Perhaps someone who knows more than I do about Canadian politics can help me understand why the Canadian auto workers union is getting involved in the fight to keep the long gun registry data and touting the importance of symbolic gun control.
Year: 2012
New 2A Law Review Article
From Professor Glenn Reynolds, “Second Amendment Penumbras, Some Preliminary Observations.” I encourage folks to go download a copy, even if you don’t get around to reading it, because it helps boost the profile of the paper so others are encouraged to read it.
Pretty Much Sums up Mitt Romney
NYT Worries Philly Papers to Become Democratic Propaganda Tools
I had to laugh. According to the coverage of the potential sale of the two primary Philadelphia newspapers, the New York Times seems concerned that the papers will become nothing more than mouthpieces for the Democratic Party and union leaders. I would like to ask them how that is any different than it is today.
The NYT breaks down the coverage by the papers about their own sale. The CEO called his senior editors into a three hour meeting to demand editorial control over all stories regarding the potential sale of the papers. Of course, he denies it. (Well, he ultimately admitted it, but still tries to deny it.) Then one of the bloggers did a story about another group of buyers not lead by local Democratic leaders, and the paper deleted the post. Of course, they deny it. (Well, they ultimately admitted they deleted it, but still try to deny they meant to delete that post.) In other words, it’s deny, deny, deny until they are proven wrong, then it’s concede a little, but deny, deny, deny the fact that they have actually become shills for the local political party and its leaders who are trying to buy them.
Why would the NYT be concerned about two papers in another state becoming a formal propaganda tool for the Democratic Party? Well, it appears that the lead buyer, Governor Ed Rendell, has a history of getting a bit too “hand on” with the press.
Mr. Rendell has a complicated relationship with the media, which may have reached a low point in 1994 when he clamped his hand around the neck of Amy S. Rosenberg, an Inquirer reporter who was questioning him about potentially losing federal money for the homeless.
I kid you not when I say that his spokeswomen actually defends the action as a reflection of a guy who is “an extremely engaging, friendly person.” I don’t know too many women who consider the hands of man she doesn’t know wrapped around her neck as a friendly action.
Oh, it should be noted that Rendell has promised the CEO gets to keep his job if his group buys the paper. So clearly, the CEO has no personal financial interest in making sure Rendell gets favorable coverage. Deny, deny, deny.
Time to Give Starbucks a Break
I notice there’s still quite a lot of pictures of guns and coffee appearing on Starbucks’ Facebook page. I would like to note that Starbucks never asked for their brand to be associated with gun rights; all they want to do is sell coffee. Now that two days have passed since the end of the appreciation day, I’d like to ask everyone to support Starbucks by continuing to buy their coffee, and yummy baked goods. That is what I intend to do. For the purposes of really playing up the Buycott, I think we’ve gotten our message through. It’s time to let them go about hawking their product. By all means, let’s keep the gratitude pouring into corporate, and pouring into their coffers, but I think we ought to let Starbucks’ brand go back to just being about great coffee. That means not engaging in, what in a person-to-person analogy would be walking up to the barista, and continuing to stick pro-gun stickers all over her, and handing her guns. She didn’t ask for that. She just wants to serve you coffee.
UPDATE: I should note that, I don’t want to dissuade anyone from polite engagement with the anti-gunners bringing fourth their own hate on Starbuck’s page. But I would concentrate on shaming them for dragging coffee into politics, rather than trying to turn their FB into a battleground.
GOP in Virginia Backing off Most Pro-Gun Measures
While we’re certainly happy, in Virginia, to see the state’s gun rationing scheme disappear, the GOP controlled legislature is still killing a number of pro-gun bills. It would seem our opponents’ fear of a flood of pro-gun legislation are unfounded. The GOP controlled legislature has killed a measure to shield permit information from public view. I can understand why the GOP might not want to take up the issue of guns on campus this legislative session. I can even understand why, in the state where Liberty University spawns many members of the GOP establishment, they might want to avoid the Sunday hunting issue. But making permits private? I can’t imagine this will push the legislature over the edge into “just too pro gun” in the eyes of the public. The only folks who ought to make an issue out of this are a handful of antigun reporters. I’m aware that open government groups have taken a position here:
“This is not a Second Amendment issue, but it is about the public’s ability to monitor how government conducts the process,†Stanley said. “We would urge you to err on the side of keeping the public’s right to know with court records.â€Â Megan Rhyne of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government said the fact that the state has chosen to require licenses to carry concealed weapons means information about those licenses should be open.
I’m generally for complete transparency when it comes to government, but my chosen method of self-defense ought not be a public matter. The logical result of the obstinance of folks like Megan Rhyne and the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, is that we’ll push to eliminate the permit process altogether. Take your pick, because how I choose to defend myself being a matter of public record is not an option here.
Pissing Off the Right People in Philly
Monica Yant-Kinney, columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, is a well known mouth foamer when it comes to gun topics. Her latest article speaks against the new bill, HB1523, to, you know, actually enforce state law on the matter of firearms preemption.
Furious at lawmakers who killed the lost-and-stolen bill, city officials began taking small steps to protect their own. By 2009, nine cities – including Philadelphia, Lancaster, Reading, Pottsville, and Allentown – passed lost-and-stolen ordinances. To date, 30 brave towns have.
And how many criminals have been prosecuted? One? Two? The best answer I have is a fat zero. Explain to me how this law is so important if it isn’t even being used?
Pennsylvania gun laws are a sick joke. Any state that happily sells buyers unlimited weapons on demand is a state where politicians fear the wrath of the NRA more than the loss of their own lives.
Perhaps New Jersey would be more to Ms. Yant-Kinney’s liking. It’s just across the river. Please go, and take you voting habits with you. The fact of the matter is Pennsylvania’s constitution says, as is reflected in the title of this blog, “The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.” Perhaps lawmakers in Pennsylvania don’t fear the NRA so much as they can read the plain language that they took an oath to uphold.
Review: Ruger LCP v. Kel-Tec P3AT
When the Ruger LCP was first launched on the market, web searches for “Kel-Tec sues Ruger” suddenly took an upward turn. Anyone with two eyes can see they look astonishingly similar. They are, for all practical purposes, the same gun. But there won’t be any lawsuit, because we later found out that Ruger had licensed the design. [UPDATE: This seems to be a matter of dispute. I can’t find my original source for this, but there is other speculation that Kel-Tec simply failed to protect it’s design through patents.] So it would seem odd that I’d decide to do a comparison of what are essentially, the same gun. But are they the same gun? Same design, largely, but there are differences. In my opinion, the differences probably add up to being enough to justify the extra cost of the Ruger over the Kel-Tec.
Fit, Finish & Quality
It’s no surprise that the Ruger easily takes the prize in terms of fit and finish. It looks and feels like a well made gun. While both the frames of the Ruger and the Kel-Tec are injection molded, on the Ruger it’s hardly noticeable, whereas on the Kel-Tec, the seams are apparent. With the Ruger you also get their quality control. When I bought my Kel-Tec, I couldn’t shoot it for a month because the gun I bought had a defective barrel. While Kel-Tec replaced it, no questioned asked, the Ruger came ready to shoot out of the box. Ruger’s finish looks like it will be a bit more durable. The Kel-Tec slide is just a fairly standard blue, which has all but worn off the top part of my pistol because of carry. This has made rusting a real issue with the Kel-Tec, which is partly what prompted me to try the LCP.
Magazine Interchangeability
One disappointment between the two guns is that the magazines aren’t interchangeable, though they could have easily been made so. For all practical purposes, they are identical, except for the catch on the LCP magazine being a few millimeters lower. This prevents the Kel-Tec magazine from working in the Ruger, forcing me to order another spare Ruger factory mag. From Ruger’s point of view, this was probably the whole point. Both magazine bodies appear to be made by the same Italian manufacturer. One difference of note is that Ruger does put round indicator holes on both sides of the magazine, whereas Kel-Tec only has them on one side.
Design Differences
As I mentioned, there are slight design changes between the P3AT and the LCP. For one, Ruger redesigned the extractor.The P3AT has a flat spring bolted to the face of the slide which provides tension for the extractor. Ruger altered this to be a more conventional extractor with force provided by an internally housed coil spring. The Kel-Tec P3AT has a slightly lighter trigger pull than the LCP, which seems to be a full two pounds heavier by my measure. One other design change that I find quite welcome is the ability to lock back the slide on the LCP, something that the Kel-Tec lacks. Being able to lock back a slide is a basic safety indicator, as far as I’m concerned, so I like having that ability on a gun. The slide doesn’t lock back empty on either gun, however.
Shooting Differences
Any pocket pistol is going to be fairly brutal to shoot, even with .380 ACP. You’ll be hard pressed to get more than a hundred rounds through either gun in a single range session. Nonetheless, the Ruger feels better to shoot, I think because of two factors. One, Ruger ships the LCP with a separate magazine floor plate that has a finger groove. This makes the gun feel much better in the hands. While there is a finger groove floor plate you can get for the Kel-Tec, it didn’t come with my gun, and from what I’ve seen, it looks more like an afterthought. The second factor that makes the LCP feel better to shoot is the lack of injection molding seams on the LCP. I had to file these down on the inside of the Kel-Tec trigger guard, since they’d catch my trigger finger and rub it raw after about 25 rounds. While the Ruger still bangs my trigger finger a bit when it recoils, I can get through many more rounds due to them not catching on seams. I believe because the Ruger feels better in my hands, I tend to shoot a bit better with it.
Bottom Line
Personally, I’d pay the extra money for the LCP. It’s just a better made gun, and I think will hold up better to daily carry. About the only area I think the Kel-Tec beats Ruger, is that I can easily completely disassemble the slide on the Kel-Tec. Ruger, keeping with its tradition often found in their other products, made the decision that there are just certain places on the gun you don’t need to be messing with. Ruger uses roll pins to retain the firing pin and extractor. For someone who likes to do a thorough cleaning every once in a while, I find this obnoxious. But overall, I think the LCP just oozes better execution on the design, if you’re wavering between which gun to buy.
Why Are Anti-Gunners …
Canadian Long Gun Registry Repeal Passes House
It passes by 159 to 130. It’s been a long time coming just to get this far. It goes on to the Canadian Senate, where it’s expected to pass. Once politicians can repeal gun control, and nothing happens to them, they can be more easily convinced to repeal more, and then more. It’ll be up to Canadian gun owners to organize, and make sure the conservatives keep their majority.