September 2009 – Page 4 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Report on the 9th Circuit En Banc Hearing

Law.com has a report from yesterday. Â Looks like Jerry Brown really threw a wrench in the gun control works:

“Do you disagree with your own state attorney general?” he asked a lawyer representing the county.

“Yes. Yes I do,” replied Sayre Weaver of Richards, Watson & Gershon.

“I won’t tell him when I see him,” quipped Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, breaking up the courtroom. To which Weaver turned and gestured toward the galleries packed with spectators and press: “I have a feeling he’ll find out somehow.”

Looks like Kozinski was in good form too. Â Let’s hope this goes our way.

Links Between Brady & MAIG Established.

With yesterday’s announcement that the Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner is working to promote Bloomberg’s MAIG coalition, I decided to a little bit of research on just who reached out to him on behalf of the NYC mayor. Turns out what I found supports the research by Carl in Chicago, but it comes straight from the mouth of Bloomberg’s Pennsylvania staffer.

Max Nacheman is cited as the Pennsylvania Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coordinator, and his background in politics is a page out of the who’s who of gun control advocates. It seemed awfully coincidental that the entire Bloomberg mayor’s group agenda is also supported by the anti-gun Brady Campaign. What is absolutely not coincidental is the connection that Max Nacheman brings between the two groups.

As Bloomberg’s representative for Pennsylvania, Nacheman is responsible for visiting towns and promoting the idea that they should pass illegal local gun ordinances. In May 2009, Max Nacheman spoke at the Lancaster City Council meeting in support of “lost-and-stolen” legislation and revealed the connection between MAIG and the established gun control movement.

Max Nacheman, Philadelphia, stated that he represents a National Coalition of Mayors, of which Mayor Gray is a leader, Mayors Against Illegal Guns and the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence.

That’s right, Nacheman admitted that in his position with MAIG, he also represents the Brady Bunch and that they both seek to accomplish the same agenda.

Before Nacheman became a spokesman and organizer for both Michael Bloomberg and the Brady Campaign, he came to Pennsylvania as a student at UPenn. While he was there, he happened to study Religion and US Public Policy. Interesting, and just where have we heard of a project that involves religion as a justification for public policy?

Eventually, he started working with the Hillary Clinton campaign for the Democratic nomination for President. Clinton’s support of gun control is long established, though it is unclear if he ever worked specifically on the issue for her campaign. However, once Barack Obama secured the nomination, Nacheman opted to stick around to support anti-gun State Representative candidate Steve Rovner based on reported campaign expenditures. As a candidate, Rovner stuck out to Bucks County gun owners as one of the only candidates to embrace gun control group endorsements which he lined up after Max Nacheman started working with his campaign. Fortunately, not even Nacheman could save Rovner’s challenge to the incumbent.

Nacheman, interestingly, cites his address in the campaign reports as Bashing Ridge, New Jersey. Max would hardly be the first gun control advocate to cross the Delaware in order to blame Pennsylvania’s pro-gun culture for the crime and corruption of New Jersey and New York. We gun owners in Eastern Pennsylvania have grown used to seeing CeaseFire New Jersey’s Bryan Miller all over Philadelphia. Perhaps the next time Max Nacheman comes over to promote MAIG-backed illegal gun control ordinances, he can hitch a ride with Bryan Miller and offer to pick up the bridge tolls with Brady Campaign funds.

Correlation Between Brady Rank and Crime

Howard Nemerov on the Brady Campaign state ranking and crime rates:

Further evidence of bias appears when correlating Brady scores with FBI violent crime rates. Only six states, plus D.C., scored over 50 (on a scale of 100). All but one of Bradyâ€™s â€œtop 7â€ restrict law-abiding citizens from carrying concealed handguns. Bradyâ€™s â€œbestâ€ averaged a violent crime rate of 577.3 and a Brady score of 64.1. Bradyâ€™s nine â€œworstâ€ all received a score under 6, and all have liberal concealed carry laws (also called â€œright-to-carryâ€). They averaged a violent crime rate of 398.1â€“â€“45.0% lower than Bradyâ€™s â€œbestâ€ statesâ€“â€“and a Brady score of 3.4.

Says a lot, I think. Howard does a lot of great analysis, and this is definitely in that category.

I Will Welcome Rendell’s Departure

Republican or Democrat, at least we won’t have Ed Rendell to kick around anymore after 2010, or maybe that’s the other way around. Go see Capitol Ideas for the Guv’s latest delusions of grandeur. HeÂ thinks we’re lucky to have Obama, and, of course, him. Because he gets this whole green thing. Unless, of course, by green you mean money. If the budget crisis of Ed’s making wasn’t proof enough that Rendell either skipped Econ 101 or slept through it, he also believes we’re not paying enough for milk. Price controls? What could possibly go wrong?

Hat Tip to Grassroots PA for the milk thing.

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

From an AP story on the shooting of four SWAT officers:

A gunman opened fire early Thursday on a SWAT team that burst into a home during a drug and gun raid, wounding four officers while spraying bullets from atop a staircase, authorities said. One officer was critically wounded.

Contrasted with:

He was charged with four counts of attempted murder, as well illegal weapons possession and receiving stolen property. The .357 Magnum used to shoot the officers was reported stolen from South Carolina, Ford said.

Now, I suppose it’s possible they got .357 Magnum confused with .357 SIG, but one wonders how a six shot revolver sprays bullets. I think getting it right is important here, because by reporting it incorrectly, the AP fails to convey just how dangerous this individual was. The story makes it seem like he was just shooting wildly and got lucky.

He shot four police officers, in full body armor, with guns drawn and ready, at night, with a six shot revolver. Â He seriously wounded one with a head shot, wounded another in the foot, and landed two chest shots which were stopped by the officers’ body armor.Â That, folks, is a dangerous individual who has some serious gunfighting skills. Given the kind of crap he was involved in, the officers involved deserve a lot of praise for getting this guy off the streets. He didn’t just land lucky shots spraying wildly. If this guy had confronted non-SWAT officers, he probably would have killed somebody. Â The most seriously wounded officer, the one shot in the head, seems to be doing fine, and is expected to recover, though he may lose an eye due to the path of the bullet.

More Fight in California

With Nordyke’s En Banc hearing happening as we speak, there’s more going on in the Golden State that will have serious consequences. California is essentially on the verge of making it virtually impossible to remain there and still be a competitive shooter, hunter, or other type of enthusiast.

Sitting on the Governator’s desk are two bills, one to outlaw gun shows at cow palace, SB585, and the other to create a detailed regulatory and registration system for ammo that will ban internet sales, AB962. Â See this flyer about telling Schwarzenegger to veto these bills.

Howard Nemerov is reporting that Cabela’s is getting on board pressuring the Governor by saying they will stop selling ammunition in California if this is signed into law. I suspect a lot other ammo vendors will too, as the costs to comply with this are going to be high. Â This isn’t a lost cause, as Schwarzenegger has been willing to veto similar bills in the past, so he might help us out here. But folks need to call.

Apples and Oranges

Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign, notices the Calguns Foundation wants access to information on the type of gun used in a crime that resulted in the death of four police officers in Oakland, and wonders why we can’t all just get along and agree that ATF should be allowed to share trace data. Â Only problem is, ATF doesn’t want to share trace data. Â I would also argue there’s a big difference between wanting to know what kind of gun is used in a specific crime, and wanting access to an entire database of law enforcement sensitive information so that you can read the tea leaves, and postulate.

Calguns is fighting for this information because the shooting is being used as the impetus for even more restrictions on the Second Amendment in California, and the types of weapons used is a key component to the political fight. I wouldn’t blame the Brady’s, if the situation were reversed, from trying to get a hold of relevant information. I might still oppose it just because they are the opposition, but they would at least have a point if they called foul on us trying to stop it after we did the same thing. But I don’t think it’s a good analogy to trace data. That’s an animal of a different stripe.

Gun Rights Advancing in Delaware

New Castle County is considering a Katrina bill, and it goes to show how it doesn’t take much to make a change to government at the local level:

Tansey is not a gun owner himself, but says he was approached by Brandt Farley, a constituent active in the National Rifle Association who pointed out what he believes are shortcomings in the county code.

Farley, who also owns First State Firearms, said language that gives the county executive the right to place “limitations upon the carrying or stockpiling of firearms, weapons or ammunition” is out of step with state and federal statutes.

“Delaware state law prevents other municipalities from passing patchwork gun laws,”Â Farley said.

“The concern is that what happened during [Hurricane] Katrina in New Orleans, where Louisiana passed a law that prohibited the accumulation of guns, doesn’t happen here,” Tansey said.

One guy, and they are looking to change the law. I hope we see more of this, particularly with the Bloomberg mayors.

Scranton Looks to Challenge State Preemption Laws

It looks like the Scranton City Council wants to hop on board with the effort to end Pennsylvania’s preemption on local gun laws with a lost and stolen requirement. What’s different about this case is that it would be the first city with a mayor who is not in Bloomberg’s anti-gun coalition to pass this illegal law. Of the nine cities that have passed it and the one that passed a resolution in support of it, all have mayors who are supporters of Mike Bloomberg’s initiatives.

With the mayor of Scranton running for Governor, this may not be the kind of attention he wants for the town. It would be wise for gun owners in the city to get him on their side, as well as call all of the Council members listed in the ILA alert.

Month: September 2009