Shall Not Be Questioned – Page 263 – The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …

Attention Virginians!

Terry McAuliffe will work for New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and not you:

Support common sense gun control measures
As Governor, Terry will support mainstream and majority supported gun control measures like universal background checks, limiting the size of magazines, and a return to the 1-gun-per-month rule. These measures respect Virginiansâ€™ right to bear arms while reducing gun violence.

I guess he didn’t learn anything from Colorado. I’ll give Bloomberg one thing, he’s pretty good at getting Democrats to step off the cliff. Bloomberg wants to show that the recall was a one off thing, and that a Democrat sporting Bloomberg’s positions on gun control can win in a purple state like Virginia.

Playing Chicken

A guy shows up to an open carry protest illegally carrying a chicken to make a point. My solution to this absurdity is to question why it’s illegal to carry a chicken in Appleton, Wisconsin. If the goal of the chicken carrier was to raise awareness of the absurdity of a law banning chickens in public, I’d say mission accomplished. I favor repeal.

I’d also note that long gun open carry is now being subject to effective parody, which generally a good indication it’s time to give that shit a break. Just because you can and it’s your right doesn’t mean you should.

Next Target for the Anti-Gun Campaign

It’s Staples. Now, let us not make the same mistake here we made with Starbucks. Staples just wants to sell office supplies. They don’t want to end up in the middle of a gun control fight, be forcibly dragged into the debate, or have people running around in their stores with long guns. I would suggest the wise strategy is to ignore this completely, and only if Staples gives into the bullies do we bring down the god hammer on them and make them realize they chose poorly. I’m not even suggesting people write letters to corporate. Starbucks was not won by the anti-gunners, it was lost by idiots on our own side.

How Are We At Fault Here, Mr. President?

The shooter involved in the Navy Yard Shooting passed an FBI background check for a security clearance, which is about as thorough a background check as anyone can ask for, and he was cleared. And Obama has the nerve to say this?

President Barack Obama accused opponents of gun control of fighting to allow â€œdangerous peopleâ€ to own guns in a speech on Saturday toÂ activists at Congressional Black Caucus, promising he Â would revive his failed gun control efforts following recent urban shootings in Chicago and Washington D.C.â€™s Navy Yard.

All this shows is that background checks don’t matter worth a damn if authorities don’t take time to get an adjudication in cases where someone is mentally ill enough to be a danger to themselves or others. That goes the same for criminal convictions, as is the case here when Seattle authorities missed another chance to prosecute the shooter under a charge which would have made him ineligible to own firearms upon conviction. People on our side have been saying this until we’re blue in the face. No background check in the world will stop someone who slips through the cracks of the mental health system or the criminal justice system. In more cases than the authorities are comfortable admitting, or even talking about, that is the case. Until we can have that conversation, more gun control is just putting lipstick on the pig.

h/t northeastshooters.com

Article on Gun Control Activists in WaPo

This is a pretty decent article by Eli Saslow in the Washington Post that I would recommend everyone read. In any kind of political struggle, you have to be able to put yourself in the mind of your opponents and understand them. You can’t really easily counter your opponents tactics with your own if you don’t understand how they think, and more importantly understand what they are doing wrong. There’s a lot of lessons in here for our side, and the chief lesson is that the tactics you find emotionally satisfying are not always (really not usually) the ones that matter in terms of gaining desired political outcome. Emotional blackmail is similar to open carry in at least one way: it’s a tactic, not a strategy. Waving the bloody shirt will only get you so far.

Crazy Like a Fox for 2016?

Jacob brings up an interesting question in regards to the 2016 election cycle:

I wonder if [Governor Cuomo] was set up, possibly by supporters ofÂ HillaryÂ and/or other Democrat interests who would benefit by his greatly diminished stature? Â I havenâ€™t seen anyone try and claim credit for knocking him down (yet.).

I’m not sure they are really playing that kind of 3 dimensional Chess, but the Clintons are well aware of what his issue is capable of. It does make you wonder if someone is thinking ahead. The Democrats don’t control that many states, and Governor’s mansions are usually one of the better stepping stones to the White House.Â O’Mally, Cuomo, Hickenlooper, and Malloy are all potentially strong rivals to Hillary in 2016, have all soiled themselves by voting for extreme gun control measures. Again, I’d be surprised, but the Clintons are very shrewd politically, and still have a lot of clout in the Democratic Party by being allied with a lot of big donors. This was probably a case of heads the Clintons win and tails the Clintons win.

UPDATE: And when you consider that the working class, blue collar Dems that Hillary was strong with and who also sent Giron packing in Colorado, it really does make you go “Hmmmm…” doesn’t it?

Is Gun Control Dead?

You almost have to feel sorry for Shannon Watts while reading this article in the New Republic, trying to stave off the media narrative, which now is that gun control is dead.

Watts looks at it all differently. She sees a Senate vote that came closer to approving significant gun law reform than lawmakers have in two decades, with six senators with A ratings from the NRA, and two senators up for reelection next year in gun-friendly states, voting for the legislation.

You can spin it that way, but a lot of other gun control groups didn’t think Manchin-Toomey went nearly far enough, and while close is fine when dealing in horseshoes and hand grenades, in legislative terms we still call a near win a loss. But I can’t blame them for trying to speak out against the fatalism their media allies are displaying, and it’s everywhere in the media. The Washington Post has an article about how the renewed debate has led to little in the way of results, with more states liberalizing their gun laws rather than tightening restrictions. The Atlantic is speaking about the “Death of Gun Control” openly, suggesting that while the Senate voting down gun control in April was a setback, there was still hope, but then the Colorado recall happenedÂ … and a Democrat was sent packing in a heavily Democratic district, proving gun control is a losing issue for Democrats even among Democrats. Rich liberals aren’t enough to save gun control advocates from the wrath of our grassroots if they get pissed off enough.

But Watts is right, gun control isn’t dead, and won’t be. We beat them because we were all paying attention and doing all the right things. If we lose that edge, things could change, and fast.

h/t Miguel for the New Republic link.

It’s All About Going After Gun Owners

From the sounds of this article about a Virginia gun club that needed approval to take on some construction projects, it appears as though anti-gun advocates were actually trying to end all gun owner activities rather than having any concern for actual firearms use on the range.

In July, they report that 13 people came out to oppose the club’s plans. Now, that might be expected if the club was looking to vastly expand the number and size of ranges or do something else that would greatly increase quality-of-life factors for residents around the club. But, no. They were opposing a new clubhouse, a picnic pavilion, and a driveway expansion. Opposition to those kinds of improvements is a direct opposition to gun owners meeting and organizing. That’s not about noise from a gun range or concerns over stray rounds. That’s just opposition to gun owners.

In September, the anti opposition had dropped to just one woman who appears to have made up concerns like a new clubhouse might mean that there’s a new sudden interest in trespassing, along with concerns about noises from non-gun activities.

I’m continually amazed at how so many anti-gun groups really want us to believe that they aren’t proposing going after gun owners when we see repeated assaults like this on even allowing gun owners to gather. At the national level, it’s been legislation that would effectively shut down gun shows. Here, it’s silly opposition to a freakin’ picnic pavilion.

h/t to VSSA, a great resource for Virginia gun owners

Mega News Links

This week has been pretty busy, with house guests, our annual Friends of the NRA dinner, and a lot of work stuff. I’ve been falling down on the job in terms of commenting on the happenings of the day, and blew all my blog mojo on a long post about Starbucks. So here’s everything in my tabs:

Sometimes it’s good when our opponents spell out the long term plan for us.

Suit against Maryland here, probably one of many that will challenge the latest rounds of gun control.

John Richardson looks at the impact of the Illinois Supreme Court ruling on right to carry.

Gun Control’s Dead End.

Vulnerable Dems Fleeing from Anti-Gun Nuts.

9 potential mass shootings that were stopped by personally owned firearms.

Gun Control Legislation Isn’t Going Anywhere. This meme is prevalent and is really bad news for our opponents.

Obama pivots back to gun control, but he’s losing the narrative.Â I doubt the recalls will help get the votes he needs, despite the attempts of our opponents to blame the magazine limits. I love it when even our opponents are running from their own agenda!

Gun control is not the answer. “This is why gun-control advocates need to abandon the routine of using mass shootings to turn law-abiding citizens into social pariahs and instead focus on something that could work.” Yep, and after they do this they are surprised when we won’t cooperate with them.

Hickenlooper continues to stumble. The recalls were an important message, but they have to take a beating in 2014 as well to really drive the point home. If I were an activist in Colorado, retiring Hickenlooper would be my focus.

This study has been making its way around, with anti-gun folks all excited about it. I don’t have access to the journals to evaluate it seriously, but even if it’s true, they only look at firearms homicide. Does it make them feel better if they were all pushed out of windows?

Again, the wages of destroying your civilian gun culture. Without the training and infrastructure support the civilian market provides, police get far fewer and worse training options.

Shot towers from around the world. We have one here in Philadelphia, pictured in the link.

Why are anti-gun activists so violent?

Ban hacksaws!

Textbooks rewriting the Second Amendment. I’m sure there’s more of this out there than we realize, much of it from old and outdated textbooks.

Prince Law Offices continues doing an excellent job covering the ATF rulemaking over NFA weapons. They are also looking for people who have been denied LEO sign-off.

They don’t really have enough bullets.

Gun control support drops after Navy Yard shooting. I’m sure the terrorist attack on a mall in Nairobi isn’t going to help bolster support for gun control either.

Buy Brian Aitken’s Book

Brian Aitken, the man that New Jersey authorities arrested & convicted for legally owning guns while moving, is writing a book, and he need people to pre-order to fund the many costs associated with it. Oh, and the profits will go to funding a Supreme Court appeal. Why is he going the route of writing a book to tell his story?

I don’t know about you guys, but my heart just breaks when Brian says, “My biggest goal with this book is just to put my story on paper so that one day my son can pick it up and read it, and know that I never stopped loving him. So that one day, he’ll know why I wasn’t around when he was young.” Excuse me, I might have something in my eye…

For a conviction that never should have happened and wasn’t violent or remotely to do with his ability to be a good influence on his son, Aitken has not seen his son in years and doesn’t even know the sound of his voice since the state of New Jersey took away his custody rights. He’s hoping that an appeal to the Supreme Court could change that.

His fundraiser serves as his pre-sale, and the e-book starts at $8 with hardcover copies going for $32. He has other donation gifts available, including dinner with him & possibly some of his legal team.

From a legal perspective, his case could be interesting. New Jersey is the outlier with the only conviction he has remaining – possessing the hollow-point ammunition while moving. Even though it’s a criminal case, it’s also the rare one with a completely sympathetic defendant.