So says The Allentown Morning Call, in regards to Rep English and Peterson’s efforts to prevent tolling on I-80.  Political posturing? I can’t help but notice that I-80 runs mostly through counties that didn’t vote all that heavily for Ed Rendell or the Democrats.
Year: 2007
Smoking Ban Dead for Now
Pennsylvania’s smoking ban is dead for now. I actually don’t smoke, but I’m tempted to go to some public place, and light up a stogie just as a hearty up yours to our governor.
Pennsylvania Ranks 17th in Drive By Shootings
Despite Philadelphia’s out of control murder rate, our criminals at least seem to have the decency to get out of the car before they pop a cap in your ass.
Too Into Guns?
Lean Left thinks SayUncle is a bit too into guns. SayUncle responds in the comments that tgirsch’s interest in beer might come close (though not so much these days because of trying to lose weight).  I think mine does too, probably. But my passion for guns displayed here is a direct result of the political movement to restrict or ban them.
Bring back the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and Snowflakes in Hell might very well become a beer blog :)
UPDATE: Reading that link down a bit more, the WCTU is still around! This is a good example of how you can defeat a movement politically, even if the movements edifices remain in tact. I had no idea the WCTU was still around and preaching against demon rum. Thank god people have better sense today than to pay any attention to them.
Mayor Daley Praises NRA Fundraising Effort
Mayor Daley is apparently very pleased with the result of his latest gun buyback.
Philadelphia Weekly Article on Armed America
Philadelphia Weekly has a front page news item on the photo book Armed America, which I talked about here a few weeks ago.  To have a major Philadelphia media outlet giving the front page treatment to something like this is the kind of public relations coup you couldn’t have come up with if you tried.
Michael Bane has more.
Loss and Liberty
Matt responds in the comments to my first Bryan Miller post:
Interesting, check out Mr. Miller’s lead post. His brother was Mike Miller, the FBI agent that was killed in DC in 1994.
Which means his niece is Dale Miller, who works for CeasefireMD and testified in favor of the AWB here last year.
We have a family here who blames the object and not the person. His loss, however, does not give him an unrestricted moral high ground. Taking him to task could get interesting.
Matt has more over at his blog too. I didn’t know this, actually, but it’s not too surprising. Many of core anti-gun activists are people who experienced some kind of loss through violence. It’s not something I’m unsymapthetic to, or can’t understand. Losing my mother to cancer when I was in college played a role in my desire to work in the drug discovery field. The desire to “do something” so other people won’t have to go through what you did is an understandable and even noble reaction to a tragedy.
But I do pretty firmly agree with Matt’s premise, that it doesn’t give him the moral high ground in this debate. Grief cannot be a reasonable basis for public policy, especially when a constitutional right is at question. As much as I might sympathize with someone’s loss, we can’t relent when someone uses that grief as a basis to remove other people’s liberty. That’s why, despite the fact that my mother died of cancer, I have vowed to give no more money to the American Cancer society. There’s things that are more important than my grief.
Reporters Sees the Light
Rob links to a great media piece on a reporter making a range trip, and has some good commentary.
Types of FFLs
Dano wants to know what the types of FFL are, and about C&R. So here they are:
Type 01 – Dealer in Firearms
Type 02 – Pawnbrokers
Type 03 – Collectors of Curios and Relics
Type 06 – Manufacturer of Ammunition for Firearms
Type 07 – Manufacturer of Firearms
Type 08 – Importer of Firearms or Ammunition
Type 09 – Dealer in Destructive Devices
Type 10 – Manufacturer of Destructive Devices
Type 11 – Importer of Destructive Devices
The only one you can get being an ordinary collectors is the type 03 FFL, Collector of Curios and Relics. What are defined as:
- Firearms that were manufactured at least 50 years prior to the current date, but not including replicas thereof;
- Firearms which are certified by the curator of a municipal, State, or Federal museum which exhibits firearms to be curios or relics of museum interest; and
- Any other firearms which derive a substantial part of their monetary value from the fact that they are novel, rare, bizarre, or because of their association with some historical figure, period, or event. Proof of qualification of a particular firearm under this category may be established by evidence of present value and evidence that like firearms are not available except as collector’s items, or that the value of like firearms available in ordinary commercial channels is substantially less.
The ATF publishes a list of C&R eligible firearms, though anything over 50 years old is automatic C&R, listed or no. If they are on the list, you can order them from other FFLs, and have them shipped direct to you. You don’t have to fill out 4473, or go through the Brady checks. There are paperwork requirement, and you can be audited by the ATF for compliance with the regulations.
String of Armed Robberies in Center County
My fellow Pennsylvanians… can you explain to me how in rural county, in a state where 1 out of every 10 adults is licensed to carry a firearm how this guy hasn’t been scraped off a floor yet?  This guy seems to have a penchant for robbing chain pizza joints. I’d be willing to bet that’s not entirely coincidental, as they are more likely to be staffed by unarmed pimply teenagers. Hell, even in Philly robbing a mom and pop pizza joint is pretty likely to end with the robber dead on the floor.