Today begins holiday time, which means rather than blogging according to any given schedule, I blog when I feel like it. Happy Holidays everyone.
Author: Sebastian
Bryan Miller on Aitken’s Pardon
Bryan Miller, who never met a gun owner he didn’t hate, has this to say about Brian Aitken’s clemency:
Bryan Miller, project director for the anti-gun violence group Ceasefire NJ, said only a “tiny majority” of people actually want to loosen the state’s gun laws. He hopes others don’t see the governor’s decision on Aitken as a precendent for “a get-out-of-jail free card for breaking our gun laws.”
Interesting that he didn’t have anything bad to say about the commutation of Aitken’s sentence. That goes to show Miller isn’t blinded by ideology to the point of stupidity. He’s hoping this doesn’t have greater implications for New Jersey’s gun laws, rather than trying to fight the media tide in favor of Governor Christie’s clemency.
Bad News for Democrats
Most of the populations gains are looking to be in red states, with blue states bearing the loss. The article suggests it’s climate driving the migration. Except I think it’s the business and tax climate that’s more the issue than the weather climate. Texas gains the most, and Texas keeps taxes low, and maintains a much more business friendly environment than most other states.
This is people voting for small government with their feet.
A Message from Brian Aitken
He’s home. Best of luck to you Brian, and I hope you enjoy your holidays back home with your family where you belong. It’s worth noting that ANJRPC is asking people to call Governor Christie and thank him. I agree this is very important. We need to be good at the positive as well as negative reinforcement. You can find contact info for Governor Christie here.
More on the ATF Power Grab
Dave Hardy notes how the Firearms Owners Protection Act has specific protections against what ATF is trying to implement, and urges people to contact their legislators. Congress can take action against this, and should. Out of control bureaucrats are a specific pet peeve of mine, and if there’s one things the Republican Congress could do that I think would be popular among the people is start calling these agencies before it and reminding them they do not have any power beyond that which Congress authorizes.
Own Worst Enemies
An NRA instructor is leading the charge to ban toy guns in a California town. I could accept restricting their sale to minors, but a ban? If an adult waves around a toy gun and a cop thinks it’s real, that’s his problem, not mine.
Tightening the Tourniquet
They told us California Condors were getting lead poisoning from lead bullets, so, on flimsy evidence, California banned them for hunting. Now California Condors are still showing up with lead poisoning, and they are blaming adjacent states who don’t have the law. To me this is evidence that the poisoning is from other sources, but for the Center for Banning Ammunition, it’s just more evidence that we need a comprehensive ban.
Personally, I don’t give a flying rat’s behind about the California Condor, and I’ve questioned whether we’re just delaying the inevitable. So I guess I’m not much of a conservationist. The worst we can do to life on this planet is destroy ourselves. Life will continue no matter what we do. Given that we’re very good at self-destruction, I’m not about to get very worked up over any particular method we may use to accomplish it. Either way, we’ll survive just fine without California Condors, and so will most everything else. The only reason to keep them around is human vanity and selfishness. Mother Gaia could care less whether they live or die, and the same could be said for us.
UPDATE: I forgot that I had a post that shows the California Condor’s range. Notice anything about the central California population? They might not know borders, but something about them make them like California.
ATF Move Becoming Big News
Naturally, the mainstream media is just in love with this topic. First from the New York Times. Even the Dallas Morning News is jumping on board. Scripps is covering with the unbaised headline of “Gun lobby blocks efforts to stem border violence.”
This would be shaping up to be the ground we will do battle with our opponents. The question is, how do I feel about fighting on this ground? Very good. I can think of very few things that will drive your average NRA member and gun rights enthusiast into a seething rage than having ordinary folks’ gun purchases reported to the government because the Mexican Government can’t get its act together, and our government refuses to do anything about the border. In addition, ATF has no legal authority to do what they are requesting. It’s a blatant power grab, and one that will likely have congressional repercussions.
The media will hew and haw, but we’ll win this one, and we’ll have ammunition to use against the Administration come the 2012 elections.
Chris Christie Does the Right Thing
Brian Aitken’s sentence has been commuted by Governor Christie. He’ll be able to spend Christmas with his family. I believe this means the convictions stand, but those can be challenged on appeal.
UPDATE: From Evan Nappen:
Today is a great day for Brian Aitken, his family and for gun owners across the nation. This is the first time in the history of our country that someone serving a prison sentence for a gun possession offense has been granted clemency by a governor. Thank you Governor Christie for having the courage and wisdom to do so.
For those arguing that Christie wimped out for not giving a full pardon, keep in mind that he wasn’t asked for one. Accepting a pardon requires you to first admit guilt for what was done. For Brian to get his named cleared, he needs to appeal the conviction. Because the conviction stands his appeal survives. A pardon would moot it.
Glad to be Rid of Him
The Pittsburgh Post has a story on the political career of David Levdansky. He’s the kind of hunter gun owners love to hate. You know, the type that doesn’t think gun rights are that important? But even his support of hunting I think was tepid:
During his first term Levdansky worked to get a hunting license fee increase and modernize long-neglected fines and penalties in the state Game and Wildlife Code.
“Since both agencies are practically entirely funded by license fee revenue, I wanted to bring them under the normal state budget process,” he said.
The Game Commission and other critics argued that would permit urban legislators to strip money from wildlife management.
That would be a dream bill for HSUS and the enemies of hunting. There’s very good reasons that Game Commissions tend to be independent bodies from the legislature. The critics were exactly right.
A defining juncture in Levdansky’s career came in 1985 and 1986 when he tried to craft an amendment he said would help the Game Commission to catch hunters who illegally kill a second buck. The law would have banned the possession of rifles in the field after tagging an antlered deer.
“I was approached by the National Rifle Association field rep,” said Levdansky. “He said, ‘You’re trying to do gun control.’ I said, ‘What? I’m a hunter.’ He said, ‘You’re a closet liberal and you’re trying to do gun control.’ I said, ‘Through the Game and Wildlife Code? Come on.’ “
Apparently he doesn’t like a spade being called a spade. I never could figure out myself if Levdansky was just a closet leftist trying to clothe himself in camo in order to fool us, or was just genuinely ignorant. Either way, I hope he enjoys retirement. It’s a good thing for us for him to be out of the legislature.