Month: April 2008

When You’re Losing, Claim to be Winning

Pennsylvania is being touted by the Brady Campaign as a model of the gun lobby’s ineffectiveness:

As for the next primary state, Pennsylvania, the state with supposedly the highest per capita NRA membership, gun control supporters regularly win there statewide: Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, Al Gore (against strong NRA opposition) in 2000, and John Kerry in 2004.

Even more telling, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell – someone who just two years ago said, “I believe with all my heart that we need more gun control” – has won two gubernatorial elections against NRA-endorsed opponents, beating Mike Fisher in 2002 by nine points and Lynn Swann in 2006 by 20 points.

I would point out that Rendell was completely mum on the gun issue in his election and reelection campaigns.  It wasn’t until he had lame duck status that he started pushing the issue harder.  Fisher and Swann ran awful campaigns, against a well financed and smooth talking Ed Rendell.  Rendell is a talented politician, Fischer wasn’t, and Swann wasn’t even a politician.

But the point is valid.  Pennsylvanians are often Democrats before they are gun owners, and will pull the lever for an anti-gun politician if he has the right letter after his name in a national race.

But the Brady’s make the mistake of assuming that running on gun control is a vote winning issue.  It is a vote losing issue, because there is no passion for gun control in Pennsylvania, or anywhere else.  Not enough to make people pull the voting lever based on the issue.  Take a good look at the picture here.  Every single one of these folks showed up on their own, many taking a day off work to attend.  And this is with very little involvement of the NRA in the planning or promotion of this rally.  It was all state level groups who organized and promoted this.  There are many of us who will vote on the gun issue alone, when it comes election time.  The real reason groups like the Brady Campaign lack any real political power is because they have no grass roots.  Where are the anti-gun people linking to me to challenge my assumptions?  Where are the anti-gun commenters?  Why does the City of Philadelphia have to provide bus service and give days off work to get people to turn out to rallies favoring gun control?   The passion is on our side, not theirs, which is why we win and they lose.   They can try to spin it all they want, but that’s the reality.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Displeasure Among the Gun Control Ranks
  2. Gun Control Rally Tomorrow in Harrisburg
  3. The Pushback Begins

A Tale of Two City Papers

It’s nice that we actually get factual reporting out of the Pittsburgh media.  The Philadelphia Inqurer coverage was not as good:

Yesterday morning, gun owners crammed the Capitol Rotunda for their annual “Right to Bear Arms” rally and lobby day, vowing to launch voter-registration drives ahead of the November elections and to defeat pro-gun-control lawmakers.

Dressed in NRA caps, camouflage jackets and even Revolutionary War uniforms, about 200 sportsmen and firearms owners cheered speakers, among them Rep. Daryl D. Metcalfe (R., Butler), who assailed Gov. Rendell and his “gun-confiscating conspirators,” urging participants to “fire” lawmakers who supported gun-control measures.

There was one guy dressed in a costume, and he was part of the rally, not some random nut playing dress up.  I recall seeing no one in camouflage.  There were a few NRA hats, but big deal.

Looks like a normal bunch of people to me, many of whom are in suits.  The Inquirer can barely hide their contempt for us through their lame attempts at factual reporting.  The Inky closes with a statement from CeaseFire PA:

Joe Grace, executive director of CeaseFirePA, said raffling off a handgun in the state Capitol was insensitive to victims of gun violence.

“It’s unfortunate considering the hundreds of victims of handgun violence in this state,” said Grace. “It makes light of such a serious issue.”

Joe Grace is entitled to his opinion, but the capitol is everyone’s, and whether he likes it or not, he has to share this state, and its capitol, with people who value the right to bear arms, and don’t see guns as symbols of violence.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Joyce Getting Behind Gun Control in Pennsylvania
  2. How to Arm Lobbyists and Reporters
  3. Convenience at the Pennsylvania RKBA Rally

Politicizing the Memorial

I have to agree with Jeff Soyer on and Bitter this one.  It’s pretty tasteless to want to hold a gun control rally on campus on the anniversary of Virginia Tech, and kudos to the administration for throwing a flag on that play.

Of course, if it had been NRA wanting to hold a campus concealed carry rally, don’t you think the media would be all over it?

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Campus Carry Debate Not Yet Over in Colorado
  2. SCCC Speech Banned at Allegheny Community College
  3. Unarmed Teens vs. Unarmed Adults

Tigher Gun Control

In Japan.

As many as 320,000 guns for hunting and sporting competitions are legally owned in Japan. Within the five years leading up to 2007, there were 19 cases of murder or attempted murder involving legally owned firearms.

Also fresh in our memory is an incident in which a rifle accidentally went off at a doctor’s house in Tokyo, killing a 2-year-old child.

I’m actually surprised there’s that many in legal possession.  But still, 20 incidents out of 320,000?  The interesting thing is they are tightening their requirements for rifles and shotguns to look more like ours.

The law revisions are aimed at broadening the scope of these disqualification clauses. Past offenders of stalking crimes and domestic violence as well as those who committed heinous offenses without guns will be barred from owning firearms. It goes without saying that such people should never be allowed to own guns.

I would have figured they already had their own “Lautenberg”.  But before you go thinking this measure will be enough.

We think the system should be changed so that guns and ammunition are not controlled by individuals, but stored in specified locations except for those occasions when they are to be used. If a firearm is not in constant proximity, it would be difficult to use it rashly in a fit of rage.

The NPA did consider this idea, but shelved it on grounds it is too difficult to implement at this stage. This is because existing gun depositories can store only 30,000 guns.

Because the people who own these things are obviously steaming kettles just waiting to boil over.  Centralized storage is something I’ve heard from gun phobic people here as well.  Fortunately, it’s very impractical, but you do hear it.

After the Sasebo shooting, more than 5,000 people throughout the country returned their gun ownership permits voluntarily. In some cases, the police persuaded registered owners to return their permits, citing reasons such as “problems with neighbor” or “advanced age.” A systematic structure is necessary to catch the warning signs of someone likely to commit a crime, and revoking gun permits even after they have been issued.

It’s a very different culture, for sure.  One where the needs of society are put before the rights of the individual, and where individuals can be shamed out of gun ownership.  It is not America’s culture.  It should never be America’s culture.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Because It Works So Well!
  2. Is Gun Control Hurting Europe?
  3. Mayor of Nagasaki Gunned Down

First Class and No Class

After we had our rally in the Capitol Rotunda, we split into groups to go around visiting representatives.  I went off with the PAFOA group, lead by Kim Stolfer, Chairman of Firearms Owners Against Crime.  We did go around to several representatives, both to pro-gun, to offer them our thanks for their support, and anti-gun, to air out areas of disagreement, and to make sure they understand that the gun lobby isn’t some nefarious cabal, but is made up of real people, who are willing to take days off work to defend their liberties.

Several of the anti-gun representatives weren’t in, but I did want to point out that Representative Angel Cruz, who we have much to disagree with, took the time to invite us into his office and listen to our concerns.  Given the nonsense from certain Constitution Party bozos at last year’s rally, it was very classy of Representative Cruz to engage with us as reasonable people.  Cruz stated he is concerned that certain judges in the Philadelphia court system don’t seem to want to get tough with criminals in that city, and this is a concern that we very much share.  We may not agree on the gun issue, but Cruz is correct that judges’ unwillingness to send violent people to prison for a long time is a significant part of the problem.  Earlier this evening I sent Rep. Cruz an e-mail:

I was part of the group today that attended Rep. Metcalfe’s Second Amendment Rally that you met with briefly in your office.  I wanted to thank you for taking the time to meet with us.  It speaks highly of your character that you were willing to invite us into your office to hear our concerns.

Many of us, especially those like me who regularly venture into the City of Philadelphia, are very concerned about getting violent crime there under control, and though we may disagree on much about how to combat it, I do hope there are things we can do to help the City that we can all agree on.  Thanks again.

Representative Cruz’s character is very sharply contrasted with that of Representative Babette Josephs, who we heard berated a group of gun rights supporters because she was angry that we raffled off a gun in the capitol.  Well, for one, we didn’t raffle off a gun.  A gun was donated by Ace Sporting Goods, and the winner of the drawing received a voucher to go to Ace, fill out the various forms and affidavits, submit to the background check through the Pennsylvania Instant Check System, and then, only if cleared as being legal to own a gun in Pennsylvania and under Federal Law, may they take possession of said firearm.  But apparently that is not good enough for Representative Josephs.  We raffled a gun in her capitol!  Having heard of this incident, myself and a group of other members of the Pennsylvania Firearms Owners Assocation decided to pay Representative Josephs a friendly visit, to explain to her exactly what had taken place on The Rotunda, lest there be any confusion that we actually had a gun in the Capitol building in violation of state law.  The Representative was not in, but upon trying to explain the situation to one of her staff, we were promptly asked to leave.

I do not live in Representative Josephs’ district, only near it, but I am not an unreasonable person.  I understand many of the Philadelphia delegation feel they are representing the interests of their districts by pushing for gun control.  I disagree strongly with them on this, but that is their belief.  It’s only through a free and frank dialog with elected representatives that a free Republic can function, and it’s distrubing that there are parts of Pennsylvania that are willing to elect a representative who will have none of that.

While I may disagree with Representative Cruz on many things, I can maintain respect for him because of his willingness to hear us out, and talk to us as reasonable people.  For Representative Josephs, I can have no such respect, and sincerely hope the people of her district will choose to send someone to Harrisburg who will demonstrate the kind of professionalism we should demand from people we elect to serve us.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Glad I Didn’t Go!
  2. More On that Article
  3. Congressmen Signing onto DC Case

Press Coverage of Rally

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Gun owners are “fed up” that the state isn’t fully enforcing laws on the books against criminals buying or using firearms, said Kim Stolfer of McDonald, chairman of Firearms Owners Against Crime and an activist with the Allegheny County Sportsmen’s League.

“We’re not going to allow them to enact more (restrictive) gun laws,” Stolfer said.

No, we’re not.  Even the anti-gun reps we managed to talk to I believe realize they can’t get anything done in this state without running it by those of us who support second amendment rights.  But that is not something to be taken for granted; it’s only achieved by hard work and sacrifice of people who are able and willing to demand it’s protection.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Back from the Rally
  2. Civil Rights Victory
  3. Demand For Glocks

The Real Gun Guys

Photo snapped of several of myself and some other PAFOA guys in Harrisburg today, just outside the capitol rear entrance.  I didn’t pose open carrying for the pic because I didn’t check my side arm with the Capitol Police, so I didn’t have it on me upon leaving.

A better looking bunch of gun nuts you’ll not see too many other places ;)  From left to right, using forum names, as best as I can remember:

Doug, Myself, Pro2a, JDePietro, PA Patriot, and Gnbrotz

A fun bunch of gun guys to go activisting with, I do say.

UPDATE: A friend of mine chastizes my fashion sense, assuming that I have any to begin with.   To my credit, I realized my outfit was suboptimal, but at my workplace, every day is casual friday.  I dress up pretty much never, and I was dismayed to find out that my shirts no longer fit because I’m getting too fat, so I didn’t have much to work with.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. On Our Way to the Capitol
  2. Robbery of Pizza Guys
  3. Curious Questions about Gun Possession Arrest in DC