I’m surprised we’re just now hearing about this incident in Seattle. I would have thought they’d be in full on exploitation mode, but I guess since it’s not children, and the shooter used a Joe Biden approved weapon, it doesn’t help the narrative much. Of course, he does have a concealed weapons permit, so I suppose that helps their cause. Though, I’m pretty sure most standard training courses cover the license not giving you any permissions to shoot it out with police.
Year: 2013
A Constitution? Who Needs It?
Bloomberg thinks we’re going to have to change what we think of the Constitution after Boston. I think right now the Constitution is more important than ever.
“The people who are worried about privacy have a legitimate worry,†Mr. Bloomberg said during a press conference in Midtown. “But we live in a complex word where you’re going to have to have a level of security greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will. And our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change.â€
Our greater level of security that we had back in the “olden days,” is due to the fact that it was a society where people looked out after each other and their own. Today, especially in places like Boston and New York, citizens expect the government to do everything for them, and the more government does, the less it does anything particularly well. Even Boston is illustrative of the utter failure of government. It wasn’t until the lockdown was lifted that an observant citizen decided to take a look in his boat, and sure enough… terrorist in his boat. Again, just like 9/11, it was citizens that caught him, even with all the Forth Amendment violations the police were using. Police work better with an engaged citizenry than a bunch of passive sheep.
What if instead of doing house to house searches they asked everyone to go and inspect their yards, sheds, and yes, boats (as I think most of us would have wanted to do if this had been going on in our neighborhood)? Well, we can’t have that. Someone might get hurt. But having the King’s men spraying bullets all over a suburban neighborhood and pointing guns at the good citizenry while they go door to door searching? Well, you can trust us, we’re professionals, from the government, and here to help.
Greetings to All in Harrisburg
Today is the annual 2nd Amendment Rally. I had actually planned to go this year, even up until a few days ago, because I thought it would be important to make this a big year. But other circumstances have intervened, and to tell the truth, I’m a bit burnt out on gun rights events, and didn’t relish the idea of driving to Harrisburg at 6 in the morning only to have to come back in the afternoon and work until I can’t stay awake anymore. If anyone’s there who can get a good crowd shot, let me know and I’ll post it.
Monday News Dump
It’s just another Manic Monday. Wish it were Sunday. That’s my fun day. But since it’s Monday, a news dump:
Governor Cuomo’s numbers continue to be disappointing. But I thought gun control was popular?
The bomb suspects did not have a gun permit. This is a shock to no one, except the AP, apparently. The media has been using the Boston situation to push gun control.
The Washington Post has an excellent rehashing of NRA’s supposed support for expanded background checks in the 1990s. Apparently the NRA floated an alternate proposal from the one the Clinton Administration wanted, which was unacceptable to the Administration. That effectively killed the bill.
Chris Christie seems to be floating his own gun control package. I guess he doesn’t want to be President.
Schumer says that they have foot soldiers everywhere, even though his rally was astroturf.
Bloomberg and OFA organized protests as well, like this one at Richard Burr’s offices in North Carolina, where 20 people showed up. Three times that number showed up to protest Burr’s cloture vote. A protest against Rubio didn’t look much better. A protest against Eric Canter was even more pathetic.
Some Illinois Lawmakers want to carve out a Chicago exception on concealed carry. I’m sure the courts will be fine with constitutional rights changing with geography.
Philadelphia Mayor Nutter accuses us of dancing on the graves of gun violence victims. Somehow I don’t think our nutty mayor has been paying attention to what each side in this debate are saying and doing.
Some guy in New Jersey goes to buy a BB gun and finds out it’s difficult, but yet fails to become educated.
Kathleen Kane says we need more leaders like Pat Toomey. I think we need fewer leaders like Kathleen Kane, myself.
Weapons of war do not belong on America’s streets!
The wannabe illegal Mayor in Florida seems to have lost his race.
Shotgun steaks. I hope they are using lead free primers. I wouldn’t eat that otherwise.
Gun-toting locavores! In Canada!
Feinstein’s meltdown. She complains NRA money defeats her gun control bills, but doesn’t recognize that Bloomberg alone is keeping parity with the NRA on spending. Where would the gun control movement be without rich busybodies? She’s also attended the Joe Biden School of Self-Defense.
You’ve probably all seen or heard about NBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell blaming the NRA for the Boston bombers being on the loose.
Gun Control Debate: CLE
For those of you in the audience who need Continuing Legal Education credits, there is a gun control debate coming up Philadelphia:
The gun control debate is raging across the country. The horrific tragedy at Newtown has moved it to the front of our national consciousness. While the politics of the debate seem to drive the issue, there is still the law to consider, with interpretations of the 2nd Amendment affecting virtually every issue that arises in the effort to curb gun violence.
 Hear from the Philadelphia Police Commissioner, representatives of the NRA and the Brady Center, and other advocates for and against gun control legislation.
The date is May 23rd, 2013 from 12 noon to 3:15PM. Looks like there will be a lot of simulcasts around the state, as well as online options. You don’t have to be a lawyer to register, but lay people might find the price a bit steep.
We Can’t Go Back to Sleep
CBS News: 2014 The Next Frontier in the Gun Control Battle:
As Democratic legislators search for a path forward, however, gun advocacy groups are zeroing in on the next phase of their campaign: Getting the gun bill “no” votes voted out of office in 2014.
“You wait until the next November,” warned New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in remarks on Thursday, of the lawmakers who voted against the Senate legislation. “How are they going to, a year from November when they’re running for election, answer, ‘Why didn’t you do something to stop that, senator? You had it in your power to do it, and you voted to keep the killing going.’ That can’t be good politics. It just can’t be.”
It is unfortunate, but we will need every warm body to act as a counterweight to Bloomberg’s deep pockets. They do have some things going against them. For one, most of the “no” votes on Manchin-Toomey come from states where Bloomberg’s ads will probably help the incumbent more than hurt them. Secondly, for the Democrat “no” votes, there are no good choices for Bloomberg. If you primary Mark Pryor with a gun control supporter, you’ll likely throw the election to the Republican, who will be just as pro-gun as Pryor. In many of these states, there really is no solution set that results in a gun control supporter winning a statewide election. The dynamic will be different in Congressional races, but Congress is not likely to have a vote, and the leadership isn’t vulnerable. Boehner’s district is R+14, and hasn’t elected a Democrat to Congress since 1936. Cantor’s district in Virginia hasn’t sent a Democrat to Congress since 1968, and Cook rates it R+11. This is not to say Bloomberg is not a factor, there will be plenty of politicians who will be tempted to run from us because of the money Bloomberg can pump into a race. Whether they do or not is going to depend on all of us.
No Warrant, No Entry
If this video represents how the Watertown “voluntary” searches were conducted at all, then I seriously wonder how the officers would have reacted to this doormat.
Now this may be the nutty libertarian in me, but being met at the door by SWAT teams with guns pointed at you and orders barked to keep your hands up no matter what isn’t what I call a “request” to search your home on a “voluntary” basis. Nor is it just checking the premises to have multiple officers patting down innocent people as they exit said house to screams for them to keep their hands up and to run down the street for further body searches.
I sincerely hope that some government official somewhere is so ashamed of this video that they end up releasing some kind of evidence that there was specific probable cause for this house to be searched in this manner. However, the pessimist in me doubts that will be the case. The video makes it appear as though the only cause for such a response was the delayed answer to non-stop door knocks.
If there was no reasonable suspicion that the suspect had specifically entered this property, I sincerely hope that those people find themselves a damn good lawyer quickly.
The Media Didn’t Learn a Thing after Boston
You’d think after so much public derision over their terrible job reporting on the Boston bombing situation, the media would think it wise to step back and consider how they report on breaking events and whether they are contributing to a sense of panic by printing and announcing every rumor they hear. I think it is safe to say that the Philly media definitely didn’t learn anything.
Here’s what I can tell you about a story that has apparently been unfolding since 9:00am today at the Independence Visitor Center in downtown Philly.
The local paper says that the Center was closed down because of a bomb threat in their headline. When you read the article, you find out that there was no actual threat just a perception that a guy who looked funny because he wore a camo coat on a cold day had some clothes and junk in his car may have possibly been a threat that involved a bomb.
A local tv station reports nothing about concerns about a bomb, but that SWAT teams were on the scene because the guy in the camo coat may have also had his face painted. There’s no mention of clothes or junk in his car, just that police shut down the main parking garage in the area in order to search every corner for anything suspicious before giving an all clear.
So the only clear facts that appear to be consistent are that a guy was wearing a coat on a cold day, the coat was apparently in a camouflage pattern, he had a car parked in a parking garage, and that the Philly police felt the best response was to shut down a major landmark and the parking garage because of this man wearing a coat on a cold day. Oh, and they also agree that he was hauled off in handcuffs, but officials are unwilling to say why he was detained.
At this point, even if there is a reasonable explanation for the police response, the reporting by at least one of these outlets–if not both–is irresponsible and clearly geared toward promoting fear in order to draw eyeballs. That’s why neither story is getting a link at the moment. Neither one deserves to be rewarded for reporting that appears to be, under the most generous descriptions, sloppy at best.
UPDATE: Another report actually relies on on-the-record statements from the police. Can you imagine the insanity behind such caution and restraint?
So far, the facts appear to be that a man was wearing camo (no mention of face paint) and that he had a car that was dirty. This alone was enough for police to determine that he should be taken into custody even though they admit that the K9 unit and bomb squad found absolutely nothing in his car but junk. Now this might be my crazy libertarian side coming out, but last time I checked, possession of shitty fashion sense and dirty cars isn’t actually a crime.
Is there no one else disturbed by the apparent extreme police state on display here? Are urban dwellers that content to give up their civil liberties?
2014 is Here Now
If you’re like me, you may be seeing Gabby Giffords’s face on nearly advertising-supported website asking for money to fund her PAC. We can also find Joe Scarborough calling on the president to covertly work with a billionaire to buy local elections where the little people don’t vote the way the elites think they should. Then there’s the Brady Campaign telling a political outlet that they will start using their PAC to get involved in elections.
One of these sentences is not like the other.
If you guessed it was the Brady Campaign turning into a campaign operation, give yourself a pat on the back and maybe a Snickers bar for good measure.
On the senators who voted against the bill, Brady Campaign President Dan Gross told PI: “We’re watching them and we’re holding them accountable.†He added, “We’re flooding calls from the American public into their offices.” Brady said the group would look at using its PAC against members of Congress who voted against yesterday’s pro-gun-control amendment. “We are definitely going to be looking at what we can do on an electoral level,†Gross said.
Well, Dan, let’s help you look at what you can do on an electoral level based on the most recent data you filed with the .gov.
Even after Newtown and knowing they would likely need to launch an electoral fight, the Brady Campaign raised a big fat nothing for their PAC in all of 2012. Either Dan Gross is lying to the media about his intentions or he’s grossly incompetent in understanding that their current cash on hand in the PAC isn’t even enough to make one maxed out donation and pay all of the fees they appear to have in maintaining the account annually.
Now, I realize that they may be able to raise money for the PAC this year, so we’ll keep an eye on it. Regardless, I feel like Politico left out key context to the story of their potential involvement by deliberately ignoring the fact that they have raised less than $37k since 2006 (when Paul Helmke took over) and raised absolutely no PAC dollars under the current leadership.
Restrictions on Powder Already Proposed
Joe notes that it didn’t take long. Never let a crisis to go waste and all that. Chris notes that this sounds familiar. Explosives regulations are even dumber than gun control, as an idea, since explosives can be manufactured easily from household items. I made black powder in my basement as a kid. The idea that you can restrict this kind of thing is laughable, but I’m sure control freaks like Lautenberg are serious about it.