Server crash today. Winter storm passing through prevented me from heading home in a reasonable time frame to fix it. I need to look at remote reboot solutions.
Year: 2008
We’re Number 5!
VPC Zoning for FFL
Over at Red’s Trading Post, Ryan Horsley looks up VPC’s zoning in DC and discovers:
Permits matter-of-right medium/high density development including all kinds of residential uses, with limited offices for non-profit organizations, trade associations and professionals permitted as a special exception requiring approval of the BZA, to a maximum lot occupancy of 80% for residential use, a maximum FAR of 6.0 for residential and 3.5 for other permitted uses, and a maximum height of ninety (90) feet.
So it appears that this address is not zoned for commercial use and whereas a Federal Firearms License is for the purpose of buying and selling firearms, this license does not meet with the City’s zoning requirements.
I wonder if the BATFE Washington Field Division is aware of this.
Oh, I have little doubt there is someone who should know better that’s aware of this, since they not only obtained, but have kept their license when a lot of other “kitchen table” dealers were put out of business. I think someone at ATF called in a favor for VPC. There should be an investigation to find out how they got special treatment.
UPDATE: This is pretty damned funny.
More Fun in New Jersey
It must not be very pleasant to be Jon Corzine right now:
“When everybody laughed when you said that the board would be non-partisan, why do you think everyone laughed?†said Al Dolce, a self-described investor from Freehold. He told Mr. Corzine in Marlboro that his policies had insulted and offended the public “because we’ve been watching you, Jon. Nobody believes you on that! Nobody!â€
The atmosphere has become so volatile that last week the State Police began checking the audience with metal detectors and searching handbags.
The natives are getting restless. It takes people getting pissed off at the status quo before anything will change, though. The status quo in New Jersey is a corrupt and arrogant Democratic machine.
Outside, Mr. Lonegan and his supporters have distributed fliers and hoisted signs, including one depicting Mr. Corzine as a toll booth collector, with the words: “We accept: cash, check, money order, Visa, MasterCard, first mortgage, first-born child.â€
That’s a good one. I’ll have to remember that for when Fast Eddie goes to hike tolls again to pay for Philadelphia’s inefficient mass transit system.
After Mr. Corzine wrapped up his 38-minute presentation, more than 30 people rushed to line up behind two microphones. (And rushed it was, because Mr. Lonegan and Senate Minority Leader Thomas H. Kean Jr. have urged opponents to position themselves as close to the microphones as possible to stack the questions.)
Republicans in New Jersey seem to be learning how to be the opposition. I hope Republicans elsewhere start learning this too.
State Attorneys General Map
Via Dave Hardy, check out Concurring Opinions. I’m happy to see that Pennsylvania signed on in favor of Heller. What’s with Tennessee and Nevada? Or North Carolina and Oregon for that matter? You’d think those states would have signed on for Heller too.
It’s interesting that only Attorneys General from New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, and Hawaii were willing to sign on in favor of DC.
Did He Do it on Purpose?
Radley Balko presents a pretty compelling case that Bill might have subconsciously sabotaged his wife’s campaign. My first thought on the matter was “Man, Clinton must be losing his mojo. He never would have made a mistake like that when he was the man.”
But you do have to wonder if it was deliberate, either subconsciously or not. I would speculate whether perhaps Hillary’s campaign wanted to play that card, and Bill just decided to follow orders, rather than tell someone “You know, this is probably a bad idea.”
Via Instapundit
Cool!
More Senators Sign On
Four more Senators, including Pennsylvania’s Senator Arlen Specter, have signed on to the letter to Department of Interior Secretary Kempthorne calling for new rules to force the National Park Service to follow state law regarding firearms on property managed by the agency. Excellent.
ASA Brief Online
Academics for the Second Amendment has submitted their brief, and it is now online here. Dave Hardy, who is the Attorney of Record on the brief, says he’s pretty tired after all that, and I think we all owe him a debt of gratitude for helping put this brief together, and for all the academic work he and his colleagues have done over the years that has helped lay the groundwork for this. One way you can say thanks is by donating to ASA. I think it’s the least we can do.
UPDATE: Let’s not forget that Clayton Cramer also lent assistance to this brief as well.
UPDATE: I read the whole thing. I think it’s devastating to many of DCs arguments. It’ll take quite a tangle of intellectual knots the court will have to contort for itself to rule in favor of any kind of collective rights viewpoint.
Pigs Fly in New Jersey
I’ve been a distant observer of the antics of New Jersey Republican and Mayor of Bogota, Steve Lonegan, ever since seeing the movie Anytown USA. I wrote a few weeks ago about his bogus arrest at one of Corzine’s town hall meetings a few weeks ago (charges have since been dropped).
Lonegan has been very successful in New Jersey, which is a very “blue” state, at rallying grass roots opposition to Corzine’s plans, and generally being a pain in his ass. For this, I applaud him, and hope to continue to see rallies like this over in the Garden State:
They chanted “No New Tolls” and “Oink, Oink, Oink,” a reference to the implicit “Pigs will fly over the State House” metaphor Corzine has been using to support his plan to raise tolls and freeze spending instead of his opponents’ calls for just spending cuts.
The loudest moment of the noon protest, however, occurred when several clusters of inflatable pig balloons were released into the air by the protesters.
Former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan was one of the participants in the anti-Corzine rally. Lonegan was arrested last month after protesting at one of the town hall meetings Corzine has been holding throughout the state to pitch his plan, which would generate as much as $40 billion by significantly raising highway tolls and borrowing against the future revenue.
“We are here to deliver a message. That message is: No new tolls,” Lonegan said, prompting the crowd to respond several times with the same refrain.
Lonegan is forcing Corzine to pay attention, and I think he’s going to have to, or he risks going the way of Jim Florio. People in New Jersey are getting pissed, and that’s the first step. Can the New Jersey GOP capitalize on it? If Lonegan’s recent luck with sticking it to Corzine is any indication, the answer might very well be yes.