Pennsylvania – Page 43 – Shall Not Be Questioned

More Castle Doctrine Fights Today

According to some state representatives on Facebook, we’re back on to fight for our right to defend ourselves on/in our own property today. From Rep. Seth Grove:

Going to be an interesting a fun week in Harrisburg. Supposedly we might have some transportation funding votes, but we will be voting on “Castle Doctrine” and I will thoroughly enjoy voting NO on all the gun control amendments and enjoy voting YES on a clean HB 40!

FYI – I think he’s my new favorite legislator. This update comes from another co-sponsor, Rep. Bryan Cutler:

HB 40, or the Castle Doctrine bill, is expected to come up for a vote today. I know many of you have been asking about this legislation, which I am co-sponsoring. I’ll let you know how the vote turns out.

Interestingly (and wisely, IMHO), NRA-PVF has opted to withhold state legislative endorsements and grades until the vote on Castle Doctrine & the half dozen or so anti-gun amendments that will be introduced.

Gun Control Out, Fireworks Control In…

I don’t really believe that gun control as “the” solution is on its way out the door anytime soon, but one MAIG mayor seems to have found a different inanimate object to blame on his city’s lower quality of life – fireworks.

In Pennsylvania, residents can’t buy the good fireworks. But non-residents are free to do so, which attracts quite a few people from New Jersey and New York. The businesses that set up are a great source of at least temporary employment (we have one that operates all year round here), and obviously a source of tax revenue.

Allentown has long banned residents from setting off fireworks, yet the city still issued permits allowing businesses to sell the pyrotechnics.

On Friday, City Council members joined with Mayor Ed Pawlowski to silence that mixed message with an ordinance that would end the permits and ban the sale of fireworks throughout the city. …

“If they can’t be used here, there is no reason to offer them here,” Pawlowski said. “We don’t need out-of-town fly-by-night operators setting up shops that reduce our quality of life in the city.”

Clearly, these devices which are not legal to use in the city are responsible for all of the problems in Allentown. Just by banning these damn stores, Allentown will increase their quality of life – except for those jobs and tax revenue, not that either one of those things is needed in the Great Recession.

It shouldn’t be surprising that a MAIG partner organization in Pennsylvania is pushing a similar ban on gun stores in their legislative questionnaire this year.

The Source of the Dwight Evans Smirk

When I sorted through the mess of ~~making sausage~~ passing Castle Doctrine here in Pennsylvania, I noticed something on the face of the Democratic Chair of the Appropriations Committee.

(Rep. Dwight Evans â€“ the anti â€“ had a very smug look on his face as he agreed, so Iâ€™m wondering what he got out of that deal.)

I was right to notice it because that smirk meant something. This alert just came out from NRA:

Your NRA-ILA has learned that anti-gun forces are plotting to attach a plethora of anti-gun amendments to House Bill 40 when the Pennsylvania House of Representatives returns to session Monday, October 4.

Such amendments include: a ban on semi-automatic rifles; â€œone-gun-a-monthâ€ purchasing restrictions; a prohibition on the use of out of state Right-to-Carry permits by Pennsylvania residents while inside the Commonwealth; mandatory reporting of lost or stolen firearms; mandatory storage of firearms within the home; and increased regulations of firearm ownership in Philadelphia. Two other amendments to this anti-freedom laundry list are currently pending.

More on Making Sausage Passing Castle Doctrine

As I mentioned last night, some kind of deal was made so that Castle Doctrine would be released from Appropriations today. The good news is that it was finally released on a 26-8 vote.

What jumps out at me are some of the names of people voting with us on this bill. Josh Shapiro was last rated D by the NRA – that’s hardly a pro-rights grade. Bryan Lentz takes pride in his F rating, so he’s definitely not a friend to gun owners. And yet they both voted with us, not once, but twice. That’s how far disconnected the Philly politicians are on this issue. It’s not enough for them to oppose it, but they have to put up roadblock after roadblock to keep a bill that gives us more opportunities to defend our lives from criminal attack from even being allowed a full vote.

Sausage Making – Castle Doctrine Edition

For those of you who aren’t paying attention, we’re fighting to pass Castle Doctrine in Pennsylvania. And, to be honest, I don’t blame you if you’re not paying attention. However, you can tell those of us who are by the imprints on our foreheads where we’ve beaten our heads against the wall a few too many times.

Castle Doctrine isn’t too popular with Philadelphia Democrats. In theory, that shouldn’t matter. Though the Democrats control the House, it’s by a narrow margin and definitely due to the number of rural, moderate Democrats. The Speaker is one of those types, so he should move anything he wants out to the floor. Alas, that is not how it works.

We managed to move the bill out of one House committee, but only in exchange for some votes on anti-gun bills. The good news is that ours passed, and none of the bad bills survived. But, somehow, the Castle Doctrine bill then went on to the Appropriations Committee that is chaired by an extremely unfriendly Philadelphia Democrat who wouldn’t let it out. (Resume head banging against the wall at this point, please.) So, we got the sponsor to push a discharge petition. Yay! Except…

NRA and other groups have been alerting gun owners that the discharge petition would happen any day now. And it never happened. Then, it was on the schedule for tonight, and we were getting great updates from Rep. Seth Grove on Twitter as the vote progressed. So, we tuned in to PCN (our state C-SPAN of sorts), and found out the effort is being abandoned. Head banging may resume…

According to the statement by the sponsor of Castle Doctrine, the Democrats have agreed to release the bill tomorrow morning out of the Appropriations Committee. (Rep. Dwight Evans – the anti – had a very smug look on his face as he agreed, so I’m wondering what he got out of that deal.) According to the Majority Whip, there will be a full House vote on Monday.

In addition to working through the House, NRA has been sending out alerts to try and drum up support for a Senate amendment to House bill that will accomplish the same goal.

So, if you live in Pennsylvania, call your state rep and state senators. You know the game by now. And, if you’re really up for a little sausage making exercise, tune into PCN on Monday to see if the House Democrats hold true to their word.

UPDATE: According to Rep. Grove’s Facebook updates, the final votes will actually happen on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Key Castle Doctrine Vote Now Today

It was supposed to be yesterday, but was delayed until today. If you’ve already contacted your Pennsylvania State Representative, thank you. If not, there’s still time. Follow the link to NRA’s information page.

Looks Like Corbett Gets His Endorsement

It’s hardly a surprise that NRA is planning events to announce the endorsement of Tom Corbett for Governor. Normally Bitter would have attended and reported, but we haven’t gotten around to getting her car inspected yet. Onorato is trying to make gun control an issue in the campaign, and he’s on the wrong side. It’s really important that gun owners punish the Democrats for this. I’m convinced Rendell has the state party convinced NRA is a paper tiger in Pennsylvania. This is the election we show them that’s not the case.

Maybe She Should Have Shared

The kind of story Capitol Ideas is reporting, that a high ranking member of Dan Onorato’s Campaign staff was arrested for growing 28 marijuana plants in her home, probably shouldn’t hurt his campaign as much as it will. That many plants can’t be for personal consumption, unless she smokes a lot of weed. On top of that, what caused the discovery was the twelve ounces of ganja postal inspectors found being shipped to her home. Apparently 28 pot plants generates quite an odor.

I’m not a huge fan of our current drug policies, so to me her big sin, given the state of Onorato’s campaign, and how poorly he’s polling, is that she didn’t share with the rest of the campaign staff.

Maybe That’s Why There Was a Black Helicopter

Apparently this year’s Second Amendment rally in Harrisburg were labeled as potential havens for domestic terrorism, according to a state funded non-profit. These were reports sent to law enforcement and government agencies. Maybe that black helicopter that few overhead wasn’t just a coincidence :)

Discharge Petition for HB 40, Castle Doctrine

Scott Perry is leading the charge to bypass Dwight Evans, who’s been tying this up in the Appropriations Committee, and get this bill to the floor for a vote. Apparently that could be any minute. From NRA:

A discharge petition has been filed for House Bill 40,Â Pennsylvaniaâ€™s â€œCastle Doctrineâ€ bill.Â In order to get the bill to the House floor for consideration, this petition must be approved.Â That vote could happen as early as tomorrow.

House Bill 40, sponsored by State Representative Scott Perry (R-92), would permit law-abiding citizens to use force, including deadly force, against an attacker in their homes and any places outside of their home where they have a legal right to be.Â Â HB40 would also protect individuals from civil lawsuits by the attacker or the attackerâ€™s family when force is used.

Please contactÂ your State RepresentativeÂ AS SOON AS POSSIBLE and respectfully urge them to vote for the discharge petition and to support HB40 on the floor. Contact informationÂ can be found by clickingÂ here.

We might be able to pass this.