The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …
Apparently some members are not too happy NRA is going after Debra Maggart. I’d say that if this isn’t a story cooked up by Maggart’s campaign, I’ll eat my hat. Even if NRA pissed me off enough to cause me to resign my life membership, I wouldn’t feel that was something worth going to the press about.
NRA is supporting a primary challenge against Maggart in the GOP primary.
The whole thing kind of angers me, really, because I think both sides are wrong. I support government recognizing homosexual couples having the same legal rights as heterosexual couples when it comes to marriage. But I also support the Cathy family, owners of Chick-Fil-A, having religious believes that compel them to support traditional marriage, and being able to hold fast to those beliefs without being victims of thuggery by the likes of Boston Mayor Tom “Mumbles” Menino and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel.
And as for Mumbles and his partner in tyranny Rahm, there is a special spot in hell, as far as I’m concerned. Because what they did by engaging in their thuggish behavior was expand the pro-Chick-Fil-A coalition enough that the message being sent to Dan Cathy is that he has nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking a strong and firm position on social issues.
Let me play a bit of Devil’s advocacy for those on the left for whom social issues like gay marriage are important. Rahm and Mumbles just screwed you guys by taking things a step too far. Whatever you may think, they are not your allies. They have energized the right coalition in ways you can’t imagine. First Amendment and small government advocates are rightly just as outraged as opponents of gay marriage in how Chick-Fil-A has been treated. If these people will wait in long lines to buy chicken, in large enough numbers that the chickens can’t be killed and deliciously deep fried fast enough, what do you think they are going to do in November?
Bill Clinton’s real political genius was in understanding and exploiting the divisions in the right coalition. After having his posterior handed to him in 1994, he did what he was best at doing; he triangulated. Clinton decided to concede on a large part of the right’s economic plan, and in some cases actively embraced it, and made it his own. He then proceeded to fight culture wars on social issues, and the GOP took the bait. Under the Clinton strategy, I watched the Philadelphia ring counties go from Republican (though never very socially conservative) strongholds to favoring center-left Democrats.
Today, having driven around to see how busy our Chick-Fil-As were, just half an hour before closing, I think I may be watching the death of the Clinton strategy. Not because this strategy doesn’t work, but because the hard-core urban leftists like Barack Obama just can’t help themselves. Like a lot of big city politicians, they don’t understand that the political landscape is really driven by suburbs, and those politicians are rapidly tearing the Clinton strategy to pieces in their ignorance.
Tam alerts us to an gun store and range, Tactical Firearms, in Katy, Texas who is perfectly willing to throw your freedom under the bus to make a buck at the expense of his online competitors. With friends like this, who needs enemies?
A lot of gun owners seem to be reacting to this like some kind of gotcha against Bloomberg. I think it’s correct and proper for the NYPD to do this:
But on Wednesday Mayor Bloomberg’s position on gun control looked shakier as it was revealed that his police department, the NYPD, had sold 28,000lbs of spent bullet casings to a store which reloads them and sells them cheaply to customers.
I think that’s fine. We ought to be defending this practice, and not trying to use it as a club to beat Bloomberg over the head. It saves the NYPD money, helps keep the cases from being melted down and sold for scrap (at less economic value) and shooters get cheap, reloaded ammunition. I’ll give New York City and Bloomberg credit when they do something right.
Of course, I’ll leave it to your amusement that the Telegraph doesn’t know the difference between a bullet and a casing.
Thirdpower has the details. Apparently it’ll ban Glock pistols, and you’ll be required to register all your magazines over 10 rounds. One wonders how the mechanics of that work, given they don’t stamp serial numbers on magazines. Either way, Governor Quinn said in his statement vetoing important pro-gun legislation regarding ammunition:
I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution– the right to bear arms.
The last refuge of scoundrels, is that statement. They’re all supporters of the Second Amendment in their own minds. Even Bloomberg. Theyare no such thing. Not when banning Glocks and numerous common shotguns. I’d note, because of this, it would also ban the Beretta 92. Not to mention all the jobs that will be cost downstate when companies like Armalite are forced to leave the state. Don’t you love how these bills also have language that just happens, you know, to ban hundreds of commonly owned firearms no one in their right mind has ever considered assault weapons? You’d almost think the assault weapons issue was just a ruse to ban as many guns as these cretins can get away with.
According to Dave Hardy, they’ve granted a stay, meaning Maryland will still be permitted to consider “good and substantial” reason for permit applicants, until the case is decided on appeal. But as Dave mentions, they’ve accelerated the schedule for hearing the case, and it’ll be heard late October.
We’ve lost power in a major neighborhood calamity. All the pole pigs were showering sparks like it was PECO’s own personal 4th of July. We don’t have all that much battery left on the UPS. I will try to arrange alternate power generation.
UPDATE: We now have a 5500W Portable Generator. Ran it for about an hour before the power came back. Now when we lose power (and I’m home) the blog will remain running, along with my Internet, and probably most importantly, the fridge and air conditioner for my office :)
The Baltimore Sun is whipping up good old fashion straw-man stereotyping hoe down, where we celebrate those silly and stupid gun nuts who think people want to ban their assault weapons, regulate gun show out of existence and force registration of firearms. Silly gun owners. I have no idea where they could get such a nutty idea like that from. Really. How stupid can these ignorant rednecks be? I mean, we here at the Baltimore Sun know these types struggle with reading, but we are so much better than them. Let’s celebrate!
The folks at the Baltimore Sun want to shame us out of our activism with their own smug sense of superiority. Clearly they believe we should listen. I would. If you have a subscription to the Baltimore Sun, cancel it now. Tell them why. Starve the beast. It’s the only way to beat them.
Pew: Views on Gun Laws Unchanged after Shooting. Yet on their side there has been hope, that this time was going to be different! This time they were going to turn it around, and start sticking is to us. They’d show us!
Well, not bloody likely, is this polling is believed.