Boehner does a good bit of political theater over the stimulus:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvnwOjDjnH4[/youtube]
The thud as it hits the floor is a nice touch. Now if only they would actually do this stuff when they are in power.
Letter to Senator Specter
I can’t tell you how angry I am at this stimulus passing, and the double cross from Arlen Specter was just the icing on the cake. He’ll be hard pressed for getting me to vote for him. Like, he better vote against an assault weapons ban or something. I will definitely support any primary challenger against Specter.
Dear Senator Specter,
I have been a long time supporter of yours since I started voting at eighteen years of age. I can’t tell you how disappointed I am that you broke with your fellow Republicans and voted for this wasteful, and pork laden “stimulus” bill, that is basically a decades old wish list of Democratic Party spending that will do little to help fix our economic situation.
I can not stomach the thought of passing off a bill this large to future generations, when our government was already too much in debt. I have to admit, I will have a difficult time justifying supporting you in 2010. If I’m going to vote for a Senator who votes like a Democrat, I might as well just vote for a Democrat. At least I’ll know what to expect.
Sincerely,
[Someone Who’s Voted For You But Never Enjoyed It]
Specter is the poster boy for lesser of two evils, and he’s consistently been. The Democrats tend to run far left candidates against him, because he does well among moderate Democrats. If polling is to be believed, Democrats like him better than Republicans. That’s hardly surprising. He’s consistently won my vote by being less stomach turning than the other guy. I’d say he’s not going to do it again, but if I had a dime for every time I’ve sworn off voting for Arlen Specter I’d be a rich man.
Letter to Kirsten Gillibrand
The following will be sent to Kirsten Gillibrand’s Senate office. It doesn’t look like they have e-mail set up just yet:
The Honorable Kirsten Gillibrand
531 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington D.C. 2051Dear Senator Gillibrand,
While I am not a constituent of yours, I am am a pro-Second Amendment activist and volunteer here in Pennsylvania. Because of your record in support of the Second Amendment, I have donated to your campaign and, through my networks, have encouraged others to donate as well.
I was disappointed to see in an interview with News 4 New York that you may have indicated you are softening your support for measures that we consider to be vital for strengthening the Second Amendment, namely the ATF Reform bill that was introduced in the 110th Congress and which you co-sponsored in the House.
I understand that you are under a tremendous amount of pressure right now, both from your own party, from the downstate New York media, to abandon your support for the Second Amendment. While I understand the difficulty this causes for you, consider the difficulty for activists, such as myself, who have publicly asked hunters and shooters to get behind your candidacy in 2010. I sincerely hope that when push comes to shove, you will stand with us and oppose new gun control measures in the Senate.
Sincerely,
[Someone You’ll Never Get a Dime From Again If You Double Cross Me.]
OK, so I signed my real name instead, but that’s basically the point. Remember the influence heirarchy. If you are a constituent of hers, send a letter now. Especially if you donated, send a letter, and be sure you mention that. Even if you’re not a constituent, or didn’t donate, send her something promising you’ll do whatever you can to support her re-election if she votes with us.
The other side is twisting the hell out of her left arm. We must twist her right. The basic message needs to be that we know you supported us in the past, and we hope and expect you will continue to do so. She needs to understand there will be rewards for support, namely in money and vote delivery.
Gillibrand on HR4900
Kirsten Gillibrand gave an interview with New York News 4 where she seemed to back off the provisions of HR4900 that would make the Tiahrt Amendment a matter of law, rather than a matter of having to repass a spending provision each year refusing ATF funding to release trace data except for law enforcement investigations.
I saw the video interview, and it’s pretty heavily edited, which makes me wonder what the full context was of what she said. Bloomberg is also speaking of productive meetings with her, but he will say that because it’s smart politics for him in terms of twisting her arm. I should note that HR4900 is dead letter, because it was a bill in the 110th Congress. Such a bill might be introduced in the 111th Congress, but chances of the bill going anywhere are slim.
I’ve never seen such arm twisting of a politician as the New York media and political establishment are doing to Gillibrand over the gun issue. We’re now seeing why New York puts F rated politicians into office. I’m hoping against hope that Gillibrand will dodge, triangulate, and say what she has to say to get the New York Media and Bloomberg off her back, but will vote with us on the really important things.  I would not be surprised if Gillibrand decides to surrender her A, and stakes out a middle ground. Politically, she might have to. If she drops to a B or even C rated politician, occupying the seat once occupied by Hillary Clinton, I still say it wasn’t a bad trade. Given the chance, I’d say the same thing for Schumer’s seat. This is New York.
Corruption in Eastern Pennsylvania
We should absolutely not tolerate crap like this. Kudos to the New York Times (you won’t hear me say that too often) for investigating this crap. Let’s just hope the Obama Administration doesn’t ratchet down prosecution of corrupt officials.
Dave Hardy is Back
We’re happy to hear David Hardy is finished with his jury trial and will soon be back to blogging more regularly. For those of you paying attention to the media, this was the trial he was defense attorney for. Federal civil rights lawsuit against a rancher who turns illegals over to border patrol. We will hope for a positive outcome with the jury.
UPDATE: I suppose I should clarify that Dave was representing the rancher.
NRA Board of Directors Endorsements
At the beginning of the week, I mentioned we’d be issuing our board endorsements soon, in addition to talking about the NRA board composition, and how candidates are nominated. We wanted to do this yesterday, but mother nature had other ideas.
Bitter and I are happy to endorse the following candidates for election or re-election to the Board of Directors for the National Rifle Association. There are plenty of other candidates who are worthy out there, and you get 25 votes, but we felt we needed to narrow the field for our endorsements. We’d ask the blogging and blog reading community to vote for our six candidates.
- Scott Bach
When most gun owners have given up on New Jersey, Scott has stayed to fight. He defends gun owners regardless of their interest – .50 caliber bans, bear hunters, collectors who want the freedom to buy more than one gun a month, and many more.Scott is the President of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, the state organization leading the fight for gun rights in the Garden State. He’s an attorney who has used his skills and network to defend both the First & Second Amendment. When a public school was caught sending home anti-gun literature, he sued to mandate that pro-gun literature be honored in the same way. When NY/NJ Port Authority police locked up a Utah man for lawfully traveling with firearms, Bach put the resources of ANJRPC to work to sue the officials who unlawfully arrested him in violation of federal protections. Through ANJRPC, Scott also works with competitive shooters and manages a large shooting range. Their member clubs have trained Olympic shooters. He is also a member of state groups in seven other states, actively supporting their efforts with what he has learned from the political and cultural fights to preserve gun rights in New Jersey.
On the new media front, Scott has been very active in reaching out to bloggers and launched his own blog on the Star-Ledger’s website to counter the anti-gun Bryan Miller. He did an interview for the Blog Bash site last year to discuss his thoughts on how new media can be leveraged to advance Second Amendment rights and develop the shooting sports. He notes that the ANJRPC range may have been the first in the country to offer its members free wifi in the clubhouse.
- Robert Brown
Brown is the well-known publisher of Soldier of Fortune magazine. He has a distinguished military career, and is currently a very active member of the NRA Board. More importantly for purposes of this endorsement, he’s also a vocal advocate in the leadership for new media publishers.During the Second Amendment Blog Bash in Louisville, Brown joined The Outdoor Channel for a reception and brought along complimentary copies of the magazine for bloggers and readers alike. At the following board meeting in September, he used his position on the Legislative Policy Committee to question ILA’s Chris Cox about their work with bloggers, encouraging them to work more closely with the group and applauding their efforts thus far. He was clear that this medium of reaching out to the most outspoken of the grassroots could be an important tool for the organization, a view we clearly support.
In other interesting SOF/new media news, it appears that the magazine’s website is run using WordPress.
- Edie Reynolds
Our political debate on gun rights will no longer be relevant if there is no shooting culture. Competitive shooting and outreach programs will make sure that Americans maintain at least a basic understanding of firearms, and give them a glimpse of how fun responsible gun ownership can be.Reynolds is an outspoken advocate of competitive shooting and walks the walk as an active coach and recruiter to the sports. She has been a certified rifle instructor for more than 30 years and served as assistant rifle coach at North Carolina State University from 1974 to 2000, as well as a rifle counselor at a girls’ summer camp in Vermont. She also serves as the Youth Development Director of the Amateur Trap Association, and her focus on the board has been on programs designed to get women and young people involved in hunting and competitive shooting. Edie started shooting competitively in 1966 and is a five-time Women’s National Champion in Smallbore Prone and holds numerous other shooting titles.
The work of folks like Edie cannot be taken for granted. Edie Reynolds deserves your vote for the Board of Directors.
- Steve Hornady
This is a rather unique endorsement in that we don’t have specific new media citations or close personal experience. What we do have is the opinion of other trusted leaders who have repeatedly noted that Steve Hornady has been known to ask very good questions, and not be a rubber stamp board member when issues need to be discussed. It shouldn’t be shocking since Hornady has been involved with the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute, National Shooting Sports Foundation, Wildlife Management Institute, Hunting and Shooting Sports Heritage Foundation, and Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation leadership over the years. In the past, Hornady has served on the Publications Policies, Public Affairs and Membership Committees.Board members who ask intelligent and thoughtful questions, who aren’t afraid to challenge others for the good of the organization, are a valuable resource. And based on what we have heard about Steve’s experience, we believe he should remain on the board.
- Joe DeBergalis
Joe DeBergalis is a career law enforcement professional fighting for gun rights in New York as Vice-President of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association. He’s also a competitive shooter in pistol, rifle, and shotgun sports, as well as a certified instructor.DeBergalis has put his background to good use by serving on the Education & Training Committee and Law Enforcement Assistance Committee of the Board. He’s no slacker politically, either. He’s the Election Volunteer Coordinator for 8 New York Congressional Districts and the District of Columbia. In addition to his political work for the NRA, he’s bridging gaps in the community by serving as a member of the Government Affairs Committee of Safari Club International while also being an active AR15.com participant.
While his website lists dozens of memberships, it’s worth noting his work in New York, and not just because it’s a challenging state. Other pro-gun leaders in the state have heaped praise on Joe for his efforts there, and I suspect that gun owners in his home state will see him around for years to come.
- Ronnie Barrett
Barrett’s activism and rifles are known far and wide, so he is not likely in need of an endorsement to turn out votes. However, he’s worth highlighting on the ballot for several reasons. First, his strong positions against further gun control should be rewarded. Even when he could continue to make money serving law enforcement officials who buy enjoy his products, but try to ban them from civilian ownership, he very publicly refuses them. He has called on the industry to follow his lead, and it would be nice if others would.Second, his outspoken nature may prove useful for the NRA Board of Directors. He’s a bit of a renegade in the industry, and hopefully he could bring that to a board in need of a little infusion of energy every once in a while. It would appear that he would not necessarily accept the status quo at face value, which, when tempered with more senior members of the board with more institutional experience, can be a healthy mix.
Oh yeah, and he’s a time traveler.
Crossbow Hunting
One issue happening, probably below the radar for most gun blogs, is the controversy going on right now in Pennsylvania over crossbow hunting. Many bow hunters are angry at NRA for their support of crossbow hunting in Pennsylvania, which was recently approved by the Game Commission over the objections of United Bow Hunters of Pennsylvania.
I question whether this was an issue NRA should have been involved in, but I think more from a “is it worth the trouble” perspective, rather than because I agree with the bow hunters.  Hunting is in decline. By many measures, this decline is serious, and is only going to get worse as more hunters die off, or get too old to go afield. Opportunities for hunting are dwindling. Anything that opens up more opportunities to get more people into the sport is ultimately beneficial to both the hunting and shooting communities.
The Humane Society of the United States will relentlessly dog hunters until they ban hunting in this country, one species at a time. They’ve already had success ending dove hunting in Michigan, and we all know about the bear hunts in New Jersey. They were also instrumental in the California lead ammunition ban, and are supporting a nationwide ban on lead ammunition. These people are good at what they do, and they are organized and well funded. In a lot of ways, they make the Brady Campaign look like pikers in comparison.
If hunters want to commit slow motion political suicide by supporting policies that restrict access to their sport, and ultimately reduce their numbers, and their political power right along with it, I’m not sure NRA really ought to stop them. Perhaps it’s not worth the grief. But both hunters and shooters will suffer if hunting disappears in North America. Hunters should get behind anything that expands opportunties for hunting. Bow hunters are being dangerously short sighted on the crossbow issue.
Sporting Purposes Restrictions Afoot?
In recent years, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has quietly abandoned enforcement of the import ban (which was authorized by provisions in the 1968 Gun Control Act and enforced by Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton). As a result, the civilian firearms market is flooded with imported, inexpensive military-style assault weapons, primarily from former Eastern bloc countries including Romania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia. Importers are also able to skirt the restrictions by bringing in assault weapons parts and reassembling them with a small number of US-made parts. Assault weapon “parts kits†for assembly by individuals are also being imported. ATF has further weakened the prohibition by placing certain extremely problematic assault rifles on the “curios or relics” list, making certain firearms automatically eligible for importation.
So what is he proposing? No importation of gun parts? Those guns are assembled in the United States. I also think he misunderstands that this isn’t an enforcement issue, they are enforcing what’s in the United States Code, and Code of Federal Regulations. Here’s the relevant law, Title 18, section 922(r) of the United States Code:
It shall be unlawful for any person to assemble from imported parts any semiautomatic rifle or any shotgun which is identical to any rifle or shotgun prohibited from importation under section 925 (d)(3) of this chapter as not being particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes except that this subsection shall not apply to—
(1) the assembly of any such rifle or shotgun for sale or distribution by a licensed manufacturer to the United States or any department or agency thereof or to any State or any department, agency, or political subdivision thereof; or
(2) the assembly of any such rifle or shotgun for the purposes of testing or experimentation authorized by the Attorney General.
Right now, the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR 27 478.39) allows up to ten imported parts to be used in the manufacture of firearms that are otherwise prohibited from importation. How is Congressman Engle proposing this be handled? The fortunate thing is, it will require a change in the federal regulations to implement his wishes, which is subject to the rulemaking process.
Obama can certainly undertake rulemaking here, but he’ll risk the wrath of gun owners in 2010 if he does so. This will not be something he can do sneaky, behind the scenes. It’s also not a matter of ATF just enforcing the law, like the Congressman seems to think.
Import/Export of Arms Concerns
There are rumblings out of Canada that the first attempts at a low-key administrative attack on guns is beginning. Jim Sheperd reports in this morning’s Shooting Wire:
A report making the rounds in Canada that says officials have it on “good authority” that our State Department may be on the verge of cutting off all imports of certain calibers of ammunition.
Ammos listed for this rumored ban include the .50BMG, 7.62x39mm Soviet, 7.62x51mm NATO, .308 Winchester, 5.56 NATO and .223 Remington. Additionally, we’re hearing that an expansion of this proposed ban might be broadened to include the 6.8mm SPC, 9mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP- among others.
In other words, State Department officials may be floating a trial balloon to see if there are howls of protest, or whimpers of compliance. …
Additionally, Canadian officials tell me they are hearing rumblings of blanket export bans on certain firearms to Canada and the attachment of DSP-83 End Use Certificates (with their $250 Export Fee) attached to all other types of American firearms.
I would question whether there is the authority to regulate importation/exportation of ammunition and assess fees on firearm exports, but I haven’t read all the relevant federal statutes and regulations.