The appropriations bill for the Department of Commerce and Department of Justice contain eleven provisions that should be helpful to gun owners. I’m particularly happy to see four provisions that will be finally made permanent. This appropriations game is one that NRA plays quite skillfully, but permanent provisions are always better than having to constantly fight for appropriations riders every year.
Category: Gun Rights
This is My Shocked Face
A TV news outlet in California is shocked to find out that despite California’s stringent gun laws, there’s still a lot of illegal guns, and that at gun shows, people sell magazines in a manner that isn’t illegal. One guy at a gun show tried to sell his firearm privately, only to be warned by dealers that it was a felony. Seems like the guy wasn’t a criminal, but just that he didn’t know.
One reason I oppose many of the laws proposed by our opponents is because it has great potential to ensnare the unaware, but otherwise non-criminal. Even thought a civil penalty or low-level misdemeanor is enough to discourage the law abiding, our opponents insist on felony penalties for activities that are not commonly understood as being unlawful. Being a gun owner should not require a law degree in order to avoid getting in trouble, but in most cases, when it comes to gun, if you get into the hobby enough you will need to know a lot of gun laws in order not to get in trouble. Our opponents are fine with this, and deride our concern about honest people getting thrown in jail as paranoid ramblings, and then wonder why we oppose them ferociously, even over things that they believe are eminently reasonable.
Tab Clearing: Humpday Edition
Tabs are getting pretty crowded, so I thought I’d go through some of the articles I’ve been collection. Late start on posting today, since I was up until 5AM doing an after-hours migration that took a lot longer than I anticipated, and I had already burned the bridge to get back:
E-bay is now allowing limited sales of gun parts. Disappointed about the 10+ round magazine restriction, but that’s probably rooted in them not wanting to monitor every sale, and train their staff on every state’s gun laws. Though, there are only, IIRC, 5 or six states that have magazine restrictions.
Knife rights are advancing in Georgia, with a state law to preempt local knife ordinances. Hey, knives are arms too. I think you can look to the folks at Knife Rights pushing this kind of preemption in other states as well. If you’re not a member of Knife Rights, you should join. I’ve talked to the folks behind this organization, and they really are trying to make things happen. It’s not just a fundraising setup. But they need members and funds badly, nonetheless.
The FBI wants internet companies to force every website to have a mandatory back door for wiretapping purposes. The FBI can go fsck themselves, as far as I’m concerned. This is an idea that is so monumentally stupid, it defies belief. Joe Huffman, also a tech guy, agrees. This would seriously compromise our national security. Why? Because backdoors are only a good idea until someone else gets the key, which makes them a stupid idea. Apparently the organization, founded by that great, honorable scoundrel, J. Edgar, hasn’t changed a bit. They don’t like that wiretapping on the Internet is difficult if not impossible. That’s a feature, guys, no a bug. My only worry is this is the kind of really stupid ass stuff that Republican’s eat up. The FBI is just more big government. F**k the FBI.
Extrano’s Alley look at whether Japan still has a low crime rate.
UPDATE: Forgot about Thirdpower, who is skeptical of the rumors of a Big Sis takeover by DHS, noting that it would be rough fighting a revolution only with .40S&W. I think it’s also wise to recall that the US Coast Guard is part of DHS, and they would be expected to go through a lot of ammo, and they do deploy .40S&W pistols.
Democrats Withdraw Trayvon Amendment
Apparently they know a losing issue when they see it. Our opponents will not be happy about this, which puts a big smile on my face. There is a gap between elites and ordinary people (who compose juries) when it comes to the issue of self-defense, and politicians forget that at their peril. Just recall how lop sided some of the votes have been in the past for Castle Doctrine.
The White House Throws Down
President Obama has threatened to veto this appropriations bill because, among other things, it limits the gun control authority of ATF.
Yes, bring it on. I’d prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around!
“Preventing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from requiring licensed firearms dealers in four border States to report information on the sale of multiple rifles or shotguns to the same person would hamper efforts to address the problem of illegal gun trafficking along the Southwest Border and in Mexico,” the Executive Office of the President said in a statement on the legislation.
Clearly the White House believes this is good ground to fight us on. Let’s see what else Obama might threaten to veto in this election year.
2A Rally Today in Harrisburg
Today is the 7th Annual Rally held in Harrisburg. Unfortunately, this is the second year in a row I haven’t been there, and the past couple times before that turnout has been nothing to write home about. This year, is looks to be about 100 people. I’m probably going to get raked over the coals for this, but I question the value of continuing to do a rally like this on an annual basis if it can’t draw the kinds of numbers it needs to really make a big impression on politicians.
For example, yesterday there was a rally for property tax reform that looks to have drawn a similar sized crowd compared to some of our low years. How many do you have to draw before it’s just another day, with another crowd at the capitol, with another interest they are lobbying for? I don’t think it’s in our interests to be, well, just another interest. We’re the gun lobby, and when we turn out, it ought to be with enough numbers put the fear of god into politicians. Is the rally turning out the numbers needed to accomplish that? I have seem some pretty good turnout in Harrisburg on rally day, but it’s pretty variable from year to year, from what I’ve been able to tell from my own experience.
But that’s not to say I think nothing works with 2A Rally Day. I believe breaking up into groups and having everyone go visit their legislators and key committee people who are sitting on whatever bill we want that year, is quite valuable. I also believe there needs to be more activities that benefit gun owners, to inform them, and teach them how to be better activists for the issue. It would be beneficial to them to hear how the political process works, so they can understand how they fit into that picture. I believe that would be more beneficial than listening to political speeches for several hours. In short, I think the rally needs to be more about the gun owners than the politicians, and in my several years of attending the rally, I’ve felt that the reverse was more true.
Should it be annual? Or should it only happen when we have a bill we need moved? I’m not sure I have an opinion on this. But I think it’s a tough sell to get gun owners to take a day off work every year, drive to Harrisburg at the crack of dawn to be there in time, just to listen to political speeches for several hours. That’s a lot to ask of people every year.
That said, I don’t particularly think I have all the answers on this topic, so if anyone has suggestions or criticism, I’m all ears in the comments. I’m particularly interested in hearing from Illinoisans who are involved with planning iGOLD, which has never, in any of the pictures I’ve seen, had problems with low turnout.
More on Cinco de Mayo
According to Dave Kopel, American Arms played quite a significant role in the liberation of Mexico. As I’ve said before, American guns going south isn’t necessary a bad thing. The problem is that they are ending up over there because of the drug cartels. But this is what happens when you seriously restrict guns, as Mexico has. Gun control laws won’t disarm drug cartels, and anyone who thinks that is more naive than than your average elementary school student.
Indiana Primary
Calling all Hoosiers! Calling all Hoosiers! It is time to send Dick Lugar packing. Don’t vote for a Lugar that hates your Luger! Vote for Richard Murdoch for Primary.
UPDATE: From Ken, in the comments:
Most of the commentary on Lugar neglects to mention the most important fact about him: he refused to sign onto the Heller amicus brief. He’s more left-wing on guns than Russ Feingold or Pat Leahy, IOW. It would have cost him nothing to do so, yet making an egregious insult toward gun owners, for him, outweighed the obvious political benefit of being on the same side as 75% of the American people. Lugar needs to go.
I had assumed that everyone knew Lugar had a horrible record on the Second Amendment, but I thought this comment drove the point home.
OC Fail in California
Constitutional Carry in Pennsylvania
It would seem that we have a bill introduced, HB2176. It does not, at this point, have many cosponsors, and has yet to be scheduled for a hearing. It would be worthwhile to put pressure on the members of the House Judiciary Committee to try to get this a hearing.
It is no doubt an uphill battle, and I expect this time around, it won’t even get a hearing. But it’s worthwhile to get it on legislator’s radar screens.