October 2013 – Page 5 – Shall Not Be Questioned

A Potential Gold Mine

Judicial Watch seems to be doing a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to holding Mayor Bloomberg accountable.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan Judicial Watch reported that it filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) lawsuit with the New York State Supreme Court requesting that the office of New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg be ordered by a judge “to produce all records of communications between the Office of the Mayor, the director ofÂ Mayors Against Illegal GunsÂ (MAIG), and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.

â€œWe have good reason to suspect that New York taxpayers have been forced to foot the bill for Mayor Bloombergâ€™s anti-gun group,â€ said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

All communication from the Mayor’s office should be public record. If Bloomberg spends his own money to advocate for gun control, well, that’s his First Amendment right as an American, but if he’s using his office to do so at taxpayer expense, we have a right to know.

To Thank, Or Not to Thank

There’s an interesting discussion thread over at Calguns.net speaking about whether or not it’s the right thing to do to thank Governor Jerry Brown for his veto. The discussion that continues below is worthwhile. While I don’t have a lot of time for people who think the reason we lose is that other people aren’t fighting hard enough, and who thinks all it takes is a “take no prisoners” approach and we’ll never lose, I do think the poster in question has a point.

I don’t see any reason Californians should be bending over backwards to thank Jerry Brown for signing four gun control bills into law, several of which aren’t exactly trivialities. Yes, Brown vetoed the worst of the bills, but splitting the baby shouldn’t exactly be enough to earn gushing praise from us. Remember that Schwarzenegger was fond of splitting the baby on guns, and Californians did nothing but continue down the slippery slope during his Administration.

I’d especially consider that the bill Brown vetoed would have been something I would have been more comfortable taking to court than any of the other bans that have been passed to date. I wouldn’t have hoped for him to sign it, but it does speak to motivations. Brown has kept his state out of an expensive court fight that could cost California not only its new ban, but the whole Roberti-Roos regime, depending on what the courts decided to say on the issue. Several other states ban would have been put at risk too. If I were an anti-gun strategist on the other side of the issue, I would have been quietly (or perhaps not so quietly if I had access to Governor Brown’s people) urging him to veto it. As an anti-gun crusader, I’d much rather take my chances with the 2nd Circuit over New York’s SAFE act than deal with a blanket semi-auto rifle ban in the 9th circuit. So let’s not pretend he did this because he’s just oh so concerned about our gun rights.

Every grading scale I’ve seen for politicians has A through F. Brown split the baby down the middle. His thanks can be having a C instead of an F.

Keeping Your Kids Fearful

The principal and teachers in a Goldsboro, NC middle school thought it would be a great idea to tell kids that there was an armed robber roaming the school and then have a staff member dressed up in a ski mask armed with a fake handgun break into the room.

The school claims that they were teaching situational awareness. However, I’m not sure how it is you’re teaching them to be anything other than frightened sitting ducks when the teacher indicates that they know there’s a threat lurking, but the class is just expected to sit there and let it happen. Follow that up with a fake gunman entering the room, and it’s just so hard to see why this went over about as well as a lead balloon. At least the district spokesman admits that the staff involved lacked judgement, and the staffer who pretended to be the gunman may face disciplinary action.

I saw this link from Free Range Kids, and she made a great point with these types of exercises:

Kids are NOT in constant danger, so can we please stop dreaming up ever more dramatic ways to â€œprotectâ€ them as if they were?

Of course, the sad part is that it could be argued that at least the North Carolina incident was based on a general threat in life, that while extremely unlikely, isn’t completely insane. Ventura County, California schools thought the families of their students needed to spend their time developing plans for how to deal with their children in school if the get nuked. Yup, this is where your money to the public school system goes these days, folks.

New Jersey’s Upcoming Elections

Today is Tuesday. Tuesdays are when people vote. Except in New Jersey in 2013. Wednesday is the day to vote for those who are interested in the special Senate election.

Cory Booker still has a double digit lead over Steve Lonegan, but that’s been falling lately. Being on a Wednesday in October with plenty of headlines about other national issues, that means the turnout may be key to who wins instead of typical polls.

I’ll be honest, I don’t like Lonegan. But, if I lived in New Jersey, I’d vote for him. The fact is that Cory Booker is going to be a vote for every gun control bill that ever makes it up for a vote. He’ll probably sign on as a sponsor to some of the most extreme gun control fantasy bills as well. So, with that in mind, the best vote on the gun issue is Lonegan. While the numbers point to a clear Booker win, it’s the ability to turn out motivated voters that may make a difference in the final tally over any turnout models the pollsters are currently using.

A Majority Want a Third Party

I follow politics like sports, but though I’m registered as a Republican (for now), I kind of hate them. It seems a lot of Americans are becoming less party fans, meaning they root for the home party, right or wrong. Apparently 60% now believe that we need a third party:

Self-identified Democrats and Republicans were equally likely to see the need for a third partyâ€”49% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans said they saw the need for a third partyâ€”but a full 71% of Independents supported the idea of a third party.

Apparently it’s something even Democrats can agree on at this point. But what would such a third party look like? At this point, all I think it would take is a leader who could hawk the right brand of populism, and able to build a political organization behind him (or her). I am seriously starting to believe the extinction of one major party is possible, if the right conditions and the right person come along. That’s probably why the two major parties are doing what they can to use the apparatus of the state to protect themselves. That’s something they’ll start agreeing on real quick if this sentiment starts to take the form of an actual threat.

h/t Instapundit.

NOTE: We’re going to venture off topic a bit more because the new cycle on guns is so dry it’s getting difficult to blog only about second amendment topics. While 2A topics have always been the focus of this blog, I’ve traditionally covered politics on the side. We will return to that until gun news picks up a bit.

Pennsylvania’s Capacity Limits

I realize this is off topic, but this is just one of those “what the hell” topics that blows my mind. In Pennsylvania, we restrict the capacity of your bags of potatoes.

No, I’m not kidding.

Apparently, eight pound bags of potatoes are one of the most popular sizes in many states. In Pennsylvania, selling potatoes in bags that hold eight pounds is illegal. We can buy them in bags of three pounds, five pounds, or even ten pounds. But, eight pounds is where someone thought it was important to draw the line.

While there’s an effort to get this absolutely absurd potato capacity law off the books, it doesn’t seem to be moving anywhere fast. That’s part of the problem in government. No one seems to put any real priority on repealing bad laws that in no way serve or protect the public.

No Cert for Woollard

The Supreme Court has, once again, opted not to weigh in on the issue of carry in regards to the Second Amendment. It would seem like they really don’t want to go there at this point, or perhaps they don’t have the votes in our favor. From SCOTUSBlog:

The Court also granted review of a second case: on the legality under federal law of the owner of a gun selling it to someone else, if the new owner can have a gun legally. That case is Abramski v. United States (12-1493). However, the Court followed its recent pattern of refusing to hear constitutional challenges to gun control laws under the Second Amendment, turning aside a Maryland case seeking to expand the personal right to have a gun beyond the home (Woollard v. Gallagher, 13-42).

The fact that the Supreme Court is completely unwilling to protect your right to actually bear the arms instead of just keeping them should motivate gun owners to get involved in the political fights. It is absolutely clear that you cannot count on the courts, and elections have consequences.

“Grow the hell up.”

I have to say that I rather enjoyed this video that takes on the issue of anti-gunners justifying their infringement upon your rights because doing so makes them feel good.

Bloomberg on Colorado

He thinks he won:

â€œWhat do you mean we lost? Iâ€™m sorry for those two people. But we won in Colorado. On to the next state.â€

No wonder Hick is treating him like he’s got cooties. I think the only gun control leader who thinks Colorado was a win is Mike Bloomberg. If you can’t protect people who take hard votes, your ideas aren’t going to find much traction.

Mini News Links

Still not much gun news out there folks, so this one will venture off topic a bit:

Burlington, Vermont want themselves some more gun control. Vermont does have preemption, meaning the state legislature would have to approve, which apparently they aren’t in the habit of doing.

Another Bloomberg mayor bites the dust. This time it’s 28 years in prison for corruption.

It’s really DC versus the rest of America. I think in 1992, if Ross Perot hadn’t turned out to have one too many bats in his belfry, he could have had a chance. The climate is much much more primed for a populist revolt today. So I think the answer to this question is increasingly becoming yes, but it would take the right person, and the right party with the right ideas.

No evidence the Democrats can take back the House.

An act of Civil Disobedience. Excellent work.