Month: December 2009

NRA is reporting some interested progress in the Defense Appropriations Rider:

Section 8019 of the bill reads: “None of the funds available to the Department of Defense may be used to demilitarize or dispose of M-1 Carbines, M-1 Garand rifles, M-14 rifles, .22 caliber rifles, .30 caliber rifles, or M-1911 pistols, or to demilitarize or destroy small arms ammunition or ammunition components that are not otherwise prohibited from commercial sale under Federal law, unless the small arms ammunition or ammunition components are certified by the Secretary of the Army or designee as unserviceable or unsafe for further use.”

NRA-ILA would like to thank U.S. Representative John Murtha (D-PA) for his help in getting the rider restored and expanded.

Murtha might be a bastard on other issues, and a King of Pork, but he’s always been good on the Second Amendment. It’s interesting that it preserves M14s too, since those are select-fire rifles, and are not transferrable to civilians, but I’m wondering if NRA is thinking they can get them released to CMP for conversion into semi-automatic M1A rifles. This would violate ATF’s current “once a machine gun always a machine gun” policy, but that can be dealt with via congressional action.

I’m also wondering if this would allow surplus of military ammunition to civilian shooters. But to be honest, even just releasing military surplus to police agencies would be a big benefit to civilian shooters, since it would help satisfy at least some of the overall demand for military calibers.

The Verona-Cedar Grove Times is questioning whether gun buybacks which offer larger sums of money, like $200, might be encouraging thieves to steal more firearms. I think it’s a reasonable supposition, but I’d be surprised if the effect is that great, considering what other things you can steal that are worth more than 200 dollars, and also require breaking into homes. Plus, a gun on the streets is worth more than the buyback amount.

I don’t think the buybacks do much to control crime, since most of the people giving them up are homeowners who just don’t want them anymore. I’d have little problem if the police only destroyed the junk, and sold the guns that were of curios or otherwise valuable to collectors. They might not be effective at stopping crime, but I don’t see them as particularly problematic constitutionally as long as it’s voluntary. Whether it’s a wise use of money and police resources is another story.

According to Fox, a Montgomery County judge seems to be taking a stab at creating his own gun registry for reality stars.

A Montgomery County judge issues a court order after Jon Gosselin is seen shooting a loaded gun at his Berks County house.

Judge Arthur Tilson issued the court order Thursday in Norristown, Pa., after Jon Gosselin was photographed on Wednesday in Wernersville, Pa., shooting a .38 pistol on his property.

The judge also ordered Gosselin to register his pistol at a new address in Pennsylvania within 90 days.

Media sites caught Gosselin, 32, carrying the gun and then shooting it on the vast property at the estate owned by Jon and Kate Gosselin.

The problem for Judge Tilson is that registries of gun owners are illegal in Pennsylvania. (Yes, we have the issue with a registry of sales, but that’s not the topic in this case.) One lowly Montgomery County judge cannot singlehandedly create one by court order.

It does not appear that Jon was doing anything illegal or dangerous, as press accounts indicate their property is quite large. And I can attest that the area is quite rural since we drive through Wernersville when visiting Sebastian’s dad. (Fortunately, we have avoided catching sight of Jon, Kate, and all of their 8.)

Unfortunately for Jon, reports indicate that he’s broke and can’t pay an attorney to challenge this judge. However, I can’t really see what force of law the judge would have to enforce an order that’s unconstitutional.