Category: Gun Rights

From the fine folks over at NRA News:

I understand his testimony today before the Senate was worse than this.

I don’t know much about Arizona politics, but Brewer vetoing two pro-gun bills in a row tells me she’s in a lame duck term, or isn’t interested in running again. She signed Constitutional Carry, but that was before her re-election campaign. The Governor may very well feel she’s done enough for us, and since she isn’t running again, doesn’t have to care what we could do to her come election time.

It’s headed for a floor vote on Thursday. Quinn is threatening to veto:

“This is not in any way a public safety measure this bill, this is the opposite of public safety. Loaded concealed handguns in the possession of private citizens will lead to more danger and more bad things happening,” the Democratic governor said.

But Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, the bill’s chief sponsor, said he is close to securing a veto-proof, 71-vote majority. He plans to call a vote Thursday in the House.

If this happens, it’ll be by skin of teeth. If you live in Illinois, put the pressure on, especially if your rep is one of those down state Democrats. It’s not unusual to lose several votes upon a veto. Pressure from constituents is going to be the only thing in that case that keeps their vote.

Thanks to Instapundit for reporting on the fate of the bill. I can promise you our opponents will be rising in jubilation over killing it in Arizona, Texas, and now Tennessee this year, but they should find as little comfort in beating us back as the Japanese Army did at driving MacArthur out of the Philippines. We shall return… next year.

Who would have imagined that, following Virginia Tech, the other side would get virtually nothing and our side would give birth to a campus carry movement? But they can’t. They are so busy fighting our rear guard actions, they are very close to losing on the carry issue in Illinois. Think about that. The best the other side can hope for, the most they can celebrate, is that for one more year, they’ve stopped us from opening up carry in universities and colleges.

One thing about being at Annual Meeting is that I’m mostly cut off from what’s going in the world. Apparently we made the news in Pittsburgh over Sandwichgate. I was also told by other bloggers the hot dog people were thrilled with the increase in business, and Primanti Bros. apparently wasn’t looking too busy.

I doubt very much the media was interested in helping me spread the word, I’d be willing to bet their angle was NRA attacking local icons, but all they effectively did was let the Pittsburgh media market know about the controversy. Being seen as anti-gun in Western PA isn’t a very good business model.

It’s interesting if you take a look at the comments from Primanti Brothers’ Facebook, you can see just how effective Mayors Against Illegal Guns branding really is. This is a reason why I believe this group is the current biggest threat to our continued success preserving the Second Amendment.

Note the guy that comments “Is anyone really FOR illegal guns?” The assumption is made that the MAIG title reflects an honest communication of the agenda of the group, and no question is made as to what the group’s true agenda might be. They do not bother to think that perhaps the way Mayor Bloomberg and his group intents to curb illegal guns is by making more guns illegal, making it harder to get guns legally, and making it unattractive to keep a firearm for self-defense, hunting, or target shooting. Anyone who doubts need only look at the strict gun laws in New York City, or examine the fact that Bloomberg’s group of Mayors supports a law that would allow people to be entirely stripped of their Second Amendment rights without a trial, or really any form of due process. Bloomberg’s strategy is to front measures which, on the surface, sound eminently reasonable to someone who hasn’t bothered to dig further and find that the devil is in the fine print. It’s a brilliant strategy, and it’s working here, and perhaps even with Primanti, who may not have realized they were stepping into something controversial. Because who is for illegal guns, after all. Sorry guys, you were rooked. The group is about restricting lawful gun owners.

This is one area I’m really glad to disappoint them, but look at the arrogance in the reporting:

But the gun lobby cowed the committee into inaction by flooding the hearing room with more than 200 people in March. Ranking Judiciary Committee member Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, is right that lawmakers should listen to constituents. But they also have a duty to consider common sense and whether a bill would enhance public safety.

It wasn’t citizens who flooded the hearing, it was “the gun lobby.” That nefarious, nameless evil. We know better. Kudos to everyone who showed up to the committee hearing. That, more than anything, is responsible for the bill’s swift death.

Anyone following our opponents on Twitter knows they’ve been pimping this link, which is a poetry slam against carry on campus. Well, Cam Edwards came up with this own parody on this video, which you can see here:

Cam’s video is at 179 already. CSGV, for all that pimping, only has 470. How long do you think it’ll take for Cam’s to pass theirs?

Campus carry bill being introduced in Louisiana. The strategy here is sound. Overwhelm the opposition, and tire them out. Make them fight on so many fronts they spread themselves thin. We have an inherent advantage here they lack.