Gun Control Working, As Murder And Shootings Rise

I think the claims in this article contradict themselves all over:

“City is winning the war on street guns”

“Cops recovered 5,129 firearms from suspects last year, compared to 5,537 in 2008 — an 8 percent decline”

“An ATF spokesman said the weapons recovered were not recently manufactured, which meant the flow of newly minted weapons was also continuing to decline.”

“[M]urders are up 20 percent, from 119 last year at this time to 143 through last Sunday. And shootings are up 14.8 percent so far this year, to 373 from 325 for the same period last year”

And naturally, it’s everyone else’s fault other than Bloomberg’s. He’s winning the war against guns! Unfortunately for him, he’s losing the war against criminals. Has it ever occurred to him that he’s fighting the wrong enemy? Nah.

Bryan Miller Now Using Open Carry Fundraising

Found by Cemetery at New Jersey Hunter forum. Some gems from Bryan:

“These single-minded and fearful people care so little about public safety that they seek to make our state and country an armed camp. And, it is no coincidence that many follow the harsh anti-democratic rhetoric that attracted such as Tim McVeigh.”

“We have all heard of the volatile blend of racism and anti-government hostility emanating from so-called ‘tea parties.’ Mixed in is a rebellious strain of pro-gun extremism that led to yesterday’s events. In many state, ‘open carry’ activists eagerly wear their guns to Starbucks and other retail establishments, caring not a whit about the intimidation of and danger to others. It’s all about them and their petty fears and anti-social ideas.”

We’re the ones that use fears and anti-social ideas? Pot — meet kettle. This is classic fundraising through fear mongering. Both sides do it, but they like to pretend they don’t. And it doesn’t hurt, I guess in Bryan’s world, to throw in a side of arsehole with your big plate of hysteria.

Georgia Carry Fixes

Looks like we’re getting a lot closer to passage. It looks like it’ll be a done deal to me. I’m glad to see the 1000 foot from a school nonsense eliminated. How is one supposed to know when one is within 1000 feet of a school? I live that close to one too, but you’d never know it. If PA had such a law, I couldn’t carry or transport guns. In fact, without an LTC, you’re technically in violation carrying a gun on the street outside my house, due to the Federal Gun Free School Zones Act. You can’t see the school, but it’s there.

I also understand this allows restaurant carry, and fixes the airport issue that cropped up after the last ease on restrictions.

Good Stories

Lots of gun owners have good stories, but not many tell them, and definitely not to reporters. This guy did, and got his story in front of the City of Denver. It’s a story how a man came to own a gun after the justice system repeatedly failed his family, and he needed to protect them. The other side wants to inflate the risk, and they have no shortages of anecdotes to make people who carry firearms for self-protection look like idiots, criminals or worse. But they never have an answer for Sam Myrants of the world, other than call 911 and hope for the best.

More Dead Coyotes in Urban Areas

This time in Pittsburgh, and definitely not Ed Rendell as the triggerman. But what makes this interesting is the City’s insistence on local hunting laws. Hunting laws are preempted by state law, so if it’s legal for you to hunt Coyotes, and you follow the state hunting laws, you’re clear to shoot. I suspect as long as this guy has a valid hunting license, and all the game regulations were followed, he’s not going to suffer any repercussions because he violated a local ordinance banning hunting.

NRA Introduces Separate DC Gun Rights Bill

SayUncle reported this morning on this NRA press release, about the introduction of a separate bill to repeal DC’s gun laws. I don’t have the details on this, but it looks like it hints that it may fix DC’s carry laws, saying it will “repeal the District’s burdensome gun registration requirement and ensure that firearms may be transported and carried for legitimate purposes”

I’m guessing NRA wouldn’t introduce a separate bill if DC Voting Rights Act weren’t well and truly dead. Perhaps NRA overestimated the degree to which the anti-gun Democrats were willing to roll over to get their pet bill through. We probably have a pretty good chance in the Senate to get something through, but as a separate bill, I don’t give it good chances of passage. I doubt Pelosi would allow the vote in the House. Even if Nancy Pelosi were willing to roll over so some of her blue dogs can get at least a little cover from NRA, you still have to get passed Obama’s veto.

CeaseFire Caught Lying

This whole CeaseFirePA effort to become politically relevant is turning into comedy. Apparently, the reason Tom Corbett didn’t bother responding to the questionnaire was because he didn’t care for the endorsement. His campaign said the questionnaire was to be used for endorsement purposes. But CeaseFire is all about education, right?

In a follow-up interview, Grace said he’d made repeated overtures to Corbett’s campaign over the phone, through e-mail and in-person at a March debate at the National Constitution Center in Philly, to get the AG to play ball on the questionnaire.

At no time did the question of an endorsement come up, Grace said.

“It was clear as could be,” he said. “We were seeking that the Attorney General, as with all the candidates, respond to the questionnaire.”

At no time! Never did any talk of endorsement every come up. Not at all.

Except, when it did. John Micek noted that the cover letter of the questionnaire does specifically say that the questionnaire is about earning the anti-gun group’s endorsement.

What muddies the waters, however, is language on the cover letter of the questionnaire which reads thus:

“To be considered for endorsement by CeaseFirePa, please complete the questionnaire and return it to CeaseFirePA no later than February 26, 2010.”

In standard anti fashion, now they swear that it’s not what they meant. And they promise that even though they did talk about an endorsement, they didn’t really mean it.

It sounds a lot like how they jump around on the issue of gun bans, too. “We’re not for taking people’s lawfully owned guns! Except for anything we don’t like. And we don’t like rifles, shotguns, or handguns.”

Tip to Joe Grace & his anti-gun friends: It’s a lot easier to cover up your lies when you don’t lie in the first place.