The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …
Freedom Group announced their new leader this morning. I find it absolutely fascinating that they are so desperate to disassociate themselves with the Cerberus name that in all the companies named in the release and all of the experience cited, Cerberus isn’t mentioned once. At this point, it’s almost a comedy to see how they go out of their way to avoid saying the name that cannot be said.
So, think we’ll see a new name on the NRA ballot in coming year?
As updated on PAGunRights.com, there have been a few members dropping out of the Bloomberg coalition over recent days. Specifically, two mayors in Pennsylvania have removed themselves from the coalition and another member passed away in recent days. While it would have been nice to change the mind of the mayor of State College who recently passed due to complications from surgery, we can at least celebrate the opening of minds of the mayors of Ulysses and Summit Hill.
View Bloomberg’s Anti-Gun Mayors in Pennsylvania in a larger map
Non-Pennsylvania losses also include:
Mayor Jerry Taylor of Boynton, FL
Mayor Linda Riner-Mizell of Dundee, FL
Mayor Mark Hawke of Gardner, MA
Mayor A.J. Holloway of Biloxi, MS
Mayor Jim Bouley of Concord, NH (New Hampshire’s only mayor on the list!)
Mayor Dale Strasser of Brunswick, OH
Mayor Kathy Taylor of Tulsa, OK
Mayor Thomas M. Taylor of Franklin, WI
Mayor James Schmitt of Green Bay, WI
Mayor Dave Ross of Superior, WI
It looks like gun owners in Utica, New York are making some waves with the very anti-gun mayor.
Members of the National Rifle Association and the administration of Mayor David Roefaro verbally fired back and forth Wednesday, after an NRA mailer targeting the mayor showed up in some city mailboxes.
The mailer focused on the Roefaro’s involvement of “Mayors Against Illegal Guns,†which it said was founded and funded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Unfortunately, the article reveals that he is standing firm with Bloomberg. It’s not completely a shock, and he was a surprising target given that he has been an outspoken critic of gun rights.
Some very good advice, I think:
What do you do? Do you have a gun? Where is it? Is it loaded? Is it locked away or gun-locked? What are your chances of surviving an attack without a weapon compared to having one?
I’m not saying go buy the gun. I’m saying that if you already have one and you haven’t shot it or cleaned it in, let’s say, the last year, or if it is in the closet, unloaded and/or locked down, the fact is, you will not be able to get to it in time.
Crooks are deathly afraid of being shot. They don’t like being bitten by dogs or locked up by the cops, or going down with the swine flu either, but they really don’t like being shot.
Criminals pick on the weak, and yes, the naïve, and those that will offer the least threat to them as they commit the crime. If you have a weapon, clean it up, oil it up, shoot it and then decide if you need to have it in the home. That’s a tough question if you have kids.
I am an advocate of this philosophy. Â I have told a few people I don’t think a gun is for them because I didn’t think they’d be serious about practicing with it, learning how to use it properly, or thinking seriously about storage options.
Too many people buy them as talismans — objects stashed away and largely not thought about in the closets or drawers, offering peace of mind and the illusion of safety. Â And so it sits, waiting for a theft, or waiting for an accident.
I’m very happy to see that Jason, EVC for Pennsylvania’s 19th Congressional District, and fellow blogger, engaging in some smart activism:
But Jason Epperson, who lives in Spring Garden Township close to the city line, said the proposal won’t do any good unless criminals are prosecuted and jailed.
Show up to the meeting, get mentioned in the press. Â That’s a good day as a pro-2A activist. Â It looks like the City of York is aiming to pass an resolution, calling on the legislature to act, rather than an ordinance. Â This is at least not a violation of state law.
But they are still promoting something that, even based on abstract legal theory is wrong. Straw purchasing is a crime in Pennsylvania. Transferring a handgun without going through an FFL or the County Sheriff is a crime in Pennsylvania. Both serious. If the state is unable to meet its burden in proving either of these crimes, lowering the burden is not an acceptable solution.
Many people, particularly poor people, who are more likely to live in bad neighborhoods where theft is a problem, who are unlikely to keep track of current developments in state law, are going to be the ones that end up unfairly prosecuted under these laws. Middle class people will report their guns stolen. They have insurance, and presumably feel good about the relationship between their community and its police force. That’s not true for all neighborhoods and all demographic groups. Â The Second Amendment is not qualified with “the right of the middle and wealthy classes to keep and bear arms.” Â It’s also a right for the guy stuck in a crappy, crime ridden neighborhood, and working two jobs to keep his family’s head above water. Â Who can’t afford a lawyer, can’t afford a fine, who might not be aware of the law, and might not feel that remarkably comfortable talking to the police. Â He should not be punished because he was the victim of a crime.
Heller is the product of a mature current of constitutional thought, spurred by private groups but also by committed academics, that had clearly become prominent in nationwide politics and culture and that, by 2008, had established itself as thoroughly mainstream. In sharp contrast, Griswold was the result of an early effort by an incipient movement for reproductive rights and sex equality that had yet to become highly visible on the nation’s cultural viewscreen. In this sense, Heller has far more in common with Brown v. Board of Education than with Griswold—in the particular sense that Brown, like Heller, was the culmination of a long process of advocacy, in a self-conscious effort to entrench a certain understanding of the Constitution in the interest of social reform. In short, Heller and Griswold have distinctive sociologies. While the two are both responsive to public convictions, the cultural backdrop for the two decisions was radically different.
That’s Cass Sunstein, appointee to the Obama Administration. Â He may be an animal rights whack job, but he may very well be the most pro-Second Amendment person nominated to serve in the administration (which isn’t saying much). Â Griswold is the case which created a right to privacy, specifically in matters of contraception. Â That case was expanded on in Roe and Lawrence.
That Heller is a closer cultural decedent of Brown is a very high compliment. Â That’s an accomplishment we can all take some measure of credit for.
This morning The Outdoor Wire reports that the Chairman of The Freedom Group, Paul Miller, has resigned. No real information was given for the reason for his departure other than the standard other opportunities line. I guess if anyone wants to know, they might be able to conjure him up by saying the magic word three times fast.
Miller was another Cerberus staffer who sought board positions with outdoor groups. While the report states he will continue to serve the Remington Outdoor Foundation, no mention is made of any other directorship.
The measure, sponsored by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), was thwarted earlier this year in the House when Rep. Travis Childers (D-Miss.) attached an amendment to the bill that would loosen the city’s gun laws and lessen penalties for violating local gun laws.
The DC Vote advocacy group has spent the summer pumping Childers’ district with advertisements that denounce him for the amendment. It plans to continue the ads through September, adding a Nevada focus at some point to target Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), who sponsored a similar amendment to the Senate version of the bill.
Yes, I’m sure in Mississippi and Nevada that DC style gun control will be a very popular issue! Â Go ahead and bring this turd back guys. Â We’re ready with some polish.
“We’ll continue to push for passage of a clean bill within this Congress. I don’t know what’s going to happen with the NRA. We’re doing our part to continue to put pressure on people who are caving to the pressure of the NRA. So we’ll see what happens, but we’re definitely still hopeful.â€
Yeah, you keep doing that. Â I’m sure Senator Ensign and Congressman Childers appreciate the free campaign materials letting constituents know they support the Second Amendment.
The point man in Mexico’s war against the drug cartels has resigned:
Medina-Mora was an outspoken critic of U.S. gun laws, which he argued make it easy for drug gangs to acquire weapons across the border. He called for more aggressive prosecutions of criminals who smuggle guns into Mexico, saying the U.S. constitutional right to bear arms doesn’t protect them.
“The Second Amendment was not put there to arm foreign criminal groups,” he told The Associated Press during an interview in February.
Let’s hope his replacement is more interested in destroying the power of the cartels, and getting Mexico’s house in order, rather than lecturing the United States, which has much lower rates of crime and violence, about its gun laws. Â I’m not optimistic though.