Clayton Cramer wants to know more about what kind of bill Arkansas actually passed to address carry issues. There were questions even in the comments of Sebastian’s post on the issue of Arkansas going constitutional carry, and it looks like the Attorney General is saying that open carry under the new law isn’t legal. Obviously, there can be differences between the two topics, but many gun owners view them as directly connected. Make sure you know the law wherever you plan to carry a gun – whatever that law may or may not be since there seems to be some debate in Arkansas at the moment.
Year: 2013
Scary Headlines vs. Not-So-Scary Facts
As gun owners, we’ve seen many cases where headlines and teasers for news stories involving firearms or perceived threats are played up in order to attract more eyeballs to a story or viewers to a newscast. It’s not something new to us.
But, a couple of recent observations have made me wonder if this is actually going to get worse across all issues and news outlets in order to compete for traffic and the possibility of going viral.
One great example of this is @HuffPoSpoilers. The description lays out the exact point of the account: “I give in to @HuffingtonPost click-bait so you don’t have to.” I follow because I think it’s pretty funny most of the time. But reading the original HuffPo teasers and headlines has really floored me about just how much of a stretch they take to make the most mundane sound interesting in order to get people clicking on their site.
The reason I wonder if this effort to stretch relatively run-of-the-mill stories into even more over-the-top headlines came from an incident today from one of our local news outlets. This is the headline: “Arrest Warrant Issued For Alleged Wedding Crasher”
Now, if you’re like me and have actually crashed a wedding, this gets attention. Is this a case of insane prosecution? Do we have a new breed of Bridezilla that would actually file charges against that person who stumbled onto her dance floor and maybe had an appetizer or drink? My wedding crashing story involves no eating or drinking on the wedding party’s tab. However, my friend did end up in some reception photos. Still, as a person who has technically met the definition of crashing a wedding, this gets my attention.
It turns out that the story gets far less titillating in the second paragraph where we find out a closer version to the events: “…he allegedly crashed a local wedding reception and stole thousands of dollars worth of wedding gifts.” By the third and fourth paragraphs, we find it’s more accurately described as a man who simply broke into a car visibly stuffed with valuables. Somehow, the story of a pretty typical car break-in becomes a headline about arresting a wedding crasher.
I guess the reason I bring this up here is because I think it’s an interesting phenomenon to address as news viewers/readers. I think as gun owners, we’ve actually already been through the worst of it. Even when we still see bias in the media, it tends to be less over-the-top than in the 90s or earlier. I suspect part of that is because gun owners have managed to jump all over the really inaccurate stories and writers. The fact is that many reporters don’t want the hassle of many gun owners correcting their stories, so they’ll tone down the tendency to exaggerate claims. But does this trend to making other news even more overly sensational than it was before signal that maybe we’re headed back down that path? What do you guys and gals think?
Motions Proceeding in Federal Court in Illinois
Madigan makes a motion to dismiss the case as moot, since the state has fixed the problem. Plaintiffs say, “not so fast,” and request the State of Illinois be enjoined from enforcing the newly passed FCCA until the permitting system is in place and operating “in a timely manner,” as mentioned in the motion for injunction. There’s also a motion to expedite briefing on the motions, so we can get this over with quickly and prevent the State of Illinois from dragging its feet even further. It would be a good incentive for the State to get everything set up quickly. Otherwise I’d expect they’ll drag this out as long as possible. From the response to the motion to dismiss:
The Plaintiffs’ Second Amendment rights have been violated each and every day since December 11, 2012, when the Seventh Circuit reversed this Court and held that the UUW and the AUUW violated the Plaintiffs’ rights …. Indeed, they have been violated each and every day since Illinois enacted its carry ban …. The FCCA makes plain that said violation of Plantiffs’ rights will not cease for up to another 270 days — 180 days to make application forms available and another 90 days to process said applications…. The State has effectively given itself that which the Seventh Circuit refused — a further stay of the appellate court’s mandate… The violation of the Plaintiffs’ Second Amendment rights occurred today and will occur tomorrow and each and every day until the expiration of the 270-day stay that Illinois has given to itself in the FCCA. The Defendants cannot meet the first prong of the voluntary-cessation test described above.
Nope. This isn’t over. Not by a long shot folks. These people need to start understanding this is a right, and not a privilege. This all could have been easily avoided by passing a reasonable shall-issue bill as soon as the court ruling came down. But that’s not what many Illinois Democratic leaders chose to do. They chose to stall, whine, kick, scream, delay, and obstruct. Well, the wages of that might be FOID carry until they can get their act together. Let us hope.
Doesn’t Fit the Narrative
The White House asks the CDC to do some research to help drive the narrative on gun control. They went ahead and did the study, but the results lead to narrative fail:
Furthermore, the key finding the president was no doubt seeking — that more laws would result in less crime — was missing. The study said that “interventions,†such as background checks and restrictions on firearms and increased penalties for illegal gun use, showed “mixed†results, while “turn-in†programs “are ineffective†in reducing crime. The study noted that most criminals obtained their guns in the underground economy — from friends, family members, or gang members — well outside any influence from gun controls on legitimate gun owners.
Read the whole thing.
What Progress Looks Like
D. Members will not enforce the following city ordinances:
8-4-010(i) – Disorderly Conduct in that a person carries in a threatening or menacing manner, without authority of law, any pistol or revolver or conceals said weapon on or about the person or vehicle.
8-20-020 – Unlawful Possession of Handguns
8-20-030 – Unlawful Possession of Long Guns
8-20-035 – Unlawful Possession of Unregisterable Firearms – relative to 8-20-170(b) and (c)
8-20-040 – Firearm Kept or Maintained in a Home
8-20-080 – Possession of Ammunition
8-20-110 – Chicago Firearm Permit (CFP) – Required
8-20-140 – Firearm Registration Certificate – Required
8-20-180 – CFP and Registration Certificate – General Provisions
8-20-185 – Additional Duties.
Hey, hey, hey, Goodbye! Eat it Rahm! Chicago is now preempted in these matters.
If you’re going to be the face of our issue …
… please try to avoid the trap of getting busted for having controlled substances while possessing a firearm. I tend to think most people will frown on possessing a firearm with hallucinogenic substances, and it kind of destroys the whole being a sympathetic character for pulling off effective civil disobedience. Rosa Parks didn’t have pot in her purse when she got arrested.
But I will note this:
“Numerous police vehicles, including a light armored vehicle and two low-flying helicopters barricaded Adam’s street,†the news release says. “More than 20 armored SWAT team members surrounded the house, as well as a number of detectives, and plainclothes officers.â€
Two helicopters and an armored vehicle? To take down one guy who only kinda, maybe might decide it’s better to shoot it out than get taken in? I can get using a tactical team, given you just don’t know, maybe he’d rather shoot it out, but what’s so hard about waiting for him to leave the house and jumping him with 5 or so officers? Why invade the whole neighborhood? The problem is, you give the guys the toys, and it gets hard to resist taking them out to play.
National Review Cover Story on Guns in America
The current issue of National Review’s print magazine is centered around this piece by Charles C.W. Cooke – Remington, USA.
I’m actually still reading it, but it’s quite interesting so far. For example, I didn’t realize this tidbit of history:
It is thus fitting that the longest continuously operating manufacturer in North America is a gun maker. The Remington Arms Co., which has been in business for just shy of two centuries now, is also the oldest company in the United States that is still making its original product.
I guess now I’m curious about what the oldest company in the US is that isn’t making their original product anymore.
The second page of the article is basically a showcase of how Remington is exactly the kind of manufacturing set up that Democrats say they want – long-time loyal union employees who are largely promoted from within without much outsourcing. Yet, for some odd reason, they keep trying to hurt the industry that is supporting these jobs. Funny how that logic works – or, rather, doesn’t work.
As I said, I’m still reading. So far, it’s a very interesting profile in a magazine that’s not normally big on covering the nitty gritty of the gun issue. Check it out.
UPDATE: Okay, so this section may be the best part and makes it worth reading the entire article:
“Do you want to go full auto?†he asks me, with a grin. Of course I do. … After firing a couple of test shots, I flick the switch to automatic and empty the magazine into a nearby target. I laugh: “I can see why these are so popular!†“Fun, huh?!†asks Paul Merz, watching from the next room. You’re damn right it is.
Another Public Employee Funded by MAIG
Open records requests on government actions are very handy when uncovering the network of anti-gun funding going to pay city employees to do research and take action on behalf of Mike Bloomberg’s pet projects. One such worker has recently been uncovered in Milwaukee, and the records show the money coming from Joyce and actually being funneled through MAIG-associated organizations.
All Nine Yards had come across this name before in their MAIG/public official funding research, but the direct funding details are more evident with local public records requests that know the local government connections.
Raising questions about local spending and how cities use funds from the Mayor of NYC or other politically controversial groups is a great way to raise the political costs of doing business with the self-declared ruler of your food and guns in smaller communities across the country.
Mehl Case Dismissed on Standing in 9th Circuit
Mehl v. Blanas was a carry case in California brought by Attorney Gary Gorski that had the potential to upset the whole apple cart of Second Amendment litigation in the 9th circuit. Given that the Supreme Court has denied cert in the 2nd Circuit and 4th Circuit cases [UPDATE: Not for Wollard though. Williams was denied.], and the 7th Circuit case has now been remedied legislatively, the 9th circuit carry cases are more important than ever. Calguns offers a scathing review of the issues at hand with the Mehl case, and the attorney arguing it. They conclude with:
We are certainly not guaranteed a positive result in Richards and Peruta but we are very encouraged that Mehl was disposed of on grounds that do not injure those critical cases or, most importantly, the precious civil rights and millions of law-abiding people they represent. As we live to watch the Seventh Circuit force handgun carry by non-prohibited people upon Illinois and anti-gun rights municipalities like Chicago, we believe that the ultimate outcome — up to, and potentially including, a United States Supreme Court decision — will respect and protect our right to keep and bear arms for self-defense outside the thresholds of our homes as the framers of the Constitution and Bill of Rights intended.
It’s certainly encouraging. They could have taken Mehl and used it as a vehicle to screw us, but they didn’t.
Quinn’s Veto Overridden
Earlier today, the house voted 77-31 to override, and just now the Senate voted 41-17 to override. The concealed carry bill is now the law-of-the-land in Illinois. While the bill is far from perfect, and far from what we’d like to see, it is a start. In most states where the initial bill has been a bit of a disappointment, we’ve been able to come back later and improve the situation once politicians realize the sky has not fallen. Also not out of the question is litigating on some of the aspects of this bills we’re not happy with. At this point, the 7th Circuit is probably the strongest circuit in the country when it comes to Second Amendment law.