Politics – Page 200 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Thomas Not Happy About Defeat in PA House

Representative Thomas was the sponsor of three of the bills, the gun control bills, that were defeated in committee this week in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He is not too pleased with the result, which naturally pleases me:

“There is no reason why anyone should bring a weapon with a 30-round clip into a residential neighborhood,” Thomas said.

Thomas said that, after much debate, his bills were not approved by a committee majority.

[…]

Thomas said he particularly thinks he will garner support for H.B. 1044 considering that the courts have already upheld the constitutionality of 37 local gun ordinances.

“Right now, municipalities’ hands are tied by the PA Uniform Firearms Law. I think it’s just a matter of time until my bill becomes law,” Thomas said.

Funny, I have several dozen 30 round “clips” in a residential neighborhood and they haven’t managed to jump out of the safe and kill anyone yet. I have to admire his optimism in the face of a stunning defeat — the votes in all three cases were very lopsided — but we will continue to oppose his agenda. I’m sorry, but you’re not going to make me a criminal because I happen to go through the wrong town on the way to a shooting match. Especially not when the state police commissioner, a guy who is thoroughly anti-gun, and aÂ cronyÂ of Ed Rendell, is the one making that call.

Standoff in Bethlehem

This one was due to a prank call from someone on a deactivated pre-paid cell phone telling police he had just shot his wife and was going to shoot himself. They apparently extracted everyone from the house, and the calls kept coming. What I want to know is, why call out the “emergency response team” for a guyÂ threateningÂ to complete the suicide part of the murder-suicide. Shouldn’t the correct response to “I just shot my wife, and I’m going to shoot myself,” be “It would be nice if you could save the taxpayers all that money. Go ahead. I’ll wait for the bang to dispatch the meat wagon?”

Why Independence Seaport Museum Can’t Raise the Money

Speaking once again of saving the Olympia, I found this explanation for why they might have difficulty raising the money to save this floating bit of history. From Wikipedia:

In June 2007 former Independence Seaport Museum president John S. Carter pleaded guilty to charges ofÂ fraud andÂ tax evasion from misappropriating more than US$1 million in funds from the museum. He received a fifteen year sentence in federal prison.^[3] Carter, who was president of the museum from 1989 to March 2006, was accused of using money from the museum to buy numerous personal items, including two boats, an espresso machine and a carriage house for his home inÂ Cape Cod between 1997 and 2006.^[2]^[4]

So it looks like Philadelphia’s penchant for graft and corruption will finally end up doing what the Spanish could never do.

Small Victory for PA Gun Clubs that Serve Food

SB 828, the bill to exempt non-profit, home preparation of certain foods from inspection requirements, has passed the House and Senate and is on its way to Governor Rendell for signature. It’s being reported in the Beaver County Times, but it does exempt Sportsman’s clubs in the bill specifically, in addition to any 501(c)(3).

My club shut down its kitchen a long time ago because of the problem of public health inspection. ~~Clubs similarly situated should be able to reopen without running afoul of state law, or having to undergo licensing and public health inspection~~. It ~~was~~Â is rather silly to require this anyway. It’s a private club, not a commercial kitchen, and most gun cubs do not operate kitchens for profit, but rather forÂ convenience.

UPDATE: Looking at the bill a bit further, the exception is fairly limited. It only applies to food made in private homes, and then only foods not deemed potentially hazardous. I was hoping this was a broader exemption, but it would appear to not apply to club kitchens. But it does exempt food made at home, provided they are not potentially hazardous. If you look at the definition for “potentially hazardous,” it’s a relatively simple definition involving charts and tables.

So this really doesn’t exempt much. But there are at least some foods that would be exempt, like baked goods. I’ve altered the title to reflect reality. Sorry for jumping the gun on this one. Originally this bill was much better than it ended up.

Not Running from Guns in Alabama

This candidate is pretty up front in his campaign ads with who he stands with on gun control, even though this ad has nothing to do with gun control. Wait until the end.

Who’s Packing in Philly?

Philadelphia Weekly has a pretty good article on who’s packing in Philly, featuring Dan, who went down with us to Charlotte:

Dan Pehrson rolls up to 1 Shot Coffee, a cafe in Northern Liberties, on two wheels, much like many of his environmentally conscious urban peers. Heâ€™s just the type of patron this establishment is accustomed to serving. The 28-year-old computer programmer is cool, calm and collected. And his lookâ€”blazer, jeans, sneakers, black-rimmed eyeglasses, hair tussled and neat at the same timeâ€”say hipster all the way. Pehrson, who lives in the Art Museum area, appears and acts much like everyone else at the coffeehouse. The fact that thereâ€™s a deadly weapon under his shirt seems to have no bearing on the way he carries himself. Truth be told, he wears his gun about as well as he rocks his navy blue blazer.

It’s a very good, fair and balanced article, though I’m amused by the hipster description. I’ll have to buy Dan a PBR next time I see him. I would note that they use stock footage. None of those people I think are the people in the pictures.

Implications of Castle Doctrine Vote in November

Over at PA Gun Rights. We did very well, even among politicians who often don’t take our side. In addition, some who went against us are easy targets in this coming election year.

18-20 Year Old Handgun Possession

Eugene Volokh asks and interesting question about how hard it would be for 18-20 year olds to get a handgun. Federal law prevents anyone under the age of 21 from buying a handgun from a federally licensed dealer, but in most states 18-20 years olds are permitted to purchase and possess firearms under state law.

It would indeed be a straw purchase for someone to purchase a gun from a federally license firearms dealer on behalf of someone 18-20 years old, because you are not the actual buyer. It would, however, be legal for a parent to buy one for their 18-20 year old as a gift, I believe. In a gift situation, you are the actual buyer, even if you’re not the person to possess it in the end. In Pennsylvania, private transactions of handguns are unlawful, but the County Sheriff is one of the authorities that can process a transaction. Since he is not a federally licensed dealer, and PA law allows for possession of a handgun by someone 18 years or older, I would presume a Pennsylvania Sheriff would be able to process this transaction. It would still, presumably, require a PICS check, but since the transaction is not federally regulated, no 4473 should be required. So I believe an 18-20 year old could still get a handgun in a private transfer, even under Pennsylvania restrictive transfer regime.

Word from the Committee

Word is Castle Doctrine was voted out of committee 22-4, with the three gun control bills being voted down. Looks like we get a floor vote on Castle Doctrine! More details later.

UPDATE: Roll call vote here. PASSED 22-4 Looks like it was amended, but the amendment did not destroy the purpose of the bill. The result of the amendment is that you still have a duty to retreat against an unarmed assailant.

On the other bills, on creating a new task force in the AG’s office. FAILED 9-17.

To create an assault weapons ban. FAILED 6-20.

On gutting preemption. FAILED 6-20

We did it! On to the House Floor.

Don’t Forget

We get put to a vote today. On Castle Doctrine and on a few other anti-gun bills, including an assault weapons ban.