Tam has a great article on how the Mac faithful haven’t been quite so happy since their product has gone main stream. I have been a Mac user since 1992, so I’ve been working with this platform for a while. Of course, the truly geeky among us know that we have not witnessed the Triumph of the Macintosh, but have in fact witnessed NeXT take its rightful place in the world of computing! The original Macintosh died in 2001, and what everyone has been using since then is really a jazzed up version of NeXTStep that now runs on a very expensive and stylishly designed Intel PC.
Month: April 2008
Unisys Tower
Looks like Unisys Corporation (who may or may not have once been my employer) is relocating to the City of Philadelphia from their current headquarters in Blue Bell. I guess Unisys wants to demonstrate its leadership in the industry by doing the opposite of most technology companies, by selling the cushy campus-like HQ in the ‘burbs, and heading to the concrete jungle. But the interesting story is that they want to plaster their name all over Liberty Two. I have to agree this would be tacky, but you have to wonder about people who make arguments like this:
“It will ruin our city,†said Mary Tracy, who heads the nonprofit Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight
A Unisys sign is going to ruin your city? Ummm.
Parking Lot Bill Passes in Florida
The Parking Lot bill that allows people to keep their firearms at work on company property has passed in Florida. NRA has their position on the matter, which I know many of you here agree with, and I respect that. Unfortunately, I agree with Robb Allen.
ATF Raids Wrong House
The Passed Ordinances
Thanks again to reader ErnieD for doing the hard work finding the PDFs, but here are the passed ordinances (Sorry, all the links are now dead as of 5/2014):
1. 080018-A Prohibited Possession, Sale, Transfer of Firearms by Persons Subject to Protection from Abuse Orders
http://webapps.phila.gov/council/attachments/5080.pdf
2. 080032-A Reporting Lost or Stolen
http://webapps.phila.gov/council/attachments/5081.pdf
3. 080035-A One Gun A Month
http://webapps.phila.gov/council/attachments/5083.pdf
4. 080017 Removal of Firearms From Persons Posing Risk
http://webapps.phila.gov/council/attachments/4733.pdf
5. 080033 Assault Weapons Ban
http://webapps.phila.gov/council/attachments/4748.pdf
Several of these mirror existing federal and state laws. Here’s my guess as to what they are planning, based on the laws they didn’t pass, and based on the ones that did. Ortiz v. Commonwealth pretty clearly established that the city’s Home Rule Charter doesn’t allow it to override Pennsylvania Statute nor the Pennsylvania Constitution, and in this particular case, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld preemption.  But let’s look at the preemption law:
General rule. No county, municipality or township may in any manner regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammuniÂtion components when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this commonwealth.
I’m guessing they are planning to argue that the laws which overlap are criminalizing firearms possession for purposes which are prohibited by “the laws of this commonwealth” and so they can regulate. I’m also guessing they will argue the lost and stolen require doesn’t regulate any of the above, and that the one gun per month scheme also doesn’t regulate any of the above. I think they fully expect to lose on the assault weapons deal, which was just thrown in there for media effect.
Yes, all these arguments are bogus, and I’m confident they’ll fail, but pretty clearly, I think they will have to argue something other than home rule.
Pennsylvania Getting More Liberal
According to this article, the southeast of Pennsylvania is growing.
The gains in the south and east, despite big population losses in Philadelphia, have increased the influence of the state’s younger, more affluent, more urban residents. Politically, the shift has made the state less conservative, though it remains less liberal than New Jersey and New York.
Even in Chester County, a Republican bastion, Democratic registrations are creeping up and GOP registrations slipping, though Republicans still hold a registration edge of 48 percent to 37 percent.
“I moved here from western New York because of greater economic opportunity,” said Tom Curtin, who lives in Parkesburg and works for Independence Blue Cross in Valley Forge and Philadelphia. “I think, overall, people in the region are becoming less conservative than they were in the past.”
It’s true. We’ve seen this pattern before in other states. One of the problems of New Jersey and New York running their populations out with high taxes and corrupt government is that when the people come here, they still follow the same voting patterns that turned their former states into cesspools. It’s going to get increasingly more difficult to keep Pennsylvania pro-gun under these conditions. We’ve been under siege by New York, New Jersey, and Maryland — anti-gun states all — and their populations are moving here.
Defiance
At least one Philadelphia gun owner isn’t taking it lying down. My hat is off to him. Just a word of advice to any Philly readers who decide to defy the City’s non-law; be prepared with competent legal representation if you do get in trouble, and once you’re able to, let me know about what happened. We can get the ball rolling on fighting this nonsense.
The Real Culprits
One tragedy this whole Philadelphia Gun Ordinance fiasco is it could be opening up the city’s police officers to lawsuits. The real culprits are the city politicians, and the political appointees like Charles Ramsey, who carry out their edicts. These are the people who deserve to be punished. But our system isn’t set up to work that way, and the people most likely to end up punished are the police officers who are ordered to enforce this nonsense.
It’s easy to suggest “Well, they know it’s illegal, they should refuse to enforce it,” from the comfort of an office chair. It’s much harder when you have mortgage payments to make and have to put the kids through school. Qualified immunity is what it is, and preemption is clearly established law. Ordering the enforcement of this law will likely make police officers pay for the actions of the real culprits, who will escape any punishment, which is a real tragedy in all of this.
Mood at the Club
I was listening to people talk about the Philadelphia gun bills at Indoor Silhouette tonight. People seem to be generally pissed, and reluctant to head to the one club left in the city to shoot. I heard several say that even if the state preempts the City’s ordinance, if charged, they will likely never see their gun again. That’s probably correct. The city’s “assault weapons ban” is so broad that it bans many common sporting guns. Head there with a ported Ruger 10/22, and you can get busted.
I sincerely hope that someone sues the ever loving hell out of the City of Philadelphia for this. But even in that instance, it’s city taxpayer money at stake, and I doubt enough of them will mind to make a difference. This is one of those things that not much will ever be done about. There will be no consequence for the actors involved for violating state law. This is why it’s important for gun ownership to be viewed as a fundamental right by the federal courts. It’s only then do you have a remedy to deal with this kind of malfeasance.
They Did It: Philadelphia Passes Gun Bills
City Council has passed the gun control measures:
City Council passed five gun control measures today that are expected to still face a legal challenges.
Mayor Nutter has said he will sign the bills into law. The five bills limit handgun purchases to one a month; require lost or stolen firearms to be reported to police within 24 hours; forbid individuals under protection from abuse orders from possessing guns if ordered by the court; allow removal of firearms from “persons posing a risk of imminent personal injury” to themselves or others, as determined by a judge; and outlaw the possession and sale certain assault weapons.
I have absolutely no intention of obeying any of these city ordinances, and I can promise a lawsuit if they attempt to enforce them in violation of the laws of this commonwealth. Get ready folks, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
UPDATE: Nutter signed the five pieces of shit, and ordered his partner in crime, Police Chief Charles Ramsey, to enforce them. I feel for the police officers who will end up following orders, and possibly open themselves up to lawsuits. Because of preemption, and the Ortiz precident upholding preemption, these laws passed by city council are essentially not law, so anyone enforcing them will be acting under color of law, and could possibly lose their qualified immunity.