Author: Sebastian

Where we’re likely going to have a vote in the Senate. Please call your Senators, even if you have done so already. You can find contact info here. We can win this. Graham is opposed. Jeff Flake is opposed. Let’s give them a vote, and send them packing!

UPDATE: Harry Reid is on the floor right now touting SAF/CCRBKA support for this legislation.

UPDATE: Grassley is up speaking, saying they don’t have the votes. Grassley is acknowledging the bill is flawed, and opposition is not coming form the fringe. Sounds like Grassley is also suggesting there will be some kind of alternative that the anti-gun folks oppose. Coburn?

UPDATE: Dick Durbin is up, reminding us that we do this For the Children(TM). We also have to do it for Gabby, but mostly, For the Children(TM).

UPDATE: It just kind of kills me that people just got blown up in Boston, and what is the Democrats’ priority in the Senate? Gun control.

UPDATE: Durbin is dragging out the thoroughly debunked 40% number.

UPDATE: Durbin is off the floor. We’re now waiting on the floor for another speaker. It’s not a fore drawn conclusion there will be a vote today. Obviously they want a vote, but it may not happen today.

UPDATE: *crickets* (or rather Chopin, on C-SPAN)

UPDATE: Harry Reid has motioned to extend the debate to 3:30PM, and put the Senate in recess until 2:15PM.

UPDATE: Coverage will resume here.

Toomey is moving offices tomorrow, which means phones and computers will be down, just in time for a vote on the Amendment he helped forge with Manchin? Too convenient for him by far. It’s almost like they don’t want to hear from us.

When this all started, CTD took a lot of crap because they pulled down gun sales in the wake of Newtown. Now, from their blog, it looks like they are supporting the Toomey-Manchin amendment? This is making me glad I do my gun shopping at MidwayUSA and Brownells. Let us hope that Reid still remains short on votes for this. I think the struggle to come up with the votes is a clear indication that this was an unnecessary maneuver. If the votes are barely there for this, Schumer’s bill didn’t stand a chance:

First, let’s start from the point where we lost the cloture vote. The vote lost by a huge margin with 68 senators voting in favor of cloture. Once reached, it was evident something was going to go to the floor and Schumer’s background check bill was simply draconian, bad, evil, and needed to be stopped.

The cloture vote was just on the Motion to Proceed. That didn’t mean anything. That didn’t mean anything other than a lot of Senators wanted to go on record with votes on gun stuff. That can be for reasons that favor us, or for reasons that don’t. You will note that NRA did not score the cloture vote on the Motion to Proceed, but threatened to score the cloture vote to end debate on the final bill. That means it was not panic time.

If you’re looking for legal analysis by someone who actually has a law degree, and is widely regarded as an expert on this topic, see this post over at The Volokh Conspiracy. In short the registration guarantees and the new FOPA rules are useless. Actually, worse than useless:

The result of the disparity is “pro-gun” provisions which are actually very strong anti-gun provisions: The supposed ban on federal firearms registration authorizes federal gun registration. The supposed strengthening of FOPA’s interstate transportation protection exempts two of the worst states (the reason why FOPA was needed in the first place), and provides any easy path for every other abusive state to make FOPA inapplicable.

Read the whole thing. We have to kill this. Call your senators. And given the late developments, be sure to remind them that Alan Gottlieb doesn’t speak for you.

The fact that they are even having to work to get to 60 on this means this deal was thoroughly unnecessary. Meanwhile, there are Republicans in the House who will help buy us more time, and hopefully improve the situation. Everyone would do well to remember that on any bill, today’s exceptions are tomorrows loopholes.

The late Toomey-Manchin compromise has meant that tab clearing has taken a back seat. Some of this stuff may be a bit dated, but I’ll try to weed that out as I go. But here’s all the news that’s fit (or maybe not fit) to link.

Happy tax day. Remember that today might be tax day, but you’re still working for Uncle Sam until Wednesday.

Bill Maher thinks the Second Amendment is bullshit. Because issues that revolve around the ability to defend your life and freedom are not serious issues, worthy of any serious debate.

Chicago v. Houston, the crime numbers.

New Yorkers better not have ten rounds in a magazine today. From now on it’s seven.

Us vs. Them, and Part II. And to think some of them wonder why politicians pay more attention to us than them.

“Remember, Pennsylvania … Pat Toomey didn’t actually load the soldiers into the trojan horse. He just built it.”

Real men don’t need eyebrows.

Two of the big four TV networks are considering quitting broadcasting. Good riddance. I actually think TV has been terrible for politics in this country, and those frequencies can be put to more productive use anyway. Interesting that newspapers also seem to be headed down the crapper.

Looks like the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show has been saved, and those weasels at Reed Exhibitions are no longer involved.

The Truth About Gun Buybacks. Good thing the Toomey-Manchin Amendment would make buybacks illegal then, I guess. Why? Because it’s illegal to transfer a gun to a law enforcement officer without going through an FFL.

Joe Biden says that if you’re not a hunter, you’re not a real gun owner.

Obama’s approval on guns is underwater. 52% disapprove of his handling on guns. Maybe this will indeed cost the Democrats the Senate.

Why hunters are boycotting Colorado.

North Korean Army gun safety. I particularly love the dogs chewing the face of the South Korean defense minister they taped onto a dummy. Speaking of hilarious moments in bad gun handling, this takes the cake.

On training and rights. For all the hewing and hawing about training, I’ve never noticed that states that don’t require training have higher incidences of accidents attributable to poor training at any higher rate than states which require it.

Don’t kill a bear in self-defense in Massachusetts.

We have yet another false flag group, much like American Hunting and Shooting Association from a few years back.

The mass stabber in Houston would seem to have had some mental problems.

We continue to make advances on other fronts while the antis aren’t looking.

We suspected from media rumors that there was going to be an, “In the event of gun control, break glass,” strategy from the stronger Republicans. Unfortunately, the Toomey-Manchin deal has given real legs to this issue once again, and given murmurs from the House, including my own Congressman (not surprised), I don’t feel particularly good about the House. Getting a “true conservative” like Toomey on board with the deal, unfortunately, makes a lot of critters think “Well, if Toomey is on board, it must be OK!”

And so Senator Tom Coburn floats an alternative that I think would be far preferable, if I’m going to be required to pick my poison:

Dr. Coburn’s amendment would require a NICS check or validation permit to be presented for non-FFL transfers, exempting family transfers, estate/will transfers, and all temporary transfers.

The requirement can be satisfied in one of four ways:

1) An FFL takes custody ofthe firearm in order to perform a background check on the transferee as mandated in Schumer original and Manchin-Toomey

2) Presentation oftemporary 30 day permit created by running a self-NICS check through a new consumer portal(details below)

3) Usage of a concealed carry permit or any other state issued permit that requires a NICS check to be conducted to obtain

4) Any other alternative that a state comes up with to satisfy the validation requirements for secondary and private market transfers. The amendment also includes a provision that places penalties on ATF agents that abuse records during audits, an IG report on the FBI’s 24 hour destruction rule compliance, a prohibition on records, a prohibition on centralizing records pertaining to gun ownership and a provision that allows states to assume primacy of enforcement of the background check law.

Consumer Portal

• FBI shall provide a consumer portal through its website, mobile application, or other applicable medium to allow a potential transferee to run a NICS check on his/herself
• A successful background check will provide potential transferee with a temporary 30 day permit that validates he/she is not prohibited from legally purchasing or possessing a firearm
• The temporary permit can be used by the transferee for any private transfers in compliance with state or federal law during the 30 day time window
• The permit will be made available to the transferee as an electronic printable document, via a mobile application or other appropriate means
• The 30 day permit will provide the name, date of expiration of permit, and a unique pin number that can be used to verify activation by transferor
• The consumer portal will be designed with privacy protections so that only a prospective transferee can run his/her own NICS check
• The documentation provided by consumer portal will utilize necessary fraud protections
• A valid 30 day permit provided by the consumer portal that is verified with a valid governmentissued photo identification would suit the law’s requirements
• Information provided by prospective transferee to conduct background check through the consumer portal must be destroyed within 24-hours as occurs for FFL conducted background checks

The new law will not go into effect until the consumer portal is up and running, and the law will be nullified if the consumer portal is permanently shut down or defunded.

Screw going through an FFL being an alternative though. The alternative should be that FFLs can issue a validation to a prospective buyer, to facilitate a private sale for someone who doesn’t want to use the portal. Also, this all has to be with the FBI. ATF can’t have anything to do with this portal. In fact, I’d be happier with an independent agency, separate from the DOJ, running NICS.

The concern here is that the requirement that records not be kept by the FBI from the check are worth about as much as Cypriot deposit insurance. There needs to be independent, and regular auditing. While in this scheme, the seller presumably would keep the buyer’s certificate, there can’t be any requirement to do so. The enforcement mechanism for this is that if you sell to someone prohibited, obviously you didn’t run the check, and also the fact that most gun owners, to the utter shock of anti-gun folks everywhere, really don’t want to sell guns to criminals. Also, do we still get some things in return for the Coburn proposal? That would be a necessary component.

Again folks, what our options are depends on how people are communicating with lawmakers. If everyone who was lining up at gun shows at the start of all this were calling lawmakers, we would not be here. We worked a gun show to get people to contact, and the number of people who wouldn’t, because they just didn’t think it mattered, was very discouraging. Don’t be those people. Also, just be emphatic that you expect them to vote against all gun control measures, and that yes, background checks are gun control, no matter what Senator Toomey says. You wouldn’t accept background checks for Internet access (to make sure you’re not, say, a child porn convict). Firearms rights should not be any different.