Sebastian – Page 238 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Sunday News Links

Well, if anything, we can say that Bloomberg’s bus tour is definitely getting media attention, and it’s also attracting counter protestors, which is a good thing (when they aren’t being boneheads and getting arrested).

The media story out of Raleigh, where the MAIGic Bus tour stopped yesterday, is one of a two sided showing. This is from at least two local stations here and here. I wonder if we’re not helping MAIG’s media game by helping attract the media.

Is Colorado Senator Moorse trying to intimidating people into withdrawing their name from the recall petition?

Apparently Connecticut citizens like the new gun laws. What wasn’t polled? How many of the people being polled even had an idea what the new gun law was.

Gabriel Gomez is running for Kerry’s Senate seat in Massachusetts openly opposing assault weapons bans and magazine restrictions, while endorsing Manchin-Toomey. It’s a very close race, which will be decided Tuesday. Apparently the Boston Globe is unhappy with this. He’s not thinking of the children.

The Philadelphia Inquirer isn’t happy with Senator Rich Alloway’s bill that would allow Philly residents to apply for LTCs in neighboring counties.

The PA Supreme Court is considering a preemption challenge by the City of Erie. Hopefully we’ll get another ruling strengthening preemption.

Apparently protesters (well, a few anyway) are nutty enough to protest a shooting range. But they’ll go home and leave us alone if they just get background checks.

Biden says he has 5 senators that want to change their vote on gun control. I’d take that with a grain of salt, but they aren’t going to let this issue die.

The state GOP boss is pressuring the Mayor of Dover, New Hampshire to quit MAIG. I wish our GOP bosses here would make an issue of MAIG membership.

The first Second Amendment documentary to make the screens of ordinary movie theaters.

Operation Colorado Freedom Phase II.

Dave Hardy has some things to say about jury selection in the Zimmerman case.

Senator Tester and Murphy are sponsoring a Constitutional Amendment that would silence the collective voice of gun ownersÂ byÂ gutting the First Amendment.

“Open Bolt” explained.

Montgomery County firearms attorney Jonathan Goldstein debates former Governor Ed Rendell on the Dom Giordano show. It’s worth a listen. When confronted, The Governor ends up saying he doesn’t have bodyguards anymore. Could have fooled me.

Bad Exception Proposed for SAFE Act

I oppose carving out an exemption for retired NY cops from the SAFE act. If the guns and >7 rd magazines are only useful for hunting humans, the police shouldn’t have them either, and there can be no rationale at all for them having them off duty. It also looks like,Â according to this source, the GOP may have caved to Cuomo on guns in exchange for Cuomo caving on redistricting. So under the bus gun rights go:

Republicans number just 30 in the 63-seat Senate, yet they reasserted the state’s last bastion of GOP and conservative influence.

This year, Republicans were no longer under Cuomo’s thumb after he accepted the GOP’s redistricting plan, which will protect Republican power in the Senate for the next 10 years.

Senate Republicans struck a deal to share the majority with four breakaway Democrats in the Independent Democratic Conference in an unheard-of bipartisan agreement. And it worked.

Republicans allowed the IDC to raise the minimum wage and let Cuomo’s gun control bill pass, giving the IDC under Democrat Jeff Klein another major win.

Emphasis mine. If there was a deal to trade gun control for the GOP redistricting plan that preserved the GOP majority, you could bowl me over with a feather. When it comes to principles versus staying in power, power will win every time.

Illinois Mayor Joins Ranks of More Law Abiding

The Mayor of Rockford, Illinois says he’s leaving MAIG, and says he plans to get a concealed carry permit whenever the state passes its new law. The Mayor said he joined because of the name, but once it became apparent they were about a lot more than just “illegal guns,” he decided the group wasn’t for him. I wonder how many other mayors out there are just as deluded? If your Mayor is a MAIG member, go have a talk with them. Let them know what kind of things Bloomberg is signing their names on to.

Welcome to the Party

A few readers have sent stories about how MAIG’s servers, etc, were being run by the City of New York. I thought this was pretty much common knowledge to anyone who has been following Bloomberg’s organization for a while, so I didn’t think it was really news, but it’s gotten picked up by the media, and they are all running with it. Welcome to the Party. Bloggers figured this out years ago.

Back in 2011, the New York Post ran a story on how Bloomy yanked 100 large out of the NYPD budget to run stings on gun shows, and then there was the revelation about a year ago that New York City wasn’t the only city who’s tax dollars were going to fund gun control. So it was largely known, at least among gun bloggers, that MAIG was partially funded by New York City taxpayers. Who knew it was big news?

A Short Change of Topic

I’ve been in the office all day, part in meetings, and part at our new warehouse double checking some floor plans I’ve come up with to make sure everything fits in real life like it does on the computer. So since I have no idea what’s going on in the gun world today, I’ll talk about another topic near and dear to my heart: beer.

I’ve been thinking about getting back into brewing beer. I’ve tried the wine thing a few times now, and the time between effort and reward is too long. On the bright side, if you don’t have time for the wine, the wine has time. Unlike beer, if you properly sulfite your wine, it’ll get nothing but better with age. Beer will get better too, but only to a point, and then you better do something with it (drinking it is usually my solution).

As I’m sitting here in the Wegman’sÂ Cafe waiting for rush hour to die down, I’m drinking a Samuel Smith’s India Pale Ale. The IPA, as a style, is one of my favorite ales to brew, and also is one of my favorite ales to drink. While I like a good American IPA, I really like English IPAs, so every time I have an English IPA, like Sammy Smith’s, I get the itch to brew my own.Â Most of the IPAs you drink in the US are going to be in the American style. What’s the difference? American IPAs are usually run pretty heavy on Cascade hops. The total bouquet may contain a lot more than Cascade, but it’s usually the prominent hop in most American made IPAs. English IPAs are also more heavily hopped than other styles — that’s part of surviving the trip to India, after all — but they generally use more subdued hop varieties. As a result, English IPAs don’t tend to punch you in the face with hops quite as much, and still retain quite a lot of malty body. I like that.

My tap water is medium-hard, so it tends to make really good IPAs and other medium-to-high gravity ales. I’ve had a tougher time with mash efficiency trying to do light bodied pale ales. When I’ve made my IPAs, I’ve always tried to hop them the English way so the maltiness of the ale comes through for a better balance. What’s your favorite beer?

Looking for a Ballistics App for Windows Phone?

Joe Huffman has developed one.

Video of Tazing Incident in New Hampshire

A local TV station got video of the takedown in Concord, New Hampshire, of the protestor who confronted one of the MAIG speakers at the podium. From what it looks like to me is he was trying to physically turn the officer around so he would look at the camera. All I could think about watching this was “This guy is Peter Griffith from Family Guy.” Except I think Peter Griffith probably respects the personal space of others better than this guy does. I’m not sure an arrest and tasering is an appropriate response to what’s pretty clearly non-assaultive personal contact, but at this point I think most people know with today’s “officer safety” culture that even touching a cop is going to land you in the hoosegow.

Manchin Unveils Ads

He was on The Morning Joe on MSNBC this morning. You can follow and see the videos. He asks for West Virginians to call the NRA and tell them to support background checks. I’m sure the phones are going to be ringing off the hooks in Fairfax over this one.

On Monday, Manchin unveiled plans toÂ match the NRAÂ by pulling from his re-election war chest to bankroll a counter-attack ad buyâ€”an unusual move for a just-reelected senator.

Good. Make him spend money. We’re going to have running fights over the next six years as we try to punish all the people involved with this latest gun control push. We have to have long memories and be committed to a lengthy fight.

Wednesday News Links

All the news that’s fit to link:

A mystery man is seen handing out cash to “supporters” of a Colorado Democrat facing a recall election.

Hunting with the AR-15 on All Outdoor. This is a new spinoff from the folks that brought you The Firearm Blog, so if you’re a fan of TFB, it might be worth stopping in.

It takes more than an EF-4 to ruin a Smith & Wesson M&P. Probably the best advertising Smith & Wesson could probably imagine getting for free.

The enhanced restaurant carry bill in North Carolina has cleared the Senate. Now back to the House for concurrence, and then off to the Governor. But there is trouble brewing, so be sure to call.

The GOP in New York may have a candidate for Governor to go against Cuomo. Though, the last GOP governor in NY, George Pataki, was nothing to write home about.

Illinois towns are looking into gun bans. It’s probable that all the delays in implementing a shall-issue carry bill are to get some more gun bans in and get them grandfathered.

The Heller ruling after 5 years. Has it been that long? I still think it was a great victory, but I have renewed worry about what eight years of Obama is going to do to the federal courts, and where we’ll be able to take Second Amendment law from here.

Uncle has more to say about the anti-gun woman who is carrying for a month as an experiment. His audience is leaving comments too that just seem to end up in the bit bucket. I noticed they did approve a comment today, so it would appear to be reasoned discourse at work.

A 14-year-old is facing a year in jail over an NRA t-shirt. Experts say zero tolerance could backfire.

Democrats quietly renew push for gun control.

Organizing for Action, formerly Obama for America, draws a whopping 3 people to a gun control rally…. in California.

Joe Huffman has a regular monday piece featuring anti-gun folks making penis references about gun owners. Apparently he’s good into 2014. There’s no shortage of material.

Don Kates on shutting up anti-gun hysterics.

Delaware Governor Jack Markell signs a second gun control bill. This time it’s Lost & Stolen. The Philadelphia Inquirer is busy helping lay the ground work to get it passed here.

New Jersey gun control groups are already pressuring newly appointed New Jersey Senator Jeff Chiesa on gun control.

UPDATE: Forgot one: Has Zimmerman Waived His Right to a Pre-Trial “Stand-Your-Ground” Hearing? Learn the Truth. It got mixed in with work tabs.

Bloomberg Names Boston Bombers as Gun Violence Victims

According to Brietbart. Sometimes I think Bloomberg is smart enough to avoid the kinds of amateurish mistakes I’d expect of CSGV or the Brady Campaign, but wow. Apparently in reading off a list of gun violence victims, they mentioned Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Glad to see MAIG sticking up for terrorists. Stay classy.