Sebastian – Page 1088 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Finally, It Is Revealed

In Helmke’s latest diatribe he finally reveals the NRA’s treachery in making sure terrorists can roam DC armed to the teeth:

Only just before the bill was introduced on the House floor did the NRA fix their “mistake” and amend the legislation to prohibit open-carrying of assault weapons. This shameless effort should have been the final nail in the coffin of whatever credibility the gun lobby had left.

Except that even after it was introduced onto the floor, you guys were still claiming it was allowing terrorists to openly carry all manner of military weaponry openly in public, even though it was apparently “fixed”.Â I will look into this later, to see whether there is any merit to these claims at all.Â It would be much easier to judge if the Brady Campaign would learn to speak in a language other than raving hysterics.

Machine Tools

The Arizona Rifleman is getting some experience with machine tools, and thinks about how easy it would be to manufacture naughty parts for guns.Â It’s actually not that difficult to manufacture firearms if you have a reasonably well equipped machine shop.Â The technology for modern firearms is a century old at this point, and you could fit the equipment necessary in a residential garage or basement.Â You don’t see much of these types of operations today because of a lack of demand, since it’s easier for criminals to buy from existing black market stock.Â But in the UK, it’s becoming common, and it would be common here too if guns are ever outlawed.

State GOP Can Go to Hell

Apparently the Pennsylvania GOP is unhappy that people will be able to wear whatever they want into the polling booth:

Officials from the state Republican Party Thursday morning criticized a decision from the Pennsylvania Department of State allowing voters to wear candidate T-shirts and buttons when they enter polling stations, saying the paraphernalia could sway voters and force polling officials to act as “fashion police.”

If the Pennsylvania State GOP were half as concerned about the fact that they have a ground game that’s utterly pathetic as they are about what people are wearing on election day, we might just be able to turn Pennsylvania for McCain this election cycle.Â GOP Chairman Bob Gleason needs to get back to the basics and stop worrying that people out there might just decide to exercise free speech.

UPDATE: I’ve since been convinced that my position on this issue was not well thought out.Â I tend to sympathize first with free expression, but for now I’ll agree that there’s value in a sterile polling area.

Ohio Preemption Upheld

The Supreme Court of Ohio apparently has thrown out a local ban on guns in city parks.Â I hope Hazel Township is listening to what’s going on next door, and will take the hint.

UPDATE: I’d like to thank NRA for giving credit where credit was due in this press release.Â Quite often NRA is criticized, often justly, for not giving credit to other groups when they do good work on behalf of gun rights.Â This helps.

Quote of the Day

SayUncle:

Shorter Paul Helmke: Waaaaaah!

Financial Crisis Impact on New York City

Megan McArdle writes:

All of New York’s rebound has been paid for by the taxes on the financial industry–a few hundred thousand people in the industry pay the lion’s share of the taxes for the entire city.Â Take them away, and the city will rapidly lurch back towards bankruptcy.

Of course, that’s not the sort of thing that happens overnight.Â But the City and State of New York are remarkably business-unfriendly places; they usually end up ranked at the very bottom of the league tables in terms of the ease of doing business there.Â That isn’t just taxes, though that’s part of it, but the massive, overgrown regulatory apparatus that can be perilous and expensive to negotiate.

Read the whole thing.Â And after that, her post on rethinking regulation is quite worthwhile.

Lawful Self-Defense in DC?

It would be a great story if the person who defended himself were a newly minted Heller DC gun owner, but it’s still pretty good.

Alan Gura on Reclaiming Attorney Fees from DC

Alan Gura has a great letter to the editor in the WaPo explaining why the fees being requested are not exorbitant, closing with “If the city doesnâ€™t want to pay civil rights lawyersâ€™ fees, it should obey the Constitution. Freedom isnâ€™t free.”Â Damn straight.

Hat tip to SayUncle

McCain on Gun Rights

Bitter points to an interview in Field and Stream where McCain talks about his positions on guns.Â He’s still supporting regulating private transfers, but he’s definitely mellowed on the issue a lot since 2002-2003 timeframe.Â The real fear is that a Democrat congress will send McCain a private sale bill and force him into a position where he either has to flip-flop, or piss us off.Â Either way, the Democrats win.

I’m actually surprised the Republicans in Pennsylvania didn’t try that with Ed Rendell more in his first term, when they controlled both the Senate and General Assembly.

Democrats for McCain

This woman is in my Congressional District, and although from a Democratic family, is voting McCain and Manion this year.

I am sure we have quite a few Dems for McCain here. I’m definitely one of them. I obviously still believe in my core values as a Democrat but have grown absolutely sick of what this party has become and how it no longer represents me. The reason I haven’t officially left the party is simple: I want my vote for McCain to be counted as a “Democrat vote for McCain” I was and still am a Hillary supporter. And there are LOTS of us who have come over.

I still basically can’t stand John McCain the politician — I will never forgive him for gutting the First Amendment with his ridiculous campaign finance law.Â But politics is never that simple.Â The person that heads the party’s ticket is a vessel for holding the coalition together, and getting a winning majority.Â The Republicans would have had a harder time finding a better candidate for that purpose in 2008 than John McCain, especially after his Vice Presidential pick.

One of the reasons I haven’t been hating as much on McCain as a lot of people probably has to do with where I’m from.Â I’ve spent the last eight years watching George W. Bush destroy the Republican coalition in the Philadelphia suburbs.Â Bush’s brand of conservatism is not one that the suburban Republicans can really get behind.Â Less intrusive government, yes.Â Balanced budgets, yes.Â Lower taxes, definitely.Â Less corruption?Â Sure.Â But Bush has largely ignored this part of the coalition, believing that if he just cut taxes, we’d go away and be happy.Â He was wrong, and the evaporation of Republican support in the suburbs here is a big part of that.Â Supporting Bush here is embarrassing, because he offends nearly everyone.

But McCain is the kind of Republican that Republican leaning people here can feel good about putting a lawn sign out for.Â You can say “I support McCain” without people looking at you like you’re from some kind of alien planet.Â McCain doesn’t seem to elicit the same kind of visceral hatred from Democrats (at least the sane ones) that Bush does.Â McCain’s reputation as a fiscal conservative and a reformer will play well here, and will give Republicans some issues to build a coalition around.Â For eight years now, they’ve had nothing.

I’m seeing McCain start to change that, and regardless of whether I’m pissy at him for supporting campaign finance, or ending private transfers of guns, he’ll be a useful vessel for helping rebuild a brand who we desparately need to win in order to secure a lot of things I do care about for the future.Â I’m not letting my reservations about McCain’s imperfections get in the way of that.