Sebastian – Page 939 – Shall Not Be Questioned

No Wonder Sugarmann’s a Sad Clown

Bitter did an analysis of VPC’s finances a few years ago.Â Now Howard Nemerov has updated us on the current state of VPC’s finances:

In 2007, VPC saw a small improvement, mostly by cutting functional expenses by 48.7% since 2003, plus the fact that salaried employees received no raises since 2005, along with Â $144,227 increase in â€œdirect public support.â€ (Where this â€œpublic supportâ€ comes from will be examined in Part 2, because this tells the story of who VPC really represents.)

This ought to be good.

Harrisburg City Council Votes to Waste Money in a Legal Fight

Taxpayers in Harrisburg will be happy to hear that their City Council voted unanimously to waste money by passing an illegal gun control law. They passed the same kind of law that has prompted a lawsuit from NRA in Pittsburgh. I wonder how the residents feel about a gun law that won’t make a lick of difference, but will cost the city tens of thousands of dollars to defend – tens of thousands of dollars that could be going to schools or other local program.

The Swine Flu

SayUncle has a pretty good roundup.Â Turns out it’s not really all that scary, Joe Biden’s hysterics to the contrary.

UPDATE: Speaking up hysterics.

UPDATE: A poem for Joe Biden.

The Sad Clown

Thirdpower notes that Josh Sugarmann of the Violence Policy Center is less than thrilled with Obama’s first 100 days.

Gun Shows, Not Just for Guns Anymore

Pro-Gun Progressive reports hearing a Mexican official opine that the swine flu came from an American gun show.Â Â Really?Â Â Maybe he got his talking points mixed up.

Who’s Better on Civil Rights Again?

Jacob Sullum talks about the great expansion of federal hate crime that Congress is considering.Â This bill makes federal crimes out of most crimes, enabling double jeopardy.Â Â The problem is that, under our federal system, the federal and state governments are considered separate sovereigns, and so while double jeopardy is generally prohibited, because each sovereign is considered to have its own, separate interest in prosecuting crime.

It’s a nice idea in theory, and it might even work out if Congress were truly limited to its enumerated powers.Â But Congress’ power over interstate commerce are now without limit.Â With this new hate crime law, a person could easily be acquitted by a jury in state court, and then brought to trial in federal court for the same act, under this “hate crime” law.Â The nexus to interstate commerce?Â Well, he used a gun see.Â And that gun once traveled over state lines.Â Lopez was supposed to deal with this problem, but who knows if that’s even still valid precedent, even if it might technically still be.

Does Alaska Even Have Anti-Gun Legislation?

I asked Bitter if Alaska even has anyone who would dare introduce gun control bills after reading this story this morning.

Hundreds Turn Out to Protect Gun Rights

It was standing room only at the Soldotna Sports Center last night as many from the Kenai Peninsula attended the rally of the Second Amendment Task Force of the Kenai Peninsula. Even the presenters discussed the turnout, including Bob Bird of Nikiski. He was gratified with the turnout. He explained to the audience that the rally was not called as part of the National Rifle Association, or as part of the Gun Owners of America. Those speaking at the rally wanted to relay the message that there is a reason Americans should be concerned that the freedom to keep and bear arms is being threatened.

It’s great to hear about pro-active gun owners.

Virginia Democrats Realign on Guns

VSSA has a great post on yesterday’s debate between Democratic gubernatorial candidates. You’ll note that two of the candidates are trying to twist their way into different positions in an attempt to appease presumably anti-gun party primary voters primarily in the DC suburbs and also a more pro-gun general populace across the entire state. Sometimes it’s best to just grab a bowl of popcorn and watch the entertainment.

Let’s Hope They Are Right

The Beaver County Times published a short editorial about the gun rights rally in Harrisburg last week.

Hundreds of pro-gun advocates, led by the president of the National Rifle Association, showed up to remind state lawmakers who is pulling the strings and whose strings are being pulled.

It was an impressive combination of clout and cowering. (Itâ€™s not hard to figure out which adjective applied to gun backers and which applied to lawmakers.)

I hope they are correct in their prediction that gun control at the state level isn’t likely to move.

Biden Eases Burden on Secret Service

Our Vice President reminds us on this 101st day of the Obama Administration that we could have, in fact, made a worse electoral decision. Instead of keeping on his talking points about Obama’s “enchanting moments,” he used his time on the Today show this morning to unleash his inner survivalist.

Joe Biden tells Americans that they should no longer take public transportation, fly on commercial airlines, or sit in “enclosed” classrooms. I’m sure that will really help the struggling economy. Politico tells us that the Administration has promised a forthcoming “clarifying statement.” According to one account on Twitter, even the show’s hosts were wondering why Biden just asked America to stop using public transportation.