Sebastian – Page 268 – Shall Not Be Questioned

The Assault Weapons Ban: Death of Gun Control?

Professor Adam Winkler generally likes some gun control, but he’s one of the few people publishing and writing in this issue who takes our arguments seriously. I was happy to read a few days ago his article in the Daily Beast, pondering if the assault weapons ban killed gun control:

There was one certain impact of proposing to ban the sale of assault weapons: it was guaranteed to stir gun-rights proponents to action. Ever since Obama was elected, theyâ€™ve been claiming that he wanted to ban guns. Gun-control advocates mocked this claimâ€”then proposed to ban a gun. Not only that, the gun they were trying to ban happened to be the most popular rifle in America.

I’m glad someone who is not generally in our camp noticed what I bolded there. I can tell you that the 1994 ban is what started me on this path. Had it not been for that ban, you wouldn’t be reading this right now. Given the number of people I’m seeing my age and close to my age in this current fight, I’m apparently not alone. Many of us wanted the AKs and ARs pretty much because people who thought they were better than us told us we couldn’t have them. The problem with Winkler’s argument is this:

Yet itâ€™s harder for them to make a persuasive public case against background checksâ€”which primarily burden criminals and the mentally ill trying to buy gunsâ€”or magazine restrictions, which, in allowing people to have 10 rounds plus readily available, already-loaded replacement magazines, didnâ€™t interfere with self-defense.

It’s difficult only in the sense that a lot of gun owners are pretty rationally ignorant, and don’t really understand what expanded background checks mean. It is very difficult to define what constitutes a transfer is a way that doesn’t make ordinary behavior among gun owners legally risky or problematic. Also, magazine restrictions fall into the realm of people who think they are better than you telling you what you can and can’t have, and making preemptive self-defense choices on your behalf when they have no expertise or knowledge on self-defense.Â No, I can motivate just as many people to oppose a magazine ban as I can an assault weapons ban. Many more people have magazines that hold more than 10 rounds than have AR-15s or AKs, and don’t see any reason why the government should stack the deck against them in the rare situation they might actually need more than ten rounds. This isn’t the movies. Pistol rounds are poor fight stoppers, and it’s not like civilians have never before had to face multiple opponents.

Casey’s Shift on Gun Rights

Casey sailed into office based on Pennsylvanians tiring of Santorum, name recognition as the son of a former Governor, and a conservative position on guns and abortion. I am ashamed to admit I voted for Bob Casey in 2006, because Santorum’s social conservatism became too much for me to stomach. I appreciated Santorum’s position on guns, and thought he was the better candidate on that issue, but given that Casey answered an A questionnaire, I was willing to vote more on my non-gun issues that had developed with Santorum. If I had known Casey would abandon support for Second Amendment rights, I never would have voted for him.

Casey has turned out to be quite a disappointment. He’s a horrible campaigner, and has difficulty managing campaigns. He won re-election this time largely because of a bad schism within the GOP about who ought to be the leading candidate, a poor eventual choice of candidate, and the general implosion of the 2012 Republican Senatorial Campaign, thanks to the likes of Todd Akin. I believe Casey could be beaten handily by the right Republican candidate. He won by being “Not Rick Santorum” with name recognition, and won again by the sheer stupidity of the GOP. He did not win because he’s a stellar campaigner. He shouldn’t get so cocky in a state that still has considerably more gun owners than most other blue states.

Democrats Making the Right Tough Choice

The Hill notes:

The Senateâ€™s upcoming vote on the assault weapons ban is going to put vulnerable Democrats in a difficult spot.

Democrats facing tough reelection races will either attract the ire of the National Rifle Association or prominent gun control activists such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I). A vote against the ban could spark primary challenges that could weaken Democrats in the general election.

I’m pleased to report another Senate Democrat is standing with us:Â Mark Pryor of Arkansas:

Iâ€™ve gotten a lot of questions about NYC Mayor gun ad. My response? I donâ€™t take gun advice from the Mayor of NYC. I listen to Arkansans.

— Senator Mark Pryor (@SenMarkPryor) March 25, 2013

The votes have not yet been cast, but I’m willing to thank Democrats who stand with the Bill of Rights and thwart Bloomberg and the White House. I think they will find they have made a wise choice, and I just hope they don’t get taken out by the Democrats sullying their brand by embracing gun control. Especially Pryor who is in one of the states targeted by Bloomberg:

The state totals for Bloomy buy so far: AR- $125K,AZ-$950K,GA-$710K,IN-$475K,LA-$133K,NC-$593K,ND-$150K,NV-$487K,OH-$602K,PA-$525K

— maggie haberman (@maggiepolitico) March 26, 2013

Some of those states are kind of laughable, but I think he’s playing the long game. Our response need to be to educate as many people as possible that the billionaire Mayor of New York (or former Mayor, as he will soon become) is behind this, and meddling in their state. States like North Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana don’t take kindly to the meddling Yankees, and I doubt the Mayor of New York City is a popular figure in many of those other states too. People don’t like plutocrats, and plutocrat ought to be the albatross we hang from Bloomberg’s neck.

Is This Thing On?

A bit of writers block this morning. It’s been one of those couple of days when I feel like I’m doing too much. Additionally, today I begin the last year of my 30s. I don’t really like the idea of getting old, but I think it likely beats the alternative. My mom didn’t make it to 44, which back when I was younger I thought was old. Maybe old is what your parents are. When my mom turned 39 she was teaching me how to drive.

Local Group Building

Been a bit out of band this evening, attending an legislative meeting of a local gun rights group that’s popped into existence post-Newtown. They are called Concerned Gun Owners of Bucks County. They are just establishing themselves, and like any group just getting started are experiencing some growing pains, but I hope they will continue to grow and be successful. They are turning out 300+ people to monthly meetings, and local politicians are paying attention. The people we’ve spoken with on the legislative side are sharp, and with good communication skills, who are dedicated to making a local, single-issue grassroots organization.

Bitter and I are offering them help where we can offer it. We’ve long had a lot of ideas and thoughts about things that could work on the local level for years, but haven’t had a whole lot of success with organizing down to the grassroots level, since, to be honest, we’re both more comfortable in front of a computer screen than going forth in the community and making connections. It is our hope that this group can take some of those ideas and put them to work in practice.

Local action is going to be especially important given the resources that Bloomberg is dumping into Pennsylvania and other states. I’ve gotten word that MAIG is currently in a hiring frenzy, putting paid staffers into key states to continuously chip away at our rights while the rest of us are at work or otherwise trying to earn our livings, raise families, etc. There’s also the millions of Bloomberg bucks that are being dumped into advertising, even if it’s obvious that no one involved in these ads knows the first thing about guns or gun safety. No matter how things come out in the next few weeks, this battle is going to continue. Bloomberg is counting on the billions he has at his disposal wearing us down.

I don’t intend to be worn down, and I hope you won’t either. Just beating this guy isn’t enough for me. My goal is to eventually be able to legally carry a firearm of my choice in the City of New York, whether walking in front of City Hall or Gracie Mansion, and for there to be not a damned thing the Mayor or anyone else can do about it. I’m done with the idea of there being two Americas when it comes to guns. The Second Amendment applies to Chicago as much as Cheyenne, and to New York as much as it does Nashville.

This Speaks for Many of Us

I caught this video over at Ace of Spades the other night, and I think this guy channels how many of us feel:

The State of the Gun Rights

Seeing various articles in the media, like this one from Politico from Manchin, and also this one on McCain in The Hill, is that the proponents of gun control are clamoring for more leverage over key politicians in the closed-door negotiations by leaking stories like this to the media. Note that I am not suggesting we have nothing to worry about here, because these kinds of tactics work, and the White House is quite eager to avoid an embarrassing loss on his gun control agenda. NRA is continuing to say that it remains opposed to expansion of the background check system to cover private transfers and sales between the law abiding. I expect that to remain policy, even in closed-door negotiations. The Hill article offers an indication that Reid may include the “background check bill reported out of committee”Â as an amendment, which will likely fail.

We can expect some kind of bill to pass the Senate.Â For one, the gods of “something must be done” are going to be appeased, and secondly, the Democrats are going to want to offer the White House a face saving way out. That’s why it’s not surprising that both Bloomberg and Coburn think some kind of bill will pass. The question now is what that bill will look like. The longer this wears on, the better it’s likely to be for us. We have some indication of the direction it’s going. There’s probably some give and take on making that which is already illegal, more illegal (e.g. some kind of trafficking language), and probably also on the Graham/Begich bill which clarifies people offering an insanity plea in court are prohibited persons.

So where do we all come in on this? Call your Senators and tell them to vote against any new gun control bill, and be sure to especially to mention no banning of private transfers or sales. We know what that has nothing to do with background checks on sales at this point. The more Senators hear from us, the more leverage NRA and the other people negotiating on our behalf will have to ensure that when the kabuki is played out on the Senate floor, we come out relatively undamaged, and perhaps even get a thing or two in return. I am cautiously optimistic we’re going to come other farther ahead than I would have expected heading into the New Year, but now is definitely not the time for complacency. Even if we come out okay in this floor fight, that only means round one goes to us. Bloomberg and Obama are going to take us more rounds than that.

Round Limitation in New York: Round Two

Or is it ten?Â New York is probably going to let people buy 10 round magazines, after belatedly discovering that almost no firearms manufactures make 7 round magazines, nor would they be likely to just for a single state’s market. But you still will only be able to load seven rounds in them. Criminals will obviously follow this.Â Jacob appropriately mocks this situation.Â Cuomo’s popularity is still in decline, perhaps becauseÂ this makes him look stupid, which he is. They had to pass the bill for us to find out what was in it. Keep an eye on Hickenlooper’s ratings now too. Meanwhile, Governor Malloy in Connecticut is looking to ram through legislation using the same methodology Cuomo did, given that it’s proven difficult to get anything through using the normal democratic processes that require public hearings and give the public a chance to object.

Monday News Dump

With a fresh coat of spring snow on the ground, and more coming down for the next several hours, rather than dreaming of the White Easters, just like the ones I never knew, I’ll offer up some news:

Publicola takes a look at Hickenlooper’s flexible position on gun control. Very few politicians really care about this issue. People want to say it’s a third rail, but those in power sure don’t act like it, do they?

Joe takes on the Biden notion that lives are saved by reloading.

Congrats to SayUncle for 1000 posts of gun porn!Â I meant to link this sooner, but real life got in the way of blog.

The gun control groups are trying to make hay of the fact that NRA has been calling up its contact list to oppose gun control. Well, this is a Newtown fact you won’t see the anti-gun folks talking about.

The Second Amendment as understood by a Second Amendment scholar, on PBS.

Jim Carrey’s anti-vaccination hysteria has killed more kids than our guns. Twitchy has more on Jim Carrey.

Eugene Volokh is among the 100 most influential lawyers in America. Also on that list? Alan Gura.

Putting the cart before the horse when it comes to anti-depressents and people who go berserk.

The bells are tolling in Colorado, but not for us. This has to be made so, and it will take grassroots organization like we’ve never seen to get it done.

The Rise of the AR-15, in the Hartford Courant. A fair look at the rifle.

Pro-Gun Bloggers Were What?

Apparently the New York Times says that “[p]ro-gun gun bloggers were furious” over the apperance smart gun in the movie Skyfall, and “were convinced it was a Hollywood plot to undermine their rights.”Â I haven’t even seen the movie, personally, and I don’t recall any controversy hitting the gun blogosphere. Also, does anyone believe staff reporters at the New York Times spend their spare time trolling gun blogs?

Doing a quick Google search, I can find only one gun blogger writing about it. Â I noticed that article was reprinted in a few places so my guess is that the reporter did the same Google blog search I did, and didn’t bother to notice the same article was reprinted by the types of publications *cough* Ammoland *cough*, who are wont to reprint other people’s material and grab the SEO for it. Personally, I’m surprised that a NYT staff writer even knows that there is this thing called gun blogging, and thought to search on it. Perhaps we should be flattered.

As far as this “smart gun” nonsense goes, well,Â Bob Owens has more to say about that.