Boy, the tears must be flowing over at the Brady headquarters this week. First, they discover that rap and rock musicians sometimes embrace violence. After that, they learn that references to firearms are common in the vernacular. And now they find out that Obama has included the Tiahrt Amendment in his budget.
Month: February 2010
Cure for Optimism
I found the cure for that pesky case of Optimism you’ve been fighting since Scott Brown’s election. It was on the front page of Politico this morning:
Does it Include a Beaver?
An environmental group has come up with a headline-grabbing attention whore scheme innovative new way to address the issues of endangered animals and human overpopulation that will be sure to show tangible results.
The solution to these major problems? Condoms with endangered animal-themed packages.
Because clearly some guy in need of a condom fast is going to take the time to think about the merits of the overpopulation concerns and how humans impact the environment of the endangered Fresno Kangaroo Rat.
Real Life Politics
In case it’s not obvious from the last serious post, it’s time for real life politics to start in high gear. Here in the Keystone State, 10 of our 19 Congressional districts have been rated by Cook as reasonably competitive. Surprisingly, even our own home base district is more competitive even though the county GOP is seemingly trying to destroy any goodwill with voters it might have left.
I’ve managed to organize a meeting of upper level activists from across Eastern PA (plus NUGUN who is technically closer to the middle) in a couple of weeks to lay down ideas/tips/strategy for the upcoming election season.
Candidates are still declaring and still dropping out. We’re now up to 10 known pro-gun retirements in Harrisburg with fewer than half that for anti-gunners. Gun owners in Pennsylvania are even losing one of their most powerful allies – the Speaker of the House.
Contrary to the hype and buzz online, there’s not going to be one iota of change in our favor this year if people don’t step up. Talking about on the internet does not actually make it happen at the ballot box.
On the other hand, I am also in the process of trying to track down every candidate on Twitter and Facebook. I try to keep an eye on them in case they say anything stupid or anti-gun, but I suppose I’m being redundant.
Visualizing a Freeze
Obama’s plan to freeze some spending someday in the future sounds like a nice talking point for those voters who don’t really pay attention to the details. Here’s a video to show those folks just how hollow that promise really is:
By the way, I’ll admit that I was a little sad those weren’t jello shots.
State Authorities in NH Screw Up Royally
Basic gist of it is, a guy gets a domestic restraining order slapped on him. His guns were consigned to a local FFL who was trying to sell them on his behalf. Local authorities went to the FFL, and seized the guns:
Krajenka said he simply was following Judge Paul H. Lawrence’s order out of Goffstown District Court.
“The court ordered the weapons to be taken. The weapons were taken,” Krajenka said.
And while Hillsborough County Attorney Robert Walsh insists Krajenka acted appropriately — especially in light of a domestic murder/suicide in Manchester last fall, in which guns should have been seized but were not — firing-range owner James L. McLoud has filed in court against the chief demanding the guns be immediately returned to him.
No, they were not taken appropriately. Legally they were in the custody of the FFL, and they were in his possession under federal law. I would file a Lost/Theft report with ATF, and let them sort the problem out.
Krajenka threatened to arrest him at his business, McLoud said, adding that he was tempted to get arrested to prove a point.
“(Krajenka) was very rude and disrespectful,” McLoud said. “I said, ‘You’re in my place of business. You need to shut your mouth.'”
McLoud hired Concord attorney Jason Major to argue in Goffstown District Court, in what is known as a writ of replevin, that the weapons should be returned to McLoud immediately.
“(Murphy) has the right to get (85 percent of) the money if they sell, but from a legal point of view, the guns are not leaving the range until someone passes a federal background check,” Major said.
“From our point of view, the guns were in the inventory of the company and under federal law couldn’t be returned Michael Murphy,” he said.
I’ve shot at Manchester Firing Line, actually, and is a very nice range. Kudos to the proprietor for standing up for himself. He’s in the legal right on this one and will win. I wouldn’t be surprised if a federal civil rights suit isn’t filed thereafter, since the seizure would have been a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights. Krajenka acted under color of law here.
Debate over Home Protection in Western New York
While the rest of the country is busy giving homeowners more leeway, it would seem the Buffalo, New York media is trying to stir a debate about whether home defense with deadly force should be allowed at all:
Cherry, a soft-spoken and polite Army veteran, said he was protecting himself from a home burglary at about 11:20 a.m. Jan. 21, when he fired 15 shots from a military-style assault rifle at the vehicle of a fleeing intruder.
OK, that’s a legitimate prosecutable offense, and the fact that it was his step-daughter probably isn’t going to play well in front of a jury. But this shouldn’t be a debate, and I see no reason to drag other, legitimate home defense cases in with this one:
• Willie J. Carson, 52, shot Parrish C. Spencer Jr., 22, in the chest Jan. 20, after the younger man broke into Carson’s 25th Street home and went upstairs, Niagara Falls police said.
No charges have been filed against Carson, but police have said the case has been turned over to the Niagara County district attorney’s office for further investigation.
• An 82-year-old Niagara Falls man, apparently scared and confused after a group of teens attempted to break into his home Jan. 15, fired one shotgun blast at police after they entered the home and found him hiding behind a closed door.
No one was hit, and the elderly man was not charged.
• Charles E. Gidney Sr., an off-duty Buffalo police officer, shot and killed one intruder, Reno D. Sayles, 36, and seriously wounded another inside his Buffalo home last April 22.
In his statement to police, Gidney said he grabbed his handgun, pointed it at the two men, one wearing a ski mask, and ordered them to “freeze.” Instead, they rushed at him, and he fired several shots, he said.
With the exception of the old man mistakenly shooting at police, all of these look pretty legitimate, even for New York. Fortunately, the Buffalo News goes on to describe the legal distinctions when it comes to using deadly force to defend the home. I think it’s OK for papers to cover this, but it’s not really a “debate” per se. I would find it hard to believe juries even in New York will convict people for shooting home invaders. Shooting at someone fleeing is a different matter.
I Think the Brady Folks are Losing It
I’m wondering if the Brady folks are on some new campaign to try to court old people or something, first, channeling Tipper Gore, railing against the music industry, and now complaining about those damned commercials on Television. Perhaps Paul will start a lecture series on how you can make sure those damned kids stay off your lawn without chasing them off by menacing them with a gun (Preferred Brady alternative, a cane, a cane). It’s OK, Paul, we all get old sometime, and it does sure beat the alternative. For the record, here’s what has Bradys panties in a bunch:
The advertisement sort of references a gun chamber!
In the ad, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant give us their best “I’m tough” look and the ad reads “Prepare For Combat.” On Kobe Bryant’s side of the advertisement, Bryant says “I’ll do whatever it takes to win games, I don’t leave anything in the chamber.”
The “chamber” comment references the area of a gun where bullets are stored prior to release.
Next up on the Brady agenda… attacking firearms metaphors. Let’s think of a few that will clearly upset them:
- Hit the nail on the head.
- Go off half cocked.
- Like shooting fish in a barrel.
- He’s a real straight shooter.
- Shooting the breeze?
- Shooting the messenger!
Hot damn, the American vernacular is just full of shooting metaphors. Clearly the Brady Campaign has a lot of important work ahead of them on this matter.
An International Human Right?
I would have said the chances are slim, but even the Washington Post is covering the possibility of a gun rights movement in India:
When gunmen attacked 10 sites in Mumbai in November 2008, including two five-star hotels and a train station, Mumbai resident Kumar Verma sat at home glued to the television, feeling outraged and unsafe.
Before the end of December, Verma and his friends had applied for gun licenses. He read up on India’sgun laws and joined the Web forum Indians for Guns. When he got his license seven months later, he bought a black, secondhand, snub-nose Smith & Wesson revolver with a walnut grip.
It’ll be interesting if India turns out to be a major front in the international battle to get other governments to recognize their people have the right to effective tools needed to defend their lives and liberty against predation, like we saw in the Mumbai attacks.
Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates Target Gun Owners
Most voters don’t spend Friday night tuned into PCN – Pennsylvania’s version of C-SPAN – to watch coverage of small political events. Perhaps that’s what the Democratic gubernatorial candidates were counting on when they debated at the Pennsylvania Progressive Summit. Hoping gun owners, especially those registered as Democrats, wouldn’t find out, each of the candidates pledged to support more restrictions on your rights.
Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato started the series of gun control promises by calling for a statewide so-called “lost and stolen” law. He apparently doesn’t mind that the legislation would change the justice system into one in which gun owners are guilty until proven innocent. Prosecutors could financially ruin gun owners as they try to prove themselves innocent. Onorato continued by pledging to support “child safety locks,” though he declined to explain whether his version of the legislation would mandate the sale of locks to increase gun prices or challenge the ruling of Heller by forcing gun owners to lock their guns at home. Finally, Onorato unveiled his most controversial plan for gun control – ending state preemption in Pennsylvania.
Under Onorato’s dismantling of state authority on gun laws, concealed carry permit holders could be arrested if they visit Philadelphia. Hunters heading to their favorite tree stand in the next county may find that their favorite hunting rifles are banned. Every time a gun owner crosses a city limit, he or she may be in violation of a local ordinance that could lead to arrest and cost them their rights.
Of course, Onorato told reporters at his campaign launch that any perception of a pro-rights record was a “mischaracterization.” I don’t think most gun owners would have realized how much of mischaracterization that really was!
Next, Auditor General Jack Wagner dodged most state policy issues on gun rights – save one. Unfortunately for gun owners, it was a very, very big issue. Wagner, while claiming to support the Second Amendment, stated his support for a ban on semi-automatic rifles. These are not machine guns, but average rifles that gun owners often take into the field for hunting or to the range for competition. He did not explain whether his support for such a ban would include confiscation for those already owned.
Third in line, Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty joined Onorato in his support of ending state preemption. In fact, this was actually the priority pledge in his debate response. Clearly, he hasn’t heard that a recent poll showed 56% of Pennsylvanians support preemption of gun laws. His other priority, should he take office, is to restrict sales of guns to only one per month. Collectors would no longer be allowed to by matching sets. The only way to track such sales would also mean the formal creation of a gun owner registry in Pennsylvania.
Finally, Joe Hoeffel, the candidate running farther left than most of the others kept his answer as essentially all of the above. Specifically, he named these priorities: gun sales limits (and presumably the registry needed to track such sales), lost and stolen legislation, mandatory locks (though again without clarification on whether this applies to sales or storage), and the end of state preemption. In addition to the previously discussed issues, Hoeffel also supports a ban on private sales of firearms in Pennsylvania. Selling the rifle that collects dust in the back of the safe to a trusted family member will become a criminal act in Pennsylvania if Joe Hoeffel has his way.
Gun owners, particularly those who are registered as Democrats, need to speak out to these candidates. The primary race is close, and there is no clear winner. Make sure these candidates know that their support of gun control will cost them votes at the ballot box.
Cross posted from PAGunRights.com.