Gun Rights – Page 203 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Can Condos Ban Guns?

It’s an interesting question, and it’s coming up in New Jersey. I’ve often heard of homeowners associations banning signage, or dictating what color you paint your house. But can they ban guns, or otherwise infringe on civil liberties? There’s quite a lot of confusion about how civil rights law is applied within the gun rights community, but it seems to me you might be able to sue the homeowners association under 18 USC 1595, which provides for civil action against violators of the Civil Rights Act, namely 18 USC 241, conspiracy against rights. Civil Rights Law isn’t something I’m an expert on, so maybe this isn’t actionable, but unlike pure advocacy against gun rights, which is not considered a legal conspiracy, actually preventing people, or conspiring to prevent people, from exercising a constitutional right would seem to be to be unlawful activity under the Civil Rights Act, and subject to civil as well as criminal penalties.

UPDATE: Thinking about it more, if you were a prospective homeowner, coming into an association that banned guns, you probably don’t have a case, because you willingly agreed to surrender your rights. If you were an existing homeowner within an association, and that association votes to ban guns, I think you may have a case. You may have contracted to abide by the dictates of the homeowners association when you bought the house, but I think a reasonable argument could be made that can’t extend so far as to deprive one of constitutional rights.

Silver Lining in New York

Although the GOP was trounced in state wide races, in state legislative races, there were some gains. We did not knock off Carrie McCarthy, but that was a long shot anyway.

Harry Reid’s Survival

Reid coasted to an easy five point victory over Sharon Angle, and as predicted, the GOP failed to win control of the Senate. The Democrats have 51 firm seats as of now, and look to pick up another two. Prospects for the Senate were grim the moment that O’Donnell defeated Castle in the Delaware Primary, and Lisa Murkowski announced a write-in campaign.

This leaves Reid still Majority Leader in the Senate, and to be honest, that’s the best outcome for us. This prevents Durbin or Schumer becoming majority leader. A great many conservatives were upset by NRA’s refusal to endorse Sharon Angle, but I think it’s hard to argue they made a poor strategic decision by sitting this one out. Reid probably would have won the day regardless, and now we at least have a majority leader we can hopefully still work with.

North Carolina Victories

John Richardson points out that in the whole NRA v. GRNC dustup, it ended up a draw in terms of who actually won, but the important thing is that the North Carolina General Assembly and Senate are now in Republican hands. Hopefully this means when NRA goes back to Charlotte, we can actually carry.

Illinois Guv Race Close

Thirdpower reports on the Illinois results. It’s too close to call between Bill Brady and Pat Quinn. If we win this, we might get concealed carry and preemption in Illinois. My understanding is this will fix Chicago’s gun laws. Keep your fingers crossed. We could set gun control back a decade with this win.

Advice to Tenneesse Gunnies They Probably Don’t Need

Bill Haslam won. and won big, despite the dustup over his announced support for Constitutional Carry. Whether that was a publicity stunt or not, he has opened the door. His landslide win over Democratic Challenger McWherter brings a lot of electoral credibility to Constitutional Carry in Tennessee. It needs to be pushed, and pushed big, because it would be a huge boost to the movement. Hell, it could be the point where we can say Constitutional Carry is a movement, and not just a peculiar feature of three overwhelmingly pro-gun states. Being in the heart of the South, and the first state east of the Mississippi to consider such a measure (Vermont has always been this way), it would be a tremendous win.

Haslam’s landslide is a mandate. Don’t squander it. I’m hoping NRA hears this clearest of all. This doesn’t mean we’ll win, or that it can be done, but I think it should be tried. Make Haslam live up to his word. He opened this door, and I don’t see any reason not to try to walk through it.

PA Gun Owners to Bloomberg: Sit on This and Spin!

Bloomberg’s races have been swept across the board in our favor, and I couldn’t be more pleased. In the district I grew up in, PA-07, Pat Meehan cruised to a very comfortable victory over Bryan Lentz, who actively pushed the gun control agenda. Obviously Tom Corbett creamed Onorato, DanÂ Onorato, who joined Lentz in pushing a gun control agenda. In the 8th District, we’re finally rid of Patrick “I want to ban your M1” Murphy. He’s replaced with Mike Fitzpatrick, who had a pro-gun voting record in Congress in his single term (2004-2006), and carried an NRA endorsement in 2006 and this election. Pat Toomey managed to squeak by Mr. Gun Control himself, Joe Sestak, despite his foo-foo dog. In the race of a Â MAIG Mayor against incumbent Republican Congressman Charlie Dent, Dent beat Callahan roundly. NRA went out in a big way to help Dent, and I’m glad to see it paid off.

Mike Bloomberg floated 500,000 to CeaseFire PA to run anti-gun ads against pro-gun Republicans this election cycle, in the very media market that pro-gun Republicans won big. It did not help the Democrats. Pennsylvania gun owners want you to go home, Mayor Mike. That’s the message. In my local races, we won them all. The only exception being a local state rep race, Rob Ciervo, who’s is so close right now it’s going to lawyers and will end up in a fight over absentee ballots, an issue that’s current very much in contention in Bucks County. I sincerely hope Rob can pull it out still. Rob’s district is a potential pickup for us, and believing our other seats were largely safe, I put as much as I could into that race. Ciervo is a lesson that every vote counts. This could literally come down to a few votes when all is said and done.

If the lesson isn’t that gun control can hurt you, it is at the very least that it can’t save you. I believe Mayor Mike won’t give up, but perhaps he can find more fruitful places to spend his money than Pennsylvania. We’re coming for New York’s gun laws, Mayor Mike. For gun control advocates, this isn’t an offensive action anymor. You better start thinking about a strict defensive policy after this shellacking you’ve been handed in the Keystone State. Gun rights is advancing on all fronts. Whatever victories you might claim now will be little comfort. You’re the struggling redoubt of a dying movement. Best to start acting accordingly.

Sorry State of Gun Control

I too am sympathetic toward the poor beleaguered workers at the National Tracing Center in West Virginia. I would very much like to give them the opportunity to seek out a more pleasing vocation! This is telling in terms of how the Times views this issue:

Congressâ€™s obstructionism doesnâ€™t end there. Until seven years ago, police were able to consult the A.T.F. archives of gun traces from dealer to owner.

Congress’ obstructionism? So the problem here is that Congress, those damned elected Representatives of the people (at least in theory), are getting in the way of unelected bureaucrats who could just run this state so much more efficiently (Ja Wohl!) if Congress just got out of the way.

Can We Have a Bipartisan Gun Rights Movement?

That’s the big question I think is going to be answered tomorrow. I’m hoping after tomorrow, the answer will still be yes, even though a great many pro-gun Democrats are going to go down to defeat because of pissing off the voting populace on other issues. They will be replaced by pro-gun Republicans, but there are more than a few pro-gun Dems in Pennsylvania who are polling well, namely Tim Holden and Jason Altmire (both of whom conveniently bucked Pelosi on the health care bill).

But will a bipartisan consensus on this issue last? That’s probably going to hinge on whether there’s enough of a pro-gun movement within the Democratic Party to make it work, or whether there are enough true single-issue voters out there to help pro-gun Democrats. If the answer is no, we’re going back to being the crazy Uncle in the GOP attic. If our issue only finds a home in one party, the only thing that party has to be concerned with is not being as bad as the other guy.

There are definitely a lot of folks out there who are insisting the pro-gun movement stay squarely within a conservative framework. Those people may very well get their wish after Tuesday. But I don’t think that’s going to be a healthy thing when it comes to winning this issue decisively and quickly. The battle will go on.

Get Out the Vote for Rossi

Joe Huffman points out one of the races this coming Tuesday that’s going to be really important for gun owners. Someone else we know has been working hard on this race too. We’re fighting a defensive action in PA, trying to keep this Senate seat from going anti-gun in the hands of Joe Sestak, but Rossi would be a true pickup in a state that’s supported anti-gun politicians state-wide as of late.