At least one Philadelphia gun owner isn’t taking it lying down. My hat is off to him. Just a word of advice to any Philly readers who decide to defy the City’s non-law; be prepared with competent legal representation if you do get in trouble, and once you’re able to, let me know about what happened. We can get the ball rolling on fighting this nonsense.
The Real Culprits
One tragedy this whole Philadelphia Gun Ordinance fiasco is it could be opening up the city’s police officers to lawsuits. The real culprits are the city politicians, and the political appointees like Charles Ramsey, who carry out their edicts. These are the people who deserve to be punished. But our system isn’t set up to work that way, and the people most likely to end up punished are the police officers who are ordered to enforce this nonsense.
It’s easy to suggest “Well, they know it’s illegal, they should refuse to enforce it,” from the comfort of an office chair. It’s much harder when you have mortgage payments to make and have to put the kids through school. Qualified immunity is what it is, and preemption is clearly established law. Ordering the enforcement of this law will likely make police officers pay for the actions of the real culprits, who will escape any punishment, which is a real tragedy in all of this.
Mood at the Club
I was listening to people talk about the Philadelphia gun bills at Indoor Silhouette tonight. People seem to be generally pissed, and reluctant to head to the one club left in the city to shoot. I heard several say that even if the state preempts the City’s ordinance, if charged, they will likely never see their gun again. That’s probably correct. The city’s “assault weapons ban” is so broad that it bans many common sporting guns. Head there with a ported Ruger 10/22, and you can get busted.
I sincerely hope that someone sues the ever loving hell out of the City of Philadelphia for this. But even in that instance, it’s city taxpayer money at stake, and I doubt enough of them will mind to make a difference. This is one of those things that not much will ever be done about. There will be no consequence for the actors involved for violating state law. This is why it’s important for gun ownership to be viewed as a fundamental right by the federal courts. It’s only then do you have a remedy to deal with this kind of malfeasance.
They Did It: Philadelphia Passes Gun Bills
City Council has passed the gun control measures:
City Council passed five gun control measures today that are expected to still face a legal challenges.
Mayor Nutter has said he will sign the bills into law. The five bills limit handgun purchases to one a month; require lost or stolen firearms to be reported to police within 24 hours; forbid individuals under protection from abuse orders from possessing guns if ordered by the court; allow removal of firearms from “persons posing a risk of imminent personal injury” to themselves or others, as determined by a judge; and outlaw the possession and sale certain assault weapons.
I have absolutely no intention of obeying any of these city ordinances, and I can promise a lawsuit if they attempt to enforce them in violation of the laws of this commonwealth. Get ready folks, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
UPDATE: Nutter signed the five pieces of shit, and ordered his partner in crime, Police Chief Charles Ramsey, to enforce them. I feel for the police officers who will end up following orders, and possibly open themselves up to lawsuits. Because of preemption, and the Ortiz precident upholding preemption, these laws passed by city council are essentially not law, so anyone enforcing them will be acting under color of law, and could possibly lose their qualified immunity.
Reasoned CommentsTM
Remember this guy? Looks like Cam got his attention here:
Why, I know people who would put talk show hosts just below guys who sell night crawlers out of their kitchens, but I’m not one of them. No sir, I rank radio talk show hosts at least as high as telemarketers and bloggers. And if anyone ever doubted your personal sense of “classy,†I recommend they read the Manifesto feature of your blog — particularly that line about how you and your drinking buddies don’t want to talk about Lindsey Lohan anymore “until she eats something and gets her chest back.†Ah, now that’s class.
And how appropriate that Cam and his buds fashioned their blog after their Friday night boozing sessions. I have always felt that conservatives were at their wittiest when they had a few drinks under their belts — in their own minds if nowhere else.
What, what a great guy. Read the whole thing. If smug self-satisfaction could be transformed into matter, this guy’s would collapse into a singularity that would stand a pretty good chance of sucking the entire universe down with it. It doesn’t really amaze me that these type of people exist, but it does amaze me that anyone pays attention to them. I hate this crap as much when I see it on our side as I do when it comes from guys like this.
Blogroll Addition
VCDL has a new blog, written by some familiar people.
My Letter to Speaker O’Brien
I’m hoping all my readers who live in Pennsylvania have gotten a chance to e-mail the House Speaker, Dennis O’Brien, who stood with us all the way on House Bill 1845, and voted against the lost and stolen amendment, at great political cost in his district of Philadelphia. Here’s my letter:
Dear Mr. Speaker,
I wanted to thank you for your vote on House Bill 1845, who’s passage I witnessed from the House Gallery on Monday. I’m glad we finally got something passed that will help fight criminals who misuse firearms, and respect the rights of gun owners.
I particularly want to thank you for your vote against Representative Levdansky’s amendment to require reporting of a lost or stolen firearm. I know this was a very difficult vote for you politically, and I’ve read the negative coverage you’ve received from the Philadelphia media over it. I wanted to make sure you knew that there are many gun owners in the Philadelphia area, including myself, who are very grateful that you stood with us. If I can ever be of service to you, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
[Sebastian]
The Philadelphia media is eating O’Brien alive for standing with us, and I have no doubt that CeaseFire PA is going to make defeating him their top electoral priority. Representative O’Brien did his part in standing with us, and I sincerely hope we’ll all stand with him when he needs us.
Tailing the Obama Bus
Bitter tells it. At least I think it was his bus. I can’t imagine what other bus would be escorted by several state police cruisers, and several suburbans with black windows. Obama was also in my neck of the woods yesterday.  Ran into the caravan headed north on I-95 toward New Jersey on my way to the gun club. Good news is the feds aren’t monitoring bluetooth or cell traffic, since I’m pretty sure my statement to Bitter on the cell “That’s probably one caravan that’s rolling with more firepower than I am” would have prompted some kind of action to pull me over, and for six guys in suits armed with submachine guns to start going over my vehicle and my person with a fine tooth comb.
Guns on Campus Debate
Head over to Dustin’s and join the debate currently being dominated by the anti-gun crowd.
SR-9 Safety Recall
Ruger is issuing a safety recall of the SR-9. Apparently it’s possible for the firearm ti discharge if dropped with the safety in the off position.
The company said it is reworking the design of a new trigger group that prevents firing when dropped and will retrofit at no charge all Ruger SR9 pistols with serial number prefix “330.â€
Better be sure to send yours in if you have those serial numbers. Fortunatly, I don’t think most of us drop our guns that often. I don’t recall that I’ve ever done it.