Year: 2010
PA State GOP Looking to Squander 2010
All across the board, as I hear more and more about what’s been going on with the Pennsylvania GOP, the message seems to be from the party apparatchiks that they are in charge, and you wormy little tea-baggers can go get bent. In our district, it appears they are all going to all but anoint Mike Fitzpatrick, who already lost to Pat Murphy once with the advantage of incumbency. I seriously question that he can win. Rumors abound that the GOP is doing much the same on the state level.
The GOP in Pennsylvania is scared to death of this grassroots movement that’s formed up to oppose the Obama/Pelosi agenda. While other state parties are happy to work with it, the PA GOP is essentially telling the grass roots to go to hell. This is a recipe for disaster. And it would not seem that, rounding out the desert menu, Reasoned DiscourseTM is breaking out all over the State GOP Facebook Page in regards to the party hacks’ chosen candidates.
Pennsylvania will remain a true blue state as long as the GOP hacks insist on fighting their own grass roots rather than the Democrats. This is a new world, and a new political climate, and they had best start getting used to it. Democracy is ugly. But the alternative is far worse. I have to wonder whether the PA GOP really agrees with that.
It Takes Some Nerve
The Philadelphia Inquirer is noting the growing momentum of the anti-gun movement in Pennsylvania, and taking shots at the only man who ever went after straw purchasers in a big way in Philadelphia: Tom Corbett.
So they are willing to cast aside someone who’s actually tried to do something about criminal misuse of firearms, by actually prosecuting criminals, and advocate replacing that person with someone who will just pass more laws the City won’t bother to enforce. Brilliant!
Time to Rethink Your Strategy
The Brady folks are bragging about another chain restaurant, one they didn’t get to change it’s policy, since it’s always had a “no guns” policy, but they did get the store to reiterate their policy. What has me concerned is this that Buckhorn Grill is now claiming they were mislead by activists about the nature of the event, and how many people would be there.
Apparently about 100 people showed up with unloaded pistols on their hip, which I’m guessing the restaurant was not expecting. I would not close the door entirely on open carry being used as a means to generate public discussion about liberalizing carry laws, but I think one has to start asking whether this will work in the bay area. At the least, I think the activists need to plan carefully, and make sure they choose venues that are known to be supportive ahead of time, and be thorough with setting expectations for the owners. Every business that lashes back like this because they ended up in a situation they weren’t prepared for is a victory for the other side, and will help the Bradys put pressure on Starbucks.
Swiss Gun Blog
New gun blog to me, and it looks like he’s a pretty excellent photographer. We also have the ladies of the Swiss Army. My German is a bit rusty, but it’s refreshing to see the Swiss speak of the right to bear arms in the same way we do:
Nur eine bewaffnete und waffentaugliche Zivilbevölkerung ist eine Garantie gegen staatliche Tyrannei.
Meaning “Only an armed people is a guarantee against state tyranny.”
God Bless the Canadian Women’s Biathalon Team
That’s really all I have to say about that. They can ski across my country and shoot at my range any day of the week.
Local Coverage of the Radnor L&S Hearing
It’s pretty balanced. Good reporting. It quotes several residents who got up to speak. I did not speak at the meeting, because I was not a resident, and because my writing skills are far in excess of my public speaking skills. If you don’t think too much of my writing skills my assessment still holds.
Charles Bronson Responds to Daily News
Charles Bronson is the guy in charge of Florida Department of Agriculture, the agency in that state responsible for issuing concealed weapons licenses. He apparently doesn’t appreciate the Daily New’s distortions that his agency hands out permits like candy to criminals in Pennsylvania. I don’t blame him. The reason that we have reciprocity with Florida, and the reason people like me have Florida licenses, is because it’s more widely recognized. The reason it’s more widely recognized is because its standards are more similar to other states, and more strict then Pennsylvania. This fact is seemingly lost on the Daily News. The only reason it may not be more strict than Philadelphia is because Philadelphia is routinely breaking the law when it comes to issuance of LTCs.
Careful Out There
This very easily could have turned from a run of the mill accident to something a lot worse. You’ll cringe when you see the picture. I think, in the realm of accidents you can have on a hunting trip, I’d almost rather shoot myself :)
More on Permitless Carry
Looks like Wyoming is getting closer to passage. NRA is reporting that there is one hold up in Arizona, and normally pro-gun legislator that they are asking members to put some pressure on. This type of bill has been tried in Wyoming before and failed. To me Arizona is the bigger prize, since it has a major city.
As I’ve said before, the primary purpose of a concealed carry license is a signaling mechanism. In a world where police officers can immediately run a check on someone to find out whether they are prohibited from owning or carrying a firearm, that becomes increasingly irrelevant. It’ll be a long time before we see carry without a permit in Pennsylvania, but the cause is helped by other states with large cities running the experiment. We were ahead of most of the pack during the initial wave of liberalization in the late 80s, and maybe we will be again too, but it’s my take that Pennsylvania politicians are a bit more timid about this stuff than they are in other states that have a stronger pro-gun culture.