2012 – Page 160 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Real Preemption Getting a Hearing in Pennsylvania

NRA is alerting members on two bills proceeding in Pennsylvania. One is a bill to give some teeth to our preemption provision, HB1523, sponsored by Daryl Metcalfe. This bill does not go nearly as far as the Florida law, but at least puts the municipality on the hook for legal fees and damages.

The other bill, HB 1668, offers some reforms to transportation of firearms (which are basically handguns, SBRs, and SBSs under PA law). Our transport laws are technically as strict as New Jersey, in that you have to go directly to/from allowed locations for transporting. The only difference is that Pennsylvania licenses are much easier to get, which exempts you from all the silliness. This would allow anyone who isn’t prohibited from firearms possession, or transporting for an unlawful purpose, is permitted to transport a firearm. End of story.

I should note that CeaseFirePA is opposing even this common sense measure:

Tomorrow, the House Judiciary Committee plans to consider legislation that threatens financial penalties for towns that have taken local action in favor of lost or stolen handgun reporting – a reform which police say could help to crack down on illegal gun traffickers and straw purchasers.

If this were true, there would be prosecutions to point to. They would be able to point to instances where this law has been used to punish… well… anybody. For such a necessary law, it doesn’t seem to be very useful. I’m surprised they can still say this with a straight face. NRA is asking folks to contact their state reps:

Please call AND e-mail your state RepresentativeÂ TODAY and urge him or her to support both critical pieces of legislation.

To find contact information or help identifying your state Representative, please clickÂ here.

SHOT 2012, A Record Event

From NSSF:

After four days, miles of walking, countless face-to-face meetings and more of our industryâ€™s products in one place than anywhere on earth, the 2012 SHOT Show is in the books â€” and itâ€™s officially a record-breaker.

But, you know, fewer people are choosing to own guns, and the industry is really in decline. Just ask our opponents.

Starbucks Appreciation Day

We have an announcement from the National Gun ~~Control~~ Victims Action Council, an umbrella group for the usual suspects, that they are going to boycott Starbucks on Valentine’s Day 2012, which is February 14th. I am going to declare February 14th Starbucks Appreciation Day, by encouraging gun owners to head to Starbucks to buy some of their fine coffee and pastry products. Bitter and I will certainly participate. I encourage everyone to follow through to the link to the official eventÂ to take a look at what they are encouraging folks to do, and do the same, only with a pro-gun or gun-neutral message. You can e-mail Starbucks here.Â and tell them you appreciate them not taking a position on this issue, and following state laws, and that you appreciate their products. Don’t use the gun control organization’s form, even though you can change the message. They will likely use that to present to Starbucks corporate and spin your name on the list as a supporter of Starbucks banning guns.

I can promise you we can more than offset whatever paltry decrease in sales the anti-gun people will cause. Nontheless, our opponents have once again brought this deceased equine out for a flogging, so we have to once again show Starbucks there are a lot more of us then there are of them.

Grave Bodily Injury or Harm

Thirdpower has a picture of the Vietnam Veteran who was beat within an inch of his life in PhillyÂ (Warning, the picture is graphic). The question for those in the City is whether you want to end up like this, or end up flushing your life savings down the toilet fighting the attempted murder charge that’s sure to come from City prosecutors if you use deadly force on a gang of feral teenagers. I should also note some recent news that Gerald Ung is now facing a civil suit from his attacker. Castle Doctrine should prevent this, but since this attack happened before that law went into effect, I’m not sure that can be grounds for dismissing the suit. Ung’s attacker is also suing some of the bars that served them alcohol, including Eulogy Belgian Tavern, one of my favorite haunts in the City.

The real solution is to avoid Philadelphia. You get your life ruined either way; the only question is whether or not you want to walk away with all your brain cells intact, and without the need to seek major surgery. Unfortunately, we live in a society where no one is responsible for their own actions anymore, and we can hardly tolerate consequences for thuggish behavior if it involves good people defending themselves.

UPDATE: From the article at “Above the Law”:

Good luck getting punitive damages â€” or any damages at all, for that matter â€” out of Gerald Ung. As noted above by one of our sources, Ung is presumably judgment proof. His criminal defense lawyer at trial, renowned defense attorneyÂ Jack McMahon, won a nice acquittal for him â€” but it probably cost Ung a pretty penny. As we wrote at the time of theÂ acquittal, â€œthe services of Jack McMahon donâ€™t come cheap. The Ungs easily owe McMahon six figures.â€

Ung’s prize for his successful self-defense will be debt up to his eyeballs to Jack McMahon for, quite likely, the rest of his life. I do hope Ung is good at law and becomes a successful attorney. He may have a chance at paying off his debt quickly. For some poor Joe Sixpack who drives a truck for a living, what do you think his options are?

So Gingrich is the New Anti-Mitt

Instapundit has a pretty good round-up of the South Carolina primary. I’ve always liked Newt Gingrich the professor, but I’ve never much liked Newt Gingrich the politician. I noted before about Newt that the 1990s called, and they want their candidate back. He is a more viable alternative, in my opinion, to Rick Santorum, but I still worry that he can’t beat Obama.

I think it was probably fine for Mitt to lose South Carolina. What was not fine for Mitt is to get creamed in South Carolina, which is what happened. If Mitt doesn’t take Florida, he’s going to be in serious trouble as the front runner. He will have lost momentum, and money and support will start flowing to his opponents. If he experiences a long enough losing streak, he can start counting on a brain drain for his campaign, as the rats start to jump off the sinking ship.

On the Second Amendment, the decisive advantage to Gingrich is that he will likely pick much more reliable judges on that issue than Mitt will, though I certainly don’t think Gingrich would be a guarantee. There are plenty of conservative judges out there who don’t like the Second Amendment any more than many left-wing judges. But I give the edge to Gingrich on that count. Gingrich’s record legislatively is not bad, as he delivered on getting an Assault Weapons Ban repeal through the House in 1996, only to have it killed by Bob Dole in the Senate. My big concern about Gingrich is that if he’s the nominee, Obama gets another term.

Investing in Guns

Only Guns and Money takes a look at the money side of guns.

NRA Loses Again in District Court in Texas Case

NRA had already lost on the challenge of the Federal ban on 19-20 year olds purchasing handguns, now they’ve also lost on the challenge to the Texas law that denies permits to 19-20 year olds. Looks like it went before the same judge, so not too surprising it’s the same result. I think the challenge to the purchase restriction is in principle a good idea. I don’t agree with running a carry-based case at the same time. Let the Supreme Court and circuit courts decide on carry independently, and let them decide on the purchase prohibition for 18-20 yearÂ olds. Then take the two concepts and tie them together for a challenge to carry. Once Judge Cummings had ruled on the 18-20 year olds for purchase, carry was fore drawn conclusion. I don’t see what strategic sense it made for NRA to fund these in parallel.

Chicago Pulling a Philly?

Looks like Chicago is taking after Philadelphia, in terms of what you do, if you’re a politician trying to cultivate an image of a crime fighter, but crime keeps going up. You fudge the numbers.

Winning!

Guns, Cars and Tech notes an article in Elle magazine about getting a gun. Elle? Really? Much more of this and we’re going to be seeing reports from DC of the police having to talk Dennis Hennigan down from a ledge.

Another Beating Victim in Philadelphia

This time a 64 year old man a gang just decided to beat for sport. Remember, this is the same city that decided to prosecute Gerald Ung for putting six bullets into the alpha male of an attacking gang. City officials are harder on defenders than on attacking criminals. This is getting so bad, it’s irresponsible of city officials for not encouraging people to get permits and arm themselves. Hell, if I were Nutter, I’d tell the Philadelphia police to set up a firearms training course to help citizens into LTCs. But I’ll eat my hat if I ever see that day.