2009 – Page 63 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Time to Put My Money where My Mouth Is

With all of our coverage of Mayor Bloomberg’s work with the Brady Campaign to protect and promote anti-gun local politicians, it’s time to keep up the pressure. Last month I made a donation to NRA that was designated for their media programs to turn up the heat through the media. I guess you could say that heat has been appropriately raised. Bloomberg’s numbers are down, mayors are giving us dirt on his questionable practices of how they were unknowingly signed up for the campaign, and his professional staff have been outed as Brady Campaign representatives.

But it’s clear that Bloomberg is digging in, and we need to do the same. So with that I’ve picked two programs for donations to help NRA keep fighting this battle.

The first is obvious, it’s the Institute for Legislative Action in recognition of their postcard mailing and political work on the effort to get more mayors to leave the coalition. This is fundamentally a political fight because these mayors may be the next crop of regional, statewide, and federal gun control leaders.

The second donation goes to the Freedom Action Foundation. This new Foundation fund is focused on non-partisan and non-political fundamental outreach that can ultimately support the other fights. The money donated to the fund will help identify those who aren’t registered to vote and show them why it’s important. If we’re going to oust these mayors from office, keep them from climbing to higher political office, or swaying federal and state lawmakers, we need to make sure more gun owners are registered to vote. You’d be surprised if you checked voter registration records how many gun owners are not registered to vote. But, once registered, the likely voter rate is quite high. So if we can get these men and women signed up, we can hope they get involved with ILA to find out what’s going on in their districts.

If you want to turn up the heat on these mayors and other politicians, I hope you’ll choose to give to one of these funds. Donations to ILA are not deductible, but donations to the Freedom Action Fund are.

All It Takes is One Moment of Stupidity

And gun owners everywhere look like reckless jackasses. Â The media is quick to pick up on it, and then you have the Brady Campaign. Â From the OpenCarry forum:

An AD happened near the end of the picnic while a non-CPL holder was unloading his firearm so he could enter his vehicle lawfully.Â He was at the Picnic with some friends and family earlier in the day.Â This person is not a member of MOC, Inc.

This is why Michigan needs to allow any person that can lawfully own a handgun to carry it loaded in their vehicle.Â The less a person has to handle their firearm the less chance for an AD.

This is also a cautionary tale to always be careful when handling any firearm.Â It should be noted that the firearm was pointed in a safe direction (the ground) when it was fired.

That and the info in the article is all I know of at this time.

I wouldn’t call it an accidental discharge. Guns don’t go off if you don’t pull the trigger. ND, or negligent discharge, is the appropriate description. Â I agree that laws that encourage gun handling are bad, but that doesn’t excuse unsafe gun handling. We’re fortunate in this case that he only broke one of the four rules, and no one was hurt.

Open Carry people represent us all when they do what they do. If you’re going to take on that responsibility, it would be nice if it were treated like a responsibility.

Stroudsburg Mayor Baughman Buying Snow Job

The Mayor of Stroudsburg is standing by Bloomberg, with some helpful cover by the Pocono Record. Bitter and I have been working closely with Dan of PAFOA on this project, and we’re happy to see our results get noticed by the media, but the rest is going to be up to the grassroots. Let’s see what The Pocono Record is saying:

Founded in 2006 by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and funded primarily by Bloomberg, MAIG works with law enforcement agencies and advocacy groups and operates by the following principles:

Target and hold accountable irresponsible gun dealers who break the law by knowingly selling guns to straw purchasers.

Oppose all federal efforts to restrict cities’ right to access, use and share trace data essential to effective enforcement, or interfere with the ability of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to combat illegal gun trafficking.

Develop and use technologies that aid in the detection and tracing of illegal guns.

Support all local state and federal legislation that targets illegal guns; coordinate legislative, enforcement and litigation strategies; and share information and best practices.

Invite other cities to join in this new national effort.

As we’ve pointed out on the blog here, and in the latest bombshell on MAIG’s associations with other gun control groups, this is a complete snow job on the part of Bloomberg’s coalition. They support going after illegal guns by making more guns illegal, and more of the types of transactions law abiding people do illegal. They are a gun control group. There can be no doubting that at this point. Â That’s why this assertion by MAIG has no credibility at this point:

MAIG on its Web site corrects some misperceptions others have of the coalition:

MAIG is not against all guns and supports the Second Amendment, as well as practical, constitutional policies to keep guns away from criminals.

MAIG does not oppose concealed-carry permits allowing people to carry guns on their persons or in their vehicles.

The Record then goes on to say that they just don’t support reciprocity, which would allow us to carry guns on their person and in their vehicles in other states which allow some form of concealed carry. If MAIG is so in favor of concealed and vehicle carry, is Mayor Bloomberg going to pass a law allowing me to do so in New York City? How is opposing legislation that expands my right to carry supporting the Second Amendment? Â Bloomberg is opposing efforts relating to being able to transport guns on Amtrak so hunters and shooters could consider travel by rail to go to competitions and on hunting trips. How is that supporting the Second Amendment?

“If you’re asking whether I’m considering quitting my membership with MAIG, the answer is no,” Baughman said. “But, if I’m ever presented with factual, convincing information that the coalition truly doesn’t support the best interests of those protected under the Second Amendment, then I would think differently. So far, I haven’t come across or been presented with any such information.”

I just presented you with such information. Â The question is does Mayor Baughman want to listen? Not if gun owners don’t make him listen. Regardless of what Mayor Baughman wants to believe, he’s standing along side gun control advocates, and we will remember that come election day. We’ll make sure of that.

Criminal Trespass = Civil Disobedience?

The Philadelphia Daily News couldn’t be more thrilled:

The civil disobedience followed weeks of discussions with Colosimo’s in which activists urging the store to accept a voluntary 10-point code of conduct that was created by a national coalition of mayors, including Mayor Nutter. The code was aimed at preventing gun traffickers from hiding their identities by using intermediaries — the kind of purchases Colosimo now is charged with allowing. (Demonstrators were acquitted of misdemeanor charges in May.)

They are speaking of this civil disobedience. Congratulations, Heeding God’s Call, you convinced the feds to take him down. Easy target. He was an old man who doesn’t want to fight anymore. But you can bet they will try this with other Philadelphia gun shops, in an attempt to get them closed down too. Any gun shop near a major city that does any volume of business is going to end up selling some guns that are used in crimes. That’s a given. Any gun shop that does any volume of business is going to have some record keeping anomalies. They know this. They will try again.

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.