Guns – Page 84 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Weekly Gun News – Edition 22

It’s beginning to look at a lot like…. well, Christmas in Panama maybe. Â I certainly had Gatun Lake going on in my backyard yesterday. That’s probably just as well, since white Christmases are now racist. Blogging will be light around the holidays, unless there is major news like another shoe dropping like we just saw in Virginia with their AG revoking most of their reciprocity agreements. It begs the question, if these politicians are so sure this is a winning issue, why do they keep trying to downplay these maneuvers by announcing them before the holidays when no one is paying attention. Anyways, here’s the news as I see it:

Miguel is hoping that people will write their AGs and tell them not to revoke recognition of Virginia permits even though Virginia is revoking recognition of theirs. I’m of two minds on that, part of my agrees, but part recognizes some gun owners won’t get off their asses and wake up unless they are made to feel some pain.

Gun rights: not just for white guys anymore.

You remember that church on Wall Street that unsuccessfully tried to bully Wal-Mart into an anti-gun position? Now they are working over Cabela’s.

Good thing there wasn’t any gun involved, or someone might have gotten hurt. Also, what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

NRA has said it plans to “fight [Herring’s] decision in every arena possible.” I’ve heard talk of a universal reciprocity bill being pushed after the new year. Some dems in marginal districts will need to be made uncomfortable if they don’t vote the right way. When the time comes, be prepared to melt switchboards.

Apparently Smith & Wesson hires poor law firms for doing their trademark protection.

Remember folks, no one wants to take your guns!

Is it time to retire the term assault rifle?

People in blue states continue to arm themselves. Not just blue states either.Â Even ze Germans are arming themselves.

Much like Canada, which only has one road, Mexico only has one gun shop.

We should be celebrating this news: cars have gotten a lot safer. The correct comparison is car accidents to gun accidents, in which case guns are much much safer.

More Democrats abandon the Second Amendment.

Just a reminder of what they think of you.

Again, the anti-gun folks can’t turn out your local club’s Thursday trap level numbers. I doubt this was any exception either. We pitched our Friends of the NRA dinner to the media, which turned out a lot more people. Crickets. These people turn out a dozen white old ladies and get in-depth reports.

Jacob: Why did Obama sit down with Bloomberg? Cash is king. Dem fundraising is pretty anemic this cycle, but Bloomberg is willing to spend big. That’s a big part of why you’re seeing Dems run away from the Second Amendment right now.

Tam: “Let’s talk about Glock sights.”

Another gun case appealing to the Supreme Court for review.

Turns out that AK used in the Paris attacks which allegedly traced to Century Arms in Florida was an error.

Miguel finds the infamous Glock 7 in an LA County Sheriff’s report. Sometimes you have to wonder if someone is trollin.

Wired: Social Media is Making the Debate on Guns — and Trump — Worse. I think social media makes everything worse.

Brooklyn lawmakers are looking to introduce major restrictions on ammunition in the Empire State.

Generally speaking, sports newscasters wouldn’t be the first place I’d turn to for Constitutional analysis. A lot of journalists should really take this to heart.

Failing to understand us, Part MCMXVII: “This is very much a fear-driven issue right now, and it convinces people that they have to carry guns themselves” I probably shouldn’t complain, because this is a big reason they keep losing.

You’d Think Illegal Mayors Would Have Taught Them Something

As soon as I saw the buzz that Bloomberg’s Everytown was partnering with the NBA, my first thought was, “Professional athletes: yet another class of people with much higher rates of criminality than concealed carry permit holders.” Well, before I could work out any numbers, Dave Hardy was there with the scoop: “350 NBA players who have been charged with criminal acts. A simple search turns out 28 players with gun charges.”

Sounds like a great idea, guys. I was kind of missing the almost daily stories about mayors getting arrested, indicted, and then having them quite often be MAIG mayors. They took that fun away from us. Thanks for giving it back!

UPDATE: Oh yeah, this is going to be a riot.

Virginia Move Part of Coordinated Campaign

If you don’t think this is part of a coordinated campaign by the left, probably organized through the White House, I have news for you:

Conduct an annual review of concealed-carry permit reciprocity agreements with other states and rescind those agreements with states that fail to meet certain standards

Remember, this is from December 15. Seems some Dems have been listening. Don’t expect this move in Virginia to be the last move. There’s probably more to come. Get ready.

Seattle Gun Violence Tax Upheld

Lower courts in urban centers tend to be corrupt, arbitrary, and often have a lack of concern about the rule of law, so it’s not too surprising to see that a lower court upheld Seattle’s gun tax despite Washington State’s strong preemption language. We’ll see how this works out on appeal. We’ve been mooching off a lot of past activism by people who worked very hard on this issue. It’s hard to imagine the Washington Legislature offering a fix for this if it doesn’t turn out well in the courts. It’s always going to be the most important election ever, until the tide actually does turn, and we all end up drowned in it. I fear that’s starting to happen.

The First Shoe Drops: Virginia Reciprocity

We know that yesterday Administration officials told us they were coordinating with state officials to see how many ways gun owners could be screwed over. Well, the first shoe to drop seems to be by shredding most of Virginia’s reciprocity agreements, including with Pennsylvania. After the Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring closes open season on Virginia’s gun owners, the only states left with reciprocity will beÂ West Virginia, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah.

I would note that Virginia code is pretty specific about what makes states eligible for reciprocity, and provides that the Attorney General and State Police shall enter into agreements. It provides no mechanism by which agreements can be withdrawn from once agreed upon. To me that leaves the door open for a lawsuit.

It’s going to be a rough year for us. They are going to try to screw us any way they can. This is probably just the beginning. Folks, if we don’t hit these people hard come next November, we’re going to be in a metric shit-ton of trouble. The current GOP clown show of a primary (not even speaking of the clown show in Congress) doesn’t offer me much optimism. Mark Herring has to lose his next election. All stops must be pulled to defeat him if he runs for re-election in 2018.

What’s happening here is not about public safety, it’s about sticking it to a politically disfavored group any way they can think of. It’s about punishment for defying the will of this Administration. Some of my liberal Dem-voting readers might not be interested much in gun voting, but the time is fast approaching where you’ll have to decide how much you really care about your gun rights.Â How many people who have been carrying in Virginia for years on the current agreements not going to get the word and end up in prison? That’s probably the idea. You will be made to pay for your defiance, and they don’t care how many lives they ruin in the process.

From a practical standpoint, I’d note that Virginia issues non-resident permits. They are not hard to get. I plan on applying for one. I do not intent to let a petty, spiteful tyrantÂ like Mark Herring disarm me.

Other people’s political capital

From an LA Times piece, we get the following quote on why President Obama is looking into unilateral executive action on gun control:

“If this succeeds, it will save lives. If it fails legally, the cost is only political,” [Senator Christopher] Murphy [D-Conn] said. “When youâ€™re talking about weighing lives saved versus political capital lost, itâ€™s a no-brainer.â€

What Senator Murphy says about political capital is true – the cost of this effortÂ will be counted in political capital. What he’s not saying is that it’s not the President’s political capital that will pay; it’s the political capital of the Democratic party. The President has spent a lot of political capital over the past 7 years, but very little of it has been his own. It’s been the capital of the Democratic party. And by gambling with the Democratic political capital, he’s been able to force the Republicans to match, raise, or fold. If he wins, he gets the credit (and the capital). If he loses, well, it’s all someone else’s fault. Which is a neat trick. I’mÂ stillÂ a little surprised that the congressional Dems are willing to let him draw on their capital to put his name on successes, but leave Congress the failures. The last few years, sticking Congress with the failures means sticking the Republicans with it, admittedly, but still.

This is another one of his Heads I win, tails You lose gambits. He’s going to try, and if it doesn’t work, then it’s the work of The Enemy, who wants Dead Babies.Which makes sense for his future aspirations (global talking head), but is yet another drip of corrosive in the mechanism of politics. AprÃ¨s moi le dÃ©luge, indeed.

Former NRA-A-Rated Ohio Governor Flips on Guns

Ted Strickland got high marks from NRA during his tenure as Governor, but now that he’s running in a Dem primary he’s changed his views to back gun control.

â€œTedâ€™s views about gun violence and gun safety have been deeply influenced as a result of the multiple horrific incidents of gun violence that our country has suffered, and particularly after the Sandy Hook tragedy (in Connecticut).

â€œJust like many Americans, after Sandy Hook, he called for a reassessment of laws in order to help keep Ohioans and all Americans safer,â€ Bergstein said.

Yeah, I’m sure running in a Dem primary where Bloomberg money can be had has nothing at all to do with his election year conversion of the issue. Remember folks, politicians are rank opportunists. Don’t believe a Republican’s support on this issue is any less shallow. Politicians pursue what they feel is in their best interests, and like it or not, Bloomberg and Obama have convinced Dems that supporting gun control is in their best interests. Remember these wise words from Milton Friedman:

Gun Control by Fiat?

Based on statements coming out of the White House, I think Obama’s executive orders on guns might end up being a barrage of ridiculous things completely unsupported by law. Sure, they’ll lose in court, but they’ll force us to take them to court, and that’s going to cost time and money heading into the elections. I’m thinking the strategy might be to throw as much as they can at the wall and see what sticks.

Certainly Obama has numerous ways he could screw us that are completely within his authority. A near handgun import ban would be among them, by ditching the point system and adopting something draconian. I don’t see how Obama has any executive power under the law to close any “gun show loophole” or to otherwise affect private transfers.

But that doesn’t mean he won’t force us to waste time and treasure fighting even clearly illegal moves. There’s no penalty for overreach. With guns there’s not much clearly established precedent to support civil rights suits. So what does he have to lose?

Most Pro-Gun Provisions Stripped from Spending Bill

As Glenn Reynolds notes, “Harry Reid seems to accomplish a lot, considering he’s in the minority.” Certainly seems so, but I’ve long argued the big reason the Democrats can generally get what they want is that they are very good at using government and using process to get their preferred outcomes. Republican politicians, meanwhile, aren’t always the sharpest tacks in the box, and they are more interested in getting along and keeping the perks of office than they are about really challenging the left and learning how to play the game effectively. So here are the provisions that came out in the Senate:

House proposal to make permanent the one-year provision restricting the federal government from prohibiting imports of curios and relics.
House proposal to make permanent the one-year provision restricting the federal government from requiring licenses for Canada gun exports less than $500.
House proposal to make permanent the one-year provision restricting the federal government from denying shotgun imports on the grounds they are not suitable for â€œsporting purposes,â€ if such imports have not previously been denied.
House proposal to make permanent the one-year provision restricting the federal government from facilitating the transfer of a firearm to a known or suspected agent of a drug cartel (â€œFast and Furiousâ€ provision).
House provision preventing the Department of Justice from requiring federal firearms licensees to report on the sale of multiple long guns to the same person.
House provision restricting the federal government from treating ammunition as â€œarmor piercing,â€ except for handgun ammunition.
House provision allowing funding to process applications for individual relief from firearms disabilities, a reversal of a funding prohibition that has been in place since 1993.
Democratic proposal to block firearms sales to individuals on terror watch lists.

That’s quite a disappointment, but as long as the filibuster rule is what it is, neither side really is in the minority. The Dems still have the ability to block bills, and the Republicans know they’ll get blamed by the media for any shutdown that happens. Personally, I think they should go back to the rule that requires filibustering Senators to hold the floor. They can read Dostoyevski if they want, but they have to hold the floor.

Executive Orders on Guns Coming

Obama has been meeting with Bloomberg. I really have no idea what’s coming, or what the timeline is going to be. It seems that no one else does either. There is speculation that it will be related to the requirements for when you need an FFL because you’re “in the business” of selling firearms.

Officials say expanding background checks by closing the “gun show loophole” is the most likely option, though they concede legal and administration hurdles have slowed the process.

In his executive action, Obama could alter the government’s definition of who is “in the business” of selling guns, expanding it to include private dealers and others who can currently sell without completing a background check.

This is likely going to demand ATF set a fixed number of guns people could sell before being considered “in the business.” If they really wanted to solve this problem, they’d remove all the Clinton-era restrictions on obtaining a Federal Firearms License, including reducing the fee back down to what it used to be. Let’s be clear about what these fanatics are doing:

Step one: Make FFLs much more expensive and difficult to obtain, so as to drive hobbyists and occasional sellersÂ out.
Step two: Punish hobbyists and occasional sellersÂ for not getting FFLs when they really should.

I won’t deny there are people out there who are walking a thin line in regards to “in the business,” but this was less of an issue when the government made FFLs relatively easy and cheap for part-time and occasional sellers to obtain. Instead they smeared hobbyists and occasional sellers as “kitchen table dealers” who were of course Shady People whose only interest was selling guns to the underworld.

I think people are starting to realize that the only thing the gun control movement is good at is manufacturing bullshit issues aimed at sticking it to Those People, with Those People being people like us.