Recognizing his vulnerability in swing states, Obama began to run an alternate campaign to calm the worries of gun owners, said Ray Schoenke, a former Washington Redskins lineman who founded a moderate gun rights group, the American Hunters and Shooters Association, as part of the Obama effort.
The Obama campaign paid for Schoenke’s travel to 40 events in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and Colorado to address pro-gun voters.
So Schoenke was basically on the payroll of Obama’s campaign. That’s spelled “shill” with two ls Ray, just in case you weren’t aware. No wonder this guy had no credibility.
This Ugandan KASHMIRS 80- year- old tradition of making 12- bore guns, used for hunting birds and small game, faces the threat of being wiped out.
Gun making is no longer a profitable business in Kashmir, says Zahoor Ahmad Ahangar, one of the owners of the Subhana gun factory, established in 1925. Subhana, along with Zaroo gun factory are the only large factories left in Bandook Khar locality in the Ranwari area today. Until 1960, Bandook Khar was a gun manufacturing hub.
“I would have given up long ago, but this is our ancestral business. There is nothing left in it for my children,†he says. …
Subhana and Zaroo are not allowed to make much more than 300 guns a year, says Ahangar. “But there are many factories in Jammu and no one touches them. Their quota was increased every three years.
Recently another factory came up in Jammu which can make 1,500 guns,†he adds.
The factories were one of many casualties of the 90s militancy.
Then Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Jagmohan ordered their closure saying militants trained with AK- 47 rifles might use the 12- bore. People were asked to hand over their 12- bore guns to the police.
“The factories were closed for two to three years. The government later realised that 12- bore guns are different from AK- 47s,†says Muhammad Yaqoob, 60 one of the oldest workers at Subhana.
The government has since allowed the factories to operate, but it did not increase the production quota. …
There are no dealers of 12- bore guns in Kashmir today. Ahangar, who had applied for a dealership four years ago, says despite the no- objection certificate by all the state departments, the police kept the application with itself.
The authorities admit that guns were never misused throughout the long conflict in Kashmir. “ We have never received any malpractice complaint about the gun makers. We have never seen them doing anything illegal,†deputy commissioner, Srinagar Mehraj Ahmad Kakroo told MAIL TODAY. About the issue of licence, he says: “ The home department has to look into the matter.â€
It sounds like they took a page right out of the books of the best and brightest of Chicago, New York & DC politicians. We have a problem with X. We’re gonna ban Y to “solve” the problem with X. The problem with X still doesn’t go away, so we might concede on Y, but we’ll still jerk you around just because that’s what we can do. We’re from the government – and we’re here to help!
Hard as I try to just let her be, Common Gunsense is the blog that keeps on giving. There’s no end to the ridiculous things emanating from our favorite Brady Board Member’s keyboard, and here is the latest thing:
Educated people shoot people as often as those poor uneducated people. I wonder why the gun lobby prefers not to believe that? Does it get in the way of their trying to convince us that most homicides are committed by criminals? Most homicides occur among people who know each other and often the shooter was not a criminal until he/she pulled the trigger.
We prefer not to believe it, because it’s simple just not true. Let’s look at what this study has to say on education and recidivism:
Inside our prisons, 19% percent of adult inmates are illiterate, and up to 60% are functionally illiterate. In contrast to this, our national adult illiteracy rate stands at 4%, with up to 23% functionally illiterate.
Or this study, which also shows that crime among more highly educated people tends to drop sharply. In fact, there’s no shortage of studies done by education advocates that show an inverse relationship to education levels and violent crime. As for homicides, there were 14,180 homicides in 2008, and of those, 44% of them authorities were unable to determine a relationship. Homicide among intimates represents only about 17% of the total. The largest category in “people who know each other” are acquaintances. It’s worthwhile pointing out that this would include the drug dealer capping a rival drug dealer.
As for the assertion that most murderers being non-criminal, that is also bunk. See this DOJ study on the matter, and we find:
54% have at least one felony conviction
70% have at least one conviction
56% have two or more felony arrests
67% have at least one felony arrest
81% of all homicide defendants have at least one arrest on their record
Now an arrest shouldn’t count for purposes of denying someone their rights, but it’s interesting data. This would suggest that no, the people who pull the trigger are largely already criminals.
Sorry Joan, but we don’t believe it because it’s not true. If you’re going to advocate for your ideas to be the basis of public policy, I think it’s imperative to argue from the right set of facts. Those facts just don’t support your conclusions.
It looks like some anti-gunners are seizing upon Obama’s (old) platform of banning gun stores in any area you might actually visit. Obama’s idea – banning them within 5 miles of schools or parks – would have effectively shut down just about every gun store in most parts of the country. Here in Pennsylvania, one group appears to be testing the waters on the idea, taking it even further:
CeaseFire PA sent their own questionnaires to candidates earlier this year to test the waters for rather extreme policies – including closing down gun stores within an arbitrary, undefined distance of any school, daycare center, park, or residential area.
That would shut down every shop in Pennsylvania, I can pretty much guarantee it. Turns out some anti-gun parents in Wisconsin are pushing a similar agenda now that a gun store is opening near an elementary school. Because we all know that when a gun store opens near a school, elementary school thugs will get their hands on an uzi and start robbing the younger kids of their milk money – or something.
The City of West Allis is considering limiting where gun dealers can open up shop. It all started with a controversial store right across the street from an elementary school.
During a December 7th meeting the City of West Allis considered where gun businesses and shooting ranges can and cannot set up shop. …
Parents of students collected more than 800 signatures to prevent the business from opening there, but city leaders say the location does not violate any laws.
The proposed ordinance won’t affect current gun shops including Shorty’s. They all will be grandfathered in.
The proposed ordinance will shrink the area gun sellers could operate out of, putting future retailers and shooting ranges in more industrial sections labeled in blue.
I don’t understand the irrational fear of these folks about gun dealers near schools. Their kids can’t buy guns. There won’t guns disposed of on the street when customers come in to buy new ones. I had my first experience with this form of crazy in college when a gun shop opened up about a mile from campus. An alum came in ranting about how things were going to hell in a handbasket because a gun store was nearby. I couldn’t wrap my head around why that was bad then, and I still don’t get it today.
The best case scenario here is that D’Cruz is strikingly immature and incapable of handling the serious responsibilities that come with gun ownership. The worst case scenario is that he’s a ticking time bomb in need of psychiatric care. In either case, he’s a poster boy for why we should prevent handgun sales to those under 21 years of age.
So he’s strikingly immature because he likes to quote movies and books? D’Cruz’s only gaffe here is that he either didn’t realize, or wasn’t coached, that being a plaintiff in a high profile civil rights case was going to put him under the microscope of unscrupulous people who would take anything they could out of context to smear him. I will grant, it is probably is something beyond the comprehension of someone under thirty, just how treacherous a game politics can be.
The notion that James Madison drafted the Second Amendment to guarantee the right of violence-obsessed teenagers to buy handguns and carry them in public–divorced from any type of civic or military duty–is asinine.
Well, good thing James is preparing for a career in our nation’s military then eh? Or did you miss the picture of him in that snappy JROTC uniform that was right next to the one in his Halloween costume that you guys cribbed?
I’ve come to one conclusion in what limited reading I’ve done of Joan Peterson’s blog. If it’s legal and she doesn’t like it, then she assumes it is actually illegal and everyone who does what she doesn’t like is a criminal. If it’s illegal, and yet criminals still find a way to get around the law, then clearly it is actually legal and she wants to regulate EVERYTHING in an attempt to make it illegal(er).
I’ve had my share of experiences at smaller non-profit shops that sometimes have board members who like to speak out on their own. If I worked for the other side, I’m pretty sure my head would be dented from banging it against the desk and/or wall after reading Peterson’s comments. Seriously, Peter, if you don’t have a stash of the Montezuma in your desk for a quick chug every time she posts, let me know and I’ll bring you a bottle next time I’m down there.
I admit that I had to laugh about her post on the Mary McFate story. She was McFate’s roommate in DC, and she gladly told her story of sorrow and opened her mouth about plans for the Minnesota gun rights groups. It’s similar to the actions of the former Executive Director of CeaseFire who invited McFate to stay in her home and attend board meetings. I don’t understand how you meet a woman like McFate and not have every alarm bell going off that something just isn’t adding up. Alarm bells should have been ringing in minutes, if not seconds, of meeting her, and yet she shared a room with the woman. Maybe I’m just protective of my personal space, but if someone creates discomfort for me or starts telling me things that don’t add up, then I am unlikely to continue sharing a hotel room with them while I sleep, bathe, and change clothes. But Joan might call that unwillingness to share my sleeping space with strangers who rub me the wrong way paranoia. I call it self-preservation.
There’s nothing illegal about allowing other people to spill their guts with little or no prompting. It’s not illegal to take advantage of the fact that the gun control groups will so quickly promote someone who just makes them feel good without asking serious questions. I think the only thing that shocked people was just how little effort, time, and money it takes to become a “leader” in the gun control community.
Of course, on the flip side, there’s nothing illegal about Michael Moore joining the NRA as a life member in an attempt to run for the board. He’s welcome to try. Of course, we require a little more than simply coming up with a sob story and showing up for a few rallies to be a leader of more organizations on this side of the argument. It doesn’t matter if someone just makes us “feel good,” they have to be willing to make an effort for the cause. Not only do we have many members who ask serious questions of those who want to step up into leadership, but those of us lawful gun owners active in the movement tend to ignore those who set off our alarm bells. We have a natural vetting process within our grassroots communities. Joan’s vetting process is limited to those who make her feel good or listen to her tell her stories. She tries to blame us for her lack of awareness, but I don’t think it fools anyone.
At least they would seem to be if you’re the Brady Center. See, the Brady folks have posted their videos of a Very Brady Gala in Los Angeles earlier last month, and it’s quite telling how they think of people who choose to exercise their Constitutional right to bear arms:
If you watch it, you’ll notice some choice quotes from TV director, producer, and otherwise vile human being, Steven Levitan. If Levitan even showed up at the station to board the “class” train, it had left long before he got there. First up is Levitan making fun of accidental shootings.
“In my quest for an entertaining speech, no small task given the seriousness of the subject matter, I did a Google search for the following phrase: ‘Man Accidentally Shoots Himself'”
So are people shooting themselves tragedies, or the butt of Brady Center jokes? Make up your mind. I guess they are tragedies when they happen to people who aren’t gun owners, eh? That must be why Levitan, after getting the crowd laughing at various stories of gun owners shooting themselves,
“Sort of funny, but of course not funny at all when these same idiots shoot someone else, except of course, when it was Dick Cheney, that was pretty funny.”
I’m sure the incident with Cheney wasn’t all that funny to Harry Whittington. But hey, Harry had a gun so he got what he deserved right?
“Unlike the gun enthusiasts, who’s simplistic slogans make for great bumper stickers, our arguments are complex.”
Gun control activists are, of course, sophisticated, with complex arguments, Â while we dumb redneck gun owners can’t manage more than a poorly crafted catchword? If there were a hall of fame for people with a smug sense of self-satisfaction, and over inflated estimates of their own intelligence and sophistication, this guy would be Joe DiMaggio.
“”They’ve gotten so stuck on ideology, and so powerful, and lawmakers have become so intimidated, that we’re fast losing the ability to have a sane and rational fact based debate about how to protect the ones we love. So I thank the Brady Center, in standing up for sane gun laws. They’ve made themselves the target of an entire movement, and a target is not something you want to be around those people.”
Because people who’s support and defend the Second Amendment clearly are just itching to shoot people who don’t believe, or don’t want to believe in the right. Levitan might want to reconsider his statement about a rational fact based debate about how to protect the ones we love,” because it’s pretty clear to me which side’s opinions are based on rationality and fact, and it’s not his.
Steven Levitan isn’t just some random Hollywood director and producer that just happen to get put on the speaking list by the Brady Center. He was there to get an award. Maybe the Brady Center couldn’t exercise that much control over the jokes Levitan made on stage, but they sure as heck can control their awards and the material they promote. But what do you expect from an organization that resorts to attacking the defendant in a civil rights case because they failed to make reasonable arguments against it?
Montgomery County progressive Democrat Tim Briggs became a loyal CeaseFirePA soldier in his first term, but frets that building a broad coalition might be for naught if Corbett and Co. “try to push an extreme social agenda.” Indeed, Corbett has said he would happily sign the “castle doctrine” expansion.
Broad coalition? 159 Pennsylvania representatives voted for Castle Doctrine the first time, only 38 voted against it. 38 out of 202 seats is a broad coalition? I’d say you were tilting at windmills out of the gate, Rep. Briggs. Second time around he lost two votes from his “broad coalition.”
Ed Rendell sees the writing on the wall because he can count. I have no doubt Rendell did what he thought he could to advance the issue, particularly pushing Democrats who would run on gun control vocally. But that ultimately failed. Having failed, Ed is giving up, and riding off into the sunset, leaving suckers who bought his line on the issue, like Tim Briggs, in the dust.
