July 2009 – Page 16 – Shall Not Be Questioned

The Free Press Gives Cox Too Much Credit

The accusation is that Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox is wasting taxpayer dollars trying to curry favor with the gun lobby.Â The Detroit Free Press can relax, because if they had actually read the brief in question, they would have noticed that it was prepared by Greg Abbott, the Attorney General of Texas.Â Despite the fact that Mike Cox, by jumping the gun with a press release of his own on Monday, pretty clearly wanted to drive the impression that he was behind all this, all his office did was sign his name on the brief.Â No harm to Michigan taxpayers.

A little research can go a long way, you know.

NRA Gearing Up to Oppose Sotomayor?

It would seem that is on the table, at least.Â Take a look at this release from them:

Out of respect for the confirmation process, the NRA has not announced an official position on Judge Sotomayor’s confirmation. However, should her answers regarding the Second Amendment at the upcoming hearings be hostile or evasive, we will have no choice but to oppose her nomination to the Court.

This is going to be interesting, that is for sure.Â More from the Washington Times here.

What is NRA Doing About It?

The story over on consumerist is up over 13,000 views, meaning 13,000 souls are now being told a story about NRA having unethical fund raising practices.Â I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s over 25,000 by tomorrow.Â That’s the circulation of major gun rag.Â On top of that, I have a reader who mentions that this might be a violation of the United States Postal Code:

Furthermore, it is illegal for a company that sends you unordered merchandise to follow the mailing with a bill or dunning communication.

So it seems that this little scheme might be a violation of federal law.Â The question is, what is NRA going to do to rectify the situation?Â If any of you out there who have received one of these “dunning communications” and haven’t let NRA know your displeasure, youÂ might want to call.Â You can find contact information in the back of your membership card.

This is an Unacceptable Fundraising Method

The Consumerist is reporting that NRA trying to raise money by sending people unsolicited DVDs, then trying to convince them that they need to pay for them.Â I’ve seen other interest groups do this scam as well, but I’ve never seen any go so far as to send follow up e-mails demanding payment, or demanding the DVD be sent back.

This is not in any way an acceptable method of fund raising, and now that they’ve been called out by Consumerist, a very well regarded blog with far more reach than any of the gun blogs, I sincerely hope they will resolve this to the satisfaction of its members in a timely manner.

Bitter tells me she’s talked to someone at NRA about this, and they are looking into it.Â Every public advocacy group does fund raising, because the money they get from memberships isn’t enough to keep the organization going.Â A lot of folks complain pretty heavily about NRA’s fundraising, and largely because they aren’t members of other public advocacy groups, they don’t realize it’s typical practice.Â In fact, a lot of groups are worse — far worse.Â Join the ACLU and they’ll sell your name to every other leftist cause out there, who will all then beg you regularly for money.

But there are ethical limits on the ways funds should be raised, and this crosses it.Â Sending an unsolicited DVD out and asking someone to pay for it or send it back is bad enough.Â Continuing to demand payment is unforgivable.Â If NRA loses members over this, they will have deserved to lose them.Â This needs to stop.Â Now.

Iowa Anti-Gun Group Goes TU

After Joyce cut off funding.Â There’s no real reason for Iowa to be may issue, but they have the same problem Delaware does, in that if you live in most of the state, even Polk County, which contains Des Moines, you can get a license to carry if you jump through the hoops.Â There are only a few counties in Iowa that don’t routinely issue, like Johnson County, which contains Iowa City, and Linn County, which contains Cedar Rapids.

But I dont’ get the impression we have much of a ground game going on in Iowa either.Â It’s one of those weird states for the issue.Â I think, in large part, Iowans tend to be hunters, rather than shooters, or people who are looking to have a gun for self-defense.

UPDATE: Looks like Linn County issues.Â Â Â Strangely enough, you can get a license in Des Moines, but if you live in Des Moines County you’re screwed.Â Des Moines County is over by Illinois.

4 in 10 American Say They Have Grown More Conservative

Says a new Gallup poll.Â There’s a bit on gun control:

Gallup polling shows Americans becoming more conservative on gun control between 2004 and 2008, with opposition to banning handguns growing from 63% to 69%. And disagreement with making gun laws “more strict” grew, from 45% to 49%.

A lot of these trends could be demographic.Â A lot of younger people get more conservative as they get jobs and have to start paying taxes and raising families.

Understanding New Media in the Outdoor World

blogÂ·oÂ·sphere Pronunciation: \ËˆblÃ¤-gÉ™-ËŒsfir\ Function: noun Date: 2002 : all of the blogs on the Internet as a collective whole

eâ€“mail Pronunciation: \ËˆÄ“-ËŒmÄl\ Function: noun Etymology: electronic Date: 1982 1: a means or system for transmitting messages electronically (as between computers on a network) 2 a: messages sent and received electronically through an e-mail system b: an e-mail message

Sometimes we need to go back to the basics like Merriam-Webster. Why would I turn to them for the definition of blogosphere and e-mail, definitions I clearly understand? Sometimes other people forget, and the blogosphere is unfairly blamed for falsehoods. Unfortunately, there was an implication of that in this morning’s edition of The Outdoor Wire. (Link is only good for today since they aren’t archiving on the website.)

In talking about an email rumor which has been going around for months (some sources say years, though Snopes just says months), Jim switches gears and gives us other news from the blogosphere. Wait, what?

If you get one of those semi-breathless notices, please send your well-meaning friends a note telling them they’re perpetuating yet another internet rumor.

And speaking of the “blogosphere” and rumors, the FBI took a fairly unusual step yesterday regarding soon to be ex-Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

Huh? How is an email rumor “speaking of the ‘blogosphere'” in this case? Are there blogs reporting that SB 2099 is real? In the main gun blogosphere, I haven’t seen anything of the sort. On the various right leaning blogger email lists, I haven’t seen anything come across, nor have I seen it rearing its ugly head on the general right-of-center blogs. In fact, in a quick survey of Google’s Blog Search, all of the actual blog results I see say upfront that it is a hoax email. In fact, the posts are dated long before NSSF’s statement & Shepherd’s announcement.

This post isn’t meant to imply that Jim doesn’t understand new media. In fact, he’s one of the few in the industry who does understand new media since he’s created his own version of it with his wire service for various outdoor industries. However, when one of the people who “gets it” makes a comment like this, it’s no wonder that so many in the industry are hesitant to approach new media or attempt any new projects on their own. The implied connection between email rumors and bloggers in the outdoor industry wire service could easily leave a staffer who isn’t familiar with the various technologies confused about the value of bloggers at all. If the Google results are any indication, bloggers have actually been instrumental in getting word out to defeat the rumor of SB 2099.

Of course, it’s also important to note that the story in today’s edition of TOW that does actually have to do with the blogosphere – the Palin rumors that sparked the FBI’s statement – isn’t talking about the gun side of the blogosphere. While news does comes from all sides of the blogosphere, I’m not sure that many in the industry understand the breadth of the blogosphere – mommy blogs, left wing blogs, right wing blogs, gun blogs, personal journals, tech blogs, opinion/commentary blogs, link love blogs, business blogs, and everything in between all of those categories and more. Then there are forums which are another beast altogether, email lists, social networking groups, and so many other technologies with their related communities. There’s so much out there, and since all of the previous TOW coverage I’ve ever seen on blogs has focused on the pro-gun blogs, I hope that Jim’s readers understand that the outdoor blogosphere is by no means spreading the vicious rumors about Palin, nor are they involved in perpetuating rumors about non-existent legislation.

Attorneys General Who Didn’t Sign

Here’s a state map of the Amicus Brief favoring the Supreme Court taking up the Incorporation issue and ruling in favor of it.Â Â Those in favor are in red, those who did not sign on are in blue.Â You can click to make it larger.

What’s up with Arizona, Tennessee and Nevada?Â I mean, if Jerry Brown can sign on, you can too.Â Here are some links to state AGs who did not sign on, who should be asked to explain why they did not:

Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

One thing to consider is a lot of these AGs are appointed, rather than elected.Â So they may be somehwhat restrained in what they can sign on to.Â But still call, and put pressure on the people that appointed them.Â With the exception of Wisconsin and Hawaii, all these AGs are Democrats.Â Wisconsin is an elected AG, so be sure to call him in particular if you live there.

UPDATE: I’m told under Wisconsin law that the AG has to get the Governor’s permission to sign on to anything, and Doyle is against the Second Amendment being incorporated.Â So call Jim Doyle’s office and complain to him.

Some Fantastic News on Chicago Case

From the NRA:

Two-thirds of the nationâ€™s attorneys general have filed an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari in the case of NRA v. Chicago and hold that the Second Amendment applies to state and local governments through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This bi-partisan group of 33 attorneys general, along with the Attorney General of California in a separate filing, agrees with the NRAâ€™s position that the Second Amendment protects a fundamental individual right to keep and bear arms in the home for self-defense, disagreeing with the decision recently issued by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

So this was bigger than just Jerry Brown.Â Two thirds of the state’s Attorney Generals is no small feat, and sends a strong message to the Court.

Kitchen Table Controversy

There are still some “Kitchen Table Dealers” left, but he’s right about it being a dying breed.Â An Easton man is in the news for seeking a variance to operate an FFL for a gunsmithing business in a residential area.Â If his plan is a gunsmithing operation, it’s not like there will be a parade of customers coming in and out of the residence.Â Most of his business will likely be from people sending stuff through common carrier, which is why you need the FFL.Â If I were his neighbor, I would speak on his behalf to the zoning board, and advocate granting the variance.Â Well, as long as he agreed to do transfers for me for free :)