apparently Armed Canadian was there as well, but we missed him.
USS Winston Churchill. An Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer.
Tongiht, after Bitter departed, I decided to give my new range membership an inaugural shoot. It’s quite fun to get back from shooting at 10PM. I started at 8:15 and ended an hour and a half later. I was pleased as punch to have an entire pistol range to myself for ninety minutes. One thing I’m discovering I need is a decent .22 target pistol. I have a Ruger Mk.II 50th Anniversary Edition, but it’s got a fairly short barrel. I’d like to get something with a longer one. If I’m going to be at the range a lot, and if it’s not crowded I will be, I need something I can shoot cheap. I’ll go broke shooting my Glock that much.
I’m a big proponent of introducing our children to the shooting sports, so that they learn to use firearms safely and responsibly, and learn what they are capable of. This is the best way to prevent accidents. But how young do you start? Apparently some people in Illinois have an opinion on this:
My 10-month-old son has the cutest FOID card.
Howard David Ludwig — affectionately nicknamed Bubba — received his state-issued Firearm Owner’s Identification Card two weeks ago.
The wallet-size card arrived in the mail about a month after his dear ol’ dad correctly completed the online form and sent the $5 fee.
As a FOID cardholder, baby Bubba can own a firearm and ammunition in Illinois. He can also legally transport an unloaded weapon — though he can’t walk yet, so that’s not an issue.
The plastic card has a picture of a toothless, grinning Bubba in the upper right corner. It includes his name, address and date of birth.
The FOID card lists his height (2 feet, 3 inches), and his weight (20 pounds).
His signature is superimposed at the bottom of the card. Bubba can’t sign his name, so I simply placed a pen in his hand. He made the scribble.
Now, I think it’s probably a good idea to wait until a child is a wee bit older than this before introducing them to shooting, but I can sympathize with a stay at home dad that develops a curiosity about whether the state would issue his infant son an FIOD card, and the giddy amusement when you find out the answer is yes.
Hey folks, we don’t make the laws, but we reserve the right to laugh at them.
But why would the state police issue a FOID card to anyone younger than 18?
I called the state police, who said they followed the law as it’s written.
“There is nothing in the FOID Act or any of the rules that says anything about age restrictions,” said Lt. Scott Compton, of the Illinois State Police.
The state doesn’t track FOID cards based on age. However, Compton admitted it’s a rare occasion when anyone younger than 18 would need a FOID card. Say a group of 15-year-old boys wants to go hunting rabbits unsupervised. If their parents approve the hunt, then the boys would need FOID cards, Compton said.
I’m not about to approve any unsupervised hunting or trap shooting for Bubba. Still, I’m glad he was able to get his FOID card.
It makes an adorable addition to his baby book.
Pennsylvania doesn’t require licensing for owners, but if I lived in IL, I’d have to be sure to get my kid his very own FOID card. Can’t have Junior getting jealous of the other kids ;)
I sometimes wander across other Pennsylvania bloggers in the course of my readings, and occasionally feel like pointing out something else. I agree with many of the sentiments in this fairly well written post, but one stands out to this libertarian:
My biggest concern with Nutter has been his “stop & frisk” proposal, Nutter’s ‘stop & frisk’ emerges as flash point. I’m not quarreling with the fact that a crisis situation exists in Philly, which needs to be dealt with, based upon the gun violence that has made Philly the Baghdad of the United States. I’m just not crazy about any infringement of our constitutional rights, whether it originates from the left or the right.
As I’ve written here before, I have issues with Nutter’s “Stop and Frisk” policy. But I find this blogger’s disdain for gun owners and support of gun control rather contradictory for someone who is concerned about constitutional rights.
She also brings up the issue involving State Rep Cruz and Williams, which I have previously condemned here, here, and finally here. I would point out, though, that every political movement has it’s crazies, and most of us aren’t nuts. I would encourage folks out there who are sympathetic to this bloggers views to meet some gun owners. You might find we’re not monolithically right wing people. Our beliefs and politics span the political spectrum. I am not a religious man. I support legalized abortion. I support allowing gays to marry. I agree with this blogger that Santorum had to go, despite his strong support of our second amendment rights. I’ve met plenty of other gun owners who are more progressive than I am. But we all do share a common belief that the right to keep and bear arms is an important constitutional liberty, and ought to be treated equally to the others, and not with disdain and scorn. Is that too much to ask from some elements of the left?
Surprise. In Pennsylvania and 43 other states, any law-abiding resident 18 and older can carry a loaded handgun on his hip in plain view to shopping malls, restaurants and on strolls down the street. No permits required, no questions asked. You thought you needed a permit for that? Nope, only if you conceal the gun.
I’ve never seen anyone open carrying in this area. I’ve seen it a few times in other parts of the state, but it’s not common. This surprised me: “He’s never been stopped and questioned by a cop.” I would imagine this means he’s never tried to open carry in Philadelphia, where I’m pretty sure the police would have a lot of questions.
I do not open carry in populated areas, only while hiking, but I support everyone’s right to do it. I am somewhat skeptical of this though:
The group sells a t-shirt that says, “Oops, my civil rights are showing.” Seeing people carrying guns in a nonconfrontational way gets people to recognize the practice as legal and encourages them “to think about the liberty and foundation aspects of our country,” Pierce says.
I think most people either a) don’t notice, or b) assume the person is a police officer. I’m not sure that people open carrying is really going to do much to make the public think about liberty and our country.
Apparently in Canada, someone is charged with six counts of murder using a gun with a certain sex toy on the end of it. Would that make it an AOW here? Not sure, but maybe not if it’s just attached on the end, because then it would still be designed to fire using a single hand.
It would be kind of amusing to submit a design for one to the ATF for evaluation on its classification.
It’s not often I agree with Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), but in this case, I do:
While Schumer has been one of the agency’s most outspoken critics, he also says Congress should be saddled with part of the blame. He says creating the Department of Homeland Security was “one of the worst things” Congress did.
Yep.
Hat tip: Rand Simberg
As we await Mayor Street’s signature on several anti-gun ordinances recently passed by City Council, we’re faced with what to do about it. It’s not clear yet whether the city actually plans to enforce its new ordinances, or whether this will be window dressing as the election approaches, and soon forgotten about.
The big problem we face as a state is that Philadelphia incurs little in the way of cost for passing their own gun control ordinances. If they do try to enforce them, charges won’t hold up in court because of state preemption. But that won’t help keep folks out of jail, and the city will still be able to hassle gun owners. There will be lawsuits, but those will take a while to immediately hurt the city, and make it reconsider its actions.
What we ought to do is add a provision to the state’s preemption.
c) Penalties: Not withstanding any other provision of state or local law, any county, municipality or township creating or enforcing an ordinance or regulation in violation of § 6120 (a) shall forfeit any appropriations from the state budget.
Or something along those lines. If there is a cost to the city of passing and enforcing these things that would be felt immediately, I think this nonsense would stop.