Gun Rights – Page 209 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Just an Ordinary Gun Owner

This Wisconsin State Journal article, touted by the Brady folks, would have you believe that your ordinary joe gun owners are turning against lawful carry in the Badger State. But it turns out that Adam Schesch is a left wing activist, and a professor at University of Wisconsin, Madison, with seemingly strong ties to the peace movement, and who is described in this article as someone who participated in a “Socialist Scholars Panel.”

This, folks, is deliberate obfuscation on the part of the media, given that they only mentioned that he was a gun owner who once protested a gun ban. They fail to mention he’s Dr. Adam Schesch, and that he’s a highly left-wing college professor. Why? Because it goes against the narrative they are trying to create. The false narrative they are trying to create.

Dr. Schesch is certainly entitled to his opinion, but he’s not entitled to pass off as an ordinary, run of the mill gun owner, or part of the larger Second Amendment community. He is no more representative of your average gun owner than this guy is a representative of your average hunter. That the media is only too eager to pass college professors off as average joes says quite a lot about their reliability on being up front and transparent with the reading public on the issue of firearms policy.

A Look at the Senate Elections

Dave Kopel does a thorough analysis of what we stand to gain in 2010.

Key Castle Doctrine Vote Now Today

It was supposed to be yesterday, but was delayed until today. If you’ve already contacted your Pennsylvania State Representative, thank you. If not, there’s still time. Follow the link to NRA’s information page.

Important Castle Doctrine Vote Today

An alert from PAFOA on the matter. Today we’re having the vote on the discharge petition, to get it out of Dwight Evans’ appropriations committee, and get it onto the floor for a vote.

I Think a Lawsuit is in Order

The City of MadisonÂ apparently aren’t backing down on Disorderly Conduct charges on five open carriers, though they are dropping the obstruction charges on the two who refused to turn over identification. In order to conduct a Terry Stop, the officer has to have reasonable, articulable suspicion that a crime has taken place. Open carry is lawful in Wisconsin. It is the only form of carry that is lawful. In addition, the Attorney General of Wisconsin’s opinion is that open carry alone does not amount to disorderly conduct. So what was the suspicion that a crime was taking place? If there was none, their Fourth Amendment rights have been violated, along with their Second. The only disturbance being caused was apparently from a woman who becomes unhinged at the sight of firearms.

That said, I don’t get the obsession with refusing identification. I know you’re right dammit, but I think here is a place to consider what the goals of the movement are. The best example for the hysterical 911 caller would have been for the police to show up, do their thing, and send the gun carrying folks on their way with a, “Have a nice day,” and for said hysterical woman to hear, “Sorry ma’am, they aren’t breaking any laws.” In addition to her, it matters for other witnesses as well. If you want open carry to be normal an accepted, and given that’s the only choice in Wisconsin, I would think that’s a worthwhile goal, then part of that is going to be people calling the police and being told “Well, are they doing something illegal? Because carrying a gun isn’t a crime” Seeing the gun carriers cuffed, hauled off to jail, or cited only reinforces the wrong message: that carrying a firearm is wrong and criminal. To me the primary goal should be getting the police to go away quietly, and if that involves some damage to your pride, so be it. If the police are stopping you, your rights are already being violated.

The only thing refusing to show identification accomplishes is creating an incident where one doesn’t need to exist, and getting that self-satisfied feeling that you’re right dammit. Turning over identification, even if the order is unlawful, doesn’t hurt your subsequent lawsuit any. As soon as you’re not free to leave, you’re technically under arrest, and into Fourth Amendment territory. You’re also getting your Second Amendment rights violated, in a context that would be favorable for asserting a right to carry. I do favor civil rights lawsuits.

Does He Even Know What He’s Talking About?

Bryan Lentz says Pat Meehan wants to allow evil, armor-piecing ammunition. I’m going to wager Bryan Lentz has no clue what armor piercing ammunition is, or what properties it has. He’s delving into a highly technical topic here, where advocates of gun control have successfully created a lot of confusion and beliefs out of ignorance. Does Rep. Lentz know, for instance that:

Grandpa’s hunting rifle ammo will punch through the armor typically worn by police like a hot knife through butter, as will just about any centerfire rifle cartridge.
Gun ban advocates have been going after lead ammunition lately, which has no ready alternative because bullets containing metals other than lead can be construed as armor piercing under federal law and are therefore not legal to sell to civilians.

Tread carefully on this topic, Representative Lentz. You’re heading into gun banning territory, and going back to positions that were politically untenable even in the 1980s. I should say tread carefully if you want to have a chance of winning. We still have a lot of gun owners in the 7th District, and we’ve done a pretty good job of educating them that when someone starts talking about “armor piercing” ammunition, that’s code for banning grandpa’s hunting ammunition. Anything that will effectively kill a deer will go through soft body armor. This is a manufactured issue, much like your “Florida Loophole”

We have to defeat this guy. I hope people in 7 are pulling out all the stops for Pat Meehan.

UPDATE: If you’re on Twitter, please join my “Retweet the truth” campaign, which doesn’t strictly have to be a retweet, butÂ include Kopel article shortened URL, along with something that suggests Bryan Lentz is a gun banning radical, out of touch with mainstream gun owners, and use the hash tag #PA07. I want Lentz to know were out there, and he has more to lose by the anger he’s whipping up than by the friends he’s winning spreading Teddy Kennedy’s old tricks around. Keep in mind this also shows Pat Meehan he can make friends by standing with us.

Maybe That’s Why There Was a Black Helicopter

Apparently this year’s Second Amendment rally in Harrisburg were labeled as potential havens for domestic terrorism, according to a state funded non-profit. These were reports sent to law enforcement and government agencies. Maybe that black helicopter that few overhead wasn’t just a coincidence :)

I Have to Hand it to the Tories

They are serious about getting rid of Canada’s long gun registry, and are setting up to make it an election issue. Canada’s media is getting into the fight too. The Globe and Mail argues that the registry has been a waste of money, that’s cost way more than it was predicted. National Post is editorializing against it for similar reasons, but its intrusiveness to gun owners and ineffectiveness at fighting crime receive top billing. Are we seeing the emergence of a gun rights insurgency in Canada? I hope so. But if the Tories set this up as an election issue, that will probably depend largely on how well that works out for them.

Chavez Looking at Gun Bans

Nothing good will come of this. Venezuela’s democracy, which is on life support now as it is, will surely be dead if Chavez is allowed to disarm everyone but his thugs. You want to talk “Second Amendment remedies.” Chavez is getting very close to where that’s justified.

UPDATE: More from Miguel here, who wrote about this back when it was first proposed.

Corbett and Onorato on Gun Control

The difference could not be more stark, which is why we need to make sure Corbett gets elected. Corbett is correct as a matter of law. His office has an affirmative duty under the law to sign reciprocity agreements, and the law does not provide for the Attorney General to make distinction between resident and non-resident permits.

“This is a real problem in Pennsylvania,” Onorato said. “Tom Corbett is running for governor. If he thinks this was just a 30-second sound-bite in June, then he has another think coming.”

Corbett’s campaign in June derided the loophole issue as a “solution in search of a problem” and said Onorato could not point to a serious crime having been committed by a Pennsylvanian with a Florida permit.

Go ahead Onorato. Let’s make this an issue. While I’m pleased Corbett is way ahead in polling, I’d like that lead to open up wider, and for the Democratic Party to be proven wrong, in a big way, that the gun vote can’t hurt you in Pennsylvania. Corbett has actually locked up straw purchasers in Philadelphia, which is more than that city ever did. What has Onorato accomplished? What has Lentz accomplished? Other than beating this dead horse of an issue.