Shall Not Be Questioned – Page 972 – The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …

Bloomberg’s Pennsylvania Investment

Don’t let it be said that Bloomberg can’t make the most of his money. Although I guess we shouldn’t underestimate a multi-billionaire.

In Pennsylvania, once he lost mayor after mayor to pressure from NRA members, he sent his shared Brady Campaign staffer to recruit. But, wisely, they kept their cards close to their chest. They refused to release names until after Election Day. For the 17 they lost, they updated with 66 new ones. Now, that’s not a clear addition of 66. Without even really digging in deep, I know at least a few of those new mayors will be gone by year’s end. They already planned to retire, or in one case, the town voted to do away with the mayor’s office. (Changing local government system isn’t unheard of here, another non-MAIG township in our area voted to do the same thing last week.)

View Bloomberg’s Anti-Gun Mayors in Pennsylvania in a larger map

As you can see by the updated map, he added a good chunk of his mayors out in the western part of the state again. I haven’t done a formal count, but I would not be shocked if the western part of Pennsylvania is now home to half or very nearly half of the anti-gun mayors.

Not all of the mayors are up at the same time, so there will be more municipal races to fight in the next year to two years. And more importantly, if your mayor’s name is on this updated list, make their phone ring off the hook. Make this a distracting issue for them. Give them a headache from the stream of phone calls from you and your shooting club buddies.

Making Sausage

This article over at Politico gives you some idea what Nancy Pelosi had to do to pick up the votes she needed to pass the health care bill through the House.

Veterans Day

A Veterans Day message from NRA, narrated by Jim Land, Secretary of the National Rifle Association.

An Online Firearms Museum

Tam has been working again on The Arms Room. I highly recommend it, as it’s some very good writing about guns, and not much else.

Some Good Points Last Night

If anyone missed Ashley last night, you can download the MP3 here. She brought up a couple of good points toward the end in regards to Mayors Against Illegal Guns, who are currently infecting Pennsylvania mayors like the swine flu. There’s a rule in politics that perception of power matters just as much, and probably more, than actual power. When MAIG goes into a state legislators office to lobby their position, it’s quite powerful to be able to say

“You know Mr. Representative, we have four mayors in your district who support our position on this bill. This is something the mayors and people in your district want.”

Even if the reality is that NRA members have the power to unseat the Representative, we really want to avoid having to teach that lesson. What MAIG is doing is creating the perception of power. The perception that voting their way may have some tangible benefit for a state level politician. And an implication of cost or embarrassment for going against local mayors.

MAIG is bringing the culture war over guns to our towns, cities, and local communities, and we have to meet them with strong resistance. Ashley has worked to make MAIG membership a political liability in her states. But that’s something NRA can’t really do without us.

Listen to Gun Nuts Radio Tonight at 9PM

Ashley Varner from NRA will be on Gun Nuts Radio tonight at 9PM to talk about the Chicago case, and various happenings in Caleb’s home state of Indiana. Ashley previously worked in NRA-ILA Public Affairs, and handled the outreach for the bloggers, so we know her fairly well. She has since moved up as State Liaison for Oklahoma, Indiana, and her home state of Missouri. State Liaison is essentially the NRA representative to the states, and NRA’s presence in the State Capitol. She is a lobbyist, but that’s not all a State Liaison is involved with. Ashley has been involved with the fight against MAIG in the states she’s responsible for, and with Pennsylvania being the front lines in that battle, I feel good knowing she’s guarding our flanks in Indiana, Oklahoma and Missouri. So tune in tonight at 9 if you can, and feel free to call in if you want to ask her some questions about liaising, or other gun rights topics.

Lawsuit in Massachusetts Case

Looks like the family of Christopher Bizilj is suing the organizers of the machine gun shoot. There were certainly multiple lapses in judgement that day, but I don’t think it’s a fantastic stretch to suggest that most reasonable parents would understanding giving their eight year old a micro Uzi and a full magazine, and letting him rock and roll, wasn’t the most prudent choice in the world. There are plenty of firearms that are safe for kids in that age group. Hell, there are machine guns (tripod mounted guns that have their point of aim fixed in a safe direction) that are safe for that age group. But not a micro-Uzi. Even for an untrained adult, that’s a tough gun to handle.

History of Military Gun Control

Dave Hardy points out that, surprise, it started with Clinton. But my understanding from people in the military is that soldiers carrying guns for self-protection was not common in the military before this. It’s likely that Clinton just formalized what was already the prevailing practice.

Understanding the Shooting Industry

These aren’t bad videos being produced by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. My only real criticism is that it’s almost a little too “See, our industry is really as American as Apple Pie!” It’s almost too strong a sell, and even comes off being a little more defensive than I think it needs to. That’s probably understandable in an industry that’s unjustly maligned in entertainment, the media, and popular culture, but I think that can interfere with the message. It does get some important points across, though, like the firearms industry being a regulated industry, despite the mad histrionics of the gun control groups, and explaining those regulations to the general public. No doubt absolutists will hate the implications, but this kind of thing is necessary to get the public to accept gun ownership and the firearms industry as being a legitimate part of society.

Part I
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhWq8BVH_ug[/youtube]

Part II
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eppZl_lX8U[/youtube]

How Dems Can Avoid Disaster in 2010

Over at Capitol Ideas, there’s also some good advice for Republicans:

Find Candidates That Fit Their Constituencies And Districts. If he were advising Democrats, Republican consultantÂ Ray Zaborney of Harrisburg said he’d tell them to “find people who are true to where your party is, but make sure you modernize your message.”

Fresh off a trip to Virginia, where he advised state Republicans,Â ZaborneyÂ pointed to GOP gubernatorial candidateÂ Robert McDonnell, who he says beat DemocratÂ Creigh Deeds last week by appealing both to moderates and the party’s conservative base.
“Bob McDonnell is as conservative as they come, but he talked about issues people care about,”Â Zaborney said.

He contrasted McDonnell with the example ofÂ Doug Hoffman, theÂ Conservative Party candidate who was defeated by DemocratÂ Bill Owens, handing the Democrats a win in New York’sÂ 23rd Congressional District for the first time in a century.
Unlike the doctrinaireÂ Hoffman, who was backed by national conservatives,McDonnell “stayed true to his principles, but moved past just tax cuts and vouchers for education,”Â Zaborney said.

“The one who wins is the one that consolidates both sides of their party best and, of course, the middle,” he said.

I’ve never believed the common wisdom often heard on conservative talk radio that if only we ran candidates who were conservative enough, we’d be guaranteed victory. It’s certainly a mistake to run left leaning candidates like Scozzafava in a district that could support a right-of-center moderate, but Doug Hoffman probably wasn’t the right man for that district. Understand that he lost in a year when Democratic turnout was pitiful. He might have won the seat for one term, or two, but if he governed too far to the right of his district, he’d be open to an attack from the center. If anyone doesn’t think that’s a possibility, just ask Rick Santorum.

Whether Republicans want to admit it or not, the Democrats have made great gains by running candidates who tailored their message to their districts, and are now using it to push an agenda that is far to the left, even for many of the Democrats they used to get their majority back.Â I fully believe the Democrats will be punished in 2010 for running too far to the left of the country, but it’s hard to argue the strategy hasn’t been effective for promoting a progressive agenda. The GOP has a lot they can learn in the example.