SayUncle notes that Goldman Sachs execs seem to be getting pistol permits in New York City. Good thing they are rich bank execs, because a New York City pistol permit costs 170 bucks every three years. Now, if they want a license to carry a gun, they have to be connected, but no doubt a wealthy bank exec will have no trouble. Ordinary Joes might have a lot more.
Month: December 2009
Another MAIG Mayor Convicted
Mayor Shiela Dixon of Baltimore is among the latest criminal members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. She was stealing gift cards from the poor. She beat the felony rap, but was convicted of fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary.
Clearly we need to do something about keeping illegal guns out of the hands of Mayors Against Illegal Guns!
Lautenberg Introduces PROTECT Act
Press release here. He’s calling for NICS audit records to be kept for 10 years if your name happens to match up to someone or some alias on the terrorist watch list, which as we know would have been the late Senator Kennedy. For the rest of us lucky folks, the records will only be kept for half a year. You will have no way of knowing that you’re on the list, or that your purchase records are being kept and scrutinized by the government. Not being a Senator, you will also have no way of getting the name off the list. Lautenberg is also reporting some misleading information about how the NICS system currently operates:
The 24-hour destruction requirement hinders the FBI’s ability to verify that gun dealers are conducting background checks properly and to retrieve guns from those who are prohibited from having them.
The destruction requirement only applies to records that have been cleared by NICS. In other words, only for people who have no criminal record. In addition, it only requires that identifying information be destroyed. For the purposes of verifying that a background check was conducted, the system is permitted to store an anonymized identifying token, which can allow matching to the number provided on ATF Form 4473 for purposes of verifying the dealers are conducting the background checks properly.
This is another one of those things there can be no negotiation on. NICS is not to be used as a backdoor registry for firearms. Its purpose is to conduct background checks on sales, and the standard should be a an up or down answer within a reasonable amount of time. Can you imagine the response if this proposal was for logging and keeping track of abortions?
Making a Buck
I noticed that the NRA Blog is being highlighted over at Ammoland.com, which includes a short interview. I’ll be honest, I’m not really sure what I think about Ammoland.com, but I checked them out when they first got on my radar. It seems to be operated by an Internet marketing and e-commerce company known as Sure Solutions Inc, located in Manasquan, New Jersey.
I’m not against people making a buck, or people commercializing their blogs, by any stretch. But I’m not sure what to think about someone’s who’s primary motivate would seem to be profit. I’m not against profit, we have a lot of folks out there who make a living in the issue, like Jim Shepherd of the Outdoor Wire whose online network includes Rich Grassi at  Tactical Wire, and Tammy Sapp with Women’s Outdoor Wire. Also J.R. Absher of the Outdoor Pressroom, or Michael Bane of Downrange TV. While these are folks who are in the business and making a living, they are also well known within the outdoor and gun rights community, and have long participated in the culture. I know when the Indians come to attack the wagon train, they’ll be fighting right there along side me.
I would not go so far as to say we shouldn’t welcome Ammoland.com into our community, but I question what their interest is in our issue besides making a buck. Our community has been under continuous attack for decades, and when it comes time to circle the wagons, can we depend on people who are just in it for the money?
Animal Rights Groups Oppose Valley Forge Culling
The Wildlife Society Blog points out that animal rights groups are suing NPS to prevent a deer culling at Valley Forge National Park. Apparently they have never driven through the park. There are way, way too many deer in Valley Forge National Park. On any given day, I would say I see more deer than people.
I do not approve of the methods that the NPS is employing to thin the population. I would much prefer that NPS use local hunters, as we have been doing in various township in my area. But something has to be done about the deer population in the park. It is obviously out of control for anyone who spends any time there. It’s particularly obnoxious that it’s a Connecticut based group that’s filing the suit. I would encourage anyone who ends up with a damaged car or hurt in an accident to send the animal rights whack jobs the bill.
NJ One-Gun-A-Month Fixes
A bill has been introduced to fix all the problems with New Jersey’s gun rationing scheme, namely to allow exceptions for retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers, and also to allow exceptions for police, and for inheritance.
The sponsor of the measure is none other than Fred Madden, who is responsible for this mess in the first place. While I appreciate he’s trying, like a petulant child, to wash the crayon of the wall, it’s not going to prevent his punishment from being meted out next election day.
Brady Act Turns Sixteen
The Brady Campaign is celebrating 16 years of the Brady Act. I think it would indeed be a good time to reflect on the Brady Act. The fight for the Brady Act was longer than most people today realize. The first Brady Bill was introduced in Congress in February of 1987, by Ohio Representative Ed Feighan and Senator Howard Metzenbaum. Feighan did not stand for re-election in 1994, probably due to his involvement in the House banking scandal. Metzenbaum left the Senate in 1995, and was replaced by a Republican, who defeated Metzenbaum’s son-in-law.
The Brady Act didn’t pass the House of Representatives until 1991. That version required a seven day waiting period on handguns. The excuse for the waiting period was so that local law enforcement would have time to conduct a background check. NRA became very fearful the votes were there in the Senate to pass the Brady Bill there too, so that’s when they hatched the “instant check” language, and tried to get it attached to the Senate bill, but failed. Compromise language was worked out where the waiting period would be reduced, and would no longer apply once an instant background check was feasible. At this point, the Brady Bill started to take the form of what was eventually passed. This “remodeled” Brady Bill passed the Senate in 1991, but the conference version died when there wasn’t enough votes to end debate on the measure. It wasn’t until November 14, 1993 that Congress passed the final Brady Act, with it being signed into law on November 30th, 1993. The law did not go into effect until February 28th of 1994.
It’s not widely known, but a significant aspect of the Brady Act was actually found to be unconstitutional, though not on Second Amendment grounds, but rather federalism grounds (1oth Amendment). The Brady requirement here was at issue:
A chief law enforcement officer to whom a transferor has provided notice pursuant to paragraph (1)(A)(i)(III) shall make a reasonable effort to ascertain within 5 business days whether receipt or possession would be in violation of the law, including research in whatever State and local recordkeeping systems are available and in a national system designated by the Attorney General.
The Sheriff of Ravalli County, Montana, Jay Printz (now an NRA Board member, BTW), and the Sheriff of Graham County, Arizona, Richard Mack, filed suit in federal court over this provision of the Brady Act, arguing that the federal government did not have the authority under the Constitution to commandeer state and local officials to administer a federal program. The case was Printz v. United States once it reached the Supreme Court, and was argued by Steven Halbrook. BTW, the Attorney for Richard Mack was someone I’m sure we all know well.
The practical effect of Printz on the Brady Act was negligible, since it left in place the waiting period. The ruling just meant the local law enforcement was simply not required to conduct any background check despite the language in federal law, and is considered to be a major victory for federalism and the Tenth Amendment.
The original Brady waiting period expired on November 30th, 1998, when the National Instant Background Check System went online. A lot of hard liners are still bitter about NRA pushing NICS, but had NRA not done that, you’d still have a five day waiting period for purchasing guns, in addition to local law enforcement knowing about every gun you buy, and doing Lord knows what with that information other than running a background check. NICS is far from the ideal system, but the alternative was worse. There was no alternate universe where we were going to defeat the Brady Act outright, and I think, for the most part, the NICS is a reasonable compromise.
NSSF Alerts on Transportation Proposal
I received an alert from NSSF on a bill before Congress that could potentially impact ammunition manufacturers in an adverse way. The Bill is a transportation safety bill known as H.R. 4016. The way the bill is currently written, it could potentially introduce serious delays into the supply chain for ammunition manufacturers, since several ammunition components are obviously hazardous materials.
NSSF is advocating for an amendment to the bill, offered by Representative Sam Graves from Missouri, that would, according to NSSF, “help protect the shipment of materials necessary for the manufacturing of ammunition. Without the Graves Amendment, the rate of production will slip, perhaps precipitously.”
The essential weakness with this bill is that it does not outline clear standards for DOT to measure the suitability of manufacturers to ship hazardous materials. Representative Graves’ amendment will force DOT to establish clear standards through the rule making process, which allows for public comment and input from affected parties, including ammunition manufacturers, and should help prevent arbitrary decision making on the part of the Department of Transportation that could essentially cause ammunition manufacturing to grind to a halt.
NSSF is asking folks to contact Congressman James Oberstar, who is the Chairman of the Transportation Committee, and urge him to support the Graves Amendment. Time is of the essence, since Oberstar has indicated that he’s going to bring this bill up for consideration in the Transportation Committee soon. The number for his DC office is (202) 225-6211.
The GOP Finally has a Contender!
But he’s a zombie, so try not to kill him. I’m looking at you, JD.
Editorial Love Still Shows the Weakening Arguments
The anti-gun groups are all touting this editorial at the LA Times that they no doubt love. But for all the people who want to claim Heller a defeat, you will notice that they concede that handgun prohibition is off the table, and America’s gun culture is unlikely to change. But short of that they bring up the usual canards, about licensing guns like we license drivers, even though we generally already do, and the current push for closing the so-called “gun show loophole.” But they are now forced to making their arguments from a weaker position. Fifteen years ago, I don’t think you’d see too many major media outlets claiming “there are few gun laws that could have prevented the tragedy short of a blanket ban on handguns, and the Supreme Court last year ruled that Washington, D.C.’s handgun ban was unconstitutional.”
We still have a lot of work to do, and we’re hardly safe from the predations of anti-gun groups, but I actually loved that the LA times had to concede that.