Guns – Page 146 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Gun Safety Issues with OCT Events

Noticing a picture displayed by OCT at Smashburger, Lagniappe’s Lair notes:

Now aside from the fact that about half of those unattended long guns appear to be “leaning with intent to fall”, A zoom on the AR to the far left, closest to the bald bozo in the Cabela’s shirt, reveals that the safety selector is vertical to the rifle, meaning that it’s set to FIRE. Two of the other ARs have their safeties obstructed by slings or camera angle, but I’m willing to bet that at least one of them has it’s safety disengaged, too; that’s just the sort of half-assed idiots that these half-assed idiots are.

Go have a look for the close up shot. A reader mentioned today that if OCT didn’t exist, Bloomberg would have to invent them. This is truth, so God help us. I can’t imagine what an ND would do to the movement if it happened in one of these “educational” events. These folks have demonstrated they are fundamentally without good judgement. My concern is that poor judgement will be exercised in more areas than just public relations. Just look at the photo from Lagniappe’s Lair; if you were intent on making off with a gun, how much would you bet you’d be out the door with one of those ARs before the people not paying attention to what’s going on behind them even notices?

Bob Ownes of Bearing Arms also looks at the safety violations committed by this group. HeÂ correctly notes that muzzle down on a concrete floor is NOT a safe direction. If a firearm discharges, the bullet will likely ricochet off the floor, while also simultaneously sending fragments of concrete out in random directions with enough force to seriously injure people nearby. The safe direction is up in this circumstance.

All this has me thinking I need to start a new category “Clown Show.” I hate putting this stuff in Gun Rights, or even Gun Rights Organizations. That gives them too much credit. Even “How not to Win” is generous.

Quote of the Day: Second Amendment Addition

This comes to us via NRA’s Civil Rights Defense Fund:

Believing that the [second] amendment does not authorize an individual’s right to keep and bear arms is wrong. The right to bear arms is an individual right. The military connotation of bearing arms does not necessarily determine the meaning of a right to bear arms. If all it meant was the right to be a soldier or serve in the military, whether in the militia or the army, it would hardly be a cherished right and would never have reached constitutional status in the Bill of Rights. The “right” to be a soldier does not make much sense. Life in the military is dangerous and lonely, and a constitutionally protected claim or entitlement to serve in uniform does not have to exist in order for individuals to enlist if they so choose. Moreover, the right to bear arms does not necessarily have a military connotation, because Pennsylvania, whose constitution of 1776 first used the phrase “the right to bear arms,” did not even have a state militia. In Pennsylvania, therefore, the right to bear arms was devoid of military significance. Moreover, such significance need not necessarily be inferred even with respect to states that had militias. Bearing arms could mean having arms. Indeed, Blackstone’s Commentaries spoke expressly of the “right to have arms.” An individual could bear arms without being a soldier or militiaman.

Leonard W. Levy, ORIGINS OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS 134-35 (Yale Univ. Press 1999).

California Democrats Like Leeland Yee

Charles C. W. Cooke and others note that being indicted for multiple felonies that include accusations of arming mafia members and arms smuggling doesn’t turn off about 10% of California’s Democratic voter base, at least based on the results of yesterday’s election. Nearly 290,000 primary voters thought these accusations made Leeland Yee a great candidate for Secretary of State worthy of their support.

Perhaps what’s more interesting is that Yee was only polling at 8% before he was arrested, so he actually performed better with California Democrats after the charges came to light. In fact, the same polling firm found that even after he was arrested and the charges against him were disclosed, 15% of voters maintained a favorable view of Yee.

NRA Distances Itself from OC Statement

Chris Cox appeared on NRA News yesterday to clarify NRA’s earlier statement. He suggested it was unwise to characterize the behavior as “weird,” “foolish,” and “scary.” Personally, I don’t think they ought to feel the need to apologize for being right. Nonetheless, the media was having a field day with the statement, and started characterizing the statement to include all forms of carrying a firearm, and not just restricted to long gun OC under these specific circumstances.

That’s why I was a bit surprised they’d make a statement in the first place. It’s almost a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation, and you can fully expect the media and our opponents to distort it. Nonetheless, I think making the statement was the right thing to do, and I think they should have just stuck with the original statement.

Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks that. Over at National Review’s “The Corner,” Charles C.W. Cooke essentially says the same thing.

UPDATE: Bob Owens: “As a general rule of thumb, when you see a groupâ€”public, private, or governmentâ€”issue a statement and then walk it back days later instead of immediately, it strongly suggests that the original comment is precisely what the group does think internally, but that they have found that position to be politically inconvenient. Iâ€™m not saying with any degree of certainty that this is what happened here, but I have my suspicions.”

Now Target: When Will It End?

Sweet weeping Jesus, now they are being morons in Target! If they aren’t careful, they are going to end up losing rifle OC in Texas. Don’t think it can’t happen. But hey, at least there’s a joke to be made about Target being Targeted. What will Shannon Watts hashtag be? #GunsForTargetsNotTarget? It almost writes itself this time. I don’t think any amount of shame is going to work. I don’t think these guys have any shame. This is like a long nightmare you really want to wake up from, but can’t.

UPDATE: It’s #OffTarget. Come on Shannon. You can do better than that.

UPDATE: I should note that OCT is saying this is another case of Moms Demand digging through their archives. OK. I accept that. Now could you guys please clean up your archives so we don’t have to suffer your prior foolishness any longer?

Political Carrots

As Sebastian mentioned, he asked me to write a post about examples of using the carrot as opposed to the stick when it comes to leading politicians in your direction. There’s nothing better to use than a real life example, and we happen to have one from just this week.

Our local state representative who carries an A rating from NRA-PVF held a reasonably priced fundraiser – $50/person with open bar and bites to eat at a local joint that was nice and casual. He also has several events that are in the range of $25/person, and these events aren’t a case of going out to rub elbows with elites or something that you need to get on an inner circle list to join. This was an event where almost everyone was in a t-shirt and jeans. I was one of the most “dressed up” in just a light summer dress and flip flops. The next table over was surrounded by mostly volunteer firefighters from our town who are younger than me. This event was the kind where community members came out to show a small bit of support to someone who represents issues important to them.

In fact, we ran into someone we know because he had his NRA shirt on when he arrived. He sat with us for a while, and the bit of “rubbing elbows” we did was more like a handful of politicians stopping by to introducing themselves and then learning that this small group of normal looking folks turned out because of the representative’s support for our Second Amendment rights. It was casual, and the real message that it sent is that we’re a community that stands together, and we’ll stand up for our friends instead of just getting angry when someone crosses us. I even commented to Sebastian that it’s too bad members of the gun clubs around here haven’t shown more interest in this type of political organization on a broader scale because this was actually a nice and fun event for those types of groups.

The interesting element was that these types of community-focused fundraisers also attract a few of the professional political types. It can be kind of amusing in that regard because they do tend to stand out. We met a professional fundraiser who was the only person to show up in something close to a suit, and we chatted for a bit, catching him off guard when we said that we were there because of the representative’s support for gun rights. He was clearly not expecting that response, and it sends a message that there are gun owners willing to put up money and political support for our primary issue.

Here’s the thing to remember in this case, it’s not just about going to one event where we paid to get in the door (or, really up on the outdoor deck) that serves as a reminder that we’ll really stand up for our friends in the legislature. The carrot from the carrot & stick equation in this situation is the entire scope of engagement. This state representative has run into us when we are going to vote (for him), when I’ve been standing outside of a polling place in his district, and when I have showed up to drop off literature in targeted neighborhoods that aren’t mine. He knows us from community events like the Friends of NRA dinner which he stops by every year. He knew about us as activists doing real get out the vote activities before we ever decided to attend a fundraiser.

These kinds of activities are not that hard, folks. Sebastian commiserated with an older public official who admitted that she’s really not a fan of phone banking. She’ll walk neighborhoods all day long knocking on doors, but she really hates making phone calls. Sebastian is the same way, so that sent a message that even though we’ve never helped this woman out (since she doesn’t have anything to do with our issue) that we aren’t just there as donors, but as volunteers with real experience helping out our allies.

If you’re not the social type, offer to do a lit drop where all you have to do is just drop off literature at targeted homes in a neighborhood. If that even runs the risk to much social interaction for your tastes, offer to deliver signs to people who request them through the campaign. See if your gun club property can host a casual hot dog and hamburger fundraiser for a few bucks for your local friends in the legislature. These aren’t about raising big money, and the lawmakers know it. They’ll still come out because the real message you’re sending is that you’re a community willing to help out friends who stand up to Bloomberg & his paid followers.

A handful of gun owners in local districts participating in events like these and helping out a few times during election season while telling politicians that they are doing it because of their record on gun issues will make it far more likely that your voices will be heard when it comes to moving our issue forward rather than just having to be on the defense as we deal with legislative attacks.

Texas Sponsors of OC Bill Say Flat Out: Rifle OC Ain’t Helping

As I mentioned in an post yesterday, if you give skittish lawmakers more excuses to drag their feet, it won’t help anything. This article outlines the trouble that’s being created in Texas for the open carry bill from the sponsors themselves:

â€œI have told the groups that I have talked to not to do this right now. This could be harmful in getting it passed,â€ Lavender, who has twice failed to pass open-carry legislation, said of open-carry demonstrations breaking out around the state. â€œAt this point, when we have everything lined up to pass, why take a chance on bad publicity to set us back?â€

Patterson, one of the state’s most ardent gun aficionados, said of the armed demonstrations: â€œIn certain cases it’s not helping, it’s actually probably hurting.â€

You have to get to know legislators. Like I said inÂ yesterday’sÂ post, you will tend to a very small number of real friends in any legislative body. The rest will only go along to the extent they think your issue will help them win more votes than it will cost them. For most lawmakers, it is entirely a political calculus; they could actually give a crap about your pet issue if they themselves don’t have a personal stake in it. Sure, many mightÂ abstractly support your pet issue, as a sort of vagueÂ concept (which they will speak to you about at lengths, enthusiastically and vaguely), but when the chips are down, all of them have breaking points. Under the bus you will go if things get too dicey, and you risk losing them entirely if the lawmaker perceives he or she can get moreÂ votes or money from the other guy.

You have to push politicians; they’ll happily speak platitudes about your issue all day long otherwise. You need aÂ keen ear for when sunshine is being blown up your back side. But you definitely need to know, or at least get some instinct for where their breaking points are. You can’t push beyond that point. When you hear lawmakers who are sponsoring these bills talking like these Texas lawmakers, it’s a warning that the coalition needed to get your bill passed is fracturing.

Politicians are a lot of things, but they are not courageous. Some of them might we war heroes, and other heroic types in a different life, but politics is a different context. Lawmakers who make a habit of taking “courageous” votes are what we typically call lobbyists and consultants, who catch a lucrative gig influencing their old allies after getting booted from office. Your average voter doesn’t appreciate courage or conviction. They appreciate a firm handshake, a smile, and who says the right things about doing something about X, Y, and/or Z that is bothering them.

It is a difficult situation to operate in. Pennsylvania already has unlicensed open carry, but I’d like to see constitutional carry in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, I’m nearly certain I’d lose all but perhaps one or two of our local lawmakers if that issue came up, and if the FOP went against it, probably all of them. Maybe unlicensed carry in a vehicle would be a workable next step? I’m fairly certain our side could work up several more votes against, say, an assault weapons ban, but moving forward is more baby steps. Our side is much better at the stick than the carrot. The stick, unfortunately, is a defensive weapon. You need to carrot to move forward. I’ve asked Bitter to write up an article about the use of the carrot with lawmakers today, since I’ll be in the office.

Reactions from the NRA Press Release

A lot of news organizations have been picking it up, if only to make snarky comments about it. But regardless if the snark, it’s serving NRA’s purposes. The short-term risk in what OCT is doing is that we’re going to have more business ban guns on their premises, but there’s also a longer term risk that this behavior could push gun rights back out of the mainstream, and back to the fringes. Almost all the gains we’ve made have happened because we brought this issue out from the fringes and made it mainstream. Sure, urban and suburban elites still hate it, but we’re not a constituency that can be simply written off by legislators as a small bunch of kooks.

Dave Weigel at Salon reacts to the article by noting that NRA is not, in fact, mellowing out. A lot of media seem to be latching on to the smart gun statement as if it represents another topic NRA is weakening on. No. I think it was just an opportunity to get the smart gun message out to an audience that normally doesn’t pay close attention to NRA, and might also wonder why in the world NRA would oppose smart gun technology. It’s not a signal of weakness, but just a way to get part of it’s message in with people not part of the gun rights circle.Â Mashable does their best for our opponents and tries to suggest NRA thinks semi-automatic rifles are scary, but apparently they don’t know the definition of machine guns, and even after correcting can’t help but display what morons they are when it comes to guns. Bloomberg View is also lending a helping hand. All these articles are infuriating, but they are getting the message out there.

OCT, in the meantime, are busy cutting up their NRA cards. Personally, I consider that a win. I am glad they are making a public and visible separation from the mainstream of this issue. DrewM over at Ace of Spades seems to be glad that NRA is taking a stand against this behavior as well.

The authorities are reacting as well, withÂ Open Carry Tarrant County being investigated for running an illegal raffle. Now, I’m no fan of gambling laws, and I’m also no fan of singling out a group for prosecution because the powers that be don’t like what they have to say. But apparently what caught the attention of police was the fact that they called to ask about the law beforehand, then made the executive decision not to comply with it and have the raffle anyway. This is yet another sign that the leadership and members of this group have a tendency to act without thinking.

Legalizing Pistol OC in Texas is Only Getting Harder

Eric Reed, the President and Founder of Gun Rights Across America is less than pleased with NRA’s press release on the nonsense going on down in the Lone Star State:

This couldnâ€™t be further from the truth. Gun owners in Texas have been screaming at the NRA for years to help pass legal open carry of a handgun, as itâ€™s currently still illegal. Gun owners pleaded for NRA support in the 2013 session to pass H.B. 700, yet the bill was shelved, and died in committee.

After the 2013 session ended, many grassroots groups likeÂ Open Carry Texas, Come and Take it (CATI), American Gun Rights, Texas Carry, Texan Gun Rights, and Gun Rights Across America (GRAA)Â took matters into their own hands. A tremendous grassroots push commenced which included lawful carrying of long arms, as this is currently legal in Texas, and since the law does not permit the open carry of a handgun like so many other states already allow.

OK, so a bill got tabled in committee. That can happen. In fact, I’ve very rarely seen bills not take a few legislative sessions to get moving. You’ll typically have some skittish legislators that will take some more convincing and pressure before they’ll be OK with the bill hitting the floor. You know what doesn’t help skittish legislators? Seeing crap plastered all over the news about jackasses carrying rifles into fast food joints and home improvement stores.

You might think that legislators would make the connection, “Perhaps if we legalized pistol carry, this kind of thing would stop.” But they don’t. It just raises the anxiety level and makes them less likely to act. I’ve spent more time at political functions than is generally healthy for most people. I don’t enjoy it. But it’s important to know lawmakers and understand the behaviors and inclinations of politicus animalus.

Here’s the thing about legislators: most of them aren’t gun people. The ones that are, they are predominantly hunters, with perhaps some passing interest in the shotgun sports. Some do carry for self-protection, but they are the minority, and a lot of them who do have no problem with telling you that you can’t. Pennsylvania’s General Assembly has 253 lawmakers in it. Many of them are “sportsmen,” but I can probably count on one hand the number of them that are hard-core gun guys. Texas’ legislature might be a bit better, but I doubt by much. You’re dealing with a group of people who are exceptionally talented at two things: getting people to like them, and doing so without really saying much. These are not people born for deep conversation. To most people of that type, what OCT has been doing looks like sheer unadulterated lunacy. The only reaction political types want to get from people is a smile, and to make that connection that makes them feel pretty sure you’ll like them (and by virtue turn out for them next election). These are the types of people who, for better or worse (usually worse), that get to decide policy. These are the people you need to convince.

If legalizing open carry of pistols in Texas was an uphill climb before, it’s quickly growing into Mount Everest with every passing news story about long-gun open carry. Even if you can get it past the legislature, every Governor of Texas fancies himself President one day. Rick Perry has stated he’s wary of legalizing open carry. Rick Perry, who shot a coyote with his laser sighted pocket .380 while he was on a jog. Whether we like it or not, and I certainly don’t, Open Carry Texas, and the other rifle OC groups, are defining what OC is, and what OC means. Perry is clearly more concerned about the opposition ad potential of OCT’s behavior than he is about the people pushing legal OC in Texas through non-self-destructive channels.

I suspect there’s going to be a lot of butthurt from fringe groups flowing in the next several days about NRA’s statement. If they want to stand behind the happenings in Texas, that’s their choice. But these groups only are serving to undermine the very cause they claim to care deeply about by doing so.

Demanding Moms Get Booted From Chipotle

As Uncle mentioned, I guess our side isn’t the only ones whose overly aggressive tactics can backfire. Apparently a group of open carriers in Oklahoma were visiting a local Chipotle after a protest by demanding mommies. Apparently because of their huge victory and all, their group decided on Chipotle. Unfortunately for them so did the open carriers. The Moms Demand folks began harassing the group, taking pictures, and generally being obnoxious. Apparently Chipotle has a policy against this kind of harassment of their customers by other customers:

I conducted an interview with the manager, and while I asked him if I could quote him directly, he asked that I do not. He said that he wasn’t going to have people treating paying customers rudely in his store. They simply do not allow customers to take pictures of other customers; it’s a “zero tolerance” policy if you will.

He also said that he has noÂ position on open carry, and he understands that it is legal to carry in the state. Finally, he acknowledged that people behaving in the manner as MDA had in his store was actually more harmful to people than the act of lawfully carrying aÂ firearm.

My bet is that Shannon Watts will completely ignore this. She already got what she wanted out of Chipotle, which is a positive press release and energy to feed back into her group. She’s not going to want to highlight her own people being jackasses, nor is she going to want to highlight the fact that her victories against all these fast food chains is a hollow one. The last thing Shannon Watts wants is her followers questioning whether these are really victories if people can actually still not only carry there, but do so openly.