Townhall’s Five Great Self-Defense Guns

I’ll give him the J frame Smith and the modern M&P. I’ll grant the 870 is a pretty decent shotgun for home defense, as are most shotguns. But the Taurus Judge? Really? I’m also not to hot on using N-frame S&W for self-defense unless what you’re defending yourself against is an angry bear. Nonetheless, it’s good to see something like this being discussed somewhere other than blogs and forums.

Hell Freezes Over

I never thought I’d see the day when the Philadelphia Inquirer ran an op-ed from NRA penned by Chris Cox. To say they are outright hostile to NRA’s position is to be mild. I’d like to think that PAFOA’s success in getting one placed might have convinced folks at NRA it was worth a shot. Clearly this has paid off now.

We Are the Bottom Being Raced To

I continue to be befuddled by the number of Pennsylvania news outlets condemning HR822 as a race to the bottom. All it takes to get a concealed carry license in Pennsylvania is paying less than 30 bucks, filling out a form, and waiting a week or so for the background check to clear. If this state doesn’t have reciprocity with another state, it’s because the other state donsn’t want to. Our AG is obligated to probe other states for agreements.

The Post-Gazette summons the specter of “Florida Loophole,” even though that issue is entirely a matter of state law now, and would continue to be entirely a matter of state law if HR822 were to pass.

Sunday Hunting Controversy Hitting Philly Papers

Sounds like they are surprised such a thing exists at all, but they note:

Evans’ committee meets Dec. 14 with an agenda “to be announced.” He and Murphy tell me of compromise efforts to allow hunting some Sundays on some lands, maybe state game lands.

But Rotz says: “No. We don’t have any compromise position.” And Evans admits: “A lot of our members are very afraid of the Farm Bureau.”

The Farm Bureau pretty obviously doesn’t support hunting. Why isn’t allowing it on public land a reasonable compromise? The Farm Bureau only represents a small fraction of farms in this state, from what I understand. This shouldn’t even really be an issue.

Supreme Court Turns Down Masciandaro

John Richardson has the details on the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the Msciandaro case. This was in the 4th Circuit Court of appeals, where a guy got arrested for sleeping in his car on National Park property while having a loaded gun in his car, so he challenged the law under the Second Amendment.

If I had to wager, I’m betting (hoping) the Supreme Court is looking for a clean and well constructed carry case.

Walmart Selling AR-15s

I think it would be quite difficult to argue now that they are not in “common use.” Indeed, not even the DC Circuit Court of Appeals in Heller II was willing to say they weren’t. They just said even thought they were, they still weren’t protected arms.

Nonetheless, this is more evidence our opponents are losing. AR-15s are now as American as Apple Pie and Wal-Mart.

Nordyke Back on the Docket in the 9th

Looks like Nordyke is about to be reconsidered in the 9th Circuit “En-Banc,” meaning the entire Circuit Court will reconsider the decision, which held that the County of Alameda could ban gun shows on its property if it so wished, and not run afoul of the Second Amendment.

What a Day

I am now back in the realm of the employed. You don’t know how relieving it is to get up and go to work. While my stress levels are still pretty high because of having to adapt to a new job and new environment, there is a strange comfort in routine. Once I got up and started to head out the door, I had to remind myself to go straight instead of take a left, where I would have gone to my previous employer. It won’t be long now before the new job feels more routine.

I’m working in New Jersey now, so you can all have sympathy for me. While New Jersey may be lacking in reciprocity for some things, it does have tax reciprocity with Pennsylvania, so I continue to pay taxes as if I was working in Pennsylvania. The only difference for me is I’m under New Jersey employment law, which is actually more employee friendly than Pennsylvania.

There are some things that will take some getting used to. I was high enough in the other job to have an office. Now I’m in a half-height cubicle in a high traffic area. I used to be the king of my domain, and now I’m back to being a cog in the machine. It’ll take some adjustment. I’m hoping to keep a reasonable blogging schedule up, but sometimes it may get difficult. Part of no longer being king of my own domain means having a lot less time flexibility than I used to. At my previous job, I worked at home most nights. This is more of a hard-wired day job. In some ways that’s good, but in some ways not. Time will tell.

I Think Some Name Changes Are In Order

Coalition to Clean-Up Vacant Lots? Brady Campaign to Prevent Litter? According to a study done at the University of Pennsylvania, cleaning up vacant lots has a significant effect on people committing crimes using guns. I think it’s safe to say that, given this study, it shows cleaning up vacant lots has done more to reduce crime than anything advocates by gun control groups. So why not get on board? I mean, the goal is to reduce gun violence, right? Right!?!?