Politics – Page 167 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Motion for Summary Judgement Filed in New Jersey Case

From ANJRPC, the motion can be found here. Reading through it with my layman’s eyes, it looks very well done and thorough. They go to great length to distinguish New Jersey’s law from California’s (which was upheld by a District Court earlier) and I think deal quite effectively with existing precedent in the Circuit on obliterated serial numbers, which applied intermediate scrutiny. Obviously the plaintiffs in this case are calling for strict scrutiny to be applied. It also hits to the heart of the issue here, if I may quote from the motion:

The additional articulated components of the â€œneedâ€ requirement areÂ similarly overbroad and impermissible. The requirement that citizens â€œcorroborateÂ the existence of any specific threats or previous attacks by reference to reports ofÂ such incidents to the appropriate law enforcement agenciesâ€ is entirely irrational.Â Individuals victimized once may never be victimized again, and an individualâ€™sÂ first encounter with a violent criminal may well lead to death or seriously bodilyÂ harm â€“ before he or she can even articulate the â€œneed.â€ The right to self-defense atÂ the core of the Second Amendment does not depend for its existence on a historyÂ of previous victimization. The Second Amendment provides that individuals â€“ notÂ the State â€“ retain the ability to decide whether their own â€œnecessity for self-protectionâ€ necessitates being armed.

We’ll see how this goes. We should know soon how the judge will rule on this motion. Obviously, the State of New Jersey will be filing a motion for summary judgement from the other point of view.

Joe Grace Looking To Run for City Council

Apparently he’s no longer heading up CeaseFire PA, apparently running against Councilman DiCicco’s record, which includes taking of a nearly half a million dollar retirement package and then not retiring. Gotta love Philly politicians. I’m glad Grace is done with CeaseFire PA. He was an effective leader for them, and a good spokesman, and with him moving on I suspect they will go back to being rudderless and impotent.

Bad News for Democrats

Most of the populations gains are looking to be in red states, with blue states bearing the loss. The article suggests it’s climate driving the migration. Except I think it’s the business and tax climate that’s more the issue than the weather climate. Texas gains the most, and Texas keeps taxes low, and maintains a much more business friendly environment than most other states.

This is people voting for small government with their feet.

Chris Christie Does the Right Thing

Brian Aitken’s sentence has been commuted by Governor Christie. He’ll be able to spend Christmas with his family. I believe this means the convictions stand, but those can be challenged on appeal.

UPDATE: From Evan Nappen:

Today is a great day for Brian Aitken, his family and for gun owners across the nation. This is the first time in the history of our country that someone serving a prison sentence for a gun possession offense has been granted clemency by a governor. Thank you Governor Christie for having the courage and wisdom to do so.

For those arguing that Christie wimped out for not giving a full pardon, keep in mind that he wasn’t asked for one. Accepting a pardon requires you to first admit guilt for what was done. For Brian to get his named cleared, he needs to appeal the conviction. Because the conviction stands his appeal survives. A pardon would moot it.

Glad to be Rid of Him

The Pittsburgh Post has a story on the political career of David Levdansky. He’s the kind of hunter gun owners love to hate. You know, the type that doesn’t think gun rights are that important? But even his support of hunting I think was tepid:

During his first term Levdansky worked to get a hunting license fee increase and modernize long-neglected fines and penalties in the state Game and Wildlife Code.

“Since both agencies are practically entirely funded by license fee revenue, I wanted to bring them under the normal state budget process,” he said.

The Game Commission and other critics argued that would permit urban legislators to strip money from wildlife management.

That would be a dream bill for HSUS and the enemies of hunting. There’s very good reasons that Game Commissions tend to be independent bodies from the legislature. The critics were exactly right.

A defining juncture in Levdansky’s career came in 1985 and 1986 when he tried to craft an amendment he said would help the Game Commission to catch hunters who illegally kill a second buck. The law would have banned the possession of rifles in the field after tagging an antlered deer.

“I was approached by the National Rifle Association field rep,” said Levdansky. “He said, ‘You’re trying to do gun control.’ I said, ‘What? I’m a hunter.’ He said, ‘You’re a closet liberal and you’re trying to do gun control.’ I said, ‘Through the Game and Wildlife Code? Come on.’ “

Apparently he doesn’t like a spade being called a spade. I never could figure out myself if Levdansky was just a closet leftist trying to clothe himself in camo in order to fool us, or was just genuinely ignorant. Either way, I hope he enjoys retirement. It’s a good thing for us for him to be out of the legislature.

Problems Prosecuting Gun Crimes

The Philadelphia Inquirer yesterdayÂ ran a fairly lengthy and detailed piece that illustrates the problems with prosecuting gun crimes in the city. It speaks of the head of Philadelphia’s Gun Court, Judge Paula Patrick. I don’t honestly have enough information on these cases to say whether or not Judge Patrick is insufferably soft on criminals, or is just a stickler for civil liberties and for the police following the law.

It does seem odd though that Pennsylvania would have a rule on “forced abandonment.” Basically, under federal search and seizure law, if a suspect runs from police and tosses a gun, the gun is admissible. Apparently in Pennsylvania, it’s not. It’s one thing if police unlawfully search someone. I can see the civil liberties implications of that. But if you willfully toss something? Is that even a search at this point? It’s hard to see how it could be incident to an unlawful seizure since someone running isn’t exactly seized.

We pay a price for civil liberties. What angers me is that the same people, and I agree with them, that believe in strong Fourth Amendment protections, don’t feel the need to protect the Second Amendment.

Hunting Accident in PA

Normally this wouldn’t be newsworthy, but apparently this one involves the former Montgomery County District Attorney, who was apparently illegally hunting with his prohibited-person nephew when his nephew accidentally shot a man. His nephew now stands charged. Any bets on whether the Montco DA ever prosecuted someone for illegally hunting? Remember, the rules are for the little people.

Obama’s Move

From the Washington Post:

To stem the flow of guns to Mexico, federal firearms regulators are proposingÂ an emergency requirement that certain gun dealers along the southwestern border report bulk sales of so-called assault weapons beginning as soon as January.

I am sincerely hoping this seals the fate of Jimmy Carter, the Second Coming, in the 2012 election. As I’ve said, I’m willing to do nothing for Mexico.

UPDATE: Also notice Obama is taking his cues from Bloomberg’s Blueprint for screwing gun owners. This reinforces Michael Bloomberg being the biggest threat to gun rights out there today. The Brady organization is a joke at this point. Bloomberg is still someone to watch out for.

Warming our Hearts this Holiday Season

If you’re a wine snob, a free market nut, or just generally hate swindlers and thieves, then I’ve got news to warm your hearts in time for Christmas. Two-thirds of Pennsylvania voters support dismantling the state liquor system this year.

Fresh from the crack research team at the Department of No-Brainers comes a new Quinnipiac University poll this morning concluding that more than two-thirds (66 percent to 26 percent) of state voters favor selling off Pennsylvania’s state-owned liquor stores.

That’s what we call a mandate. Who knew Christmas miracles would come so early this year?

Even better, we get some holiday entertainment in this battle to free our liquor. According to one NPR reporter, the union representing state store employees is so desperate that they are crashing press conferences to argue against it:

Sign state store sale fight heating up: UFCW rep shows up at Q-Poll presser to dispute questions showing majority favor privativation. … Union guy got a tad confrontational when told press conference was for reporters, not interest groups, to ask Qs.

Of course, it looks like the union is going to have to rely on thuggish tactics since appealing to public support isn’t going to help them much. More than half of voters said they support cutting state jobs to balance the budget. With privatizing the system, we cut state jobs, and we get the influx of cash from selling the system and the products.

It will indeed be a very merry Christmas when my mom can bring up a bottle of Virginia wine for a holiday toast and not have to worry about breaking the law.

Proposed Preemption Language

Currently our state’s preemption statute says this:

No county, municipality or township may in any manner regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammunition components when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this Commonwealth.

This has been interpreted by some to mean local municipalities have some power to regulate guns, despite the Courts saying otherwise. I would propose Pennsylvania adopt a variation on Washington State’s language, which is unambiguous:

The General Assembly hereby fully occupies and preempts the entire field of firearms regulation within the boundaries of the Commonwealth, including the registration, licensing, possession, purchase, sale, acquisition, transfer, discharge, and transportation of firearms, or any other element relating to firearms or parts thereof, including ammunition and reloader components. Codes and ordinances enacted by counties, cities, townships, other municipalities or political subdivisions are preempted and repealed, regardless of the nature of the code, charter, or home rule status of such city, town, county, or municipality.

And we also have Rep. Metcalfe’s proposed bill which adds some teeth to the preemption language:

Remedies for unlawful regulation.–Notwithstanding anyÂ other provision of law, upon finding that a county, municipalityÂ or township in any manner regulated the lawful ownership,Â possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunitionÂ or ammunition components in violation of subsection (a) or 53Â Pa.C.S. Â§ 2962(g) (relating to limitation on municipal powers),Â a court shall direct the county, municipality or township to payÂ actual damages and reasonable attorney fees and costs to a partyÂ who successfully challenges the regulation.

I think we need both Rep. Metcalfe’s bill and a rewrite of the preemption language to make it crystal clear to local governments that they may not touch the area of firearms. Sadly, I don’t think attorneys fees will be any deterrent to Philadelphia, who will be happy to waste city taxpayer dollars on challenges, and then run poor mouthing to Harrisburg for more of our taxpayer dollars. I would like to see appropriations from Harrisburg to Philadelphia be contingent on them not passing unlawful ordinances.