The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …
Lautenberg is stepping down. Some folks have been talking about perhaps picking up the seat on behalf of the GOP. I have to agree with Jim Geraghty on this count:
For those hoping for a GOP pickup with Lautenberg retiring, remember that to most NJ Democrats, the opposition party is the FBI.
Zing! Of course, the retirement of all these old, white people, as Glenn Reynolds like to mention, won’t be a good thing for the future of gun control.
The short of it was that he was afflicted with alzheimer’s, and the people who were handling him did not share his beliefs on gun rights. I’d embed the video, but it will auto play, but keep that in mind if you click through.
Despite 500 people showing up during a snowstorm on Wednesday to protest, the committee went ahead with a vote anyway, and passed 20 or so horrible bills out of committee. ANJRPC notes:
Bills set to move to full Assembly Vote On Thursday, February 21. Please start contacting both of your Assembly Members and urge them not to support any new anti-gun measures. Thank you to the 500 Second Amendment supporters who attended today’s hearings and held legislators’ feet to the fire!
Those bills are listed here. Let me translate this for you. In order, they would:
Tomorrow they are planning on having a House vote in the Colorado legislature on four bills, a magazine ban, repeal of campus carry, a gun tax, and a ban on private transfers:
WE NEED YOU to stand united in this monumental fight and COME TO THE HOUSE GALLERY on Friday, February 15th to hold your state Representative accountable by making sure they vote NO on these restrictive bills.
Starts 9:00AM tomorrow. If you can’t attend in person, call.
Looks more like 500 to me, judging from pans of the crowd. People will almost always overestimate crowds, but by an order of magnitude? Meanwhile, when we actually turn out that many people, their reporting is usually off by an order of magnitude in the other direction.
Anyone have wider angle photos?
From an intrepid reader. 5000 my ass:
Interesting article over at Volokh on a man who put a paintball gun on a drone, and wondered how long it would be before someone mounted a real gun. He also ponders the legal implications. It’s hard to say. Generally speaking, you’re probably going to jail if you actually would use such a thing on a person. I could also imagine there could be problem with many state laws which ban spring-guns and traps.
A great way to explain the situation to customers, and I really appreciate the bit at the end where they compel people to write their representatives. If every gun owner who was panic buying guns and ammunition wrote their lawmakers, we wouldn’t have anything to worry about.
The Firearm Blog points out that Amazon is removing gun products. I decided to look at Amazon’s policy in this regard, and I don’t notice any changes from the last time I looked at it. Obviously there are products some regulated products Amazon doesn’t want to deal with, but for the most part they have allowed accessories and related products. Without knowing what product was threatened, it’s hard to say whether it fits into Amazon’s policy or not. A book on home made firearms doesn’t seem to violate their restricted products, however, but that might just be a better of a stupid employee rather than representing a major change in policy. Or they might be making some creative interpretation of their policy on books that teach people how to make explosives. While I certainly don’t agree with all of Amazon’s policies in terms of items they won’t deal with, I can understand why retailers might not want to deal in certain highly regulated items, like firearms, magazines or ammunition. I’m not going to call for tar and feathers yet, but it might be something to watch.
UPDATE: Just noticed this: “Parts or accessories related to assault weapons.” Was that there before? Is Amazon aware that “assault weapon” has no clear definition? It is a made-up term.
A rather lengthly gun club board meeting last night interfered with by ability to get anything ready for this morning, so a news dump it will be. Sometimes our club meetings go late. You know when it starts off with 7 agenda items, and then works up to 10, you’re going to be there for a while. But I digress:
People are still angry in New York. To paraphrase the most interesting man in the world, “Stay angry, my friends.” At least some in the GOP aren’t happy with the sellout.
NRA scrubs its “enemies list.” Big news to MSNBC. People kept bringing that up, but it was ancient history. One of the companies listed was “Bell Atlantic.” How long has it been since Bell Atlantic existed? It needed to either be revised or taken down, because it was dated.
Some guy claiming to be an NRA lobbyist talked about some “Connecticut Effect,” except it turns out the guy isn’t an NRA lobbyist, by contract or otherwise.
NFL players are being featured in MAIG ads promoting gun control. If anyone bases their public policy opinions on what NFL players think, I really wish they’d stop voting.
Stay tuned to the Colorado State Shooting Association for the latest news coming out of the… err… hang on, let me look this up… Centennial State? You should also join.
Biden notes the sense of urgency over gun control measures. Well, sure he does. If people spend too much time researching it, and thinking about it, they’ll realize gun control is what you do instead of something. He also notes that the Administration is counting on “legitimate media” for a successful gun control effort. Legitimate in this case meaning media willing to lie through their teeth.
The Full Monty in California. A comprehensive semi-auto ban. Back to the 19th century with you. Why are gun control advocates so… reactionary? Also, a ban on shotgun rifle combinations? Is this even an imaginary problem, let alone a real one?
Americans are losing trust in government. Some of we Americans never really had any to begin with. Ann Althouse looks at why Americans have lost their devotion to the future.
Joe has a quote that warns against complacency. Probably every gun-rights activist out there had a point where they realized the Second Amendment was considered no real barrier to the power elites, and got very angry. The pity is a lot of people still have the mindset of “This couldn’t happen in America. We have the Second Amendment!” The truth is it can, and it’s happening right now.
Gun Control and the Constitution.
“I’m a hunter and gun owner, but”…. is just as much of a refuge of scoundrels as “I support the Second Amendment, but.” You ever notice that these self-hating gun owners never appear on forums, blogs or other online places to actually argue their point of view? They only appear in the media when it becomes convenient for the powers that be. If you’ve never met hunters and shooters who support some gun control, you haven’t been in this issue long enough, but I think a lot of these guys are frauds and sheissters who are trying to buy legitimacy for bankrupt arguments. Remember that John Kerry is, legitimately, a life-long hunter too.
Bloomberg can have my styrofoam when he pries it from my cold dead hands. The good news is that 2013 is a mayoral election year in New York, so we only have to put up with this insufferable busybody for another year. Not that I expect he’ll go away and retire quietly.
Gun Owners Can’t Have Bad Days. You have to develop a certain sense of not giving a shit what other people think about you in this issue. But making it hard for gun owners to seek mental health treatment without risking their right is a real problem, and is something that deserved to be talked about.
Illinois gun owners are organized in a way that you don’t see in pretty much any other state. So when I see that Debbie Halvorson is telling the media that Bloomberg’s anti-gun ad buy in Chicago is actually giving her a boost in the parts of the district outside of the city, I see a huge opportunity for gun owners in Illinois to send a message to Bloomberg and the Chicago political machine.
This is a special election, which means that turnout models will be very different than a general election – certainly different than a presidential election year.
Illinois gun owners from anywhere within driving distance should be in that district for each of the next two weekends helping with GOTV efforts. Knock on doors, make phone calls, do whatever is necessary to help turn out the vote in the areas where Halvorson is strong. Most voters really don’t care about gun control, they want to hear answers on the economy. Don’t let Bloomberg’s millions buy this race for an issue that most voters really don’t care about.