January 2015 – Page 4 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Texas is Not a Besieged State

Any tactic that beings with that assumption is the wrong one. It’s not illegal to make firearms in Texas, nor is it going to make that illegal anytime in the foreseeable future. Open Carry already seems like a done deal in Texas. Constitutional Carry might need some work, but it’s good to know what legislators are going to be open to persuasion. Don’t waste your time with the guys that aren’t.Â Pressure the legislators you might have some prayer to actually unseat, or at least make things very uncomfortable for. Rep. Poncho Naverez is not among those who fall into that category. That confrontation served absolutely no useful purpose.

You know why Rep. Navarez is happy to say he’s a “no” vote so readily? Or why he treats a threat to his seat with friendly and sportsmanlike indifference? Because in 2012, he won his overwhelmingly hispanic district with 60% of the vote. In 2014, a Republican wave year, he didn’t even draw a challenger. Rep. Navarez knows that his constituents either outright agree with his position on this issue, or at least don’t care enough to vote against him over it. You can threaten his seat all you want, but he what he knows, and what some of the activists in that video don’t, is that unless Navarez isÂ caught with a dead girl or live boy, he’s probably in that seat as long as he wants to be there.

You don’t need Navarez’s vote to pass open carry or constitutional carry, which is good, because you’re never going to get it.Â You’re not reminding him he works for “the people,” because you’re not the people he works for. His people are his constituents, who seem to beÂ largelyÂ happy with him. If you want his vote, that’s what you have to change. There will be no convincing him unless you convince his constituents that he’s failing them. This is how a Republic works, and no amount of calling anyone a tyrant is going to change that.

The Onion Comes to Life: Bloomberg Teaching About Guns!

It was difficult for me to believe this wasn’t a satire site at first:Â

â€œThe workshop, funded by Everytown for Gun Safety, will offer independent expert briefings and specialized reporting skills training to enhance the practical ability of journalists to report on guns and gun violence knowledgeably, ethically and effectively,â€ the website reported. â€œThe workshop will cover such topics as state and federal gun laws; patterns of gun sales and gun trafficking; national trends and polling; education and prevention initiatives; social, economic and public health impacts; and special populations (e.g. children and youth, women and returning veterans.)â€

SoÂ Bloomberg is going to teach journalists about how to report on guns. Actually, I think this is a smart move on their part. First, most journalists don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to this topic, so they won’t be able to tell they are being spoon fed bullshit. Second, it gives Bloomberg’s group a chance to tout that they have expertise on this issue. They don’t actually needÂ expertise, but by passing themselves off as experts they gain a chance to become that journalists go-toÂ source when they are looking for information on a topic. More importantly, it will connect journalists Bloomberg’s preferred experts.

NRA has never done anything like this, as far as I know. But the preconceptions that most journalists have about NRA would make this a difficult proposition for them. Like I said, Bloomberg may be a billionaire busybody who isn’t afraid to spend his money screwing over the little people, but he didn’t earn his fortune by being a fool. They’ve been very good at playing to their advantages.

Not Great on Guns to Outright Confiscation

Our current Congresscritter, Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, jumped on board with the “must look squishy” stance after Newtown and decided to sponsor gun control in the House even when it became clear there would be no vote.

It’s not a shock at all. No one actually believes he has a spine on any issue, but that’s part of why some people vote for him. Even our biggest frustration with him isn’t so much that he puts his finger in the air to try and guess the wind direction before taking a position, but that he’s actually not very good at it from a political strategy standpoint. (Of course, he might argue that he wins elections, and that’s a valid argument.) However, in all of that, he didn’t get on board with a gun ban, even though local folks thought he would in the wake of anything controversial. So, that’s at least something positive in the less-than-ideal political reality.

Rep. Fitzpatrick also pledged to term limit himself. He’s not running in 2016, which means it’s an open seat that only very slightly leans Republican in voting habits. It’s up for grabs for either party. The first to start the process of running? A local lawmaker who pushed banning possession of semi-automatic firearms – confiscation. In his statement, State Rep. Steven Santarsiero complained the gun ban legislation proposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein to be too moderate and pro-gun for his liking. Lovely.

This speculative field of alternative candidates who have grades doesn’t look good for gun rights, either. (Though some on that list haven’t run in an office to have an official grade or put out an official statement on the issue. And one, Jim Cawley, just announced a cushy non-profit CEO job today, so it’s safe to say he’s not interested.) Given the passion with which we oppose the policies of the officially declared candidate, this is a race we will be watching closely.

Sebastian and I have already spent dinner conversations on the subject, and we’d like to see one of the state senators from the area run. For Pennsylvanians who follow politics, we’re thinking Sens. Tommy Tomlinson or Chuck McIlhinney. One advantage to McIlhinney, beyond his previous A rating, is that it would help clear the path to liquor store privatization once Gov. Wolf is out of office. On the other hand, Tomlinson probably has the better demographic appeal. His name recognition is also spread across the most populous parts of the Congressional district. Tomlinson was last rated A-, and he did take a walk from us once on the issue of reciprocity a few years ago. As a consequence, he lost his endorsement and came back around on the major recent votes to earn back an endorsement. Tomlinson also won in 2014 after a big “war on women” attack in a Democratic area, so that’s a plus.

Does anyone else have any known open seat issues where there’s a not unreasonable chance that the seat will flip from (reasonably) pro-gun to an extreme anti-gun fringe candidate? Are you already looking around the political field for candidates to help early in the race?

NRA Luddites?

It looks like the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation has nominated NRA for a Luddite Award? Why? For opposing smart gun technology. I doubt that ITIF really understands the issue very much, or even comprehends the opposition. It just seems backwards to them, probably. Who could stand in the way of such progress?

I had never heard of this outfit until I found this, but I’d encourage folks to go vote for something else, lest our opposition get to make a media story out of it, to help their efforts to shove smart gun technology down everyone’s throats, whether the market wants it or not.

As a technology worker, I’m getting really tired of people in technology opining about things from a position of ignorance. But we’re dealing with a DC based K-street think tank non-profit, and if you look at a few of the backgrounds of the key players, they aren’t real tech people. These are a bunch of DC insider types.

Monday News Links – 01-12-2014

It’s a miserable Monday morning here in Southeastern, PA. Wintery mix is the worst, but fortunately, it’s converted pretty much all to rain. I don’t mind a few good snows for a season, but we’ve been fortunate, so far, that this winter isn’t shaping up like the last one. The French terrorist attacks were pretty much dominating the headlines last week, so these news links will include more off topic ones than normal:

Cars getting safer is going to become a problem for us. Even though the vast majority “gun deaths” are suicide, you can bet our opponents will play to the hilt when they can claim this is the “Number one cause of death in America!”

George Zimmerman needs to himself, and all of us a favor and check himself into a monastery.

The Mousqueton A.M.D. – France’s Mini-14.

More gun control in France? If what you do fails, just do the same thingÂ only twice as hard.

Journalist, suddenly realizing they are targets of global jihad, debate the utility of concealed weapons.

I agree that this is shameful.

“If Jews Flee, the Republic Will Be a Failure.” Well, you know, there have already been four failed French Republics.

A lot of anti-gun folks are saying a lot of stupid things about the late happenings in France.

Looks like there was some jury nullification in a case of felon-in-posession.

The military is rejecting Beretta’s M9A3, it’s attempt to kill the Army’s Modular Handgun Program. I’m not sure anyone has considered the possibility that this is paybacks from the Administration over Beretta’s defiant stance against gun control in the wake of Sandy Hook.

Walking a mile in the other guy’s shoes. More from Tim at Gun Nuts Media.

Every year a number of Pennsylvania legislators, mostly from Philadelphia, introduce nonsense legislation that they can take back to the constituents as proof that they are doing something. It’s not intended to go anywhere. This is among that type of legislation: “Bill in the PA House of Representatives: Ban human silhouette targets.”

I don’t have cable, so I managed to finally watch the PBS Documentary on NRA on Roku. It was so filled with tired arguments and rehashed nonsense that to be honest, I don’t even really remember watching it. It was all old news, and it covered no new ground.

More fallout from Operation Chokepoint?

Fight terrorism. Shoot back!

Moderate Dems Key to Reciprocity Victory?

Jacob wonders if moderate Dems could be the key to reciprocity. I think in the Senate, maybe. I think we would have enough to invoke cloture, but probably not enough to override a veto. We have 54 Republicans in the Senate. You can kiss Mark Kirk’s (R-IL) vote goodbye. That means we need 7 Democrats to invoke cloture. I think we have that. But that doesn’t get us to 67 to override a veto.

The bigger problem is going to be the House. How many pro-gun Dems are left? Not many. You need 290 votes to override a veto, and there are 246 GOP votes. Of course, you don’t get all 246. You can write off Peter King (R-NY) and Chris Smith (R-NJ). At least one of those GOP seats resigned already due to a guilty plea on federal charges. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Pat Meehan (R-PA) are two squishes I would be concerned about in that vote, especially Fitzpatrick because not intending to run for his seat again in 2016, and thus no longer has to face voters.

So that gets us down to 241 Republicans likely on board, but probably there’s some I’m missing, so we’ll say 238. That leaves us having to find 52 Democratic votes to override Obama’s veto. I think we can count on maybe 10 in the House. I’m not even sure that many, I’m not sure what all pro-gun Dems we lost in the last election. But it’s definitely not 52. So Obama’s veto will hold in the House.

Now, I think we ought to pass National Reciprocity, and make him veto it. So I’m not saying it shouldn’t be pushed and voted on in the 114th Congress. But I wouldn’t be unrealistic about what we can expect. I don’t think we have enough to get an override, but we’ll see. The blue dog pro-gun Democratic is a critically engendered species in Congress by this point.

Good Show

Glad to read the French police managed to successfully storm the hostage locations with minimal loss of non-terrorist life. One starts to worry when one sees pictures like this:

Emergency Services Attend Further Hostage Situation In Kosher Deli

I’m really hoping that’s just how the camera angleÂ looks and that cop isn’t actually pointing his rifle at the head of the other cop keying his mic. Either way, nice shooting on the part of the French Police.

UPDATE: Ooops… I thought these were Gendarmes, but the decal on the hood says “Police Nationale,” who are the other French national police.

Criminal Charges Recommended for Bloomberg’s Best

The best Attorney General that Mike Bloomberg’s money could buy is facing possible criminal charges at the recommendation of a grand jury. According to sources, they are recommending perjury and contempt of court for her role in leaking confidential grand jury materials to the press in order to embarrass opponents.

I’ll stick by the argument that the frequently GOP-leaning voters in the middle of the state who valued their football program over their gun rights and the rule of law are the ones responsible for sending her in on a wave election.

This is No Way to Win the Nomination

Chris Christie’s state police has promulgated new regulations, including tinkering with the definition of “assault firearm” in New Jersey’s law to make it more strict. This means people who own guns that were previously legal in New Jersey are now felons. It’s also worth remembering that Christie signed the law which prohibited anyone on the “terror watch list” from purchasing a gun. They put it in the regulation, but I’m honestly not sure the FBI will even run that check for them.

The new regulations also add a bunch of new requirements for dealers, including requiring them to open up their records for the NJSP. Â I should note that I’m not all that much of an expert on New Jersey’s current laws regarding dealers, so I don’t fully understand how much this changes, and you can be sure that journalists know even less, and won’t bother to consult with actual experts (Evan Nappen is probably the foremost, and probably one of the only, experts on NJ gun law).

This is no way for Chris Christie to convince a skeptical base that his candidacy for the GOP nomination for President is a good one. As New Jersey governors go, Christie hasn’t been bad for gun owners. But as New Jersey governors go is a far cry from convincing primary voters in America that he’s good enough on the issue for them. If Christie does decide to run, this issue is going to dog him, and it should.

Quote of the Day: Charlie Hebdo Edition

From Richard Fernandez. To be honest, I’m haunted by this conundrum:

One of the notable things about the Charlie Hebdo terror attack in Paris was how swiftly it was carried out. â€œIt lasted five minutes,â€ said one witness. The cops were already there â€” guarding the newspaper offices. Two of the cops were killed.

The assailants gained admittance by forcing a cartoonist to enter the door security code at gunpoint. A large percentage of people â€” maybe nearly everyone â€” would have done the same thing, yielded to that threat, in a moment of fear. A certain smaller percentage, perhaps 2 to percent, would for some reason refuse; and refuse unreasonably without quite knowing why. Which of the two groups one belongs to nobody knows until the day.

Read the whole thing. I would think that an outfit as threatened as Charlie Hebdo would have anticipated a scenario where a code is entered, but where an enterer could indicate it was entered under duress. But that would probably require more depth of defense than 21st century French society is capable of providing. I still want o know whether the police assigned were armed police. I’ve heard multiple reports, I don’t know how credible, of police responding, but not having weapons to deal with it, could not confront the situation.