Guns – Page 77 – Shall Not Be Questioned

SAFE Act Not Accomplishing Much

There have been a few media stories going around showing that SAFE Act prosecutions have been on the rise, but a local NBC affiliate takes a look at the actual numbers, and it turns out most of the prosecutions are in New York City, and are for unlicensed handgun possession, a crime before the SAFE Act but which the SAFE Act raised from a misdemeanor to a felony.

There have been only 31 cases prosecuted in the entire state of New York for possession of an illegal assault weapon, and only 8 people charged with failure to register.

Leah Gunn Barrett, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, said her organization believes the statistics show the SAFE Act is being enforced uniformly, despite some of the charges being rarely used.

â€œYouâ€™re not going to have the State Police going door to door seeing if you have an AR-15 and if itâ€™s registered,â€ Barrett said. â€œI donâ€™t know, maybe that will start to happen, particularly if thereâ€™s a massacre using one of these weapons in the state.â€

Don’t for a minute believe these people aren’t in favor of a pervasive police state in order to accomplish their goals. The SAFE Act was never about public safety at all. It was about expressing disapproval forÂ “those kinds of people,” and making them uncomfortable such that they’ll either move elsewhere, or become “better” people, you know, like downstate elites.

Criminals don’t bother with “assault weapons,” which is reflected in the fact that they are very very seldom used in crimes, and now reflected in the paltry number of cases prosecuted under New York State’s enhanced ban.

A Different Worry from Smart Guns

Miguel writes about a company in Florida that embed GPSÂ tracking into firearms that allows them to be tracked via an iPhone app. Much like smart guns, I don’t mind this technology per-se, provided it lives or dies by the free market. If people want this kind of tracking in their firearms, more power too them.

But the fear is that such technology, once available, will be mandated. In a lot of ways, this kind of tracking is a hell of a lot more attractive to the state than smart gun technology. Technocrats love this kind of shit, because it offers at least some illusion of control. For all the talk about Trump being an authoritarian from the left, I sure do wish the left would look at the plank in their own eye before pointing out the splinter in someone else’s. In 2016, there’s plenty of authoritarianism going around in both parties.

Some Additional News Items

Quite a lot happened Friday, it seems. Let’s start with the good news:

West Virginia overrides the governor’s veto and becomes the eighth US state the eliminate the requirement to obtain a permit before carrying a firearm.

Father Pfleger’s suit against suburban gun shop regulations has been dismissed.

4th Circuit has granted en banc review of theÂ Kolbe v. Hogan case, the case which challenges Maryland’s assault weapons ban. This is not good news. However, if the en banc panel overturns the 3 judge panel which ordered strict scrutiny, Maryland would be the victor and we could always decline to seek cert before the Supreme Court. In an odd way, if we won, we’d be in greater jeopardy.

Weekly Gun News – Edition 29

Is there enough gun news to fill a news post? Trump Mania is dominating the news cycle right now, so very little is being said on guns out there. But here goes:

Bearing Arms: It’s Cruz or the Second Amendment is dead. Plus part 2. I actually trust that Trump would be pretty good on the gun issue, in large part because his base is the white working class, who would never forgive him if he wasn’t. What I don’t trust him to do is pick the right Supreme Court justices.

The SHARE Act passes the House of Representatives. This deals with a number of hunting issues, and also increases the proportion money from P-R taxes on guns and ammo to go to public ranges.

You don’t say: “Bloomberg’s policy crusades could pose obstacles with voters.” I think he was only prepared to jump in the race if Sanders looked like he’d schlong Hillary. That’s starting to seem unlikely.

Why are anti-gun people so violent, PartÂ MMXLIV

Safe storage laws only serve to punish grieving parents. Responsible people don’t need a law to coax them into being responsible, and irresponsible people aren’t going to be made responsible just because there’s a law. These laws are also unenforceable absent a police state, since they regulate what goes on in the home.

Progress on the right to keep and bear arms as an international human right.

Remember the creed of a number of anti-gunners: If it happens, that means it’s legal!

I didn’t even realize CPAC was going on. I’m out of shits to give for the DC conservative establishment.

Oh, I don’t know — try to pass it in the state’s most liberal city? “How to Pass Gun Control in the Sixth-Most-Gun-Owning State in America.” Missoula is preempted, so even if this passes, it’s likely not going anywhere. This is like getting excited that Austin is anti-gun.

Virginia Democrats, who just got out of having their asses handed to them on guns, decide to go for round two? They claim we’re paranoid for saying they want to take our guns, but they sure don’t want you to be able to buy them anywhere.

I have to agree with Joe Huffman, providing a tax credit to get firearms training is a great idea. It promotes the well-regulation of the militia. It’ll also expose the true motivations of our opponents.

Off topic:

Poll finds Sander and Clinton backers twice as racist as Rubio supporters.

I’ll second that “YEP”.

Justice Thomas Asks Question for First Time in 10 Years

And it’s a gun related case. You can see the transcript here.

JUSTICE THOMAS: Ms. Eisenstein, one question.

Can you give me ÂÂ — this is a misdemeanor violation. It suspends a constitutional right. Can you Â give me another area where a misdemeanor violation suspends a constitutional right?

MS. EISENSTEIN: Your Honor, I ÂÂ I’m thinking about that, but I think that the — the question is not — as I understand Your Honor’s question, the culpability necessarily of the act or in terms of the offense.

JUSTICE THOMAS: Well, I’m — I’m looking atÂ the ÂÂ you’re saying that recklessness is sufficient to trigger a violation — misdemeanor violation of domestic conduct that results in a lifetime ban on possession of a gun, which, at least as of now, is still a constitutional right.

Emphasis mine. If you’re in a Super Tuesday state, please consider the future of the Second Amendment is riding on this election. I don’t care whether you pick Cruz or Rubio, but please God, we can’t have a nominee that doesn’t even understand how the courts work picking Scalia’s and probably three other replacements. Anybody but Trump!

McAuliffe Signs Compromise Legislation, Bloomberg Proceeds to Shoot Himself in the Foot

Governor Terry McAuliffe signed the deal that offers Virginia near universal reciprocity in exchange a few things he wanted that don’t honestly amount to much. I guess now I can shred the applications for Utah and Virginia non-resident permits. Bitter’s family is in Nashville, and Virginia is an awfully large portion of that trip when we decide to make it. We had actually worked out a plan that bypassed Virginia, but it added about an hour to the trip.

Bloomberg, however, is having none of this:

â€œGovernor McAuliffe cut a backroom deal with the NRA. It betrays both gun violence survivors and gun safety advocates and endangers the safety of Virginians. We expected more from Governor McAuliffe â€“ and we will continue pressing him to stand up for the 91 Americans a day killed by gun violence and hundreds more who are injured.â€

Early on in Bloomberg’s gun control activism, you could find his spokespeople saying they wanted to bring NRA’s “take no prisoners” approach to the fight for more gun control, believing that it was the key to NRA’s success. What they failed to understand is the breadth and depth of NRA’s support among ordinary Americans. Ordinary Americans who may not be all the quick to anger, but when roused, can become a force of nature. McAuliffe likely noticed this and that’s why he looked for a face-saving way out.

What did Bloomberg offer grassroots-wise? A 3000 signature petition and sad letters from a small handful of victims. Virginia has 363,274 residents with permits, according to John Lott’s survey. Not everyone who has a permit is an NRA member, or even a Republican. Bloomberg isn’t going to win trying to pay NRA’s game because he fundamentally can’t play NRA’s game. There isn’t enough breadth or depth from the gun control movement.

Weekly Gun News – Edition 28

I was worried for a bit I wouldn’t have enough news, but I think I can give a news post a try:

Smart: Given the death of Justice Scalia, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association is declining to seek review by the Supreme Court of the Circuit Court’s decision to uphold the SAFE Act. The stakes just keep rising, and the voters just keep failing.

Can’t stop the signal.

Police in the UK seize an “arsenal.” Only this time it really is one.

Hillary ought to be upset at the lawyers preying on Sandy Hook families with hopeless lawsuits.

NRA eliminates women’s division in small bore rifle shooting, because the ladies can shoot just as well as the men.

SayUncle: “I guess [this] appeals to the same sort of person who buys truck nuts.”

Only the police can be trusted with guns.

It’s official, we have a ballot fight in Maine this November. Ballot measures should be unconstitutional, because they violate the guarantee clause of the Constitution, which guarantees every state a republican form of government.

The astroturf group comprised of nannying billionaires is trying to run another ballot measure in Washington State.

Opposition growing to Gavin Newsom’s ballot initiatives in California.

Yet another attempt by our opponents (namely Mike Bloomberg) to expand the class of prohibited person. They’ll keep doing this until a speeding ticket will cause you to lose your Second Amendment rights.

Maybe because gun control is an issue of old white women: “Why Donâ€™t Bernie Sandersâ€™s Millennial Supporters Care About His Record on Guns?”

Glenn Reynolds on Leland Yee getting 5 years: “I added the stuff in caps because theÂ LA TimesÂ left it out of the headline.” Left out the little things, like the fact that he was gun running for tong gangs and wasn’t just run-of-the-mill corrupt.

Charles C.W. Cooke covers Iowan anti-gunners going ape shit because the state wants to allow kids to shoot handguns with adult supervision. Does anyone for a minute doubt what these people would do if they had the political power?

Constitutional Carry passes West Virginia Senate overwhelmingly. It’s passed before. The Governor vetoed it.

What Could have Given Crooks The Idea that NRA’s Outdoor Show Would Have Light Security?

There was bound to be a price to pay for Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse’s one man crusade against NRA because they wouldn’t agree to being shaken down by the grifters that run that city. Given all the headlines about his withdrawal of police presence at the show, it looks like some crooks got the message. First at the Civil War Museum display NRA sponsored, and now a missing submachine gun that was stolen and caught in tape.

Way to go Mayor Papenfuse. Your childish antics have put more guns “on the streets” than 99% of gun owners.

Private Transfer Bans and Murder Rates

Clayton Cramer has this video outlining his study on the effects of private transfer bans on murder rates:

I think it would probably make sense to control with states that didn’t pass private transfer bans. If murder rates are declining generally (as they were in the mid to late 1990s), or rising generally (as they were in the late 1960s), it would mask the true effect. I think it would be more accurate to say that, for instance, California’s murder rate increased faster than states that didn’t pass such a ban. Maryland and Pennsylvania are both listed as success stories, but during those periods in question, murder was falling generally.

New Jersey Drops Charges Against Corrections Officer

Be careful when you leave America, as the old Uncleism says. A Pennsylvania corrections officer got nicked on a gun charge in New Jersey after being a victim in a DUI accident on the way back from Atlantic City. I was worried about this guy, since he got in trouble after Chris Christie suspended his campaign. Fortunately, it’s now being reported that the charges against the corrections officer have been droppedÂ by the Gloucester County prosecutor.

This is how lasting cultural change begins. I know a lot of people were skeptical about Chris Christie’s candidacy, and I don’t honestly blame them. But it would seem that the powers that be in New Jersey are seeing real pressure about being outside theÂ borders of the American norm. I have little doubt had this guy not been a corrections officer, but instead been ordinary Pennsylvania LTC possessing Joe Sixpack, the result would be different, but it is at least progress to see a New Jersey prosecutor do the right thing without needing a pardon from the Governor.