Guns – Page 362 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Fast and Furious Explained

Dave Kopel does an excellent job of describing the scandal from the very beginning, starting off with Operation Wide Receiver under the Bush Administration, and continuing through to the current scandal, just based on the facts we know so far. This is vastly different from the spin you’re seeing in the media. The Philadelphia Stinkquirer is not exception here, carrying the water for the AdministrationÂ by making this out to be a GOP witch hunt rather than legitimate oversight. You’re also seeing a lot in the papers about this originating under the Bush Administration, as if somehow that makes it better. Fine. Let’s get Bush Administration officials up before Congress. Get Gonzalez up there and hold him to account. I thought Bush’s DOJ was a cluster under Gonzalez too. What kind of morons do the media take us for that if they say “Bush did it too!!” we’re just going to slink back into our dumb, stupid redneck gun nuts bunkers and shrug it off.

Obama probably would never have claimed Executive Privilege if he didn’t have his lapdogs at the Washington Hoax, the Philadelphia Stinkquirer and the Paper of Making up the Record ready to try to make the scandal disappear for him.

Why We Win

If the Brady Campaign wants to know why we’re winning, I have a great example. An acquaintance from high school posted the other day an example of the trouble she faces as a young, cute realtor. Her face and phone number are plastered all over her city, so sometimes she gets highly personal obscene calls at any time of day or night. These callers aren’t what most people might experience with a heavy breather who might describe a few abstract things. They can call her by her name and describe what they would like to do to her face in detail.

On top of this issue, she has to worry if these people will try to take the harassment to the next level. If one of them calls to set an appointment to see an empty house, she could end up completely alone with a criminal and never know it.

Being from Oklahoma, she knows how to use a gun. She has a firearm she keeps at home because her husband is out of town for work. She was looking to sign up for a concealed carry class, and I heard she managed to get into one. But, it appears that the Oklahoma training requirement mandates range time. As this acquaintance is quite pregnant right now, she was understandably concerned about the impact the noise will have on her baby.

The anti-gun groups see nothing wrong in forcing her to potentially wait months until she can get a concealed carry license even though she received multiple phone calls in one night. They see no reason she shouldn’t have to take a class at her expense and delaying the process of getting a license even though she already knows how to shoot a gun. According to them, there’s no threat to her safety that’s bigger than the lawful ownership of a safely stored and handled firearm.

The reason we’re winning is because not only did she get into a class, but her post on that news had multiple people “like” it on Facebook – all women.

UPDATED: So another person has chimed in to discuss the process his wife had to go through since she also decided to get a carry license once she was pregnant. I do love Oklahoma sometimes.

Dip in the Polls for Obama?

Looks like the electorate didn’t like the assertion of Executive Privilege. Given Obama’s struggles recently, this leads me to believe whatever is being shielded by the White House is worse than what he’s going to suffer for shielding it. Either that or he’s good enough friends with Eric Holder he’s willing to take the White House down to help him. Or Eric Holder has enough dirt on people. Who knows.

Mayor Rahm Vows to Protect Chicago’s Gun Laws

By maybe, or maybe not, appealing the decision by a Federal District Court tossing out gun prohibition in Chicago for non-violent misdemeanants. The fact that he’s making such noise about protecting Chicago’s gun laws tells me his office is seriously considering not appealing. This particular issue might not be a hill the Mayor’s Office wants to die on.

More Coverage of Fast and Furious

Dave Kopel asks whether Obama’s assertion of executive privilege is valid. Instapundit has a few links on the scandal, including one from the Washington Post. Investors Business Daily has run an article stating that the Executive Privilege has the stench of cover-up. Wall Street Journal is running an op-ed. More from the Washington Post. Of course, the WaPo is also offering up some apologia on behalf of Eric Holder.

The only thing I can figure in all this is that Obama thinks taking this up a notch will result in him ending up the victor in the court of public opinion. This scandal was quite easily explained away as incompetence, but the invoking of executive privilege could lead many to question what the White House and Holder have to hide. If this was hatched by the Phoenix office, and everyone involved fired or relocated, then there shouldn’t be an issue with a document release to Congress.

Resolution to Find Holder in Contempt Passes House Committee

From NRA. I don’t really understand why Obama invoking Executive Privilege was a smart move. It’s basically an admission of White House involvement in the scandal, and now, unlike before, the entire media is paying attention to Fast and Furious. How ironic that it might be Obama himself be the one to blow this scandal wide open.

Non-Violent Misdemeanants Have Second Amendment Rights

So says a federal district court, upon considering Chicago’s law that bars licenses from anyone convicted for any gun violation, no matter how trivial or minor.

On Being Made

SayUncle noticed someone carrying in public and snapped a picture. He must have a good eye, because I couldn’t tell myself. I’ve been made twice, both by little kids, whose short height makes it easy for them to see concealed items beneath clothing. The first was Bitter’s nephew, who went to give me a hug goodbye, then awkwardly asks in public “Why do you have a gun on?” The second was more recently, by a friend’s kid, who noticed something in my pocket when he bumped into it, then asked what I had in my pocket. I didn’t answer, so I can’t say I was technically “made” but most people don’t notice the pocket holster.

I’ve been around cops while carrying, and never been made. One was even an accident scene, and when I had a Glock 19 under my shirt. Maybe instead of “stop and frisk,” Bloomberg should just hire little kids.

Right to Keep and Bear Knives

The Delaware Supreme Court has ruled that one can’t be charged for possessing a concealed knife or other weapon in one’s home if that weapon is possessed for a lawful purpose. I agree that the right to keep and bear arms is not limited to firearms, and should cover air guns, stun guns, knives, or any other weapon that has utility for defending oneself. Another interesting thing to note is that Delaware’s right to keep and bear arms provision is a recent one, having been passed in 1987. Anti-gunners keep telling us that the Right to Keep and Bear arms is an anachronism, but when put to the ballot, it seems to be a right the people still believe is important.

NRA to Score Contempt Vote

The letter indicating as much can be found here. John Richardson has the excerpt.

UPDATE: Joe has a few words about Eric Holder’s “Extraordinary offer.”

UPDATE: The Belmont Club on Obama invoking Executive Privilege:

Invoking executive privilege was probably a bad move. It wonâ€™t be evident right away. But it will be as time goes on. The President has taken the political combat into very expensive territory in energy management terms.Â He has neither the altitude nor the fuel to protect either Holder or himself in the long run.

Here’s hoping this backfires. His invoking of Executive Privilege seems to be making Fast and Furious a bigger story, which will get more eyeballs on the scandal. A real good question is what the White House is hiding. If this really was just a botched operation hatched by a field office, why the stonewalling?