The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …
The Campus Carry Ban in Colorado will be withdrawn. Now we just have to stop that ridiculous magazine ban. Instapundit has more. Publicola notes that there will be a filibuster in the Colorado Senate by Republicans. Also, he’s covering live again. Also keep an eye on Michael Bane.
I’ll be trying to cover as best I can, but I’m pretty busy today with other things.
The Denver Post has live coverage of the debate & upcoming votes in the Colorado Senate on the package of anti-gun bills.
It’s interesting that they say the campus carry ban may be pulled today partially because of the national negative attention associated with the outrageous comments by lawmakers about rape victims. It’s not officially pulled yet, but several Democrats are trying to pressure the sponsor by telling the press that it’s dead. However, the sponsor is running around to the press saying that he’s got 10 hours to find votes.
The press is covering the various business angles to the issue, noting the recent threat by Outdoor Channel to pull production from the state. With 70% of voters listing the economy as the biggest issue influencing their vote going into the next election, Colorado lawmakers would do well to listen to the economic impact of gun control.
We all know that the shooting sports are fun. It turns out that the lobbyists MAIG hires to promote gun bans know they are, too.
One of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s top gun-control lobbyists in Colorado appears to enjoy firing the very guns he is working to restrict.
Denver-based Headwaters Strategies lobbyist Adam Eichberg participated at a “watermelon shoot†in September 2012 at the farm of Colorado state Sen. Greg Brophy (R.) where he fired a semi-automatic rifle with a high-capacity magazine.
A picture obtained by the Washington Free Beacon shows Eichberg smiling broadly as he shoulders a DPMS .308 rifle with a 20-round magazine.
Specifically, the lobbyist who appears absolutely overjoyed to be shooting off his 20 shots is calling for a ban on those same magazines. In fact, to top it off, the host of the shoot claims that Gov. John Hickenlooper begged for an invitation to come out and shoot “assault weapons” with those “high capacity” magazines he’s so eager to ban now that Bloomberg & Obama have promised political support.
The lawmaker who released the information about the shoot said he’s doing it because he has a problem with the way that they are calling for bans on mere citizens, while enjoying the same benefits of using these firearms in shooting sports:
Brophy said he is a friend of Eichberg, but could not let him or Hickenlooper slide.
“You wonder if they’ve had a change of heart, or if they’re being hypocritical like we see in so many politicians where they don’t want to live under the laws they’re pushing,†Brophy said.
Good for Sen. Brophy. I get that there’s business and there’s politics. But when you’re talking about restricting the right of average people who don’t benefit from police protection or Bloomberg’s billions making their way into your wallet, the typical divide between politics and personal goes out the window. These people are talking about abusing fundamental rights and putting lives at risk.
We’ll try to keep up to date on the voting as it happens.
First up is the trafficking bill, as reported by the LA Times. Vote was 11-7. Grassley was the only GOP defector, due to a promise that the bill contain a provision to stop gun walking. Hey, Senator Grassley, you know what makes gun walking illegal? Existing federal laws. Not everyone is fooled by what this bill is about:
“My concern is this bill is a solution in search of a problem,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). “Straw-purchasing for purposes of directing guns to people who cannot legally obtain them is already a crime. And so we double down and say this time we really mean it, when in fact the real problem in many instances is the lack of prosecution of existing crimes by the Department of Justice.”
On to the other measures. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Schumer introduces S.374, the “Protecting Responsible Gun Sellers Act of 2013,” which will of course have nothing to do with responsible gun sellers, and is likely designed to screw us.
UPDATE: John Richardson has the final word on today’s voting.
Another good article in Politico about the coming floor fight. They make the mistake of thinking the NRA is a singular behemoth, rather than an organization backed up by millions of concerned Americans. They note, “Gun control groups are also prepping for a longer fight.” I’m really quite tired of every election being the most important ever, but you can see from the recent escalation after the 2012 loss, the 2014 elections are shaping up to be exactly that. In losing many past “not to be lost” elections, we’ve squandered quite a bit. We can’t afford to squander anymore. If we go down in 2014 and suffer heavy losses in key races, it’s going to be the end of us. It’s going to be an all hands on deck situation, or we’re going to suffer losses that make the 90s look tame.
Interesting article in Politico on how Obama silenced the gun control movement:
The White House knew its post-Newtown effort would require bringing key gun control groups into the fold. So the White House offered a simple arrangement: the groups could have access and involvement, but they’d have to offer silence and support in exchange.
The implied rules, according to conversations with many of those involved: No infighting. No second-guessing in the press. Support whatever the president and Vice President Joe Biden propose. And most of all, don’t make waves or get ahead of the White House.
Bloomberg has been quite vocal in all this, but I’m going to guess he’s likely working very closely with the White House, and the other groups are pretty much not in a position to do anything other than shut up and get in line.
Losing Coburn from the background checks talks increases the likelihood that the only gun control measure that can pass the Senate is on gun trafficking, a far less sweeping proposal than background checks or the doomed bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines. Schumer, Manchin and Kirk will try to attract other Republicans to replace Coburn in their coalition.
That’s the asset forfeiture bill I spoke of earlier. I still would not count the ban on private transfers out. The votes might be there. Also interesting is that VPC has been relegated to the “kids table.” VPC outlived its usefulness quite a while ago, and it’s been rather surprising to me that the big foundations continue to fund that charade.
Especially when they are members of the Democratic delegation in the Colorado legislature. No wonder they think we aren’t capable of self-control. It would seem many of them aren’t themselves. Project much?
The Senate Judiciary Committee will likely vote on the gun control measures today. Given the makeup of the committee, I think we’re very unlikely to be able to stop any of the bills from hitting the floor. We have Easter recess coming up shortly. A vote can happen at any time, but it’s likely to happen after the Easter Recess. I hope everyone written their Senators by now, and will make phone calls. We’re going to have a floor fight over major gun control proposals folks, and this hasn’t happened in a long time.
John Richardson mentioned one particular threat, S. 443. I’ve read the bill (text here), and I still can’t figure out what it’s making illegal that isn’t already illegal. It also includes a huge expansion of civil asset forfeiture, which I’m sure ATF is drooling over. That’s probably the true purpose of this bill, and why ATF has been pushing for it. I’m not really amenable to giving ATF the power to seize property and ask questions later. This will be abused.
It would seem to clarify what constitutes a mental health adjudication, but does not concede any ground on private transfers. From the article, it would appear to create a prohibition for someone that uses the “not-guilty by reason of insanity defense” (I didn’t even realize that wasn’t considered an adjudication under current law) and if a person is found by a federal court to be a danger to themselves or others (another thing I thought would have already constituted an adjudication). This doesn’t look to me like it concedes much of anything, since all of these things still require due process, but I’ll hold my judgement until I see an actual bill.
In the mean time, keep calling those Senators, and just tell them no new gun control. I know the negotiations over expanding the background checks broke down earlier, and the Judiciary Committee is voting tomorrow on the other gun control bills. Given the makeup of the committee, I think it’s likely a lot of the bad stuff we’re very worried about is going to hit the floor, and this may end up being used to keep the floor fight going in a direction that doesn’t involve bans on guns, magazines, or private transfers.
From a Californian in the comments:
So in California all transfers (except for C&R long guns) have to go through and FFL, and CA FFLs are required to do them for a nominal fee set by the CA DOJ (correct me if I’m wrong but I think it’s $35). It sucks, and it’s occasionally bizarre, sometimes it’s cool – I’ve met one of my best friends and shooting buddies via a PPT (private party transfer). Here are some of the byproducts of this system: some FFLs will “run out†of Handgun Safety Cards (required for transfers) if you go to do a transfer and don’t have one (to avoid doing it). Some stores will flat out refuse if they are busy or make you wait so long you leave.
Sometimes it takes hours. You need 2 proofs of ID and if the store does not like your proofs, go home and get something else (I have waited a couple times for someone to go get a utility bill). Unless you are a veteran of PPTs, you are pretty much guaranteed to fail on your first attempt. Some stores will give you a gun lock, free, most stores make you buy one, and once the store only stocked locks that sold for $30. Then you get dealers that only do internet sales and PPTs, who are awesome, but… it’s crazy, it’s bizarre, and tons of people do illegal FTF transactions all the time – not because they are trying to break the law, but because the law is so complex as to be difficult to follow. This is what you can look forward to!
The ban on private transfers of handguns here in Pennsylvania is probably the most oft broken law by people who ordinarily aren’t lawbreakers, most of the time out of sheer ignorance of the law. Generally speaking, you can get a transfer done, but the price isn’t set by the state, and around here, about $35 bucks is about the floor. Some dealers charge as much as $50 to do a transfer between two parties, and many won’t do them at all. There’s also a problem in lending a handgun to someone, which is generally prohibited. The law makes an exception if the person is licensed to carry handguns.
For people cohabiting, but not married, this can be a problem if the two aren’t licensed. For instance, the law allows handguns to be given as gifts, but only between spouses, parents and children, and grandparents and grandchildren. For those who want to say you can duplicate the benefits of marriage with contracts, well, here’s a benefit you can’t duplicate with a contract. If you’re married, you can let your wife take your gun to the range, and he or she is legally entitled to receive your guns either temporarily or permanently. If you’re not married, you can’t let your significant other do the same, unless they have a license to carry, in which case you can temporarily lend your significant other a gun. It’s even questionable whether they could use your firearm in a self-defense situation.
This isn’t a place we want to go federally, and if I could, I would undo here in Pennsylvania too.