Politics – Page 137 – Shall Not Be Questioned

States of Emergency & Carry in PA

With several Pennsylvania Counties under State of Emergency declaration, it’s worth noting an aspect of Pennsylvania law:

Â§ 6107. Prohibited conduct during emergency.

No person shall carry a firearm, rifle or shotgun upon the public streets or upon any public property during an emergency proclaimed by a State or municipal governmental executive unless that person is:

Actively engaged in a defense of that person’s life or property from peril or threat.

Licensed to carry firearms under section 6109 (relating to licenses) or is exempt from licensing under section 6106(b) (relating to firearms not to be carried without a license).

(June 13, 1995, 1st Sp.Sess., P.L.1024, No.17, eff. 120 days)

Ordinarly you can carry a handgun, SBR or SBS without a License to Carry Firearms (LTCF) in Pennsylvania, provided that you do not conceal it, or have it in your vehicle. Long guns follow the same rules, except you can conceal it (if you can) but it must be unloaded in a vehicle.

The exception to this is Philadelphia, where you need an LTCF to carry any firearm on the public streets, open or concealed. During a declared State of Emergency, those areas affected by the declaration become just like Philadelphia, you need an LTCF even to carry openly.

For a lot of reasons, even if you carry openly, it’s a good idea to have an LTCF. Lots of towns declare States of Emergency for silly reasons, like Chester and a few other cities recently declaring them for high crime. In addition, while the Federal Gun Free School Zones Act has never been constitutionally re-tested, it only exempts you if you have a license from the state in which you reside. That law applies to within 1000 feet of a school.

Arrested for “Lack of Common Sense”

Philadelphia police arrested some folks for using a raft to get around Main Street in Manayunk when it was flooded:

When Dray asked why the men were being arrested, he said the officers replied, â€œfor lack of common sense.â€

No charges were filed against the boaters.

And I’m guessing the reason for that is there are no charges to be filed, because there’s no law against row, row, rowing your boat.

Hat Tip to SayUncle, who has several more examples of stuff like this.

Melson Being Moved

This is an interesting development. Looks like he’s being moved to Justice, presumably where higher ups can keep a closer eye on what he’s up to. This comes as the Congressional investigation probes just how high the Fast and Furious scandal goes. It’ll be interesting to see the Congressional reaction to this reassignment, and whether Melson will continue to cooperate with the investigation.

This is Disappointing

Apparently the religious right has gotten to Perry, and now he’s saying he’ll push a federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

More on Gibson Guitar Woes

Remember, they hate us because we are free:

It isn’t just Gibson that is sweating. Musicians who play vintage guitars and other instruments made of environmentally protected materials are worried the authorities may be coming for them next.

If you are the lucky owner of a 1920s Martin guitar, it may well be made, in part, of Brazilian rosewood. Cross an international border with an instrument made of that now-restricted wood, and you better have correct and complete documentation proving the age of the instrument. Otherwise, you could lose it to a zealous customs agentâ€”not to mention face fines and prosecution.

We have to take our country back from these people. It’s not enough just to change Congress around. You really need a whole Congress and a President who’s on board with raining in the abuses of the bureaucracy. One man can’t do it, so don’t expect Ron Paul to be able to fix much as President.

Illegal & Unethical Mayors United with Bloomberg

An ally of Michael Bloomberg is raising eyebrows about just how political favors are used and abused in his town. Even better, it’s at the expense of public safety.

The police chief and borough manager in Dormont are accusing the mayor of ticket fixing.

It turns out the mayor has dismissed thousands of tickets over the years and now the Allegheny County District Attorney is getting involved.

He’s fixed more than $30,000 worth of tickets – enough to buy a police car. When the police chief was raising this issue, the mayor canned him to shut him up. Other city officials gave him his job back and are asking questions since some supporters of the mayor had as many as 35 tickets fixed in one year. That’s nearly a ticket a week for just one person!

This Mayor Against Guns is Thomas Lloyd of Dormont, Pennsylvania whose smiling mug graces the MAIG website.

Is it any wonder that the allies Bloomberg finds to join his anti-gun crusade are criminals and the corrupt who abuse the legal system to get their supporters out of trouble?

Protecting Us From the Menace of Unregulated Wood

Feds raid guitar maker Gibson. Remember, they hate us because we are free.

Loss of an Icon

Joey Vento, the proprietor of Geno’s Steaks in Philadelphia, died of a heart attack. Wyatt Notes:

While he was definitely old school in his views, Joey was a terrific man. He always went out of his way to support the cityâ€™s police officers and firefighters, and loved this city very much.

I still remember meeting Wyatt andÂ Rightwingprof at Geno’s a few years ago, before Rightwingprof passed away from cancer. While the news is certainly sad, if my main business were peddling cheesesteaks, I can’t think of a more poetic way to go. Better than cancer, to be sure, which I’ve seen enough people die from to think much of.

We’re Winning

Colleges in Pennsylvania are offering shooting lessons as part of the curriculum. Right now it’s only curriculum for wildlife biology students, but it’s a start:

“With this class, if one of these students becomes a pheasant biologist, for example, they know what the hunting end is all about. If someone asks them, ‘Have you even fired a shotgun before?’ they can actually say yes.”

I just like seeing colleges presenting the topic in a manner that doesn’t involve fanning the flames of hysteria.

Tell a Lie Often Enough …

Daniel Vice, the Brady Center’s senior attorney, tells New Jerseyans:

But our countryâ€™s weak gun laws allow traffickers and killers to stockpile guns in states with weaker laws and smuggle them into our communities. In New Jersey, strong laws make it so much harder for criminals to get firearms that guns flood in from states with weak gun laws at a rate seven times higher than the number of crime guns trafficked out of the state.

That’s funny, because in the country I live in this practice is a felony. So I would like to understand how our “weak guns laws” are allowing criminals to “stockpile guns” in states with “weaker laws.” In all 50 states, it’s a felony for criminals to have a single gun or round of ammunition, let alone stockpile them. I’m afraid the weak laws they are speaking of are laws which allow them to be sold at all. One reason firearms are trafficked into New Jersey is that New Jersey only has a relatively small number of FFLs compared to most other states. There are few legal channels in the Garden State, so criminals do what the law abiding can’t, go out of state.