2011 – Page 95 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Really Glad the Feds are on the Case

I for one feel a lot safer that our wonderful federal overseers have seen to rid the county (my the county) of the scourge of fake cosmetics at local flea markets.

I’ve been having a hard time sleeping because of all the hope and change, but now I will sleep like a baby knowing our federal friends are on the case. Obviously preventing petty fraud is well beyond the capabilities of state government, surely requiring strict federal intervention.

To be sure, I think the government has a role in preventing fraud. My main beef here is priorities, and which particular sovereign is doing this. I’m going to bet not expending federal monies sending guns to Mexican drug cartels is probably a better life saving proposition than raiding flea markets in Solebury Township, PA.

I guess I should just be happy they didn’t send in the SWAT team with helicopters.

RTC in Wisconsin

Right to carry is on the way to the Governor’s in Wisconsin. Signature is expected. Sadly his is without Constitutional Carry, which got removed in the Senate, but it’s a good bill with not much in the way of off limits places. There is a provision for reciprocity, but it’s not universal. It suggests the AG may enter into agreements, but in no way suggests he or she must. In that way it is weaker than Pennsylvania.

For Constitutional Carry, unfortunately Wisconsin is much like PA in that for gun rights, it has a much softer body in the Senate. I am not really going to complain much. Going from one of the two remaining states without any CC provision straight to constitutional carry would have been miraculous. As it is, it’s pretty good.

Making Progress in Maine

I’m still waiting for substantive reciprocity reform, but this looks like great progress, especially when our opponents arrogantly believed they could exploit the Gabby Gifford’s shooting to shoe horn a magazine ban through in the Pine Tree State.

I would also note that Maine is one of John Hohenwarter’s states, for those folks who think’s he’s been a plague of locusts on the gun rights movement. He delivered on on a clean bill for Castle Doctrine, so I’m inclined to believe he’s not working against our interests, despite what many claim.

I am still trying to work up a post on what happened in New Hampshire, but my current work situation has been sapping my time, and making my schedule completely erratic. I have not had much time, but I hope to deliver at some point.

UPDATE: I should point out that I’m don’t agree with NRA on the parking lot law, but my greater point was that Hohenwarter isn’t as inept as many think. I’m open to the argument that John could stand to have a few less states, but of the ones I know about, MA, PA, ME, OH, NH, serious pro-gun legislation has passed in three, and anti-gun legislation that received major news coverage was defeated in at least one (not even mentioning, so far, FL loophole in PA). NH, to date, has been the only notable exception, and I’m still trying to figure out that cluster.

Now I Won’t Feel Bad For Long Showers

Thanks to Les Jones, I now realize that people in Oregon have completely lost their minds. How many public pools are there in Oregon? Because I can promise you this has happened in just about every one of them:

And not necessarily with a candy bar. There’s a reason this is funny.

Ask and Tell

Apparently our opponents think some forms of asking and telling are just fine. Actually, I have no real problems with Ask Day. I’m not against our opponents using social pressure to achieve their policy goals. In a free society, shame is really what should keep people in line, rather than governmental fiats. The real reason the gay rights movement has won is because they removed the shame in it, no matter how badly social conservatives might try to reassert it.

I view this similarly to conservative efforts to shame homosexuality. I am not supportive of such efforts, but I still believe they have a right to do it. Strangely enough, despite my opinions favoring gay marriage and favoring non-discrimination in sexual orientation — when it comes to the military, I’m not quite as much of a cheerleader. The military currently segregates men and women because there’s an understanding that sexual issues can be problematic in a military environment, where intimate living arrangements can be the rule rather than the exception.

That said, I’m not in favor of DADT because the military has demonstrated they can’t help but abuse the policy. I can understand how sexual issues could come into play where intimate living conditions are the norm, but there have been enough cases of the military drumming gays out of the service just for the sake of doing so that I can no longer support this policy.

Apparently our opponents do not wish to take this kind of approach, because when it comes to supporting enumerated constitutional freedoms, they let their own ignorance rule. I have no problems with parents asking other parents about guns in the house, but if in that same sentence they aren’t also asking about swimming pools and dangerous household chemicals, they are being naive in their duties. Statistically all those things kill more kids by accident than firearms do.

30mm Avenger

Robb takes a look at some of the ballistics on the 30mm round and is impressed. Mine isn’t meant to actually be fired, but I’ve been thinking it would make the world’s coolest flask, since it’s hollow inside.

The New York Times Definitely Doesn’t Get It

Naturally the editorial board of the paper of ~~making up the~~ record is doing their level best to place the blame over Fast and Furious on our gun laws:

Congress needs to be candid about how loophole-ridden laws have created a huge market for assault weapons, which end up in Mexico. At a hearing, Mr. Issa insisted, â€œWeâ€™re not here to talk about proposed gun legislation.â€ Federal officials in February sought authority to require gun dealers to report bulk sales of assault rifles only to have it blocked by a provision in the Republican budget. A responsible Congress would re-enact the assault weapons ban, outlaw uncontrolled gun-show sales and reform regulations that allow corrupt dealers to stay in business.

There’s no gun law in the world, save prohibition, which is constitutionally problematic, that’s going to prevent ATF from actively encouraging straw sales that dealers otherwise would not have made. I know this sounds crazy to an outfit as stupidly ignorant as the Times, but gun dealers actually don’t want to sell guns to criminals. If someone comes into your store wanting to buy a dozen AKs, that generally wouldn’t pass the sniff test. ATF was deliberately encouraging those kinds of sales and it has obviously wildly inflated the number of firearms ending up in the hands of smuggling rings.

If the NYT really wants to close a loophole, maybe they should call for abolishing the ATF.

Traver to Replace Melson?

The real risk in shaking up the leadership of ATF is that the Administration would take the inevitable position that it’s time for some adult leadership at ATF. Unfortunately, that appears to be coming in the form of Andrew Traver replacing Ken Melson This may not end up being a successful ploy by the Administration, but the obvious path toward political cover. While Obama can’t ram him through the Senate necessarily, he can always recess appoint him.

Castle Doctrine Heads to Governor’s Office

The Pennsylvania Senate just voted on Castle Doctrine this evening. PA Independent says the vote was 45-5, but the state website hasn’t yet updated with the roll call.

It now goes for the Governor’s signature.

Massachusetts Gun Control Leaders Ousted from Other Groups

Hey, when it comes to gay rights groups who hire former Massachusetts senators who partially made gun control a huge part of their political careers, well, they are 2 for 2 in being ousted amid “management differences.”

In the first case of Cheryl Jacques, she lasted a whooping 11 months after considering it “a difference in management philosophy” that Human Rights Campaign went 0-11 on gay rights ballot initiatives under her watch. In the second case of Jarrett Barrios, he just resigned after it came out that he cut a deal with AT&T for GLAAD to advocate for policies completely unrelated to their mission in exchange for donations. He must have been going for a record since he doubled Cheryl’s time with clocking an entire 22 months with the organization before scandal erupted.

So might I suggest to the boards of these organizations that former politicians who make their political careers on low hanging fruit (like gun control in Massachusetts) may not be the best folks to lead national organizations that actually have to consider real strategy and not piss off grassroots members. Just a suggestion.