Guns – Page 689 – Shall Not Be Questioned

NJ Assembly Passes Not Quite Pro-Gun Bills

Cemetery has the news. One is a the NICS act which brings New Jersey into compliance with federal law. This actually changes New Jersey’s law in this matter very little. The other is the exceptions for their gun rationing law. I should note this bill differs from the Senate bill, which makes more exceptions. The Assembly bill only covers transfers between dealers, distributors and manufacturers. This is likely why it passed unanimously.

Obviously this isn’t a bad development, but if the politicians in New Jersey think this will make up for screwing over gun owners, yet again, with gun rationing, they are kidding themselves. This just keeps their original bill from being a de-facto ban, which it was.

Guns in Schools Save a Life in Harrisburg

A criminal justice instructor in Harrisburg managed to stop a stabbing in progress, but you know, guns in schools by LTC holders is just crazy!

Criminal justice instructor Michael Minto was leaving the Kaplan Career Institute in Swatara Twp. on Monday night when he spotted a man being stabbed, police said.

Minto pulled his gun and ordered the attacker to drop his knife, police said. The attacker fled, and authorities said Minto’s actions likely saved the life of Dillon Mitchell, 30, of Harrisburg.

If Minto had not intervened, “We might be talking about someone who died,” said Deputy Swatara Twp. Police Chief Jason D. Umberger. “There are not many citizens out there that would have the courage to take that action.”

How is this possible? I thought only trained police officers were capable of this kind of thing? And at a school? The devil you say! Granted, this is a private post-secondary vocational institution, so carrying is legal there. In Pennsylvania, schools are a grey area. They aren’t explicitly forbidden by the Uniform Firearms Act, but weapons in primary and secondary schools are forbidden with an exception for “other lawful purposes,” which would presumably cover self-defense, but I don’t think anyone wants to be the test case there. It’s legal to carry on college campuses in Pennsylvania, but most universities forbid the practice by policy, much like employers do.

UPDATE: I should point out that licensed carry is a grey area. While it is legal to open carry in Pennsylvania, it is not legal to open carry within 1000 feet of a school without an LTC because of the federal Gun Free School Zones Act, which makes an exception for state permits, but does not make a general exception. It’s my opinion that the Gun Free School Zones Act is unconstitutional on both Tenth Amendment grounds and Second Amendment grounds, and was thrown out on the former previously, but Congress rewrote it. Want to be the test case?

An Eye on NRA Recruiting Efforts

Apparently it’s rubbing one Inquirer reporter the wrong way, which is reason enough to keep doing it.

Courts Looking at Key Aspect of GCA ’68

A key Second Amendment case is now being heard in US District Court in the DC Circuit. Looks like the Obama Administration is working to get the case dismissed for lack of standing. Basically, the case is brought by American expatriates, who wish to buy a gun for when they visit back home, but GCA ’68 makes this unlawful, because you can only buy as a resident of a state.

Heat and Kitchens

Apparently some Indiana reporters can’t take it.

Schumer’s Election Time Schmoozing Backfires

Apparently some members of the club he used to try to pull the wool over hunter’s eyes about his record are pissed. Members of Illion Fish and Game probably ought to think about changing their club leadership, since I can promise you they knew about it. If a member, or group of members, let Schumer and his people, and the camera’s in without board approval, that should be grounds for kicking them out of the club. Either way, those folks have some internal difficulties to work through. We can’t afford mistakes like this.

Banned in New York City in …

… 3… 2… 1

Health Care and Guns

The medical profession seems to be butting their noses once again where it does not belong. Ed Friedman of Guns and Hunting takes them to task for it. I don’t really have a problem with doctors offering some general advise to parents about dangerous objects in the house, and including guns, but I do have a problem with prying, and speaking on subjects for which they have no real expertise. I applaud JAAPA for suggesting doctors become familiar with the issue, but I think no more advise is needed short of “If Â you have guns in the house, make sure you keep them stored in a manner the children don’t have access to it.” along with things like “Make sure Drano and other household chemicals are stored away from kids.” (poisons kill approximately 3x as many children under 5 as gun accidents) and “Make sure you don’t leave buckets of water laying around.” Buckets of water kill more kids under the age of 5 than gun accidents do. Not as lethal as bathtubs and pools, but buckets of water are far more dangerous to young kids than guns. If a physician wouldn’t give the advice to parents not to remove buckets from the house, they shouldn’t give that advice for guns either. Even for older children, drowning has approximately four times as high an occurrence. Would they advise patients to fill in their pools?

Bob Ricker is Dead

The Brady Campaign is reporting that Bob Ricker is dead. The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence has more on who Bob Ricker was. He was famous around these parts for the oft-used quote “self-defense whacks” which appeared on Bitter’s blog before she changed her blogging topic. She also had a bit to say about his views on women. More history here.

Please keep the comments tasteful. Gun control advocates have families too.

Challenging the Other Side on Twitter

Protest Easy Guns is an interesting group that’s cropped up since the Virginia Tech tragedy. The group is lead by Abby Spangler. These are the people who do the highly appropriately named “lie-ins” where they all lie down on the ground and pretend to be dead. It’s always seemed rather macabre to me, but hey, it’s a free country, and you can protest however you want. Protest Easy Guns has quite a Twitter presence though, and I’m rather surprised they respond to pro-gun critics at all, let alone seeming rather annoyed by them. Typical of an exchange with them, they started out announcing a protest on Times Square. I retorted back that protesting guns in New York City was like protesting for gay rights in San Francisco. Not exactly a brave statement in either city. That must have gotten under Ms. Spengler’s skin, because the response was pretty angry:

@SebastianSH Sebastian, you know we are not protesting guns! PLEASE STOP SAYING THAT! We are protesting felons having easy access to guns!

My response was highly appropriate, I think, but we know it’s false, and we know that Protest Easy Guns is lying. We can see on their issues page here they propose all the same thing the Brady Campaign does, including banning so called “assault weapons”. Not just banning them for felons, but banning them for non-felon citizens too. They also are fighting against allowing non-felon citizens who are 21 years and older, are license and trained, from being able to carry a concealed firearm on college and university campuses. Those people are non-felons by definition. And what exactly does the Tiahrt amendment have to do with felons accessing guns? Law enforcement can access the trace system for criminal investigations. Why else would you want the trace data?

So no, Ms. Spangler, Protest Easy Guns is not just about keeping felons from having easy access to guns, because some of the methods you choose to do that essentially mean I can’t have them either. Next time they have a lie-in, think for a moment about how appropriate that name is. Lie-in is right.