Guns – Page 245 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Harry Reid Proposes New Background Check Bill

Requiring folks to pass a background check before buying powders. I’d note that Massachusetts already requires a license to buy reloading components, and that didn’t stop the bombers. And would we really prefer jihadists start mixing up ANFOÂ and other improvised high explosives? If high explosives were used instead of gunpowder, the death toll would have been higher. These were crude devices.

Explosives regulations are even dumber and more easily thwarted than gun regulations. I made black powder in my basement as a kid, and managed to get a hold of the ingredients before we had this Internet thing. Today it’s even easier. What then? Background checks for potassium nitrate, sulfur and charcoal?Â Are we going to require Home Depot to run background checks on fertilizer? Check the terror watch list before delivering home heating oil? It’s ridiculous.

Some Pics from the PA Capitol

Thanks to Twitter follower David:

Definitely bigger than previous years, but not overwhelming. I’ve seen the crowd at that rally as large in previous years. A big reason for that, I think, is that PA currently isn’t under threat, given that the GOP controls all three branches of the PA state government, and statements by House leadership and the Governor made it clear early on there wasn’t going to be any of that crap here we’ve seen in neighboring states. Not having to deal with a state fight in the middle of a federal right was hugely beneficial, and we owe Governor Corbett and House leadership a debt of gratitude for holding the line and allowing us to focus federally.

It looks like the big legislation in Pennsylvania now will be preemption enhancements, to actually give it some teeth. It’ll be starting in the Senate, having been introduced by Senator Richard Alloway. While I think preemption enhancement is important, I’d also like to see the state come to a deal on the “Florida Loophole” issue by removing the remaining discretion from LTC issuing authorities, including Philadelphia, granting universal reciprocity to out-of-state licenses, and clarifying that the Attorney General may not alter, modify, or rescind reciprocity agreements except at the behest of the reciprocal state. I’d be willing to trade that for a requirement that PA residents need a PA LTC in order to lawfully carry concealed, rather than a foreign license or permit.

Another, and better alternative to liberalizing the LTC regime, would be to push constitutional carry. But despite the shout outÂ by Rep. Saccone for his billÂ at the rally today, I’m not going to hold my breath that the votes will be there for quite some time. At least we’ve gotten to the point where we’re getting a bill introduced. That, at the least, means there’s enough interest in it among the gun rights community that we’ve become a constituency to be pleased, and that’s a start. But in the mean time we have a city that does not fairly issue and Attorney General who thinks dinkering with longstanding reciprocity agreements is a fun pastime.

Biden Announces New Gun Control Legislation

Not the Biden you’re thinking of. Fresh off a recent legislative victory on banning private transfers in Delaware, Beau Biden wants some more gun control:

The DOJ could then ask a judge to prohibit the person from owning or possessing a gun. The judge also could order the seizure of any guns that the person owns. In the case of a troubled child, authorities could seize any guns owned by a parent or guardian with whom the child is living.

It needs to be adversarial. If my rights are going to be removed, I ought to be able to contest that. If it’s just a judge issuing orders based on the word of government officials, that does not amount to due process in my book, and ought to be unconstitutional.

Also, we have a long tradition in this country of eschewingÂ corruption of blood. It’s interesting that the left, newly emboldened after the late election victory, is slowly trying to do away with limits on governmental power that have served civilized society for hundreds of years. Taking my guns away because my kid is troubled?

With the exception of being a may-issue, but mostly does issue state, Delaware’s gun laws haven’t been too bad for a state that’s been pretty deep blue for a while now. It’s a shame to see that changing so quickly, but it was probably inevitable. The Democrats were afraid to be seen as the Party of Gun Control for the better part of two decades, and so in many of these states there has been an uneasy stalemate. But with Obama declaring the Democrats the Party of Gun Control again, and the Democrats believing the Republicans are finished in states like Delaware, the stalemate is over, and now they are doing to us what they can. Part of this is demographic, especially in states like Delaware. But part of it is the utter failure of the Republican Party in the Northeast, which is now spreading into the Mid-Atlantic states as well.

If gun owners don’t start thinking of ways to turn around some of these states, I expect the divide between the Two Americas I have spoken about here will continue to deepen, with blue states not having gun rights to speak of, and the rest of the country continuing to liberalize their gun control laws. What truly worries me is where Pennsylvania will fall on that divide.

Greetings to All in Harrisburg

Today is the annual 2nd Amendment Rally. I had actually planned to go this year, even up until a few days ago, because I thought it would be important to make this a big year. But other circumstances have intervened, and to tell the truth, I’m a bit burnt out on gun rights events, and didn’t relish the idea of driving to Harrisburg at 6 in the morning only to have to come back in the afternoon and work until I can’t stay awake anymore. If anyone’s there who can get a good crowd shot, let me know and I’ll post it.

Monday News Dump

It’s just another Manic Monday. Wish it were Sunday. That’s my fun day. But since it’s Monday, a news dump:

Governor Cuomo’s numbers continue to be disappointing. But I thought gun control was popular?

The bomb suspects did not have a gun permit. This is a shock to no one, except the AP, apparently. The media has been using the Boston situation to push gun control.

The Washington Post has an excellent rehashing of NRA’s supposed support for expanded background checks in the 1990s. Apparently the NRA floated an alternate proposal from the one the Clinton Administration wanted, which was unacceptable to the Administration. That effectively killed the bill.

Chris Christie seems to be floating his own gun control package. I guess he doesn’t want to be President.

Schumer says that they have foot soldiers everywhere, even though his rally was astroturf.

Bloomberg and OFA organized protests as well, like this one at Richard Burr’s offices in North Carolina, where 20 people showed up. Three times that number showed up to protest Burr’s cloture vote. A protest against Rubio didn’t look much better. A protest against Eric Canter was even more pathetic.

Some Illinois Lawmakers want to carve out a Chicago exception on concealed carry. I’m sure the courts will be fine with constitutional rights changing with geography.

Philadelphia Mayor Nutter accuses us of dancing on the graves of gun violence victims. Somehow I don’t think our nutty mayor has been paying attention to what each side in this debate are saying and doing.

Some guy in New Jersey goes to buy a BB gun and finds out it’s difficult, but yet fails to become educated.

Kathleen Kane says we need more leaders like Pat Toomey. I think we need fewer leaders like Kathleen Kane, myself.

Weapons of war do not belong on America’s streets!

The wannabe illegal Mayor in FloridaÂ seems to have lost his race.

Shotgun steaks. I hope they are using lead free primers. I wouldn’t eat that otherwise.

Gun-toting locavores! In Canada!

How Joe Manchin blew it.

Feinstein’s meltdown. She complains NRA money defeats her gun control bills, but doesn’t recognize that Bloomberg alone is keeping parity with the NRA on spending. Where would the gun control movement be without rich busybodies? She’s also attended the Joe Biden School of Self-Defense.

You’ve probably all seen or heard about NBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell blaming the NRA for the Boston bombers being on the loose.

On the Second Amendment and Presidential Anger.

Gun Control Debate: CLE

For those of you in the audience who need Continuing Legal Education credits, there is a gun control debate coming up Philadelphia:

The gun control debate is raging across the country. The horrific tragedy at Newtown has moved it to the front of our national consciousness. While the politics of the debate seem to drive the issue, there is still the law to consider, with interpretations of the 2nd Amendment affecting virtually every issue that arises in the effort to curb gun violence.

Â Hear from the Philadelphia Police Commissioner, representatives of the NRA and the Brady Center, and other advocates for and against gun control legislation.

The date is May 23rd, 2013 from 12 noon to 3:15PM. Looks like there will be a lot of simulcasts around the state, as well as online options. You don’t have to be a lawyer to register, but lay people might find the price a bit steep.

We Can’t Go Back to Sleep

CBS News: 2014 The Next Frontier in the Gun Control Battle:

As Democratic legislators search for a path forward, however, gun advocacy groups are zeroing in on the next phase of their campaign: Getting the gun bill “no” votes voted out of office in 2014.

“You wait until the next November,” warned New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in remarks on Thursday, of the lawmakers who voted against the Senate legislation. “How are they going to, a year from November when they’re running for election, answer, ‘Why didn’t you do something to stop that, senator? You had it in your power to do it, and you voted to keep the killing going.’ That can’t be good politics. It just can’t be.”

It is unfortunate, but we will need every warm body to act as a counterweight to Bloomberg’s deep pockets. They do have some things going against them. For one, most of the “no” votes on Manchin-Toomey come from states where Bloomberg’s ads will probably help the incumbent more than hurt them. Secondly, for the Democrat “no” votes, there are no good choices for Bloomberg. If you primary Mark Pryor with a gun control supporter, you’ll likely throw the election to the Republican, who will be just as pro-gun as Pryor. In many of these states, there really is no solution set that results in a gun control supporter winning a statewide election. The dynamic will be different in Congressional races, but Congress is not likely to have a vote, and the leadership isn’t vulnerable. Boehner’s district is R+14, and hasn’t elected a Democrat to Congress since 1936. Cantor’s district in Virginia hasn’t sent a Democrat to Congress since 1968, and Cook rates it R+11. This is not to say Bloomberg is not a factor, there will be plenty of politicians who will be tempted to run from us because of the money Bloomberg can pump into a race. Whether they do or not is going to depend on all of us.

2014 is Here Now

If you’re like me, you may be seeing Gabby Giffords’s face on nearly advertising-supported website asking for money to fund her PAC. We can also find Joe Scarborough calling on the president to covertly work with a billionaire to buy local elections where the little people don’t vote the way the elites think they should. Then there’s the Brady Campaign telling a political outlet that they will start using their PAC to get involved in elections.

One of these sentences is not like the other.

If you guessed it was the Brady Campaign turning into a campaign operation, give yourself a pat on the back and maybe a Snickers bar for good measure.

On the senators who voted against the bill, Brady Campaign President Dan Gross told PI: â€œWe’re watching them and we’re holding them accountable.â€ He added, â€œWe’re flooding calls from the American public into their offices.” Brady said the group would look at using its PAC against members of Congress who voted against yesterdayâ€™s pro-gun-control amendment. â€œWe are definitely going to be looking at what we can do on an electoral level,â€ Gross said.

Well, Dan, let’s help you look at what you can do on an electoral level based on the most recent data you filed with the .gov.

BradyPACDonations

Even after Newtown and knowing they would likely need to launch an electoral fight, the Brady Campaign raised a big fat nothing for their PAC in all of 2012. Either Dan Gross is lying to the media about his intentions or he’s grossly incompetent in understanding that their current cash on hand in the PAC isn’t even enough to make one maxed out donation and pay all of the fees they appear to have in maintaining the account annually.

Now, I realize that they may be able to raise money for the PAC this year, so we’ll keep an eye on it. Regardless, I feel like Politico left out key context to the story of their potential involvement by deliberately ignoring the fact that they have raised less than $37k since 2006 (when Paul Helmke took over) and raised absolutely no PAC dollars under the current leadership.

Restrictions on Powder Already Proposed

Joe notes that it didn’t take long. Never let a crisis to go waste and all that. Chris notes that this sounds familiar. Explosives regulations are even dumber than gun control, as an idea, since explosives can be manufactured easily from household items. I made black powder in my basement as a kid. The idea that you can restrict this kind of thing is laughable, but I’m sure control freaks like Lautenberg are serious about it.

More Reactions from the Senate Vote

Politico: How the NRA won.

When the Senate voted down a bipartisan bill to expand background checks Wednesday, it was a stark reminder that big money groups are still no match for the NRAâ€™s ability to get what it wants by playing retail politics â€” or delivering payback.

The big money, at this point in the gun control debate, is largely one billionaire mogul. Looks like Toomey got his 30 pieces of silver, in the form of backing from Bloomberg. Unfortunately, without our votes, he’s toast.

Wall Street Journal: Gabby Giffords Poisons the Well. “Giffords’s 900-word jeremiad should be included in every textbook of logic and political rhetoric, so rife is it with examples of fallacious reasoning and demagogic appeals.”

Tom Maguire: “So, does Obama’s common sense tell him we need a national pressure cooker registry with background checks required prior to purchase?” No one needs a pressure cooker. There are plenty of other ways to cook your food.

The Wall Street Journal again: The Gun Rights Consensus. “Mr. Obama was routed this week because he tried to govern from the left and thus played into the hands of the NRA. If the Newtown families want someone to blame, they can start with the President.”

Adolphus Busch IV resigns from the NRA. Well, don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. ~~The NRA is better off without this guy as a member~~. [UPDATE: Apparently the wrong Busch].

h/t to Instapundit for some of these links.