Sebastian – Page 1261 – Shall Not Be Questioned

The Ron Paul Revolution

Ron Paul beat John McCain to come in second in Montana, with 25% of the vote.Â I’m hearing his campaign thinks they have a chance at winning Alaska.

Mitt took Montana with 38%.Â It seems to be that the farther Romney gets away from Massachusetts and the Northeast, where we’re all very aware of the fact that he has no soul, the better he does.

But back to Ron Paul.Â His performance in Montana would indicate he has a chance of taking Alaska, but if I were to place a beer bet, I’m betting McCain takes Alaska.Â What’s all this mean?Â It definitely tells me is that the free state project folks picked the wrong state to try to move to.Â They picked New Hampshire, when clearly Montana would be the better choice.

I actually hope all the folks who put a lot of energy, money and enthusiasm into the Paul campaign don’t get disillusioned and drop out of the process.Â I am optimistic that more liberty oriented ideas can resonate with the general public, if fronted by a candidate who can carry the message.Â Elections are popularity contests, and are only peripherally about ideas and policy.Â We need a candidate who can win in that kind of environment, and that isn’t, and wasn’t really ever going to be Ron Paul.

Mitt it Toast

Grab a knife, and some cream cheese, because Mitt is Toast.Â Being unable to win any of the big states, I’m not sure how Mitt can pull this one out.Â Either candidate might be able to pull enough delegates to get on the ticket, but I don’t think anyone gets to be king maker here.Â He’s fighting with Huckabee over sloppy seconds in the delegate count right now.Â It was a good night to be John McCain, and a good night to be Mike Huckabee too, who did much better than anyone expected.Â It would seem that Huckabee is not a candidate who should be lightly left for dead.

Quashing Some Rumors

Via Dave Hardy, I came across this article from someone who served as a POW with John McCain, refuting some of the rumors, to my mind quite disgusting rumors, that are floating around about McCain’s service.

I don’t think John McCain’s service to his country is really something that anyone can question, and the fact that some people are, with apparently false statements, is pretty lamentable.

On Moderate “Allies”

Thirdpower speaks of a commenter regularly appearing over at Tom King’s blog:

What he considers a “principled” stance is to throw gun owners he doesn’t associate with under the bus to protect his personal interests for the time being yet can’t seem to understand why we don’t like him.

I’m willing to stand with a hunter who will stand with me any day of the week, but I’m even willing to stand with a hunter who mostly just fights for his sport, as long as he doesn’t actively work against mine. I’d hardly consider that Great Britain was being a good ally to Czechoslovakia when they agreed to let Hitler gobble it up in order to have “Peace in our Time”, and it’s hard to consider a guy like this a real ally too, even a moderate one.

But I do think we need to dispense with the term “Fudd,” and drop the generally adversarial relationship we often promote with the hunting community. We need hunters, for a lot of reasons. I’m a proponent of getting them more on board with the gun rights thing, and it’s hard to do that if they see us insulting them, and denigrating their sport. We won’t get through to all of them, but I don’t see any reason to write off this important demographic in the shooting community. We may not convert this moderate “ally” into someone who sees the light, but there’s no reason not to try.

UPDATE: Pistolero has a different point of view.Â I should clarify that I’m not suggesting we need to abide by hunters who just decide to be selfish and actively work against the gun rights of others.Â The proper term for someone like that is gun control advocate, and they must be opposed.Â My caution here is to not assume that every horse of this persuasion can’t be lead to water.Â Many of them can.Â That’s why I caution against terms like “Fudd” that some might see as denigrating.Â If the shooting community factionalizes, we’re doomed.

Too Lax

Maureen Downey, who is the queen of PSH for the Atlanta Journal and Constipation, isn’t happy with Georgia’s permitting process, or the new bill to ease carry restrictions:

Supporters defend the expansion by pointing out that it applies only to Georgians with permits to carry concealed weapons. That would be more reassuring if acquiring a permit involved a careful screening process, but it does not.

Under Georgia law, police chiefs and sheriffs are all but forced to grant concealed carry permits to anyone who can buy a handgun; there is no requirement that permit holders undergo safety training.

In contrast, California gives police far more discretion to deny concealed weapon permits. In a state of 37 million people, about 50,000 Californians are licensed to carry concealed weapons. Compare that to Georgia, a state of 9 million people where an estimated 300,000 people have permits.

Of course, what she’s hoping you don’t notice is what the criteria for issuing a license in Georgia actually are, and that applicants are indeed subject to background checks.

In addition to that, it’s worthwhile to note that Georgia has a lower violent crime rate than California. She also brings up the VPC’s debunked study showing Texas license holders are particularly prone to criminal behavior. Keep drinking the kool aid Ms. Downey. Tastes good doesn’t it?

LCB Privitization Bill

State Senator Rob Wonderling thinks Pennsylvania should get out of the retail liquor business.Â I couldn’t agree more.

A bill to privatize retail liquor sales in Pennsylvania was introduced yesterday by a Montgomery County senator who wants the proceeds earmarked to meet the state’s Medicare obligations and to fund a “wholesale structural reform of our state’s health care system.”

Republican Sen. Rob Wonderling said Pennsylvania should get out of the retail liquor business because it is not a core government function.

Under his bill, 30-year franchises for about two-thirds of the 623 state stores would immediately be sold to the highest bidder, while the remaining stores would be offered to a private equity firm. The equity firm would have a 51 percent share, while the state retained a 49 percent share.

The intent for the “hybrid” approach, according to Mr. Wonderling, is to have the equity firm get the stores that are running efficiently, then sell them for the highest possible price.

The state would retain control of the wholesale liquor operation, and there would be no change in how beer is sold.

Of course, I think this bill is a good first step.Â I would like to see further privitization, and relaxing the regulations on beer and wine sales to be more in line with other states.

Even More SHOT

Looks like there are some fun 22LR firearms coming out, including a .22LR target pistol from Walther. There’s also the Ruger Charger, which looks like it would be a great pistol to use for handgun silhouette. Anyone has to love a revolver that can fire a .410 shotgun shell. I agree with Uncle that this little folder is way cool.

This Kalashnikov looks like an NFA item, but would be an excellent home defense rifle if you don’t live in a crowded area where over penetration is a concern. Even more pictures of TDI’s Kriss Vector CRB/SO. The more I’m thinking about it, the more I think I’d pay the NFA tax to get an SBR version of this. The SCAR-L would appear to be another SBR. One thing I haven’t liked about the SCAR is that the folding stock look like it’s attached to a door hinge, but ugly is OK if it’s functional.

UPDATE: There’s also SHOT Business.

Attention Super Tuesday Voters

A bit of advice from Snowflakes in Hell: Go out and vote your conscience.Â Mitt, John, Ron, even Fred is on the ballot still some places; it’s all going to end up smelling just as bad come time to vote in November anyway.

Making it Big Time?

When people are coming up for words to describe the linking experience.Â Â I am happy just to be able to drive traffic someone’s way.Â It’s satisfying after a while of people sending it my way.Â I’m not sure how I feel about “Flake-a-launch” though.Â Maybe “Seb-a-launch” or perhaps “Snow-a-launch.”Â Â Though perhaps flake is appropriate ;)

Going Into Super Tuesday

It’s also Fat Tuesday, by the way, which is just fine, because the results of this election, so far, are enough to drive anyone to drink.Â I think we’re quite likely to have a Republican front runner after tomorrow, and I strongly suspect that’s going to be McCain.Â I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a good day for Obama too, but we shall see.

McCain seems to be doing well among the conservative law professor crowd.Â Even though I’m not voting until April 22nd in Pennsylvania’s irrelevant primary, I would feel a lot better about voting for McCain myself if he would promise to put some Volokh Conspirators on the high court.