Author: Bitter

A Little 2012 Newsflash

I think there’s a difference between “we’re winning” in the cultural sense and “we’re winning” in the political sense. I don’t think I need to remind people that sometimes something that is highly unpopular and opposed by many people can “win” in the political sense. *cough*Obamacare*cough*

Sebastian already pointed out that we have a Democrat who represents a more suburban/rural part of Pennsylvania running on a platform of gun bans and ammunition control – and he’ll win his race without putting out any serious effort this November!

If my list is up-to-date, we’ll have lost 23 lawmakers in Harrisburg to legislative retirements throughout 2012. Twelve of those are A or A+ rated by NRA. When I went to look up their last opponents to get an idea of what the new races could mean for gun owners, 2/3 of those districts were last challenged by declared or presumed anti-gunners. Folks, that’s an awful lot of pro-gun votes to have at risk.

Think about what a battle it was for us to pass the last Castle Doctrine measure here in Pennsylvania – that fight went across multiple governors. That was simply Castle Doctrine that allows you to defend yourself on your own property, and yet gun owners had to work very had to make that happen. I personally don’t think we can afford to lose any allies in Harrisburg if a simple self-defense bill took so much time and energy.

Culturally, we’re making progress. Politically, we’re still at a very dangerous time for gun rights in many areas.

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Good Political Sense

I really have to wonder about the Democrat running against Mike Fitzpatrick in our Congressional district. She is having a fundraiser at a nightclub that has stripping nights & sexually-themed group contests. Even more interesting is that the fundraiser was promoted with the poster for said stripping nights & sexually-themed contests, though the Party wants you to be assured that they aren’t taking place the same night.

I am very tempted to put this in the “Politicians Suck” category on this site, but I fear with the “deep throat contest” advertised alongside her fundraiser, well, that could be taken in a completely new light.

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Scam Targeting Shooting Instructors

Joshua Wander, NRA Election Volunteer Coordinator in Pittsburgh, recently posted a story on Facebook about how he was a target of a scam targeting shooting instructors. He says that he was contacted by a person claiming to be from Japan who was looking for a firearms class during an upcoming family trip to the United States. They agreed at a price of $450 for the entire family. That is not what Wander received…

He received four money orders for $875.21 each that comes to more than $3,5000. He immediately recognized what was going on.

This is an old scam, when I call to tell them that they sent too much, they will ask me to deposit the checks and send them back the difference. It will take the bank a couple of weeks to figure out that the money orders are fake!

Turns out he’s not the only shooting instructor to be targeted by this classic scam lately. I did a quick search for the topic and found another report.

A few months ago, NSCA (National Sporting Clay Association) informed instructors and clubs of fraudulent activities targeting NSCA Certified Instructors around the country. This week, we have learned of other instructors and clubs who have been targeted with similar schemes.

The instructors and clubs tell us they are being contacted through email by someone who is supposedly setting up a shooting event for a corporate group. Some of the reports say the person claims to be from England.

The person inquires about booking instruction for the group, including guns, ammunition, and other equipment, adding up to thousands of dollars. Some of the emails ask for the instructor’s bank account information so he can wire the payment to the bank, while others ask the instructor to handle some US payments on behalf of the group, with a promise to send a money order.

So, if you’re a shooting instructor with your name and contact information published, be aware of this scam. While it’s a pretty classic case of fraud that most people have heard of, it usually takes other forms like roommate or rental ads, or even purchasing a products. Even if it doesn’t cheat you out of cash, it could cheat you out of your time by having to respond to these criminals in their initial inquiries.

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Context for SCOTUS Nominations

If you think that Supreme Court nominations shouldn’t be a factor in this year’s elections, here’s an interesting way to look at the future of any issue you care about that could face serious court challenges:

…the fact is that Supreme Court nominations matter more than ever, for several reasons.

First is the soaring value of lifetime tenure. When our republic was created, the average age of Supreme Court nominees was older than average life expectancy. That has changed dramatically with increased human longevity. And presidents are catching on, naming ever-younger Justices.

The result is that the average term of a Supreme Court Justice today is nearly twenty-five years – spanning more than six presidential terms. Ronald Reagan last appeared on the ballot seven elections ago, yet two of his appointees (Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia) still serve on the Court. If Clarence Thomas remains on the Court until the retirement age of his predecessor, he will have served for forty years. If Elena Kagan remains on the Court until her current life expectancy, she will serve until the year 2045. …

We have not had a significant change in the Court’s philosophical balance since Thomas replaced Marshall more than two decades ago. In the six subsequent appointments, liberals replaced liberals or conservatives replaced conservatives. But in the next administration, the president may well have the opportunity either to shift the Court’s majority from conservative to liberal or to reinforce the conservative majority. And given the number of years most Justices now serve, the majority created or reinforced in the next administration may endure for a generation.

That’s freakin’ scary to think about what a long-term difference each of the candidates can make. I mean I emphasize to people that state elections matter more during census years because of redistricting that impacts politics for a decade.

Go read the entire article at by Clint Bolick. It’s quite an interesting look at the lasting impacts of modern court appointments.

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The New Civility

I realize that this stuff gets a little old, but I’m always amazed at the creativity that anti-gun folks bring to the table when it comes to silencing their political opponents. For example, one woman wants to transition from a volunteer military to one that institutes a draft based on political views:

This person wants everyone to know that those citizens who have a different interpretation of the Second Amendment clearly should be forced to pay for other people’s medical expenses, regardless of the fact that they have nothing to do with that person or the circumstances that caused medical care. Since I assume one would need to tax NRA members at or near 100% in order pay the entire healthcare needs of the rest of the country, I guess this person is advocating for government-mandated bankruptcy for all of those who disagree with his views:

This person believes that all NRA members are male. Of course, this comes with the always popular small manhood joke.

And for the groups that like to say they aren’t really trying to confiscate guns, well, maybe a little education is in order for their supporters:

Of course, maybe giving them that advice is a bad idea. If their followers were educated on the reality of politics and law, they might actually figure out how to win a few battles on the political front. Oh, wait, that requires support from people who actually turn up to vote on the issue, so scratch that.

And, finally, we have a few more tweets about Olympian Corey Cogdell who has been witness to the love and understanding that animal rights activists show for all of God’s creatures on this earth:

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Someone Call Hell & Check the Temperature

Maybe the former name of the blog is appropriate here because I’m starting to wonder if there’s a snowstorm brewing somewhere. There’s a newspaper column calling for less nanny-statism.

The story starts by highlighting a bar owner who isn’t quite making the minimum amount of revenue on food at this Roanoke bar. He has shown the bureaucrats overwhelming evidence that he has tried various marketing efforts to get food sales up enough to keep his mixed drink liquor license, but it just hasn’t hit the magic number yet. His license is being suspended, and he’s paying a fine for the “crime” of not selling enough food.

Back in May, I suggested that Markell create a new menu item: the $1,000 bologna sandwich entree, with sides of sliced beets and sauteed rutabagas. Markell could buy one for himself every time he needed a little boost to get over the food-sales hump.

Markell agrees that baloney is a fitting metaphor for many of the ridiculous regulations liquor licensees have to follow. But he has a more radical idea.

Why not simply let a bar be a bar?

“They keep saying Virginia has a great business environment, but if you want to have a neighborhood bar, that’s not true,” Markell said.

So here’s a suggestion for Virginia legislators, every one of whom claims to be pro-small business.

Act like that, and introduce legislation that repeals certain hard-to-fathom ABC laws.

Keep the stuff that makes some sense, such as the prohibition on serving minors and intoxicated patrons, and requiring bars to close by 2a.m. Keep forcing bars to buy their liquor from the ABC, which produces significant revenue for state coffers. Maintain the prohibition on nude dancing in licensed establishments. That’ll keep the prudes quiet.

But why are bars forbidden from hanging neon beer signs in windows, when they can fill their walls with branded-beer posters?

Why, during happy hour, can a patron order a pitcher of Bud – which can hold four beers – but he can’t have more than two individual beers on the bar at once?

Why can’t bars advertise happy hour specials on social media?

Why can’t anybody order pitchers of margaritas, ever? All mixed drinks in pitchers are illegal in Virginia.

That stuff and more should be repealed.

Go read the whole thing to get the full story behind the honest barkeep who is getting screwed by the unreasonable rules.

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Everyone Shooting Better

According to gold medal-winner Vince Hancock, he believes that more people are taking the shooting sports seriously here in the U.S.:

So why is the U.S. so dominant in the sport over the last several years?

“I really think it’s because we want it more. And we’ve been bringing the youth along with us,” Hancock said. …

Hancock said the elite American shooters set a standard that brings up the competitive level of all shooters. “I’ve been shooting high scores for eight or nine years now. When I first started out, a 192 out of 200 in a local competition would win it. Now, it’s barely making the final,” he said.

“With Kim and I shooting these extremely high scores, it’s making everyone else shoot harder, and be more proficient and hit more targets. And that’s making us shoot even harder. Kim and I know that if we slip up, we’re going to lose.”

He also had a message that will hopefully convince some more folks to give shooting a try:

“There is nothing dangerous about what we do here, at any level. The biggest thing that we preach is safety first.”

Hancock believes shooting is one of the safest sports for competitors of any responsible age.

“I always tell a joke out there that we have less injuries than table tennis,” he said.

And if you think his outreach for the sport doesn’t help win us a few more hearts and (eventually, hopefully, minds), then you’re wrong:

Sometimes, that message is as simple as exposure to the sport. Hancock recalled one journalist about five years ago whose opinion was quickly altered after a day on the range.

“She was extremely anti-gun. But I talked her into trying it,” he said. “And once she hit some targets, you couldn’t take her off the field.”

We’re winning. We just need to keep up the work to expose more people to the positive aspects of gun ownership. We need to keep showing them why the gun range is a cool place to be instead of the non-existent and far less cool “anti-gun range.”

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More Attacks on Sport Shooters & Hunters

I already highlighted the Twitter and blog attacks on U.S. Olympic shooter Corey Cogdell last night, but reader TS pointed out one of the Facebook groups organizing the attacks. Here’s just a sampling of comments I caught with screenshots this morning before we lost power.

I know that Shootin’ Buddy was noting that many of the threatening comments on Twitter were coming from people in other countries, but several of these folks are Americans.

I also thought it was worth highlighting because one of the comments relates to something I posted about recently – when someone who disagrees with gun owners or hunters on a matter of public policy, they try to define said disagreement of sign of a mental illness.

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Abusive Anti-Hunting Advocates are Targeting U.S. Olympic Shooters

With the various Olympic records being shattered by American shooters in London, there’s an increased interest in the human interest stories behind Team USA. Unfortunately, that increased coverage has resulted in animal rights groups learning that many of our Olympic shooters – gasp – hunt! Here’s one report about the biggest attacks on Corey Cogdell:

She grew up in Alaska where wild game was what’s for dinner, hunting and fishing with her father and her sister. It was hunting that lead her to competitive shooting, which lead her to the bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. But, the rabid animal rights groups…started berating Cogdell with nasty comments and death threats. …

Cogdell gave a great statement on her Facebook page defending her hunting. Unfortunately, the comments have become so terrible that she decided to take down her fan page.

By the time I heard about what was happening, the page was removed. However, that hasn’t stopped animal rights activists from attacking her on blogs, Twitter, and other social networks. Here’s one woman who tries to claim that Cogdell conducts her Olympic practice on animals. You can find a Tumblr user who not only spreads the same lie about using animals for target practice, but goes on to say this about our Team USA Olympian:

Corey demonstrates true pyschopathic behaviour in this photograph by her lack of remorse.

Activists have started a petition out to convince the US Olympic Committee to kick hunters (and all of those who defend lawful hunting) off the team. Another animal rights blogger rants about how an athlete who hunts should be considered as engaging in misconduct:

Misconduct is a very mild word when used in reference to Olympic medalist, Corey Cogdell.

But I think Twitter is where some of the worst things have been posted to Cogdell’s account. There are the threats & wishes for bodily harm:

There are the wishes for her to fail:


Yes, this is the kind of support that our Olympic athletes are getting right now as they prepare for their competitions. So, if you’d like to lend a little support to Team USA, you can find the list of all of the shooters on Twitter here. I’m sure they could use a bit more positive support after seeing what Corey has had to deal with.

UPDATE: Here’s even more threats against Corey from other networks. More Americans are involved than on the Twitter accounts, including a Minnesota man who says he wants to physically assault her.

Below the jump, there’s more of a taste of how these animal rights folks view hunters just because they don’t agree with the pastime. I suppose it’s a great representation of the new civility. Continue reading “Abusive Anti-Hunting Advocates are Targeting U.S. Olympic Shooters”

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I Love the Smell of a Little (near) Civil Disobedience

It isn’t quite civil disobedience since it was still legal at the time, but I loved reading this story at PA Water Cooler earlier this month about some politicians encouraging folks to fight against the nanny state:

The Council voted to ban barbecue grills within five feet of homes, any combustible material, or property lines. Got a wooden deck? Then you’ll either have to move your grill or teach it how to levitate. Otherwise you’re a criminal.

Fortunately, Mayor George Doscher chose to veto it because apparently his head is screwed on straight. Good for him. Not to be outdone, though, the Bellevue Council doubled down and overrode the veto! …

The mayor and Councilwoman Kathy Coder (who is also running for the State House and you should totally check out her website and throw some cash her way) led a good old-fashioned civil disobedience event by holding a still-legal-for-now cookout in front of the Borough Building. The mayor even wore a chef’s hat.

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