Some of you might have noticed a hiccup on the blog this morning. That was caused by one of the disks failing in a way that hung up everything on the system. The system uses software mirroring, but when a disk gets serious read errors, it still blocks the process trying to do the read while it waits for a timeout. Unfortunately for us, the process was the kernel. I have checked the disk since this morning and it’s remapping sectors still. It has been spinning continuously for nearly 4 years straight, so I think it’s time to send it out to pasture. I’ll be doing the replacement tonight, probably around midnight.
Year: 2013
Gun Control Dates
From NRA, it would seem that Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy is planning to pull a Cuomo and try to pass gun control via emergency legislation, which bypasses the committee process and offers no public hearing. I think the goal of Bloomberg and Obama here is probably to break the back of the firearms industry.
Also from NRA, more attempts to derail right-to-carry in Illinois. I think at this point only the Supreme Court will settle this issue finally.
It’s being reported that Harry Reid will start to move legislation forward April 8th, and it’s going to be a ban on private transfers. No word on whether it will be Schumer’s bill or not. The assault weapons ban and magazine bans will be offered as amendments. Despite what a lot of people are saying, this isn’t over. It’s not over until votes are posted, so keep bugging your Senators. There’s also the minor fact that the “background check” bill would be an unmitigated disaster for the firearms community.
More Money for Public Gun Ranges
Don’t overlook the politics of your state wildlife departments and projects they may be looking to fund soon. The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Program allows funds to be used to support public shooting ranges, and there’s lots of money to go around.
A record $882 million will be distributed to states this year for fish, wildlife and recreation projects, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday. …
Due primarily to increased sales of firearms and ammunition over the last year, the wildlife fund will provide an unprecedented $522.5 million to the states. The previous high was $473 in 2010.
Pennsylvania is slated to receive $19.1 million. If you want to know how much your state will get, check out this list.
Local Grassroots Tackling Local Anti-Gun Initiatives
I have to applaud the new local gun rights grassroots group for being able to highlight things that otherwise would pass by many gun owners just because they can’t scan every single paper or keep up with every single news report.
They found this story about a county commissioner who is trying to use her personal politics to guide the county’s pension fund. Given that county commissioners don’t typically get much feedback from voters, they are encouraging people to call and email her to oppose her effort to make her personal politics the guide for retirement investments instead of simply trying to get the most in return for the taxpayer’s money.
While the commissioner in question isn’t up for re-election this year, she has to know that motivating more voters to turn out against her in her next off-year election doesn’t bode well for her political future. Local efforts like this are the prime opportunity to remind her that we’re watching closer than we ever have before, and we’ll hold officials accountable at the ballot box.
No Right to Carry in the 4th Circuit
The 4th Circuit Court of appeals has overturned the district court decision in Wollard v. Gallagher. One consequence, it seems, of the new field of Second Amendment jurisprudence is that intermediate scrutiny is the new rational basis review. Eugene Volokh notes:
But it seems to me that means the court is thereby deciding that the right to keep and bear arms doesn’t extend to carrying outside the home for self-defense. If a court lets the government deny the ability to carry guns outside the home for self-defense to nearly everybody, the court is in essence saying there is no such right to carry.
A constitutional right that can be trumped in some of its applications under intermediate scrutiny (or for that matter strict scrutiny) is a right, albeit a qualified one; consider, for instance, the right to engage in commercial speech, or the right to be free of sex discrimination. But a constitutional right that can be trumped in nearly all its applications, under whatever level of scrutiny, is not really a right.
This case will no doubt be appealed, and given we have a circuit split on this issue with the 7th Circuit, I think it’s safe to say the Supreme Court will take the issue up. I do hope that in this next case, the Court puts the kibosh on this intermediate scrutiny nonsense. I can understand why the Court doesn’t want to adopt these various levels of review for the 2nd Amendment, but there needs to be some standard for lower courts to follow, otherwise the end result will be every court adopting some nebulous lesser standard of review, and upholding every gun control law out there. That can’t be a serious way to treat a fundamental constitutional right.
Some Thoughts on Guns and Abortion
SayUncle seems to be warming up to Rand Paul, but isn’t happy about Rand Paul going against abortion rights. I am generally in Uncle’s camp on this particular issue, but I understand why the issue is so contentious, and why people are passionate about it. I don’t pretend to have any real moral insights into where life begins, and therefore where the rights of the mother need to yield. I think philosophically, it’s an issue that is far more difficult than many people who have strong opinions on it imagine it to be. At the end of the day, what has made me fall on the abortion rights side of the spectrum is that I can’t abide by the fact that enforcing an abortion ban would entail roughly the same kind of tactics we’re seeing right now with SAFE. This may not be a popular notion in today’s political climate, but I tend to think if you’re going to make certain behaviors serious crimes, they should generally be behaviors that pretty much everyone who isn’t criminally anti-social can agree ought to be crimes.
It’s with that I want to start in on a comment, and follow-up, that appeared yesterday by Peter Hamm, who used to work in the gun control issue, but has since moved on. Peter has always been a strong adversary, and a decent person, so I think his point is worth addressing in a post:
So, to clarify, gang, when you say enforce the laws on the books, you mean the laws on the books that pass muster with a broad cross-section of then gun rights community.
I respect you, and try not to ever treat you disrespectfully, but do we all get to choose the laws that we find acceptable, and disregard the rest? I for one am aware of many laws, such as the federal income tax laws, that I would rather opt out of, but have always thought that doing so wasn’t an option.
Consider this, for example. If one of these town officials says he won’t enforce a new gun law, you applaud him. What would you have thought if the National Park Service had said it wouldn’t allow concealed, despite the rider on the credit card reform bill?
We’re Americans. If we don’t like a law we’re free to fight for its repeal. We’re not free to disregard it. That gets liens put on your house, social services putting your kids in protective custody, stuff like that.
I think this can be a good starting point for a discussion on both the left and the right to develop a bit of understanding. That’s why this post started with the topic of abortion, because it is another very contentious moral and social issue that we argue very passionately about.
If abortion were generally made illegal, or very close to illegal in a state, would folks on who are passionate about abortion rights believe that women who smuggled abortion pills into the state ought to be subject to felony penalties and thrown in jail? Should they just obey the law, and stick to lobbying for repeal? What if the law makes traveling out of state for an abortion a felony? Is the woman who drives a friend worth throwing in prison for 10 years? If the state did an ad campaign targeting women’s magazines and television, telling other women to report if a friend or neighbor had an illegal abortion, with rewards offered for arrests, would you be outraged? What about doctors who refuse to obey the laws and decide carrying out safe abortions in medically sound conditions is better than women resorting to back alley abortionists and coat hangers? What about a woman who gets a botched abortion, gets a bad infection, and seeks legitimate medical treatment? Should she face a felony rap, and be forced to choose between sterility, and possibly death, or a lengthy prison sentence?
For those who are against abortion, this is what enforcement would mean. Sound familiar? Even if we disagree with each other’s moral compass on life’s starting point, you’re still dealing with fundamental issues of personhood, and those are always the kinds of topics we’re going to have the worst arguments over in America. Slavery was an issue of personhood, and we fought a bloody civil war over that.
Likewise, the gun rights debate is actually not about guns, but is rather a personhood debate, derived from the fairly common and historically pervasive American notion that the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right of citizenship and personhood. The right to defend one’s home, one’s life, and one’s liberty is deeply rooted in our sense of personal autonomy, self-reliance, and in our relationship with those who govern us, or who would claim to govern us. It is just as much about a right to our own corporal integrity and dignity as it is to many who support abortion rights.
Charges Filed Against MAIG Mayor
We already brought you the story about Mike Bloomberg’s gun control ally in Marcus Hook, PA who was under investigation for keeping a hostage in his home before firing a round into the floor of the house where his teen daughter also slept. Today, he was arrested and the actual charges released:
The mayor of Marcus Hook, Pa. has been arrested and charged with reckless endangerment and other offenses. …
Authorities say Schirilo faces charges including unlawful restraint, false imprisonment and recklessly endangering another person.
Interestingly, his local party leaders and other officials have called on the mayor to resign over the incident. However, he is digging in his heels and refusing to leave the office. He claims that it’s all the fault of the alcohol, so he shouldn’t be held responsible for the incident.
Why We Can’t Get Lazy
For every headline that reads “NRA fundraising best in decade”, Bloomberg cuts a check that is pittance to him. And yet, he still outraises all of us.
The power of gun owners comes in our willingness to put boots on the ground. 2014 is not the year to sit out of the game. The politicians who have voted for this mess or promoted it must be ousted from office. If we can’t beat Mike Bloomberg’s wealth, then we need to beat him where it counts in turning out votes.
Light Posting
My posting rate has eased up over the past day or so. For one, I had to fix some WiFi issues at work yesterday, which required being there (I usually am on Wednesdays and Fridays) and for which time was of the essence. I got back late enough I didn’t spend much time to find things to write about.
To make matters worse, the insomnia bug has struck again. I hadn’t really been sleeping great since daylight savings time kicked in, but lately I’m sleeping really light, and waking up several times during the night. I almost prefer the type where I just can’t sleep, because at least I can get things done. This way I just feel tired all the time. I blame the change of time without the usual change of season. I blame Phil, that insufferable groundhog. How does groundhog taste BBQd?
Open Carry in Open Carry State No Pretext for Stop
Civil rights victory in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. This will only apply to the 4th circuit, and not the rest of the country, but this decision can be pointed to in sister circuits when such cases present themselves. Pennsylvania already has a similar case that would presumably also cover open carry.