ATF is publishing the whole list now. It would seem to exclude type 03 (C&R) FFLs. But the number is a bit north of 60,000. Josh Sugarmann is in there.
Month: July 2010
Jim Geraghty looks at GOP Fundraising
There’s some good, but he notes that in some of our key races, they are coming up short. Let me highlight the PA candidates:
Mike Kelly looks like he has the skills to be a strong challenger inPennsylvania’s 3rd District. It’s not a terribly expensive district, but a10-to-1 cash-on-hand advantage for incumbent Kathy Dahlkemper is ominous.
In the neighboring 4th District, Jason Altmire is on everybody’s list of vulnerable Democrats to watch, but GOP challenger Keith Rofkus has to make up a 7-to-1 cash-on-hand disadvantage.
In Pennsylvania’s 8th District, I have little doubt that Mike Fitzpatrickwill give incumbent Democrat Patrick Murphy a tough challenge, but he’s still looking at a 3-to-1 cash-on-hand disadvantage.
And in the 10th District, Tom Marino has only about $11,000 on hand, going up against Chris Carney, another incumbent who looks beatable under the right circumstances.
I don’t think money is going to be as important in this election, since the Democrats are doing a bang up job of destroying their brand among likely voters without the GOP having to spend a dime. But the role of money in elections still can’t be discounted. If Altmire holds on to his seat, I won’t be that disaffected, since Altmire has stood up to Pelosi and the White House and voted like a true Blue Dog.
Murphy, on the other hand, might wear the Blue Dog label, but he is no blue dog. But he is an excellent fundraiser, much of it coming from outside the district. Fitz has an uphill battle, since he not only has to overcome Murphy’s cash advantage, but has to overcome a Democratic registration edge in his district. This is a critical election for the 8th District, since if we can’t remove Murphy now, he’ll be dug in like a tick, and will be impossible to remove with the advantage of incumbency.
Post McDonald Gun Boom
I believe it will happen. DC only has half a million people, and options for getting a legal gun are still pretty thin. Chicago and the surrounding communities that once banned guns are closer to 4 million, and gun shops, while not present in the city, are still accessible. Chicagoans who want a legal gun have more options now than DC residents do.
Public Range Good Practices
Tam has some good advice on public ranges, where you’ll, generally speaking, encounter the worst gun handling. I’ve been to public ranges in a few states. Southwestern Virginia was the scariest, in terms of safety, though I’ve had people muzzle me at some of the PA ranges too. Thankfully, the really dangerous types seem to be pretty rare.
But it was the Pennsylvania Public Ranges System where I first encountered a mall ninja in the wild — all black outfit, what looks to be body armor but probably isn’t, black ranger hat, thigh holster, wrap around sunglasses, and tactical shotgun — obviously a skilled and valuable member of Food Court Team Six. It was after that I joined a club, so I can’t say for sure whether this species is becoming a more common sight at public ranges.
Getting on Board?
ACLU has never stuck up for gun rights. There are some state chapters that differ in that regard. I think the times may be a changin’ if this is any indication of things to come. I don’t demand that the ACLU actively push gun rights. It’s a perfectly reasonable position for ACLU to say “If you want to support gun rights, there are better organizations for that, but we recognize it as one of the core American liberties,” that would be fine by me. In cases, like this, where ACLU’s core mission intersects with the right to keep and bear arms, I welcome them to the fight.
More Guns, Less Crime
NRA notes that all the fear mongering from DC and Chicago has not come true:
In 1979, the group now known as the Brady Campaign said “over 50 million handguns flood the houses and streets of our nation. . . . If we continue at this pace, we will have equipped ourselves with more than 100 million handguns by the turn of the century. One hundred million handguns. Will we be safer then?”
Then they note:
Since 1980, the number of handguns has increased 50 percent, and the nation’s murder rate has decreased 52 percent. After Chicago imposed handgun registration in 1968, murders in the city increased.  After D.C. banned handguns in 1976, its murder rate rose 201 percent through 1991, while the U.S. rate increased 12 percent. After Chicago banned handguns in 1982, its murder rate increased 49 percent through 1994, while the U.S. rate decreased one percent. And in the year following the repeal of D.C.’s handgun ban, its murder rate decreased 24 percent. In sum, the number of handguns is at an all-time, and the nation’s murder rate is at a 45-year low.
Sorry guys, you lose, and the nation wins. We get our right preserved and a lower crime rate. There a risk with fear mongering based on flimsy data. You lose credibility when the sky doesn’t fall. That same thing could have been true for NRA too, but anyone who was paying attention knows they were trying to ban guns, and erase the Second Amendment. Even as a teenager, from a non-gun-owning family, Â I knew that.
Top Shot Update
If I were Caleb, my main disappointment about being eliminated last week would have been not getting to do that totally cool shooting gallery. That looked like a lot of fun to me. I think an IHMSA shooter, particularly one practiced in field pistol, would have done well there.
I would note that Kelly has now joined Brad in surviving two elimination challenges, though I am amused that this week it came down to poker playing skills. I can sympathize with Andre, because I am also not a poker player. Andre should be proud though — Kelly is a very good fundamental shooter, and he only barely lost.
I should note that they are looking for season two contestants, as you can see from Gun Pundit and SayUncle. You won’t be seeing me on any future episodes at the going rate. It would take more than 100 grand to get me to do something like that. No way. I’m not going to be a pawn in HDTV drama for that kind of cash. We can start the bidding at a cool million. Then we’ll talk. Even then I’m not sure it’s worth it given I would have like a one in sixteen chance of winning. We might have to talk 8 figures. I’m thinking turbojet aircraft territory here. If I can win a Cessna Citation I might be willing to give up the job and risk it all. I definitely need the upgraded avionics package.
Give them the Raspberry
I think the amusing thing about the Brady reaction to Skoien is that they seem to be most happy that they believe this has taken the jam out of our donut, so to speak. I also notice that Dennis can’t bear to say gun rights without the delegitimizing quotes.
The truth is that we’re going to have setbacks, and looking at things, it would seem the 7th Circuit may fight to the Supreme Court on guns. It’s guaranteed that sister circuits may rule differently. To me the question is how strong the Heller majority is. The 7th circuit may be closed to us, but other circuits are sure to be more obedient, and take the right more seriously. It’s not time for the Brady’s to be giving us the raspberry quite yet.
Real Flying This Time
My friend Jason’s dad has a plane, and since I’ve been scooting around in X-Plane for a few months now, he said any time I wanted to go up, his dad would be happy to take me. So today I took him up on it. While the physical model on a flight simulator might be the same or very similar to a real plane, the experience is completely different.
For one, while I’m confident enough in a simulator, even with fairly large jets, to think clearly and keep my shit together. I was scared timid in a real plane. In fact, my fingers were a little numb because of the death grip I had on the control yoke. We were up for about an hour. Jason’s dad handled takeoff and the final touchdown on the plane, and worked the throttle and prop pitch. I got to handle the controls most of the way. Took off from Trenton, NJ and flew down to the shore, I think around the Asbury Park down toward Avon area. Got a little nervous around there because I started noticing more air traffic.
I didn’t get any pictures after takeoff because I was too busy enjoying the experience. It’s making me think I ought to get a pilot’s license, but I’m going to have to figure out a way to overcome motion sickness. I did not get sick on the flight, but afterwards felt like I had been playing a first person shooter too long… that sort of mildly ill feeling you get. I’m fine as long as I am looking out of the cockpit, but I can feel sickness coming on when looking at instruments. Small planes seem to get kicked around in the weather a bit more than commercial planes, so you can feel it when you stare down. I’d be fine for VFR flying, but I think learning how to fly IFR would make me sick. But as with most motion sickness, habituation makes you more resistant to it.
But definitely a lot of fun, and gives me an idea of what real flying feels like. Many thanks to Jason’s dad John for taking me up.
Another Bold Suit
NRA and the California Rifle and Pistol Foundation are suing to overturn California ammunition regulations on Second Amendment grounds. The risk here is there’s dicta in Heller that would prejudice a court toward upholding what could be argued is a “commercial qualification” on the right to keep and bear arms. That’s not to say this can’t be done, but it’ll be interesting to see whether the lower Courts will take the Supreme Court’s strong hint about the nature of the Second Amendment right. The recent 7th Circuit ruling in Skoien doesn’t give me much room for optimism that the lower courts are willing to take the Second Amendment seriously. In that case the hope is that the Heller Five is strong enough to rule for a broad right.