I think the Simpsons jumped the shark a while ago, and I haven’t watched it for a long time. Now here’s another reason not to consume their product. I can have a sense of humor when our side gets satirized well, but most of the time the cultural elite try to satirize gun owners, it ends up not being funny at all. I’ve had a phrase going through my head lately “Let their hate unite us.”
Category: Guns
Madigan Files Motion to Extend Stay on Court Ruling
Madigan says the Governor needs more time:
The Illinois Constitution affords the Governor sixty days to review the Act and sign it into law. See Ill. Const. (1970) art. IV, § 9(b). Recognizing that this Court has already stayed its mandate sua sponte for 180 days, however, state defendants seek only an additional thirty days to provide the Governor reasonable time to review the Act. Accordingly, state defendants ask this Court to stay its mandate from June 9, 2013, to and including July 9, 2013. This additional time will avoid a circumstance in which there is no state law in place governing the carrying of firearms in public places, a circumstance that this Court’s original, 180-day stay anticipated and set out to avoid.
Well, maybe they should have thought about that instead of taking this whole sorry show to the wire. The attorneys for both Mary Shephard and Michael Moore have filed in opposition to Madigan’s motion. I think this bit from the Moore opposition pretty effectively sums it up:
Considering that the state’s remedial legislation passed with overwhelming veto-proof majorities in both houses, as well as the Governor’s deep and protracted involvement in this issue, the time for delay is over. This Court has spoken. The People of Illinois, through their representatives, have spoken. There must be some finality to this process. The motion should be denied.
Yes, we definitely need some finality to this issue. I hope the Court agrees and we can put and end to this sorry charade.
UPDATE: The stay has been granted. The charade continues.
How’s That SAFE Act Working Out?
It always blows my mind when our opponents point to the horrors of violent crime in cities with very restrictive gun laws. What more could we do gun law wise than is currently being done in New York City? Isn’t this basically an admission that gun control doesn’t work? Is the SAFE act really making anyone safer? Sometimes I don’t think they honestly believe their own BS, but crime seems like a good argument for turning a fear and loathing of firearms into policy.
Standing with the NRA as a Sitting Governor
Surfing Etsy for some any interesting antique NRA memorabilia, I came across someone selling old magazine advertisements, including one of an old “I’m the NRA” ad that featured a sitting (at the time) Governor of what is now a deep blue state.
Governor Victor Atiyeh was a Republican governor of Oregon who served out two terms and also, according to Wikipedia, the first elected governor of Arab descent in the US. According to an index of archived materials about Gov. Atiyeh, the ad was apparently created between 1983-1985 during his second term. The index also mentions some interesting collections:
Clippings, correspondence (including copies of outgoing letters from Atiyeh), and a preliminary drawing of a gun case Atiyeh commissioned for one of his guns. Case of medals Atiyeh won during shooting competitions, as well as one Dolores Atiyeh won.
The Dolores mentioned is his wife. That indicates that they both enjoyed competitions. Based on the years mentioned in that index, some may even be from after the years he was first elected to the Oregon legislature.
Another MAIG Mayor Arrested
Carrboro, NC mayor Mark Chilton, a member of Mike Bloomberg’s group of criminal mayors, was arrested yesterday for trying to shut down the state capitol because he doesn’t like some of the bills being passed by officials elected by the people of North Carolina.
The Californication of Nevada Continues
The legislature has passed a bill to end private transfers in Nevada. They are already attacking the Governor on the issue. It is essentially backdoor registration. If you live in Nevada, call the Governor and demand he veto the bill.
I Grow Tired of These Arguments
John Slezosky is a teacher, and being a teacher he should realize that the collective rights interpretation of the Second Amendment has been so thoroughly discredited that not even a single justice signed onto the idea. I’ve gotten to the point with a lot of these people that I just want to say, “Go out and read the scholarship in this area, and then we can have the basis for an intelligent conversation.” I’m not even sure what point the author is trying to make here.
Fallout from the PA-13 Race
Allyson Schwartz wants to run for Governor, so her current seat in PA’s 13th district is up for grabs, and grab it a who’s who of Pennsylvania lefties are trying to do. Now Marjory Margolies, formerly Marjory Margolies-Mezvinsky, is in the race. But that’s not all, dear friends. In order for primary candidates to polish up their credentials, we’re going to have ourselves some gun control:
Meanwhile, State Rep. Brendan Boyle Monday introduced HB1479, a bill that would prohibit the sale, purchase, or possession of large capacity ammunition magazines. The sponsors and supporters of Boyle’s bill, including fellow PA-13 opponent Leach, will hold a news conference on Wednesday in the Capitol Rotunda.
HB1479 can be found here. Very limited and confusing grandfathering. But hey, punching those neanderthal gun nuts in the gut is a sure way to demonstrate your progressive bone fides to the kind of people who like that type of political theater. I should note that as long as the GOP controls the legislature and the governor’s mansion, this likely isn’t going anywhere. But do you have faith the GOP will never lose another election in Pennsylvania?
Unsafe Training
Sean decides to walk away from a bad experience with a PA-based trainer. It’s tough to walk away when you’ve paid for something, but it’s often the right thing to do. In this case, the instructor seems to operate under the belief that having an “unloaded gun” allows you to ignore fundamental safety rules.
Differences in Colorado’s Mag Ban v. Federal Mag Ban
A reader had a good question in the comments yesterday that I thought would warrant a separate and hopefully not too rambling post. He asked, given that the “readily restored” language is nothing new, why we’re concerned about this in Colorado right now. There is, starting out, a slight difference in the language between the Colorado ban and the now expired federal ban. The federal ban covers “readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition,” while the Colorado bans any magazine “that is designed to be readily converted to accept, more than fifteen rounds of ammunition.”
When it came to the federal ban, what the term meant was generally something left up to the regulating agency, which for federal purposes would be BATFE. The Courts will generally defer to the agencies interpretation of what these terms mean. Courts will also look toward legislative intent, as in what did the legislature intend to do, when determining the meaning of specific language. During the federal ban, the ATF never took the position that “readily restored or converted,” meant that any magazine with a detachable floor plate would be contraband. I don’t think, under the federal ban, there was ever a case of someone getting busted for a magazine extension, but to some degree during the federal ban you possessed these things at your own risk. It’s just that the feds never chose to pursue an interpretation of the ban that covered magazines with detachable floor plates.
Anyone looking to understand the issues at hand in Colorado ought to read the federal complaint challenging the Colorado law. The issue in Colorado is somewhat different, because the legislature did not give any regulatory body the power to make regulation as to what was or wasn’t covered. If you look at the law itself, regulatory power was only granted to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for the purpose of regulating the marking of magazines. That means whether a magazine is contraband or not is going to be up to individual prosecutors and law enforcement agencies, and then the courts will have to sort out the meaning. In addition, both Governor Hickenlooper and the chief sponsor of the Colorado magazine ban have stated that magazines with detachable floor plates are covered by their ban. This means that anyone prosecuted for having, say, a Glock 19 magazine, which has a detachable floor plate and holds 15 rounds, would have a steep hill to climb to argue in Court that it would not be covered under the ban.
It should also be noted that the federal ban would likely have been vulnerable to the kind of challenge currently being waged in the federal courts in Colorado right now, it’s just that we did not have a remedy under the Second Amendment at any time during which the federal ban was in place, because Heller had not yet been decided in favor of an individual right.