Looks like Bloomberg is taking advantage of the fact that most of Pennsylvania has an explicitly anti-gun media market, given that they are willing to reprint Bloomberg’s propaganda. Plenty of gun owners still subscribe to the papers that work daily to advocate against their constitutional rights. Starve the beast!
Year: 2012
Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms – Not Just an Agency, Also a Party
The Independence Institute hold an annual event to celebrate adulthood and freedom. As the organization’s president, Jon Caldara, says, “Freedom isn’t allowing people to do things that you approve of, freedom is about protecting people’s right to do things you find distasteful.”
Dave Kopel speaks to the crowd around the 5:45 mark, and he starts off with some familiar statistics and stories about the Illegal Mayors Against Guns working with Mike Bloomberg for gun control. The best part is that these facts aired on C-SPAN.
He mentioned the number of these gun control advocates who have been convicted or under indictment or investigation, as well as the story we broke about the man who Bloomberg claimed supported his agenda more than a year after the mayor died.
Kopel also discusses the culture of violence promoted by Hollywood and spending on corporate welfare instead of issues that really can impact quality of life and public safety for the entire community.
A Look at Why CU Police Didn’t Act on Theater Murderer
Apparently he would not qualify as “an imminent danger”. Clayton notes, “I suppose if you move from making threats, to loading a gun while making threats, you reach the ‘Imminent Risk’ category.” If the mental health bureaucracy is loaded with utter fail, I don’t see how our opponents expect just adding another layer of bureaucracy to try to patch over the fundamental problem is going to accomplish anything.
Free Ice Cream Machine
It’s jammed a bit today. Fridays are in-office days, and that often screws with my schedule, since it’s often the only day I’m not working from the home office. My commute here is an hour, sometimes more, so in-office days I lose 2+ hours of time on the drive. I live northeast of Philadelphia, and work pretty well west of Philadelphia. Blogging will resume shortly.
Interesting Video on the AN-94
I was excited to see a multi-part video over at the Firearm Blog that details field stripping an AN-94 Abakan, because I never saw the inside of one to really understand how it worked. Now that I’ve watched the videos, I’m even more confused as to how it works. I guess it needs some translation from Russian. It’s hard to see how a gun with so many springs, pulleys and cables can be reliable. I also question the accuracy of a firearm where the entire barrel can reciprocate in the stock. It would be interesting to get a hold of on in real life, but unfortunately, a civilian legal AN-94 would be vastly different internally.
Why are anti-gun activists …
Another Problem with Philadelphia Permit Process
The Uniform Firearms Act is pretty clear on this:
The application for a license to carry a firearm shall be uniform throughout this Commonwealth and shall be on a form prescribed by the Pennsylvania State Police. The form may contain provisions, not exceeding one page, to assure compliance with this section. Issuing authorities shall use only the application form prescribed by the Pennsylvania State Police.
Except the Philadelphia police illegally require extra forms that are not prescribed by the State Police, notably two reference sheets. In addition, they require fingerprinting, which is not prescribed as part of the process. They require military discharge papers for those who were in the military, which are not part of the prescribed process. They conduct interviews with applicants. They require naturalized citizens to bring their naturalization papers. None of this is in the spirit of “shall be uniform throughout this Commonwealth.”
Either these issues need to be addressed, or Chief of Police’s authority to issue permits should be assigned to the State Police instead.
Philadelphia’s Permit Denials
We have a list of approximately 29 names that were listed yesterday, which provides us a handy means of actually looking to see whether there is just reason for denial of a permit for some of these individuals. I will not reprint full names or addresses here, nor will I link to dockets, but I will go through every name and find their court records, which are online in Pennsylvania. Keep in mind that with common names, confusion is possible, and also that there could be out of state records that we don’t have access to.
The City of Philadelphia’s Legal Argument
Unfortunately, I think it’s plausible. From the updated post from yesterday:
“The legal department has determined that this is public information. Its publication is legal. An individual who is denied a permit and files an appeal, that person has waived their right to confidentiality. All that said, within the government, there is a concern about the propriety of publishing the information, and so we’re looking at this again. On the one hand, city government wants to be transparent and believes in the concept of open data. Access to information makes for strong citizenry and effective government. But on the other hand, there are public safety concerns with regard to this information.
So the appeals process in Philadelphia is that you first appeal to a board, which will review your case. My understanding is that it is very rare for the board to overturn the determination of the Philadelphia Police. The next step is an appeal in Commonwealth Court, and court records are public information. So the city is suggesting that once the appeal is made, because it goes to a court case which is public record, it no longer becomes private information protected by the Uniform Firearms Act.
This isn’t over, by a long shot. More to come.
Holsters, People, Holsters
Looks like someone in Nevada pulled a Plaxico in a movie theater (except for the whole carrying illegally part):
Witnesses told police the man’s gun had gone off when he adjusted his position in his seat. They said he quickly got up, apologized to other patrons sitting near him and left the theater before police arrived.
Officers later found the man at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Reno with a gunshot wound to his buttocks. He told them his gun – for which he had a valid concealed-carry permit – fell out of his pocket and discharged when it hit the floor.
His story sounds like a load of crap to me, but either way, a properly holstered firearm isn’t going to do this. I also wonder if he violated Uncle’s rule 5. Even for pocket carry, the gun should be in a holster made specifically to fit in a pocket. It’s amazing to me how many of these incidents happen in states that mandate training, where any instructor worth their salt is going to tell you to carry your gun in a damned holster. Nevada’s training requirements are considerably more stringent, even, than most states that require training.
The problem is, if you take a moron, and run him through a training course, at the end of the process all you have is a moron who’s had some training. It doesn’t change fundamental fact that the person is a moron. Just because you take a few piano lessons, doesn’t mean you’re on your way to being the next Vladimir Horowitz. Some folks will never get beyond Mary Had a Little Lamb, no matter how much instruction you give them.