November 2007 – Page 9 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Gun Control Debate on Philadelphia NPR

Melody Zullinger of Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmans Clubs debates Bryan Miller of CeaseFire ~~New Jersey~~ Pennsylvania debate new gun control in Pennsylvania (mp3 podcast) on NPR here in Philadelphia. I have to say, I don’t think Melody made a very good case for our cause. In fact, I think Bryan Miller mopped the floor with her. We have to be better prepared for this kind of thing.

Bryan seems to be big on this “personal privilege” thing. Owning a gun is not a privilege. It’s a constitutional right. Both under the federal and Pennsylvania constitutions. Melody had ample opportunity to turn the tables on Miller, and she dropped the ball every time.

UPDATE: Melody in the comments says:

I wonâ€™t deny that I was in way over my head with Miller and Iâ€™m sorry I left our side down. When I agreed to be on the program, I had no idea Iâ€™d be on with Miller or that it was to be a debate. If I had known so, I would have turned down the offer and tried to find someone else who is a good debater to represent firearm owners.

No hard feelings.Â It all worked out the way we wanted in the end.

Killing Itself With Stupidity

Great fisking of Governor Ed Rendell’s plans over at Fighting for Liberty.

Quote of the Day

“The prisons are bulging. Don’t tell me enforcement’s the problem,” he said. Limiting sales of handguns is imperative, Rendell said, because “a high percentage of crime guns are purchased by people other than the actor.”

Make no question about what Rendell really wants to do here.Â His party must be punished for this next November.

The Pit Bull

Rendell is already starting with the charade.

An angry Rendell, clenching his teeth and pounding the lectern so hard it rocked, on Friday implored lawmakers to take guns out of the hands of thugs to protect citizens and police. The governor’s passionate outburst came on the heels of the murder of Philadelphia Officer Chuck Cassidy.

“How much will it take? What does the toll have to be before we do anything?” Rendell said during a news conference. He noted that two more Philadelphia police officers had been wounded by gunmen since Nov. 9, the date he proposed a mandatory 20-year sentence for shooting at a police officer.

“We have a problem,” Rendell said, pausing. “Houston, we have a problem.”

We do have a problem.Â I can think of two big ones off the top of my head, here, and here.Â And that’s just scratching the surface of the problem.Â Gun control is the ultimate cop out for Philadelphia politicians.Â As long as they can beat that drum, they don’t have to be effective.

Pennsylvania News Roundup

GeekWithA45 has a public service announcement.Â Blog-O-Stuff notes a call to action from the Pennsylvania Sportsman’s Association.Â They are asking folks to show up in Harrisburg tomorrow.Â Sadly, I won’t be able to make it.Â Eric talks about why weakening preemption is a bad idea.

More later…

More Training Mistakes

Via Jeff, a Penn student takes a gun safety course. Overall, a much better situation than I was exposed to this weekend, but a few things caught my eye here:

Our instructor, Ken, then came in with an unloaded 9-mm Glock and fake bullets. After 30 minutes with Ken, practicing loading, unloading and aiming, we were ready to shoot.

Why would you bring a 9mm firearm with blanks or simunitions? Beginners should be taught on a .22LR pistol, and then work up to something with recoil when they are comfortable with that. It’s a basic pistol course, not a combat pistol course.

There’s too many macho assholes out there that think .22LR is a wimpy cartridge, but they are perfect for a beginning pistol course involving people who’ve never fired a gun before.

Should you ever come across a gun laying on 42nd Street, with a simple lesson in gun safety, you could feel comfortable disarming it, instead of leaving it there for the next criminal to pick up,. It’s a small step to making Penn, and West Philadelphia, a safer place.

Should you ever come across a gun on the streets, don’t touch it. Call the police and allow them to handle the recovery. That firearm is potential evidence. It could have been used is a crime and ditched by the criminal.

UPDATE: I think I misunderstood what she meant by “fake bullets”. I was assuming blanks or some kind of submunitions. She meant the dummy rounds you use for classroom instruction. In that case, no foul. But I still think 9mm is too much gun for someone who’s never shot before.

How Not to Win

Bitter seemed to not be having fun at the NRA range in Fairfax yesterday.Â I was happy to find out she wasn’t looking pissed off because of me.Â I tend to refer to loud mouth know it alls on the range as “range assholes”, and I tend to ignore them so I can get my shooting done.Â Â I knew I was next to one of these types, but Bitter noticed the certificates that would indicate he was an actual instructor, there with a student.

A bit of background.Â Bitter is an NRA certified instructor herself, who, like most other NRA certified instructors is very good at helping introduce new shooters into the shooting sports, or teach people interested how to safely employ a firearm in self-defense.Â But there are bozos out there who manage to go through the instructor certification coursework, and head out into the world to ensure that people who are curious, and need a little guidance, never again want to touch a firearm in their lives.

I wasn’t paying as much attention to the bozo as Bitter was, because I had shooting that needed to be done.Â But when she told me exactly what he had been telling, and doing, with his student, I was appalled. As evangelists for the shooting sports, but we have a great interest in driving the assholes out of the business of instructing.Â So I will offer to anyone, that if you ever have a bad experience with an NRA certified instructor, let me know.Â I will be happy to assist you in making sure other folks out there are aware of your experience.Â The vast majority ofÂ instructors are fine people who are good at what they do, but I’m very much interested in getting the bad apples out of the bushel, before they spoil the whole bunch.Â It’s only by getting more people interested in shooting that we’ll win this in the long run.

Back from Virginia

I’m back from Virginia.Â Blogging will resume tomorrow, as I am home early enough to probably get a few things ready to go.Â The big story this week is Rendell’s little hissy fit in front of the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee, known as “The Gun Control Bill Grave Yard” in some circles of the Philadelphia media.Â I’m optimistic that we have a good chance of stopping these bills here, but I will be contacting members dutifully when I return from work tomorrow.

New Shooter Report

Over at Breda Fallacy, she took one of her coworkers to the range. We all have to be evangelists for this sport if we’re going to win long term. And I for one, support bringing more women into the sport, especially attractive ones:

Monica met us at the range today, looking a little nervous. (Jimmy, the range manager, said to me, “You brought another one? I’m a little afraid to go to the library now.”) I let her handle all the pistols before they were loaded so she could feel what they were like since she had never handled a firearm before. I helped her with her grip, showed her how to load, put the gun in her hand and said, “Now. You’re ready. Loaded. Aim and shoot.”

And she did.

Good show Breda.

Stark Difference

It’s quite a difference between the Philadelphia Media, which would love to see every gun owner get a knock at the door to turn them in, and doesn’t work too hard to conceal that sentiment, and the media in other parts of Pennsylvania. This Centre Daily article could easily be an NRA alert. Also this LancasterOnline article about archery bear season. I think you have to be a special kind of crazy to hunt bear with a bow. Finally, this article from Erie Times railing against the Governor’s bills. I think our governor would do well to remember that he’s Governor of Pennsylvania, not Governor of Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania is a state that loves its constitutional right to keep and bear arms.