2013 – Page 72 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Local Permits to Carry in Pennsylvania

This is a great example of why states need preemption laws. Morrisville, PA has an ordinance that bans possession of firearms in their public parks unless a distinct permit has been issued.

The activities listed below shall not be permitted in any park or playground unless a permit has been secured for such activity from the Borough Council, or its agent, the Borough Manager. No permit shall be issued unless an application therefor shall have been made at least 24 hours before the time of the activity. In the case of seasonal activities, a permit may be issued for the entire season.

(a) Groups or parties in excess of 12 persons.

(b) Placements of placards, advertisements or public notices.

(c) Fires, other than in a fireplace or other equipment provided for cooking purposes, or for a bonfire or campfire as part of an authorized event.

(d) Firearms or the discharge of firearms or other weapons.

(e) Soliciting of alms or subscriptions.

(f) Selling or exposing for sale any articles.

The language that “firearms” “shall not be permitted” “unless a permit has been secured for such activity from the Borough Council, or its agent, the Borough Manager” that must be submitted “at least 24 hours before the time of the activity” seems to make it pretty clear that they issue their own permits to possess firearms in parks at least 24 hours in advance of your planned time to be in the park. I wanted to know more about this little gem of an ordinance.

In trying to find out more about that permit, I called the borough, found myself transferred to three different people in Borough Hall in my first call, put on hold for nearly 10 minutes, and still couldn’t tell you anything about the process. I was then told to contact the Police Department for the permit information, including cost, but the Police Department said that any and all permitting in regards to parks happens through Borough Hall and sent me back to the third woman with whom I spoke. She eventually transfered me to a gentleman who said that the Borough doesn’t actually issue permits, but they require that state licenses to carry in order to possess firearms in any way in public parks. I very specifically asked if that applied to open carry as well, and he said that all carry in parks required the state license to carry. (This is illegal for them to demand.)

What’s interesting is that this borough has already been warned off of violating Pennsylvania’s preemption law in a letter sent by firearms attorney Joshua Prince just four days ago. It would appear that instead of requiring you to notify them at least 24 hours in advance of any trips to the park and securing a permit at an unknown price with, what I was told, an application that apparently never existed, they are continuing to violate state law by demanding licenses to carry concealed for any possession at all – concealed or not.

This why we need preemption with some teeth. A good start is Sen. Rich Alloway’s SB 876. It does at least makes local governments pay for the cost of challenging their abuses of power. It would certainly improve the situation in Morrisville since, in all likelihood, the problem ordinance never would have been passed in the first place. Even if it was on the books, the borough itself would be on the financial hook for their illegal ordinance and certainly wouldn’t feel like it is acceptable for their leaders to give out illegal advice without consequence.

Unexpected Shaming of Anti-Gun Groups

There’s a fine line between being seen or heard and shoving your politics so much in someone’s face that they get utterly turned off and it works against you. Make your voice heard doesn’t mean piss off everyone around you. That doesn’t help a cause.

So imagine my surprise that the local media has actually been reporting honestly that it was an anti-gun group that decided to go shove their politics in people’s faces at a bunch of little league games. To add to the mix, the very anti-gun media are even editorializing against the decision by the anti-gun groups to disrupt the atmosphere of the games and not blaming gun owners. (Though they admit they aren’t a fan of individuals who plan to open carry in opposition, they don’t lay the blame at their feet.)

This editorial doesn’t just condemn a rinky-dink anti-gun group. The speakers at the event they say should have been canceled are a former governor and a current state lawmaker. Good for the media for calling out the appropriate party for their desire to get up in everyone’s faces where it is rather inappropriate.

Another Substantial Financial Loss for Reed

We already know that the Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show was a multi-million dollar event for Reed Exhibitions, and they lost it because of poor execution and dismal communication with their vendors and customers. Today, they lost another show with NSSF announcing that Reed will no longer manage SHOT.

What surprises me the most is that the contract is terminated immediately. I figured they would at least ride out the issue until 2014 is wrapped up since events of this scale are not something you pull together in a day.

We certainly wish NSSF luck in pulling together a successful SHOT Show in 2014, and we take a little joy is knowing that while this is ultimately no big deal to Reed’s overall bottom line, losing a millions over their anti-gun positions is still a bit of a victory.

Just like the Encryption Fights

Those of you who were around tech circles in the 90s probably remember this t-shirt. See more background on that fight here. Well, it would seem that history repeats itself. What’s even more ironic is that some of the folks involved in the cryptography struggle are now involved in the gun rights battle too.

When you really boil it down, gun control is a form of information control, in that the knowledge of firearms has been with man for more than 500 years. You could confiscate every gun on the planet tomorrow, and mankind would just make more, because we have the knowledge to do so. You could only eradicate guns by eradicating the information that goes into making them, and that’s difficult if not impossible to do.

What 3D printing and CNC has accomplished is to make the link between information and firearms much more direct. With ITAR getting involved in trying to stop the spread of the plans, it’s hard to argue we aren’t in a world where guns and information aren’t roughly the same thing. It’s readily apparent in human history that information control is perhaps one of the greatest follies practiced by rulers and governments, and that’s now what gun control essentially is becoming.

Can MAIG Mayors Keep Their Pants On?

I don’t think it’s too much to ask, but apparently it is for Mayor Healey of Jersey City, New Jersey, a founding member of MAIG. This was a controversy back in the 2004 race, when a photo of him naked on his porch surfaced. He said he got a little too drunk, and didn’t remember how he got on his porch. Apparently now the story is changing:

Healy gave a fresh, and notably more bizarre, account in an interview with the Star-Ledger in which he claimed he had actually been drawn outside that night by a group of noisy Hispanic girls — who proceeded to rip off the towel he was wearing and do “filthy” things.

Well, OK then. It could probably be argued Healy’s problems are really nothing new, and that he is likely, as a founding member of MAIG, to be the original illegal mayor. But I thought this bizarre new twist on how he ended up naked on his porch was worth a mention.

The Texas “Nullifcation” Law

Jonathan Adler points out that the Texas law is not nullification at all, because all it does is prevent state officials from enforcing any federal gun laws passed after a certain date. A lot of states, including Pennsylvania (HB 357), have bills proposed that would make even the federal government enforcing federal laws subject to criminal sanctions. This would not hold up in Court in our current legal system, so Texas decided not to go that far.

In reality, if state officials can’t enforce federal law, for all practical purposes, enforcement would be impossible. The most likely scenario you’d likely be found to be violating the law would be at a traffic stop, and traffic laws are state laws. While it would not be “nullification” as we generally think of it, preventing state authorities from enforcing a federal law, for most practical purposes, renders that law null. There simply aren’t enough federal agents to enforce any law without the aid of state and local authorities.

I tend to think the current circumstances call for what Texas is doing, rather than what is being proposed in Pennsylvania. A real nullification bill might be warranted if gun bans are on the table, and state authorities, and state courts, are willing to go along with the whole idea, but I feel confident enough in how badly we beat the gun and magazine bans, and I have no faith that the state authorities or state courts would go along with any nullification scheme, especially under current circumstances.

Open Carry March in DC

When I first heard someone was planning an open carry march in DC, in an act of civil disobedience, my first thought was that it would not end well. This blogger does an excellent job pointing out some misconceptionsÂ about where the border between Virginia and DC actually is. I tend to think if there aren’t thousands of people willing to do this, the end result is just going to be everyone getting carted off to jail. Even with thousands, the end result might only end up being that the police blockade the bridge, and force everyone to turn back. I’m not against civil disobedience, per se, but it should have some purpose. I tend to think we’ll be able to fix the carry issue in DC at some point, without whatever “help” we’ll get from the media coverage of this event that’s bound to be spun against us.

Still Setting Records

John Richardson notes that this is the 35th record setting month when it comes to NICS transactions. Kevin Baker takes on the notion of declining gun ownership. I think what you’ve seen, in terms of polling, is that fewer people are willing to answer whether there’s a gun in the home. Years ago, it was nothing to be ashamed about, however now many people feel differently, or don’t want to answer because it’s just not anyone else’s business. There’s just no way, with all the anecdotal evidence we have, we’re not increasing actual ownership.

Who’s Buying Colorado?

Mayor Bloomberg, it seemsÂ (link fixed, sorry about that):

The group that is organizing to defend Senate President John Morse is semi-humorously named â€œA Whole Lot of People For John Morse.â€

Wanna guess which of the whole lotta people who like John Morse like him most?

Three wordsâ€¦Mayor. Bloom. Berg.

Read the whole report. Are Coloradans going to be OK with Mayor Bloomberg buying their legislature? I guess we’ll find out in 2014.

Hate Mail is Fun

We don’t often get hate mail. Actually, this is probably the first piece of hate mail I’ve ever received. This one actually comes to us courtesy of a manager at a major consumer products company in New Jersey:

From: Mr. Hater
To: Sebastian
Subject: Guns for Kids

HI:

A big â€œHiâ€ from NJ. I was hoping you could help me. I need a gun for my 4 year old and canâ€™t find a â€œwhere to buy guideâ€ on Cricketâ€™s web site. He really wants a gun and I figure it is his right to own one (and kill his sister – by mistake of course ) when we leave the gun loaded in the house ( or the double wide ) and then just leave â€œfor a minuteâ€. And the â€œparentsâ€ say â€“ oh what a horrible accident.

I can only hope your family goes through the same trauma as mine and maybe you will change your opinion on this matter. Guns are for losers â€“ and you my friend fit this description very nicely. No increased background checksâ€¦ No limit on the number of bullets in the gun â€“ no nothingâ€¦ You want to take over the government? Just try â€“ the US armed forces will kick your ass. Just a hint â€“ it is no longer the 1700â€™s â€“ it is 2013. Get it â€¦

Have a nice day,

Mr. Hater
Born and raised in NJ and Dam proud of it.

Let me just offer a piece of advice on hate mailin’. If you’re going to hate mail someone, don’t do it from your work e-mail and use your real name. I have redacted the name and employer, because I’m a softy, and don’t want to see anyone get in hot water or lose their job over what could have been a moment of poor judgement after hitting the sauce particularly hard.

There is no family trauma that would change my mind on this matter, because I don’t make a habit of placing blame on inanimate objects for bad things that happen. If a loved one were killed by a drunk driver, would you still drive? Would you abstain from all alcohol? If it were my negligence, I would blame myself. I might question whether I’m really responsible enough to own a gun. But I certainly wouldn’t blame the rest of you, and advocate for taking your guns.

TheÂ deodandÂ is certainly alive and well in our society, isn’t it? This kind of ancient and mystical thinking comes from someone who has the nerve to be condescending to the rest of us. The other side keeps wondering why there can be no dialog. This is why. I have nothing to say to a person like this. Nothing. The only thing we can do is work to politically destroy them to the greatest extent we are capable.