Year: 2008

Allentown Passes “Lost and Stolen”

Following on the footsteps of Philadelphia, Allentown City Council passed legislation requiring residents or report stolen firearms to police within a certain period of time or face prosecution.  Preemption is a bedrock principle for maintaining our rights in any meaningful form.  This is a regulation on the possession of firearms, and is thus the exclusive domain of the state Legislature.  It is clearly unconstitutional under Pennsylvania law.  Unfortunately, someone will have to get cited before there can be a challenge.  Allentown isn’t the only one:

Pawlowski met in Reading earlier this month with seven other mayors — including Easton’s Sal Panto Jr. and Bethlehem’s John Callahan — to announce that they were introducing the legislation, which they consider to be least in conflict with current state laws.

Least in conflict?  So they admit it is in conflict then?  Good, then it’s illegal.  You can see how if cracks in the foundation of preemption are allowed to form, pretty soon the whole structure weakens and comes tumbling down.  There is a slippery slope here, and if we allow this stuff to stand, pretty soon you wouldn’t be able to transport a firearm through the Commonwealth without running a very serious risk of arrest and prosecution.

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Media Bias Has Disappeared

Because it’s no longer bias.  As Glenn Reynolds pointed out yesterday, the media is in the tank for Obama:

I promised some thoughts on what to do about the news media’s outright campaigning for Obama. (And that’s what it is. Media bias used to mean that they would slow-walk stories that reflected badly on their candidate; now they just flat out ignore them, or even try to shoot them down. They’re not just in the tank, they’re functioning as arms of the campaign, and Obama’s strategy shows that he knows that and is relying on it.)

Just this morning I had to turn off the radio, because the local propaganda mouthpiece of the Obama Campaign ran coverage which started out with an Alaskan commenting that she is not to be underestimated, and then following up with the various ways people think she’s not qualified, including polls showing that only 25% of voters think she’s qualified.  Even though she’s, you know, about as qualified as Obama is.  Prof. Reynolds talks about solutions:

There’s a vast underserved population out there, for news, entertainment, movies, etc., and if people start serving it, the current “mainstream” media won’t be so mainstream anymore. So if you’re unhappy with current offerings, put your money where your mouth is.

And if you’re one of the people with creative interests, start making alternative stuff. Not just news and punditry, but entertainment, documentaries, etc. If An American Carol does well this weekend, it’ll make it a lot easier for the next film of its type to be made. If Evan Coyne Maloney’s documentary work does well, it’ll encourage a lot more of that kind of work.

Think of it like cultivating a garden: Starve the weeds, feed the flowers. Like gardening, it’s work. But like gardening, if you do the work you’ll see results.

I agree.  Make sure you get out to see An American Carol this weekend.  Even though we’re booked solid this weekend with election volunteer stuff, Bitter and I are going to make time.  We need it to do well.  That sends a powerful signal to the market.

This morning Glenn linked to a piece showing that the Boston Globe is still spreading lies about Sarah Palin that have been repeatedly debunked.  This is the worst I’ve ever seen a media.  We honestly don’t have a functioning Republic as long as these people continue to peddle their shameless propaganda as legitimate journalism.  Perhaps this will be the election where the voting public realizes the emperor has no clothes.  I certainly hope so.

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It’s Go Time for Monica Douglass

Kim Stolfer just sent out an e-mail alert to inform Pennsylvania gun owners of the importance of the race between Monica Douglass and David Levdansky:

Levdansky tells constituents that he “believes that our Constitution grants me the right to bear arms” and yet his voting record and statements throughout his career show a disdain for individual liberty.  For example, at a Game and Fish Committee hearing in 1986 in Clarion, PA, Levdansky said:

“insofar as the constitutional question of the right to keep and bear arms is concerned, I think that that argument is rather hollow and shallow . . . At best, I think that the right to bear arms argument is nothing more than rightwing, ideological rhetoric and ought to be dismissed as such”.

He has never repudiated his statement and this, along with other statements and his voting record, reveal his true agenda.  Representative David Levdansky has become the poster child for Cease Fire Pennsylvania, the most outspoken anti-gun group in Pennsylvania—and the spokesman for the anti-gun Philadelphia Legislative Caucus.  His position on these issues cannot and should not be trusted.  Gunowners and hunters have been deceived long enough!

Levdansky has been an anti-gun leader in the Pennsylvania House, and everyone in Pennsylvania has a vested interest in ousting him.  Monica Douglass needs money and volunteers to get her message out so we can secure our gun rights in Pennsylvania.

The reason we work hard to defeat guys like Levdansky is because if the anti-gun legislators see their leadership getting their electoral heads lopped off, the next one in line might feel a little unsure about sticking their necks out on behalf of CeaseFire PA.  This is how we become formidable.

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Challenge to Pittsburgh’s Anti-Gun Zoning Law

This looks pretty clearly to be a violation of preemption:

On Thursday, October 2, at 10:00am, Peter Georgiades, a Second Amendment rights attorney, will be challenging the legality of a recently enacted provision in the Pittsburgh zoning code.  This provision restricts “gun-related businesses” from being established within city limits, even if the lot is zoned for commercial use.  This provision only applies to businesses that are in any way involved with the “sale” of firearms.  This is another blatant attack on the firearm industry and Pennsylvania’s law-abiding citizens.

If you live in the Pittsburgh area, this will probably be pretty interesting to attend.

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Pelosi Used PAC Money to Pay Husband

This isn’t illegaly, but it’s pretty shady, and hypocritical.  Why?

Lawmakers’ frequent use of campaign donations to pay relatives emerged as an issue in the 2006 election campaigns, when the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal gave Democrats fodder to criticize Republicans such as former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas and Rep. John T. Doolittle of California for putting their wives on their campaign and PAC payrolls for fundraising work.

Pelosi says, “Democrats are committed to reforming the way Washington does business.”  Yeah, when pigs wearing lipstick fly!

Hat Tip to OrangeneckInNY

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Saving the Shooting Sports

Michael Bane makes some great observations and offers suggestiosn on saving the shooting sports.  I noticed a very good comment that made a very frightening observation:

The next generation is not oriented to shooting or hunting. They spend more time on their computers then outside. In my club of 250 members there are NO children. There is dam little shooting allowed in school programs. SCTP IMO is growing because it is held AWAY from school. If you tried to have indoor ranges for rifle or pistol (as did exist several decades ago) it would fall flat on its face.

My club is composed of 240 guys, 10 women, average age is 50. Not to mention there are almost no minorities. That is another area which is not confronted honestly. You do not see representative percentages of non-whites in the shooting sports. America in not to long, will have to deal with a majority non-white population. All the demographics point in the wrong direction.

What troubles me, is my observations of club demographics is similar.  This might surprise you, but the solution is to get more women into the shooting sports.  I think women are far more likely than men to get their kids into shooting, and keep them in shooting.  I’ve seen a lot of dads bring their kids to the range and do a good job of passing the tradition along.  I’ve also seen dads that are doing their best to make sure their kid absolutely grows up to hate shooting.  I’ve never seen a woman at a range with kids in tow not doing a good job with the kids.  They are far better teachers than men are.

UPDATE: Overall there’s excellent commentary on that post.  I can only read a little bit at a time because Michael’s color scheme is very harsh on the eyes.  I can still see the text lines burnt into my retina for a minute or so after taking a break.

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New Terminology

I don’t wish to paint all Democrats as gun hating losers, because there are a lot of good ones out there.  Like Jason Altmire and Dan Boren, for example.  So I have decided on declaring an Axis of Evil to exist within the Democratic Party, composed of Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi.  Henceforth known as the Obama/Biden/Pelosi Democrats.  These are the people who make nightmares for gun owners.  We have to fight these Democrats, and in doing that, we’re really going to need our friends in the Democratic party.

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We Need to Get Active

With Obama looking like he’s getting a boost from the economic crisis, we have to work harder than ever.  I know people like me get on this bandwagon every election, but this one really is the most important election we’ve faced in my life time.  Obama makes Bill Clinton look like a saint on guns, and an unapologetic capitalist.  Most of us remember how bad the Clinton years were for gun owners.  Heller won’t save us if Obama fills the numerous vacancies on the federal courts with people who will interpret it away to essential meaninglessness.

What the Pelosi/Obama/Biden Democrats are hoping for this election is that they can find a winning formula, without having to dump their gun control constituencies outright.  I can promise you the Brady Campaign is frustrated they are being stuffed in steerage for the entire election, but the Democrats are not abandoning gun control.  If they win this November, it will tell them they don’t have to actually support the Second Amendment to win.  It will tell them that all they have to do is pull the wool over those bitter, gun clingers eyes enough that they won’t check to hard to see what’s really behind the curtain.  It will make them think NRA is a paper tiger if they can’t defeat the most anti-gun presidential candidate in American history.  None of these things will be good for us.  They will, in fact, be disastrous.  The sour economy is going to mean the federal coffers have less money in them to pay for Obama’s programs.  Can you think of something Obama could focus his energies on that wouldn’t cost a lot of money?  I sure as hell can, and is scares the hell out of me.

Please, if you do nothing else this election, contact your NRA-EVC and volunteer just a few hours of your time.  Even if it’s just placing yard signs, doing a precinct walk, helping out with a phone bank.  Bloggers are definitely stepping up this year.  For those of us volunteering, we need all the help we can get, even if it’s just an hour.  It makes a big difference when the voting time starts.

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