Gun Rights – Page 172 – Shall Not Be Questioned

RTC in Wisconsin

Right to carry is on the way to the Governor’s in Wisconsin. Signature is expected. Sadly his is without Constitutional Carry, which got removed in the Senate, but it’s a good bill with not much in the way of off limits places. There is a provision for reciprocity, but it’s not universal. It suggests the AG may enter into agreements, but in no way suggests he or she must. In that way it is weaker than Pennsylvania.

For Constitutional Carry, unfortunately Wisconsin is much like PA in that for gun rights, it has a much softer body in the Senate. I am not really going to complain much. Going from one of the two remaining states without any CC provision straight to constitutional carry would have been miraculous. As it is, it’s pretty good.

Making Progress in Maine

I’m still waiting for substantive reciprocity reform, but this looks like great progress, especially when our opponents arrogantly believed they could exploit the Gabby Gifford’s shooting to shoe horn a magazine ban through in the Pine Tree State.

I would also note that Maine is one of John Hohenwarter’s states, for those folks who think’s he’s been a plague of locusts on the gun rights movement. He delivered on on a clean bill for Castle Doctrine, so I’m inclined to believe he’s not working against our interests, despite what many claim.

I am still trying to work up a post on what happened in New Hampshire, but my current work situation has been sapping my time, and making my schedule completely erratic. I have not had much time, but I hope to deliver at some point.

UPDATE: I should point out that I’m don’t agree with NRA on the parking lot law, but my greater point was that Hohenwarter isn’t as inept as many think. I’m open to the argument that John could stand to have a few less states, but of the ones I know about, MA, PA, ME, OH, NH, serious pro-gun legislation has passed in three, and anti-gun legislation that received major news coverage was defeated in at least one (not even mentioning, so far, FL loophole in PA). NH, to date, has been the only notable exception, and I’m still trying to figure out that cluster.

Traver to Replace Melson?

The real risk in shaking up the leadership of ATF is that the Administration would take the inevitable position that it’s time for some adult leadership at ATF. Unfortunately, that appears to be coming in the form of Andrew Traver replacing Ken Melson This may not end up being a successful ploy by the Administration, but the obvious path toward political cover. While Obama can’t ram him through the Senate necessarily, he can always recess appoint him.

Castle Doctrine Heads to Governor’s Office

The Pennsylvania Senate just voted on Castle Doctrine this evening. PA Independent says the vote was 45-5, but the state website hasn’t yet updated with the roll call.

It now goes for the Governor’s signature.

“Good” Gun Safety or “Bad” Gun Safety?

Pennsylvania Senate Democrats put out a press release about an event hosted by a state senator on “gun safety.” I immediately wondered whether this version of “gun safety” was about gun control or actually using firearms safely. It’s tough to say:

State Sen. Judy Schwank (D-Berks) joined with several law enforcement officials today to hold a gun safety event at her district office. The event was intended to promote safe handling and storing of personal firearms.

â€œProper storage and handling of firearms, especially in homes with small children, is crucial,â€ Schwank said. â€œIt is my hope that through this event and the information we provide here today, more gun owners can keep their families safe through proper gun storage.â€

At the event, Sen. Schwank and Berks County District Attorney John Adams discussed the importance of properly securing guns with a gun lock.

There’s nothing in there that indicates a call for more gun control. But, we also know that the last Democratic candidate for governor kept using vague talking points on “gun locks” that actually translated into mandatory locked storage that has already been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court – so some of her colleagues do have a history of taking some rather extreme liberties with the topic of gun locks as a matter of policy. Hopefully, she meant this event as strictly education and outreach rather than endorsing any kind of further restrictions on how we use firearms.

Unfortunately, there’s no grade on an NRA questionnaire by which to guide any assumptions about policies that may have been discussed. Her district, while certainly home to many local anti-gun politicians, was previously held by an NRA A-rated lawmaker who won their endorsement. The other potential signal for us would be the previous Castle Doctrine vote in the Senate, but that was on March 8 and she wasn’t elected until March 15 and did not actually take office until April 5. The only vote on the bill since she’s been in office has only been in a committee.

UPDATE: From a reader who attended the event: “I was at this event, and spoke with the Senator afterwards. For disclosure let me state that I volunteered with Medagliaâ€™s campaign against her.

She supports HB40, and we should see her vote on that this week. She also thinks that current law is ‘sufficient’ when it comes to storage of firearms. So at this time at least she is not publicly calling for mandatory ‘safe storage’ laws.” Huge kudos for his efforts, and I’m glad that we know she appears to be ready to vote with us! To all of you who doubted in the comments based off nothing other than the press release or things you haven’t confirmed on your own, please let this be a reminder that getting involved is absolutely key to making a real difference on the issue.

NRA Dismissed from Suit

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal that ruled NRA did not have standing to challenge the Lost and Stolen ordinances appearing around the Commonwealth. This basically means that a lawsuit will have to be brought by someone actually prosecuted under some of these ordinances, which as far as I know has not yet occurred. For a law our opponents tell us is an important law enforcement tool, badly needed to fight gun trafficking, you’d think they could point to at least one prosecution?

Wisconsin CC Passes Senate

Now it’s onto the Assembly. Hopefully this can happen soon, and be off to the Governor.

Castle Doctrine Passes Senate Committee

This is great news. The Senate Committee was most hostile. I’ve been unplugged enough I forgot to update everyone that there was going to be a vote. It passed 13-1 out of committee.

More importantly, there’s no Florida Loophole fix attached to the bill, for those who were insistent that the deal was in the works to do that.

Now it’s onto the Senate floor where hopefully this will gain quick passage and be off to Governor Corbett.

The Finns Tighten Their Gun Laws

Apparently they’ve raised the age limit on handgun licenses, and made applicants prove they’ve been involved in shooting activities before being issued. At least some Finns realize the Catch 22 here:

“How one can prove that one has been active in a hobby for two years, if one cannot own the equipment,” asked Teemu Simelius, organisation chief at the Finnish hunters’association.

These are the common sense gun laws our opponents would love to bring here.

If You’re Presented With the Shot, Take It

I have to disagree with John Richardson about NRA’s attempt to repeal North Carolina’s emergency powers law, which was opposed publicly by Grassroots North Carolina because it would moot their lawsuit.

I’m not in favor of scuttling an opportunity for a legislative fix to preserve a court case that may or may not ultimately win. If you have an opportunity to fix something legislatively, you take it. If you lose the vote in a legislature, you can always take another shot at goal. Fixing bad precedent because you came short on votes for a panel of judges is considerably more difficult.Â I hope I don’t again have to see again the absurdity of a pro-gun organization coming out against a piece of legislation that would strip states of the ability to disarm people in an emergency.

I’m reminded of the story of Patrick Ferguson, a famous British Sharp Shooter.Â whoÂ at the Battle of Brandywine found an officer in his sights, decided not to take the shot, because it would be ungentlemanly. Lucky for us. Not very lucky for the British cause in North America. The officer he had in his sights was none other than George Washington. The lesson is that when you have that kind of shot lined up, you take it.