June 2007 – Page 14 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Deal Reached on NICS Issue

It looks like the NICS deal with the Democrats has come to light:

Under the agreement, participating states would be given monetary enticements for the first time to keep the federal background database up to date, as well as penalties for failing to comply.

To sign on to the deal, the powerful gun lobby won significant concessions from Democratic negotiators in weeks of painstaking talks.

It looks like we have won some real concession out of this bill. I’m holding final judgment until I can see the language of the bill itself, but it appears what we’ll get is:

Ability to remove prohibited status for people with minor infractions. Read, Lautenberg crap? I hope so.
The 83,000 Military veterans screwed in 2000 would be able to challenge their prohibited status for mental health issues.
Feds may not charge a fee for NICS checks. Federal government will assume 100% of financing for states to get their information up to date and accurate.
Faulty records must be scrubbed from the system
Carolyn McCarthy gets handed a gigantic snub politically, since the NRA would not work with her. Her bill will be supplanted by this one.

I know we’ll have folks who will say the NRA has sold us out, but I think we’ve won some real concessions over this bill. The ability to remove prohibited status is a big step in the right direction, and something we’ve not had for years.

NICS will have more records, this is true, but a lack of NICS record doesn’t affect actual prohibited status. The Virginia Tech murderer’s absence from NICS did not make him lawfully able to buy a gun. By ATF’s guidelines, he was a prohibited person. This bill seems to allow people to actually challenge and remove prohibited status for minor infarctions.

Like I said, I will reserve judgment until I see some actual language, but I’m prepared to say OK to this deal. If that makes me a sellout, so be it. I see this deal as half a step backwards and a whole step forward, which to me is better than just getting crapped on.

UPDATE:

Captain Ed likes the deal
Bitter does too.
Joe Huffman doesn’t like the sound of it.

When You Can’t Win, Lie?

Jim Kessler of Third Way is either ignorant of the law, or he’s a lying sack of shit. In this article:

But then one day, one of the litigants against the gun industry obtained this data and used it to show negligence and malfeasance among some in the gun industry. So at the expense of law abiding citizens, Congressman Tiahrt, at the request of the NRA, limited the information supplied to police. Post-Tiahrt, police would still learn the name of the original buyer and the gun store that sold it, but thatâ€™s about it. If they ask ATF about suspicious activity, ATF is forbidden by the Tiahrt Amendment to divulge it. If that original buyer is also the original buyer of ten other guns traced to crimes across the country, that information is guarded by ATF as if it were the Holy Grail.

The police are still able to request trace data as part of a bonafide criminal investigation. Both the ATF and the Fraternal Order of Police favor keeping the trace data restricted. All Tiahrt does is prohibit the information from being released to cities so city politicians can’t endanger criminal investigations. That’s why the ATF and FOP are opposing relaxing the restrictions on this material.

Also, trace data doesn’t work this way. Trace data allows law enforcement, given a recovered firearm from a crime scene, to find the trail of legal ownership. It doesn’t allow them to find, Tiahrt amendment or no, what other guns a person might own.

For a Progressive Strategy group, Third Way doesn’t seem to accept that gun control has been a disaster as a political issue.Â Gun-control supporters aren’t as motivated or organized as we are, and we can hurt a lot more on election day than they can.Â If guns rank high in someone’s political calculus, there’s an overwhelming likelihood they are pro-gun.

And then they came for my kegerator…

Wow! This is really crazy:

Alcohol is haram, or forbidden, to Muslims. As London is above the national average for alcohol-related deaths in males, with 17.6 per 100,000 people (Camden has 31.6 per 100,000 males), turning all the cityâ€™s pubs into juice bars would have a massive positive effect on public health. Forbid alcohol throughout the country, and youâ€™d avoid many of the 22,000 alcohol-related deaths and the Â£7.3 billion national bill for alcohol-related crime and disorder each year.

I reserve the right to shoot any officer of the Islamic Caliphate who dares come to confiscate my beer tap. And I will too! There are some lines you just don’t cross :)

Michael “Snuffy” Pfleger Reprimanded

Looks like Snuffy got a reprimand from the Cardinal.

Cardinal Francis George has taken an unusual step: Reprimanding an activist priest, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, for comments he made at a recent anti-gun rally in Riverdale.

It’s the latest episode in longstanding tensions between George and Pfleger, who have clashed over everything from doctrine to politics.

“I thought things were getting better,” Pfleger said Thursday.

“Publicly delivering a threat against anyone’s life betrays the civil order and is morally outrageous, especially if this threat came from a priest,” George said in his statement.

I couldn’t agree more.Â Sounds like Snuffy and the Cardinal have long standing issues.Â I can’t imagine why.

Bill Richardson Packs

According to this article, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has only started hunting recently, with an over under 12 gauge, but he owns other firearms:

Richardson also owns a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, which is not for hunting, but he has a state permit to carry it concealed.

Cool! Personally, I don’t care whether Richardson is a hunter or not, as long as he supports it. The fact that he’s a CCL holder is enough for me.

Note to Democratic leadership: more Democrats like this, please.

Justice Served

Paris Hilton is going back to the pokey, and I at least get some of my faith in the system restored.Â If Ms. Hilton thinks she can’t get a fair shake from the justice system, she should try being poor and black.

City Council Ousts Boy Scouts

I have strong disagreements with the Boy Scouts of America because of their anti-gay policies.Â I think City Council’s decision to give a local Scout Troop the boot because of this is taking opposition a bit too far.

In a 16-1 vote, the council approved a resolution that would terminate the Scoutâ€™s rent-free lease on a building at 22nd and Winter streets. Exactly when the organization would be forced to leave the building remained unclear.

I do hope the Boy Scouts of America will reconsider their position on homosexuality and atheism, even though I fully support their right to exclude people who they don’t feel represent their values.Â I may disagree with the BSA’s position here, but I think it’s wrong to punish local scouts for the actions of the national organization.Â Scouting provides a lot of positive experiences, especially these days when it’s less politically correct to be a boy and act like one.Â I hope City Council will reconsider, and find other ways to persuade the national organization to change its policy.

City Council Fiddles

As I’ve said before, I am not in favor of making abortion illegal, however, it’s good to see that Philadelphia City Council has such a good handle on the cities other problems that it has time to make useless declarations about being a “pro-choice” city.

Pro-choice, that is, if you want to cut a fetus out of your body.Â If you choose to carry a gun for self-protection, that’s a choice, if Philadelphia got its way in Harrisburg, that City Council wouldn’t allow you to make.

Three Republicans and five Democrats voted against the resolution Thursday, including Councilwoman Marian Tasco, an abortion-rights advocate.

“We ought to respect all views and not to label the city one way or the other,” Tasco said.

Kudos to Councilwoman Tasco. Â I feel the same way.Â Even Nutty Nutter agrees with with me here!

Straw Purchases

Red’s blog has a good post up about the difficulties dealers go through in regards to straw purchasing.Â Every time I go to a gun shop with Bitter, I kind of worry that they think it’s a straw purchase setup.Â Of course, neither of us are prohibited persons, but it’s occurred to me that I’ve bought most of my inventory when another person was present.

More on Pennsylvania Reciprocity

Looking over the letter, I think the person may have contacted the incorrect division within the Office of Attorney General, or it was referred to the incorrect division. The division that handles the reciprocity agreements with other states is the Office of Legislative Affairs, and the reply came from The Criminal Prosecution Office. I have worked up a letter to them as well, and will send it along asking for clarification on the previous letter. It’s quite possible the person responding to this letter has little knowledge of the status of our agreements with other states, but nonetheless had to come up with something. We’ll see what kind of answer I get.