The American Bar Association has been pretty anti-gun in its past. It’s nice to see them eating some crow post-Heller. Even nicer seeing they are publishing articles about the legal battle that’s happening as a consequence of the ruling, and giving Steve Halbrook some well deserved coverage.
Category: Gun Rights
More Fighting with Allentown
But Pawlowski responded that the new state law would still leave police the difficult job of proving that a straw purchaser was lying about losing the gun. That’s no different from the current system, ”which obviously isn’t working,” he said.
The mayors have acknowledged that only the state may regulate legal guns, but ”this law is about illegal guns,” Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said. The mayors’ argument is that the guns become illegal once they’re lost or stolen.
They are arguing over HB 1845, which was passed last week, and I believe signed by Ed Rendell. It makes penalties stiff for falsely claiming to police that a gun was lost or stolen, when it was really sold on the streets. The idea that this isn’t a law regulating the possession of firearms, which is preempted by state law, is absolutely abusrd. The gun might become an illegal gun, but the possession of it by the person that was victimized was not illegal, and regulation of that possession is strictly a matter of state, and not local law.
LA Times Not Liking Endorsement
The LA Times isn’t liking the NRA endorsement of McCain:
Even during the presidential campaign, he hasn’t ruled out “common-sense” efforts to lower the murder rate in big cities. That’s anathema to the NRA, which wants no one to abridge gang members’ right to slaughter one another.
Even if the NRA is right about Obama, he’s still not going to take Americans’ guns away. By striking down Washington’s handgun ban in June, the Supreme Court assured that it will be very difficult for the government to forbid gun ownership by law-abiding citizens in the future. It’s unclear whether the NRA cares; having won its 2nd Amendment battle, it’s now out to block any restriction on gun freedom, even the freedom of felons and the mentally ill to buy guns. There are dangers in such extremism, and they’ll become clearer as the body count rises.
Nothing to see here. Please move along. Pay no attention to what the gun loons think and get out there and vote for The Lightworker.
Obama Talks to Smerconish About Guns
And look what he says:
“I do believe in some gun safety measures — so, for example, with all the shootings in Philadelphia, most recently police officers, I want to make sure that we can trace back guns and bullets that are used in crimes back where they were purchased, so we can make sure that in fact the laws are being enforced.”
That has to be music to Russ Ford’s (of ammunition coding systems) ears. We have to defeat this guy. I don’t care what the polls say. Get out there and start volunteering for McCain. We have to stop this here. If we don’t, there might not be any stopping it once Obama gets the political winds blowing against us. We could be in for some dark days.
Bucks County Tour ’08
My tour of sportsmens groups in Bucks County continues apace, and I’m continuing to sign up volunteers. I have spoken with a club every night this week, except for Monday. Tuesday I spoke at Branch Valley, which has 500 members. Last night to a packed audience at my own club, which has 1100 members. Tonight I speak at Conestoga Rod & Gun Club, a 200 member club. I’ve had a good reception pretty much everywhere. Many gun owners came up to me and told me they were unaware of Congressman Patrick Murphy’s record on guns. Gun owners, overall, seem to be very worried about this election. They ought to be. The stakes are high.
This weekend, the National Director of Sportsmen for McCain will be staying with Bitter and I. We’re glad to help save the campaign some money. He’ll be accompanying me to talk with my club’s archers on Friday, to a military rifle match at Holmesburg Fish & Game in Philadelphia, and we’ll all be headed to the big rally on Sunday at 1PM at Pike Township Sportsmen’s Association in Oley. Should be a productive weekend. We have to deliver Pennsylvania for McCain. I think it’s possible, despite what the polls are saying. I’ve believed since the beginning of this race that Obama will over poll. We have to turn out. If we turn out, we can win. Not only for McCain, but for our state and Congressional races too.
The Bucks County GOP is noticing our activities too, which is good. They are noticing that gun owners are on the ball and doing things in the county. This will attract support from politicians. The worst thing that can happen is for politicians to feel taking a position on gun issues won’t help them any. If they feel that way, they won’t really bother. As Bitter said, the perception of activity matters. Even if you only have a handful of volunteers who are really helping out, that makes a huge difference. Word of mouth gets around, people get involved, the powers that be notice, and before you know it, gun owners in your area are a force to be reckoned with. It doesn’t really take much.
Tester Pulls a Biden
Tester is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of Montana gun owners too:
“I feel very secure in my Second Amendment rights with Barack Obama in the White House,†he said. “I honestly do. And if I didn’t, I’d say it.â€
Tester added, “I’ve got a lot of guns, and he ain’t going to take one of them away from me.â€
He follows up with hopes to bring unprofitable, taxpayer subsidized Amtrak lines back to Montana, that were closed in 1979. You know what happened to the last batch of Democrats who surrendered our gun rights for promises of pork? Go ask them. They’ve been out of office in 1994. I can forgive Democratic politicians doing what they need to do for the sake of party, but going out of your way to cover up his atrocious gun record? That’s not how I expect an A-rated politician to behave.
New Orleans Settles
NRA’s alert details the terms. A judge signed a permanent injunction against the city.
HR 1845 Passes PA Senate
HR 1845 has passed the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously. It had one amendment on it, and will have to go back to the house for a vote, but after that, which should be smooth sailing, it’ll be on to the Governor’s office for a signature, which should be forthcoming. After this:
- Sheriffs will have to issue emergency LTCFs for qualified applicants.
- Carry completely lawful in state parks
- No Katrina like gun confiscations in Pennsylvania.
Job well done for all the parties involved in getting this to passage.
UPDATE: I’m told the house passed it unanimously right after the senate passed it. So all it requires now is Rendell’s John Hancock, and it’s law.
Gun Nut Radio Apperance
Last night, literally just after walking in the door from speaking at Branch Valley up in Perkasie, I called up Caleb’s show to talk about the EVC stuff I’ve been doing. Since I called in a little early, we ended up talking about Metallic Silhouette for a bit. I think I start at about 35 or so minutes into the show.
Open Carry Loss in Court
Looks like the guy who got arrested open carrying at an Obama rally is going to trial:
District Judge Douglas Loughner ruled in Beaver County Court Monday that John Noble, 50, of 1063 Willowbrook Drive should stand trial on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and disrupting a public meeting, stemming from the Sept. 29 rally for Democratic presidential running mates Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
The stakes are high on this. If the state prevails in court here, people who open carry in a public place will be risking being arrested for disorderly conduct. This is a big part of the reason I’ve been a pain in the ass about not provoking confrontations unnecessarily. It was entirely predictable that trouble was to be found going to an Obama rally openly armed. I think there’s no ground for the charges brought. I really hope a judge agrees with that, or we’re all screwed.