National Park Carry Update

It looks like Senator Coburn is planning on an amendment to S.2483 that would require all lands under jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior to follow state law in regards to possession of firearms. You can read Coburn’s case for passing this amendment here.

I have heard also that John McCain will be signing on as a co-sponsor of this amendment. Any bets on whether Hillary or Obama will? Just keep that in mind for those who claim there’s no difference between McCain and the Democrats.

Damned RSI

I have occasional problems with RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury).  This one I get from my habit of sleeping with my left arm under the pillow and over my head.  I quite often wake up with a numb arm, or a numb pinky and ring fingers.  Then to add insult to injury, I spend all day resting my elbow on my armrests.

The end result is entrapment of the ulnar nerve at the elbow (cubital tunnel), causing my fingers to tingle a bit if I flex my elbow a bit too much, or bump the funny bone even slightly.  In a sitting position with arms extended or slightly bent, I’m fine, but I can feel the fingers tingling if I work the elbow too much.

For the next few days, I’ll have to splint my arm at night so I can’t end up in that position, and lay off overusing and abusing my elbow at work.  When I was younger, I used to get away with all this, but it seems getting old sucks.

Mike Fitzpatrick to Run for State House

Looks like Bucks County’s former Congress Critter has decided to run for State Representative in my district:

Saying he is ready for a change in how he serves the public, Mike Fitzpatrick, former congressman and Bucks County commissioner, has announced he will run this year for the state representative seat held by Democrat Chris King, D-142.

The 44-year-old Republican said the job, if he gets it, will give him the chance to hold public office again but stay a little closer to his wife, Kathy, and six children, ranging in age from 7 to 18. Since being defeated by Patrick Murphy, D-8, in the 2006 congressional election, Fitzpatrick has worked as an attorney at the Middletown law firm of Begley, Carlin and Mandio.

I think Chris King has will have a fight on his hands.  It’s worth pointing out that Fitzpatrick took Bucks County during the 2006 election.  It was only the parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties that are part of our district that pushed Pat Murphy over the top.

It’s hard to say who I would get behind in this race.  On one hand, Chris King has had little time to have much of a voting record for me to judge, but I am wary of a Democratic Controlled house with Ed Rendell in the Governor’s mansion for another two years.  Turnout for Republicans may be low in 2008, so Chris King will have the advantage of an energized Democratic party going for him.   I wouldn’t bet on this race.

It Almost Makes You Want to Cry

SayUncle has a link over to Bruce Stern’s collection, which is being auctioned off.  He’s an NRA board member that recently died, and was quite a collector.  I saw the parts of his collection that were donated to the NRA museum, which were displayed at the last Board of Directors meeting, and they were very impressive pieces.

If you have 40 grand burning a hole in your pocket, and ever wanted an MP-40 submachine gun, or your very own German Maxim machine gun, now’s your chance.   For a little less money, you could have your own flame thrower, or perhaps a 20MM anti-tank gun?

It’s About Time

State Rep Stan Saylor, my new hero, is calling on the Philadelphia Parking Authority to be investigated for issuing bogus parking tickets:

Several Pennsylvania state legislators are tired of hearing complaints from constituents about bogus parking tickets. State Representative Stan Saylor (R-York) is calling for an investigation of the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) after the agency’s meter maids insisted a wheelchair-bound man, Frank Pinola, failed to feed a parking meter on June 21 and July 30. Before the issue drew public attention, the PPA had demanded $92 from Pinola, who was not driving on those occasions.

He’s introducing a bill that would require photographic evidence to accompany all parking violations.  I would very much support this bill.   A friend of mine who lives in the city, but who had use of her father’s car while she was in college, got a 300 dollar ticket for an unregistered automobile, even though the automobile was lawfully registered to her father in Iowa, and insured.  Because it had previously been titled in Pennsylvania (it used to be my car), the PPD issued her a ticket, sent to her previous (read my) address.  They accused her of lying when she contested the ticket when the matter of the car being legally registered was brought up, and said the tag was stolen.  She didn’t have money to fight it any further, and just paid the fine.  The Philadelphia Parking Authority are thieves, pure and simple, and I’m happy to see someone finally doing something about it.