Shall Not Be Questioned – Page 693 – The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …

Must Be Why He’s Playing Up His Sportsmen’s Creds

John Tester is looking vulnerable in Montana. Tester is co-chair of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, a fact which I have seen floating around in the news quite a bit lately. He’s really going to look like a fool if Obama pushes gun control, despite Tester’s assurances during the 2008 election that we didn’t have anything to worry about. Tester himself, however, has been legitimately very pro-gun, even sponsoring a bill to fix the problem with reimportation of M1 Garands and M1 Carbines. I sincerely hope if President Obama decides to make gun control part of his legacy, Tester will distance himself from Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.

Hat Tip Instapundit.

More on Constitutional Carry in Colorado

From NRA:

Despite NRA support for this bill, HB 1205 faces an uphill battle as the Democratic leadership in the state Senate has consistently assigned pro-gun bills to theÂ SenateÂ State, Military & Veterans Affairs Committee.Â Their designated â€œkill committeeâ€ has predictably defeated pro-Second Amendment bills by 3 to 2 partisan votes during the last several years.Â Â In addition, Colorado Governor and former Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper (D) has been a member of New York City Mayor Michael Bloombergâ€™s Mayorâ€™s Against Illegal Guns and he would almost certainly veto such legislation.

If you follow the link, they provide contact information for the committee members. It doesn’t look good in the Senate, but we definitely won’t get Colorado if we don’t try.

Coat tax

From a Colorado legislator, who is sponsoring a bill to eliminate the permit requirement in Colorado:

Holbert, who sponsored the legislation, said the permit is akin to a â€œcoat taxâ€ because it is necessary only when a gun is covered, such as by a coat.

I had never thought of calling a CC permit a “coat tax” before, but it works. Colorado’s House passed the bill. It’s on to the Senate. If Colorado can pass Constitutional Carry, I’m hard pressed to find a reason Pennsylvania can’t do it.

National Review on ATF Scandal

Glad to see National Review questioning the need for more gun laws to stop trafficking to Mexico considering the current scandal.

Guitar Shotgun

Swedish police raid a guys house, who was supplying guns to criminals. They were home made, and included a guitar shotgun and a submachine gun. We keep telling out opponents this will happen, but I don’t think they quite believe us.

The Media Story

When Sebastian told me about this Opposing Views piece from Brady, I almost couldn’t believe they would do something like that.

President Obamaâ€™s invitation to sit down and talk about ways to reduce gun violence in America was met with the National Rifle Associationâ€™s usual stubborn refusal to stop the bloodshed in favor of selling more weapons. The NRAâ€™s ridiculous stance was roundly â€“ and deservedly â€“ criticized by editorial writers and columnists across the nation.

It goes on the quote from four different media outlets criticizing NRA’s position on the meeting with the Administration. Not that I want to help the Brady Campaign staff do their jobs or anything, but who in their right mind would want to show their supporters & donors that the media cycle has become exclusively about the NRA while their own political agenda of gun & magazine bans is being outright ignored in the debate with the White House? It’s not often you see a group highlighting their failure to be relevant, but the Brady Campaign seems to embrace that strategy here.

Not Something You Read Everyday

From a news report on a Pittsburgh apartment fire:

Once the fire fight was over, crews said they found a partially-damaged AK-47 assault rifle, which will be checked for proper ownership.

Officers said they will check to see if the alligator, which was unharmed by the fire, needs an exotic pet permit or if it already has one.

Well, okay then. Pretty sure ATF isn’t going to be able to trace the alligator though.

Firing Missiles

I’m amused by the picture CNN chose of the missile attack on Libya. The USS Barry. Of course, it’s named after this Barry, rather than our warmongering, baby murdering President, but I thought the symbolism there was rich.

I should note that I actually think O-bomb-a is doing the right thing, finally. I just said the warmongering, baby murdering line because I had to listen to the left say it about Bush for 8 years, and it felt good. As much as many were egging Obama to do something, letting the Europeans take the lead on this maybe be a good thing in the long run. When you treat other countries like children and make them dependent on your security guarantee, it can’t be too surprising when they act like children and piss all over you for looking out for them. It’s probably better for the United States in the long run if the Europeans have to take responsibility for their own security, and pitch-in toÂ make the world a safe place ~~to keep traveling around in petroleum sucking cars and jet aircraft~~ for Democracy.

This Describes Me Well

A New York Times article on the demise of the phone call:

â€œI literally never use the phone,â€ Jonathan Adler, the interior designer, told me. (Alas, by phone, but it had to be.) â€œSometimes I call my mother on the way to work because sheâ€™ll be happy to chitty chat. But I just canâ€™t think of anyone else whoâ€™d want to talk to me.â€ Then again, he doesnâ€™t want to be called, either. â€œIâ€™ve learned not to press â€˜ignoreâ€™ on my cellphone because then people know that youâ€™re there.â€

I can’t remember the last time I answered an outside call on my office phone. When you’re in some kind of IT or tech field, 95% of the time it’s someone calling to try to sell you something you don’t want or need. Someone important will leave a message.

Are We Better Off Without ATF?

Robert Farago of Truth About Guns thinks ATF has seen better days. I think a lot of gun owners would come to regret this, to be honest. Why? Let me outline some points to think about:

We’ve gone through the trouble to get ATF appointment to be subject to Senatorial confirmation. We’ve been able to block Andrew Traver as a result of that. If ATF is eliminated, enforcement of gun laws will fall to the FBI. Our ability to block an anti-gun FBI Director will be nearly non-existent, because FBI has such broad responsibility. There’s no special interests that are too worried people will start moonshining and smuggling cigarettes in the absence of an ATF Director. Lots of other interests are going to get real uppity if you hamstring the FBI.
ATF are the Barny Fifes of federal law enforcement. The media doesn’t take them too seriously, or pay much attention to them. Congress does not take them very seriously. Other federal law enforcement doesn’t take them very seriously. On the other hand, the FBI has a very good reputation. Congress will listen to the FBI.
ATF is stretched thin on resources, and have been for some time. This limits their ability to harass otherwise law abiding people with federal gun laws. Sure, ATF does this sometimes, but the FBI currently views guns as an ancillary mission. We’re not going to screw with FBI’s funding like we can ATF.
Remember that the FBI was secretly keeping NICS data for years during the Clinton Administration. They are probably still doing it. Usually when ATF makes an aggressive move, it’s done with such bumbling incompetence that a scandal usually quickly ensues. The FBI will screw us in ways we probably won’t even realize, and even when we do realize, they’ll probably get away with it.

So this is another bandwagon I’m not going to get on, at least not unless we can seriously repeal a lot of federal gun laws. It might not seem like it sometimes, but the ATF wolf has largely been caged over the past couple of decades, mostly through appropriations riders, the agency’s own poor reputation, and subjecting the director to confirmation by the Senate. The FBI is a wolf we’re not going to cage, and that wolf has enough fox in him to be dangerous.