2008 – Page 247 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Is This Serious?

Paul Helmke on the town hall shooting in Missouri:

This last point deserves some more attention. One of the first times I got involved in a controversy with the gun lobby was when, as Mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana, I suggested that individuals not be allowed to bring guns into our City-County building. (The County, which owned the building, had just banned guns from the County Courthouse and I argued there were just as many contentious issues being discussed and decided by the legislative and administrative parts of local government as by the judicial part.)

The gun lobby saw this suggestion as an attack on their â€œSecond Amendment rightsâ€ and responded strongly. As someone who had received death threats and been called a â€œdictatorâ€ because of other government issues, I knew that there were a lot of people who I did not want to see carrying guns into city meetings and the offices of city employees.

These incidents all highlight the tensions involved when individuals argue that their â€œpersonal libertyâ€ outweighs the rule of law and trumps community policy as decided by our governmental systems.

Is Paul serious here? First off, government meetings are already off limits places to concealed carry in Missouri. Clearly this individual paid no attention to the fact that gun were prohibited there. The individual overcame two armed police officers stationed outside. Was a sign saying “no guns” really going to be effective against someone intent on mowing down town council? You almost have to believe that in Paul’s world, this isn’t satire:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7pGt_O1uM8[/youtube]

UPDATE: Eric at Classical Values has a good bit on this up here.

Potato Gun Stupidity

Tempered glass, as in the kind you’d find on a sliding glass door, will most definitely not stop a projectile from a potato gun.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAbGm9YaN1c[/youtube]

Congressional Amicus Brief in Favor of Heller

NRA has a list of Congressman and Senators who have signed on. Compare it to the list of Congressman and Senators from the Congressional brief on DC’s side, and it’s almost laughable.

I would note that John McCain has signed onto this brief. I would also note that neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama have signed on. Anyone still willing to say there’s no difference between McCain and those two?

Both Pennsylvania Senators have signed on. I notice that my Congressman, Pat Murphy, has not. He may have a concealed carry license, but if he wants my support, he has to do better than this. He’ll be getting a letter about this for sure. If your local Congress Critter is not on here, you should also send a letter asking why.

UPDATE: See “Rep. Tom Davis (VA-11)” Maybe his wife’s defeat running on a gun control platform has caused him to see the light.

UPDATE: I’m told that, in his capacity as President of the Senate, Vice President Cheney will be signing onto the brief as well.

Welcome to the Triangle

To Robb Allen, at Sharp as a Marble. I can remember my first wheelbarrow full of cash, about a year ago. I had to send it back actually, because the bills in it looked like old bills that someone had put under an iron in an attempt to make them appear new, and I had insisted that they be neat, clean, new unmarked bills, fresh from the NRA vault-o-cash.

So that’s my bit of advice to Robb. Don’t let the NRA stick you with bills from their money laundering operation. Insist on clean, fresh, and unmarked. Also, don’t let them stick you with the wheelbarrow that has the squeaky wheel. Make someone grease is up first, but not too much that you risk getting it all over the money.

Courting the Gun Makers

Red’s trading post has a bit up about Idaho’s efforts to court gun makers. I’m sure Idaho is also a good state to do business in, in addition to having reasonable gun laws. Idaho has some other states to compete with, however.Â There’s very little chance Pennsylvania would ever see any of this action.

While our gun laws are not bad, from a manufacturing point of view, our business climate is terrible, and it’s one of the worst states in the country in which to set up a manufacturing operation. Plus, you can bet that Fast Eddie Rendell won’t be offering any tax breaks for that industry.

It’s good to see Idaho stepping up to offer a home to gun makers who are being driven out of their increasingly hostile home states. I suspect the competition here will be stiff, though. Still, if I had my chance, I’d love to live in Idaho.

Pin of Triumph

Here is my glorious chicken pin:

I can fairly consistently hit the chickens now with rifle. I’m up to the point with pistol where I can his 7 out of 10 on a good day. I need to work on my pistol skills more to accomplish this. I think I can get another (different colored) pin for pistol.

Get Yourself a Black Rifle

Ahab thinks it’s time. I agree. In very worried about what’s going to happen in November. In the primary election, Democrats are turning out way more to vote than Republicans, which tells me Republicans are feeling alienated from their party (and for good reason). Hillary would be unlikely to push for a new assault weapons ban in a serious way (other than lip service), because she’s been burnt in a big way on that issue in the past, and I’m sure she still feels the sting. I think if we get The Hildabeast, the main thing we have to watch out for is preserving the ability to sell firearms privately.

Obama, on the other hand, is politically naive, and I don’t think understands the world very well outside of Chicago. Despite the fact that I lack the loathing disdain for Obama that I have for Hillary Clinton, he’s probably the biggest danger to gun rights.

UPDATE: Stock up on magazines too.Â That’s another likely avenue of attack under a Democrat president.Â Either one I think is likely to do that.

Another Victim

JR of A Keyboard and a .45 will be coming to the blog bash in Louisville.Â If you have a blog, you should come.Â If you don’t, you should start one and come.Â If you don’t want to start one, come anyway, though there will be blogger only events, it’s not like we’ll be like “Oh, dear.Â You don’t have a blog.Â I’m afraid we don’t talk to the little people.”

Fred for VP!

So, McCain as the nominee is pretty much a done deal at this point.Â Now our best hope is that he nominates a reasonable Vice President.Â Huckabee has already said he’d take the post if offered, which means he wants it.Â Huckabee can win in the South, as he’s demonstrated, but if he picks ~~Jimmy~~ Mike, then there’s two names on the ticket, with neither one of them being “conservative” (whatever that means) in the eyes of Republican voters.

So why not send Huckabee back to Arkansas, and give Fred Thompson a call?Â I’m certainly not the first to suggest it, but I think a McCain/Thompson ticket would be a strong one.Â Let’s face it, McCain will be assuming office at the age of 72 if he’s sworn in as our next President, and you have to imagine that spending five and a half years being tortured by the North Vietnamese and having to live in your own filth probably isn’t very good for longevity. Â McCain’s Vice Presidential pick is important.

Thompson would help McCain gain back some of that conservative street creds that he’s been lacking in recent years, and would definitely help sweeten an otherwise bitter medicine.Â Fred Thompson is pretty clearly McCain’s best choice for Vice President.Â Let’s hope it’s McCain/Thompson ’08.

Countertop’s Criticism

I’ve been critical of GOA often in the past, but ouch:

Bottom line, the Gun Owners of America (and by implication Larry Pratt) arenâ€™t worth the paper I just used to wipe shit from ass.

Follow the comment he linked to, where he deconstructs McCain’s GOA F rating.Â I would note, though, that NRA also dinged McCain’s grade because of McCain-Feingold.Â Last time he ran with a NRA grade of C+, if I recall.

To my mind, McCain’s worst sin against gun owners is huckstering for AHSA speaking in favor of banning private sales at gun shows. Â His worst sin against the constitution is McCain-Feingold.