Author: Sebastian

The Senate was supposed to go into session two hours ago, but have not yet.  This could be a good sign on the gun rationing bill, as it might mean Corzine and Cody are having difficulty coming up with the votes they need.  Keep the pressure on, because we could still get screwed.  Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Senate just went into session.

UPDATE: Novelty lighters which were clearly a threat to New Jersey citizens are now banned in the Garden State by a vote of 37-1. It is just one of many fascinating things you can learn by watching the NJ Senate video feed.

UPDATE: I’m not ready to celebrate yet, but the Senate has gone into recess until after dinner. Supposedly, they will only be voting on budget matters, nominations, and bills currently coming over from the Assembly tonight. We’ll try to keep an eye on it later or see if there’s chatter out of Trenton that gives us a reason to be happy for today.

UPDATE: According to Sen. Dick Codey, George Bush is responsible for the overspending of the NJ Legislature this year. At least it’s keeping them from voting to ration guns.

It’s also amazing that the Democrats, via Sen. Barbara Buono, are making an issue of the horrors of a Republican proposal to cut down on prison inmate wages. She argued they absolutely could not be cut, even in difficult times when the money isn’t there. A Republican with a pulse should be able to defeat her on that bizarre speech alone.

UPDATE: The Republican Senators are getting up and making impassioned stands against this bill, but my fear is that it will pass. I don’t think it would be up if it wasn’t already a done deal.

UPDATE: Some Democratic Senators, namely Ronald Rice of Newark, don’t seem to have ever heard of Heller, and are still saying the Second Amendment is a collective right about the National Guard.

UPDATE: It’s 12:12AM, and I’m listening to the New Jersey Senate, so you don’t have to.  It’ll be great if we prevail this evening.  But I am not optimistic.  Republicans wouldn’t be piling on like this against the bill if they didn’t know it was going to pass.

UPDATE: Senator M. Teresa Ruiz — vote her out!  She does not honor her oath to uphold the Constitution.  Senator John A. Girgenti can go join her in private life.  “The right to bear arms is subject to restrictions.”  “You need more than 12 guns a year to protect yourself?  I don’t even understand that.”

UPDATE: Senator Loretta Weinberg says “You will have a right to bear 12 guns as arms. […] more than enough to compile a complete arsenal.   This bill merely limits the proliferation of guns in the state of New Jersey.”

UPDATE: I would just like to note that Richard Codey is a grade A, USDA pure asshole.  He lives up to his name.

UPDATE: Senator Cunningam “Justice Scalia was clear that this kind of legislation was constitutional.”  “Our streets are filled with illegal handguns.”   No Senator, your streets are filled with illegal criminals.  “Would we need bulletproof vests if we did not have handguns on the streets?”   Do you really think you can keep criminals from getting handguns, such that our police officers can walk around protecting themselves with rainbow farting unicorns?

UPDATE: 12:23AM.   Passed 21 yeah, and 15 nea.  New Jersey is now a one-gun-a-month state.  I will have more later, including which Senators betrayed the Second Amendment.  My message to New Jersey gun owners is don’t get mad… get even.  You will have that opportunity come November.  Vote the bastards out!

UPDATE: Watching the New Jersey Senate cannot be done without drinking.  It really does help.  A lot.  There’s not much that makes me proud to be Pennsylvanian, but watching what goes on in Trenton is one of those things.

UPDATE: Your battle cry is Fred “One-Gun-A-Month” Madden.  I will explain later.  This man needs to feel the pressure from gun owners.

Corzine is attempting to make guns a big issue in this election, and in that vain, there’s going to be a vote today on one-gun-a-month.  NRA is urging people to contact their Senators today.  Scott Bach is also calling Corzine out for trying to distract voters from his horrible mismanagement of the state.

Here’s my analysis of the game that Corzine is playing.  Gun politics in New Jersey is difficult.  The vast majority of the state are not gun owners, and have no familiarity with them.  Figures on household gun ownership are as low as 14%, whereas the rest of the country hovers closer to 40%.  Politicians that court the gun vote in the Garden State have to be careful not to come off as radical to the rest of the state.  It’s a fine balancing act that’s hard to manage, and Corzine is hoping to push Christie off the balance beam.

The last thing Corzine wants is for Christie to be able to count on the gun vote in the election.  By forcing a vote on one-gun-a-month, he’s going to try to force Christie to take a stand on it.  Take a stand against it, and the majority of New Jersians who are not gun owners will think he’s a radical conservative.  Take a stand in favor of it, you can count on gun owners to stay home on election day.  What New Jersey gun owners can do is help give their local politicians, and Chris Christie, some cover to either take the issue head on, or at least dodge it.  Send letters to the editor.  Talk about how Corzine is using this silly gun issue to distract from his mismanagement of the state’s finances.  Call your state rep and Senators and tell them the same thing.  Tell them not to play along with the governor’s beating up on gun owners, and to get back to fixing the state’s finances.  The only way gun owners are going to keep Christie on the reservation is to give him some cover.  Corzine is showing he’s going to make guns an issue in this election, and it is imperative to make sure it’s Corzine, and not Christie, who ends up on the wrong side of the issue.