Sebastian – Page 661 – Shall Not Be Questioned

GOP Committeeman Mark Hillman is a Bozo

Clearly they don’t appreciate the Second Amendment being a bipartisan issue, and is lashing out at NRA, and outright lying in at least one instance:

Itâ€™s simple: the NRA likes to play it safe by backing incumbents, even those whose support of gun rights is as sturdy as a soggy role of toilet paper. When the NRA endorsed liberal Democrat Sen. Harry Reid, NRA lobbyist Chris Cox explained that its â€œlong-standing policy â€¦ gives preference to incumbent candidates who have voted with the NRA on key issues.â€

They back incumbents with pro-gun records, which Markey has. Secondly, NRA has not endorsed Harry Reid this election. If you’re going to throw bombs, at least get your facts straight. I’m also outraged that he demeans pro-gun votes by Democrats:

(Remember Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall voting to allow guns in national parks but only after obtaining permission from the Senateâ€™s top gun-grabber, Sen. Charles Schumer? Markeyâ€™s votes were of the same lot â€” manipulative campaign fodder.)

You’re confusing the park issue with National Concealed Carry. But that aside, this is politics, and you know that given your position within the GOP. This happens with any controversial vote. At the end of the day they voted for it.

The GOP needs to get this through their thick skulls: you don’t own the gun vote. We owe you jack. The fact of the matter is we got more done in this Congress than we did in eight years of total GOP control. The way to compete with the Democrats isn’t to lambaste the NRA, it’s to tell us what more you’re going to do that the Democrats haven’t. There are ways to woo us.

I would strongly encourage members of the Colorado GOP to give them a call and tell them you expect them to compete against Democrats by kissing our asses even more, rather than berating NRA for following an incumbent friendly endorsement policy that they have benefited from, and will benefit from again. The bar is raised. We no longer have to depend on one party to secure our Second Amendment rights. Clearly some in the GOP aren’t happy about that. Hear that guys? World’s smallest violin.

Does He Even Know What He’s Talking About?

Bryan Lentz says Pat Meehan wants to allow evil, armor-piecing ammunition. I’m going to wager Bryan Lentz has no clue what armor piercing ammunition is, or what properties it has. He’s delving into a highly technical topic here, where advocates of gun control have successfully created a lot of confusion and beliefs out of ignorance. Does Rep. Lentz know, for instance that:

Grandpa’s hunting rifle ammo will punch through the armor typically worn by police like a hot knife through butter, as will just about any centerfire rifle cartridge.
Gun ban advocates have been going after lead ammunition lately, which has no ready alternative because bullets containing metals other than lead can be construed as armor piercing under federal law and are therefore not legal to sell to civilians.

Tread carefully on this topic, Representative Lentz. You’re heading into gun banning territory, and going back to positions that were politically untenable even in the 1980s. I should say tread carefully if you want to have a chance of winning. We still have a lot of gun owners in the 7th District, and we’ve done a pretty good job of educating them that when someone starts talking about “armor piercing” ammunition, that’s code for banning grandpa’s hunting ammunition. Anything that will effectively kill a deer will go through soft body armor. This is a manufactured issue, much like your “Florida Loophole”

We have to defeat this guy. I hope people in 7 are pulling out all the stops for Pat Meehan.

UPDATE: If you’re on Twitter, please join my “Retweet the truth” campaign, which doesn’t strictly have to be a retweet, butÂ include Kopel article shortened URL, along with something that suggests Bryan Lentz is a gun banning radical, out of touch with mainstream gun owners, and use the hash tag #PA07. I want Lentz to know were out there, and he has more to lose by the anger he’s whipping up than by the friends he’s winning spreading Teddy Kennedy’s old tricks around. Keep in mind this also shows Pat Meehan he can make friends by standing with us.

Down With Fun

I have to agree completely with this article on compulsory fun in the workplace. They seem to suggest real fun would revolve better around two things most employers ban: smoking and drinking. I think the best quote from this article has to be this:

The merchants of fake fun have met some resistance. When Wal-Mart tried to impose alien rules on its German staffâ€”such as compulsory smiling and a ban on affairs with co-workersâ€”it touched off a guerrilla war that ended only when the supermarket chain announced it was pulling out of Germany in 2006. But such victories are rare.

So what was it that really put off the Germans? Smiling or not being able to shag their co-workers?

Via Instapundit

Quote of the Day

From an acquaintance of Ms. Japete, after a lengthy tirade about “white privilege” and “white men over forty,” we get this,

The Declaration of Independence seems to be a favorite of the pro-gun people.

I would hope it’s a favorite of all Americans, since it’s one of the foundational documents of our republic. Do you really find language like this controversial and radical:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. â€” That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, â€” That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

But of course not. You just think we’re crazy and radical. Your side doesn’t have nasty folks and people with odd ideas in it. No. You’re all enlightened, right? Congratulations Alan. I don’t agree very often with how pro-gun advocates throw the word bigot around, but you really do a fine job of fitting the definition there.

UPDATE: I should probably also point out that the average age of gun bloggers seems to be decidedly under 40. Though, it probably won’t stay that way for as long as some of us would like. :)

UPDATE: I note in the comment after, Japete agrees with Alan, which begs the question, “Why do Brady board members hate America?” :)

Looks Like Corbett Gets His Endorsement

It’s hardly a surprise that NRA is planning events to announce the endorsement of Tom Corbett for Governor. Normally Bitter would have attended and reported, but we haven’t gotten around to getting her car inspected yet. Onorato is trying to make gun control an issue in the campaign, and he’s on the wrong side. It’s really important that gun owners punish the Democrats for this. I’m convinced Rendell has the state party convinced NRA is a paper tiger in Pennsylvania. This is the election we show them that’s not the case.

Maybe She Should Have Shared

The kind of story Capitol Ideas is reporting, that a high ranking member of Dan Onorato’s Campaign staff was arrested for growing 28 marijuana plants in her home, probably shouldn’t hurt his campaign as much as it will. That many plants can’t be for personal consumption, unless she smokes a lot of weed. On top of that, what caused the discovery was the twelve ounces of ganja postal inspectors found being shipped to her home. Apparently 28 pot plants generates quite an odor.

I’m not a huge fan of our current drug policies, so to me her big sin, given the state of Onorato’s campaign, and how poorly he’s polling, is that she didn’t share with the rest of the campaign staff.

Maybe That’s Why There Was a Black Helicopter

Apparently this year’s Second Amendment rally in Harrisburg were labeled as potential havens for domestic terrorism, according to a state funded non-profit. These were reports sent to law enforcement and government agencies. Maybe that black helicopter that few overhead wasn’t just a coincidence :)

I Have to Hand it to the Tories

They are serious about getting rid of Canada’s long gun registry, and are setting up to make it an election issue. Canada’s media is getting into the fight too. The Globe and Mail argues that the registry has been a waste of money, that’s cost way more than it was predicted. National Post is editorializing against it for similar reasons, but its intrusiveness to gun owners and ineffectiveness at fighting crime receive top billing. Are we seeing the emergence of a gun rights insurgency in Canada? I hope so. But if the Tories set this up as an election issue, that will probably depend largely on how well that works out for them.

Chavez Looking at Gun Bans

Nothing good will come of this. Venezuela’s democracy, which is on life support now as it is, will surely be dead if Chavez is allowed to disarm everyone but his thugs. You want to talk “Second Amendment remedies.” Chavez is getting very close to where that’s justified.

UPDATE: More from Miguel here, who wrote about this back when it was first proposed.

Gun Ownership Declining?

That’s what the Bradys are saying. I’ve never lent much credence to polling data on household gun ownership. Most gun owners I know, in response to a question about whether they own guns from some anonymous person calling them would be “none of your business,” if they didn’t just hang up the phone right there. I’m not saying gun ownership by household hasn’t declined, just that I’m skeptical of polling. Attitudes of gun owners, in terms of how they are perceived by others, and the nature of gun ownership, has changed quite a bit since 1977. Along similar lines, I wouldn’t be surprised if you find more people who would tell pollsters they are a gay household than you would in 1977. Does that mean there are more gays now?

I don’t think we really have a good idea what household gun ownership really is, because of a tendency of people to under report. The Bradys, through their multi-decade effort to stigmatize gun ownership, probably have more to do with these numbers than they are taking credit for.