Fifty-three percent of Coloradans oppose tougher gun laws. But the other side is building momentum. We’re finished. Through. Just ask them. Our day in the sun is over. The time for debate is over. They are coming for our gun rights.
Author: Sebastian
Can a Retailer Confiscate Your Gun?
I’ve gone to the L.L. Bean store in Allentown a few times, but I don’t make a regular habit of looking up a mall’s policies before going. If they want to keep people from carrying, they can conspicuously post. Some folks on the PAFOA forum dug up the policy on the Promenade Shops of Saucon Valley, where the L.L. Bean is located, and discovered  policy number 13:
“Any weapon such as guns, knives, swords, laser pointers, and any other items that can harm the customer will be confiscated and given to proper authorities.”
OK, so I can legally carry a sword in Pennsylvania, or a knife (that isn’t a switchblade), a laser pointer, and my LTC allows me to carry a firearm. So the response from the authorities is going to properly be that these items are legal to carry in Pennsylvania. In this case, can the retailer take it? I’m fairly certain the answer is no. They can ask you to leave. They can use force to make you leave if you refuse, or call the cops and let them use force on your behalf. But taking something off you is theft, plain and simple. This is s ridiculously unenforceable policy, and I’m surprised their corporate lawyers gave the nod to this. At first I wondered if this was drafted by a New York based, where pretty much anything that’s dangerous or fun is illegal, and people have a tendency to think the rest of the country is just like New York, but no, the company is based in Tennessee. WTF?
And what’s with calling a strip mall a “Lifestyle Center.” Clearly these people need a hearty dose of get the f*** over yourselves.
Jesse Jackson Jr.: Gun Criminal?
In Chicago, some animals think they are more equal than others, and Thirdpower throws out the idea that Jesse Jackson may be no different. Apparently Jackson Jr. is known by gun activists in Illinois to hold an FOID card and frequent a suburban Chicago gun store. He’s also in for mental health treatment. Thirdpower goes over the implications of this.
They’re Worried About a New Generation
Miguel points to some gun control advocate’s hysteria about the new Red Dawn movie. I watched the trailer, and I don’t think I’d be a fan. I put this in the same “messing with my childhood” boat that George Lucas is the happy captain of these days. It’s not a movie that needed remaking.
But Red Dawn was pretty unambiguously a movie targeted at teenagers. When the movie came out, in theaters in 1984, I was ten. I probably first saw it in my early teens, when it came out on HBO. This idea that Red Dawn “is seen as pretty much a documentary by the far right,” is only true in the minds of those who think they are better than us, and have this whole right-wing gun nut thing figured out. For the rest of us, it was just another one of the many memorable and influential movies that dotted the childhoods of Gen Xers. Did it have an effect on my young, pliable mind as to the importance of an armed populace? I’d say it did, yes, and maybe that’s the concern.
Just to return the favor of a little dime store psychoanalysis for the other side, I think some part of them might be worried about a remake influencing a new generation of kids with similar sentiment as to the benefits of an armed society. I don’t think they should worry. Movies are not as influential on the younger generations as they were on us. I’d suggest that video games that feature gun play will probably have far more influence on the minds of the young than any remake of Red Dawn will, and there have already been at least one generation raised with first person shoot-em-ups.
But I find it interesting they think enough of the movie to turn their noses up and frown on a remake. As our self-appointed betters, I’m not surprised at this behavior, but it really does make you wonder who are the real “squares” in this debate.
Paul Who?
Ilya Somin has another excellent post illustrating the rational ignorance of most voters, most of whom seem to have no idea who Paul Ryan is:
Public ignorance about federal spending is widespread. One of the challenges that Ryan faces in selling his entitlement reform proposals is that most Americans don’t realize how large a proportion of federal spending is devoted to these programs, and therefore don’t understand that it is impossible to get the budget crisis under control without cutting back in this area.
One of the reasons I often feel we’re doomed is that the only place many of these low-information voters get their information from is the traditional media, which is so far in the tank for this Administration, it’s highly unlikely they’ll learn anything about Ryan’s ideas, other than they are bad and will destroy America.
I continue to be relatively un-optimistic about this coming election, and think Obama has a better than even chance of being re-elected.
It’s Ryan
All I can say is this is going to make the Vice Presidential debates a thing to watch. Paul Ryan v. Joe Biden? That’s almost worth getting cable again for. But here I am, I once again, as I have for every race since 1996, wishing the ticket were reversed. GOP candidates seem to do a better job picking leaders than GOP primary voters.
UPDATE: Ryan on guns.
Spitzer’s Gun Control Plan
Lots of people are commenting on Elliot Spitzer’s plan for gun control, which makes about as much economic sense as being a john worried about the catching the clap, and trying to tell a high priced hooker that you won’t pay her for sex anymore unless she agrees to sleep with no other clients. Think she’s going to agree to that? Maybe that can put this into economic terms the former Governor can understand.
Scurrying from the Light
Congrats to All Nine Yards. Sean Caranna really seems to be upsetting the right people. The funny thing is the counterstrategy to their strategy of putting these folks on the public payroll should have been obvious to them. If I had been in their shoes, given that many of these positions are partially grant funded, I would have just kept them on the payroll of MAIG or their foundation. By putting them on the public payroll, their activities become public information under various state Freedom of Information laws. I’m wondering whether they just didn’t think about that, or didn’t think we’d realize a counterstrategy. A bigger question is whether MAIG is now adjusting its tactics to make use of private e-mails that can’t be reached by FOIA-like requests. I don’t know enough about various state laws on this matter to know whether this would amount to any kind of official misconduct or not, but it’s something to consider.
Serial Killers Agree: Gun Control Works
David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam killer says “Young people have no business carrying a gun,” and endorses more gun control. Berkowitz was also known as the .44 caliber killer. So there you have it. The CSGV and Brady agenda endorsed by a serial killer.
Speaking of Paid Shills
Frank Luntz, who specializes in “testing language and finding words that will help his clients sell their product or turn public opinion on an issue or a candidate,” speaks frankly about his association with Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Gun control advocates have used these polling tactics time and time again, trying to convince politicians there will be no price to pay for voting their agenda, and time and time again, we’ve proved them wrong. Why? Because most of these people don’t really get the consequences of many of these policies until they are enacted, and when they find out, they get angry, and if there’s one thing we’re good at, it’s channeling that anger towards politicians on election day.