On My Way to Arlington

In a supreme act of Ubergeekitude, I’ve tethered my laptop to the iPhone and am posting this from the car.  Bitter is driving, obviously.  I’m hoping to make it there in time to attend the legislative policy committee meeting.  I’ll have more to report on later, but blogging will be a bit light today.

The PSH Has Returned

The Brady Blog has now returned to their regularly scheduled hysterics:

H.R. 6691 is a disaster of a bill, and the House should have the good sense to toss it in the trash, and its NRA sponsors out on their noses.

Except we’re still waiting for an explanation about how it does any of the things that Brady is falsely claiming it does.

Philadelphia Subway Hammer Attacker

Police have arrested a man in connection with the hammer attack on the subway in Philadelphia.  Thanks to Fred Fry, I have obtained a copy of Thomas Scantling’s criminal record.  Much like the case of the murder of Officer Steven Liczbinski, this is another case of the City’s justice system utterly failing to protect its citizens from violent predators.  Just look at what he was arrested for, and for which he was never prosecuted:

  1. Rape
  2. Sexual Assault
  3. Simple Assault
  4. Statutory Sexual Assault
  5. Unlawful Restraint
  6. Corruption of Minors
  7. Criminal Conspiracy
  8. Possession of Firearm by a Prohibited Person
  9. Carrying Firearms Unlawfully
  10. Terrorist Threats
  11. Reckless endangerment

It goes on.  And yet city politicians have the nerve to claim that the city has a high crime rate because of insufficient gun laws.  Well, they failed to charge this guy for violation of the gun laws we already have, and he went on to beat someone nearly to death with a hammer.

And these same politicians question why I feel the need to carry a firearm for self-protection in their city?  Unbelievable.  This guy should never have been out on the streets.

UPDATE: Apparently Chief Ramsey is chastizing folks for standing by and doing nothing.  Considering that Chief Ramsey is against ordinary folks carrying weapons for protection, especially firearms, what exactly did the Chief expect any honest citizen to use?  Harsh language?

Hazel Township Still Fighting

Hazel township is still insisting that it’s ban on firearms in local parks is lawful under the preemption statute in the Uniform Firearms Act.  Local park bans are actually quite common in Pennsylvania, despite preemption.  Hazel Township is far from the only political entity in this state who is guilty of violating it.

Firearms are presumably not allowed in state parks, due to DNCR regulations.  To the best of my knowledge that’s never been challenged.   But Pennsylvania does not generally prohibit firearms in parks, so local communities are preempted from regulating it.  Next step is a lawsuit, and they are collecting funds to bring one.

Trickery Works

Only 51% of Americans think McCain is better than Obama on guns.  We laugh at Obama’s attempts to convince us that he supports the second amendment, and won’t take our guns.  But it really does fool a lot of people.  This is going to be a tough election.  As Bitter points out, Obama has a much better ground game, and a much larger warchest.

Obama is determined to have Pennsylvania.  We have to make sure we’re doing everything we can to make that not happen this election, or at the very least force Obama’s campaign to spend like hell to hold onto the Keystone State.  That ties up funds and volunteers here, and McCain can shore up his support in other battleground states.  This is definitely not the election to sit on the sidelines.

A Lie Repeated Often Enough

Now the Washington D.C. police chief is claiming that HR6691 allows people to carry loaded guns in public in the District.  I guess she got the Brady Campaign press release.  I’d still like someone to point out to me where this bill does anything to address the issue of carrying firearms outside the home.

UPDATE: More here.

Hat tip to Carl in Chicago