January 2010 – Page 5 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Another Opportunity for Reasoned Discourse

Looks like Heeding God’s Call is getting their new media game on with a shiny new Facebook page, where for now people can comment freely. If arguing the religious and philosophical basis for self-defense isn’t your thing, CeaseFire PA also has a Facebook group, and it’s all “Lost and Stolen” all the time over there. Well, assuming there was any discussion, which so far it doesn’t appear that there is.

I don’t expect these to be open discussion forums for long. Our experience with gun control new media projects is that when they are overwhelmed by pro-gun arguments, they quickly decide that stifling the opposition viewpoint is really the best means to their ends.

From Canada of All Places

At least someone out there understand what’s wrong with Frank Luntz’s poll. This editorial debunks the article I linked to yesterday by Luntz himself.

ANRPC Looking for Gun Permit Rationing

It’s a little known provision of New Jersey’s one-gun-a-month law that it doesn’t apparently allow the police to ration purchase permits; according to New Jersey law, you can still apply for as many purchase permits as you want, you just may not use them to buy more than one gun in a month time period. This was a key element of ANJRPC’s lawsuit. Nonetheless, there are reports that police departments are rationing permits anyway, and now ANJRPC is looking for some help:

We are looking for anyone who has applied for more than one permit to purchase a handgun and has been told by their police department that they may only apply for one permit per month.

Please contact us immediately to let us know. Email toÂ defendfreedom at earthlink dot net

So if you know someone, or are someone over in Jersey, who this applies to, be sure to contact ANJRPC. I suspect they are looking for some cases to bolster their lawsuit.

Lead and Bald Eagles

I am willing to believe that lead poisoning is a serious issue for wildlife, but I’d be skeptical of automatically blaming lead shot. This article on lead poisoning by bald eagles is interesting, but there are key details I’d want to know that the article doesn’t explore:

When an eagle was found near Ferryville it was apparent that there was something wrong, so the Wisconsin DNR took the bird to Dr. Laura Johnson.

Dr. Johnson says, “She was having seizures, she was really wobbly. Those are really classic signs of lead poisoning.”

With the help from a Gundersen Lutheran pharmacist Dr. Johnson was able to get a hold of an antidote and started treatments.

Unfortunately, most eagles found with lead poisoning aren’t so lucky.

The questions to ask here would be:

Were blood levels of lead tested for the bird? Or was the diagnosis made solely the basis of symptoms?
If the blood levels were tested, are we sure the lead contamination is a result of ingesting shot?
How common is lead poisoning by shot in birds, and does it have a detrimental effect on populations?

Humans have been using lead shot for hundreds of years. Why only now is it a wildlife holocaust? Obviously the Bald Eagle managed to recover the entire time while humans were using lead shot, and given the decline in hunting, it would seem to me that this should be a less serious problem than now. I’m willing to accept that lead shot is a problem, but I’ve seen no good science to show that’s the case yet.

Hayek vs. Kenyes Smackdown

If you want more of this, I strongly suggest reading some Russ Roberts novels. Yes, novels. He writes novels about economics.

Old City Shooting “Victim” Uses Professional PR Help

Do innocent victims need to use professional public relations help? Apparently:

Edward “Eddie” DiDonato Jr., 23, is still in critical condition at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he’s expected to undergo his fourth surgery today, said Gina Furia Rubel, a close friend of the DiDonato family who is acting as their spokeswoman.

“The fact that Eddie is alive is a true miracle,” she said at a news conference held outside the Criminal Justice Center in Center City yesterday.

Rubel, who is also president and chief executive officer of Furia Rubel Communications, a local public-relations and marketing firm, said that DiDonato’s feeding tube has been removed but he still has “a long road ahead.”

Don’t get me wrong, I hope the guy recovers. But Gerald Ung deserves to be tried in a court of law, not a court of public opinion.

Volokh Readers on Netflix?

I noticed that InAlienable is due for release tomorrow, so I immediately added it to our queue and bumped it up to the top. We have a disc they will receive tomorrow, so it would work out perfectly…

Except there must be a lot of Volokh Conspiracy readers on Netflix. That’s got to be why InAlienable went from available tomorrow to “Short Wait.” :)

More on Philadelphia Shooting

The possible self-defense shooting that happened outside of the Fox29 studios I reported a few days ago has a new interesting twist to it. Apparently the shooting victim is related to the Meehan family, which is a prominent Philadelphia family, one of whom is considering a run for Congress in the 7th District in Pennsylvania. That’s not going to help this guy any, that’s for sure.

“I Like Guns” Video Getting Media Coverage Down Under

Looks like the media in Australia is noticing the success of the video, and most importantly, it’s pissing off the right people.

The President of Gun Control Australia, John Crook, said the song was irresponsible for portraying guns as fun and non-violent. “Guns are designed to kill. The gun control laws we have in Australia have only been obtained after thousands of people have been killed.”

I liked the song and video, but having Mr. Crook’s narrative challenged is the real music to my ears.

NRA Motion for Divided Time Granted

I’m a bit surprised, because I thought it was a long shot. But it looks like the Court granted NRA’s motion in today’s orders. But they also denied the State Attorneys General’s motion:

McDONALD, OTIS, ET AL. V. CHICAGO, IL, ET AL. The motion of Texas, et al. for leave to participate in oralÂ argument as amici curiae and for divided argument is denied. The motion of respondents National Rifle Association, Inc., et al. for divided argument is granted. The motion of Law Professor and Students for leave to file a brief as amici curiae is granted.

Does it mean anything that the Court denied the AG’s motion and accepted NRA? I have no idea. But I welcome other people who are familiar with the Supreme Court to comment.