Sebastian – Page 738 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Tony Williams Ad Featuring Gun Control

It’s not too surprising, being a State Senator in a Philadelphia district, that Tony Williams favors gun control. A shame too, because I think he’s one of the better Dems in the race for Governor in the Democratic primary. He’s airing ads that push the issue:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJDNTykCsT0[/youtube]

These ads certainly aren’t going to hurt him in most of the communities in Philadelphia, and that’s where he can probably expect to draw the most votes from in the primary. But it’s been surprising that all the Democrat candidates have been willing to run on this issue when it’s not really been at the forefront, and is generally understood to hurt Democrats in statewide races. So why do all the Democratic candidates, save Jack Wagner, who is at least sidestepping on the issue of guns, feel they can not only endorse mild gun control measures, but even go so far as to attack preemption, which is a bedrock issue for us?

I’ll call it the Ed Rendell effect. I think our Governor has convinced Dems that the NRA can’t touch them. After all, he was NRA’s public enemy number one, and he beat us both times. He’s even gone on record saying as much. But Ed won the first time by running from his record on the issue, up against a weak and uninspiring GOP candidate in the form of Mike Fisher. He won the second time because the GOP got behind the disastrous candidacy of Lynn Swann. Ed beat the GOP both times. Not a difficult feat in Pennsylvania, when the GOP doesn’t have their game on, which is much of the time. If Ed’s convinced Democrats being in favor of gun control doesn’t matter in this state, they are going to be in for a harsh lesson come November, and for as long as the GOP has a bench that looks halfway decent.

No Golden Age

David Boaz makes this excellent point at Reason:

Has there everÂ been a golden age of liberty? No, and there never will be.Â There will always be people who want to live their lives in peace, and there will always be people who want to exploit them or impose their own ideas on others.Â If we look at the long termâ€”from a past that includes despotism, feudalism, absolutism, fascism, and communismâ€”weâ€™re clearly better off.Â When we look at our own country’s historyâ€”contrasting 2010 with 1776 or 1910 or 1950 or whateverâ€”the story is less clear.Â We suffer under a lot of regulations and restrictions that our ancestors didnâ€™t face.

But in 1776 black Americans were held in chattel slavery, and married women had no legal existence except as agents of their husbands. In 1910 and even 1950, blacks still suffered under the legal bonds of Jim Crowâ€”and we all faced confiscatory tax rates throughout the postwar period.

I am particularly struck by libertarians and conservatives who celebrate the freedom of early America, and deplore our decline from those halcyon days, without bothering to mention the existence of slavery.

I guess Bob McDonnel needs to read this too. A state of liberty, natural law theory to the contrary, is not man’s natural state. It’s only through great effort and never ending struggle that we keep ourselves in this artificial state. This country’s history is about that very struggle, and as Mr. Boaz correctly observes, at various times in our nation’s history, liberty has had the upper hand. But which society would you rather live in?

[W]ould you rather live in a country with a department of labor and even an income taxÂ or aÂ Dred Scott decision and a Fugitive Slave Act?

I said that white Americans probably considered themselves free. But in retrospect, were they? They did not actuallyÂ live in a free society. They were restricted in the relations they could have with millions of theirâ€”I started to say “their fellow citizens,” but of course slaves weren’t citizensâ€”their neighbors.Â They lived under a despotic power.Â Liberalism seeks not justÂ to liberate this or that person, but to create a rule of law exemplifying equal freedom. By that standard, even the plantation owners did not live in a free society, nor even did people in the “free” states.

Go read the whole thing.

Surge in Shooting in the UK

Today we had some good news with Canada. It looks like we also have some good news in the UK too:

There has been a surge in new shotgun and firearm certificates issued by the police, according to an analysis of latest figures from the Home Office by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC). The figures, which relate to 2008/2009, show the highest year-on-year rises in certificates on issue for both shotguns and firearms since records began in 1968.

That’s where it has to start. You have to make a political constituency for taking back your rights. That’s hard when you’ve fallen as far as the UK has, but it’s not impossible.

Gun Control on Defensive in Canada

They are fast approaching the final vote to repeal the long gun registry in Canada. The gun control groups there are doing everything they can to prevent it from happening. To me the greatest argument against the registry is the cost, and the fact that it diverts law enforcement resources from catching actual criminals toÂ bureaucraticÂ administrative functions that have little or nothing to do with catching criminals and preventing crime. Canada’s number look somewhat similar to ours in this respect:

There are nearly 7 million registered long guns in Canada, the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics reports. Yet, the public safety department adds, of 2,441 homicides recorded in Canada since mandatory long-gun registration was introduced in 2003, fewer than 2Â percent (47) were committed with rifles and shotguns known to have been registered.

So we’re talking two percent of homicides. Imagine if the billions of dollars the registry cost were instead spent on increasing the number of police on the streets of Canada’s major cities?

Crazies Didn’t Used to Get Licenses

This big story in the Washington Post is that a Washington man was charged with threatening to kill Senator Patty Murray over her vote on health care. It has implications for us:

Wilson has a .38-caliber revolver registered to him and has a concealed weapons permit, Woodbury wrote.

You know, it used to be the really hard-core anti-government whack jobs didn’t get concealed carry licenses, because they didn’t want to be on “some government list”, or didn’t want to have to go beg to “the man.” Â I yearn for those good old days.

Afraid of the People

Clayton Cramer is co-author on a law review article in George Mason Law Review. The title is â€œThis Right Is Not Allowed By Governments That Are Afraid Of The Peopleâ€: The Public Meaning of the Second Amendment When the Fourteenth Amendment Was Ratified. Go have a read.

Cleaning and Lubrication Tips from NSSF

NSSF is producing some interesting videos helping people maintain their firearms. This is one of them:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uZTM6WnICY[/youtube]

It’s a great service, I think, because a common mistake gun owners make isÂ over-lubricatingÂ their guns. I will admit, when I was a beginner gun owner, I used WD-40 to lubricate a gun, which catches fire once it gets hot enough. One advantage to having a Kalashnikov as your first gun is it’ll take pretty much all the abuse you can throw at it with beginner mistakes.

Ed’s Plan for I-80 Foiled

We’ve covered on here in the past Ed Rendell’s plan to toll I-80 across the top of the state. The feds have ruled the plan violates federal law and have invalidated it. I guess he’s going to have to find another way to funnel money into Philadelphia’s crappy public transit system.

The 2010 PA Election Won’t Be Boring

Now we’re introducing rock videos into the mix in the race forÂ LieutenantÂ Governor:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMuQfgXDTrk[/youtube]

I guess he’s really fighting that image of stodgy, uptight northeastern Republicans. This is one of those tactics you almost hope doesn’t work, because while this guy is pretty good, I think we can all agree that more music videos from politicians would not be a good thing. Just think of the Daryl Metcalfe music video.

iPad Shortcomings

This pretty much lists all the reasons I haven’t rushed out to buy an iPad. I can’t really see what I’d do with it. I might end up getting one, after they fix all the bugs and reduce the price, but it’ going to be mostly a toy, just like the Newton I have in myÂ atticÂ somewhere was. In fact, given the iPad’s size, it kind of reminds me of the Newton, which wasn’t a rousing success for Apple. Despite that, I think the iPad will probably be largely successful. Back in the years Apple was run by the sugar water salesman, the cult following wasn’t quite as big as it is today, and back then even the devout fans of Apple understood they produced bombs every once in a while.