December 2007 – Page 24 – Shall Not Be Questioned

The Swing Voter

This article is just more proof that independent voters are a canvas onto which people paint their own political aspirations:

But thereâ€™s a new factor: unalignment. The American electorate is divided into thirds: Democratic, Republican, and unaligned independents. For this the thid r group, which is heavily white, affluent, suburban and secular, voting Republican is seldom cool or acceptable.

Hardcore Democrats disdain Republicans as macho, war-like, tight-fisted, mean-spirited, intolerant, bigoted and dictatorial. Thatâ€™s expected. Hardcore Republicans deride Democrats as squishy-soft on national defense and terrorist issues, and obsessed with creating a Utopia on earth. Thatâ€™s expected.

Whatâ€™s unexpected is that independents, driven by the â€œpolitics of culture,â€ have turned strongly against the Republicans. For them, issues like abortion rights, gun control, gay rights, immigration reform resonate, and to them, Republicans are on the wrong side. In their estimation, traditional Republican issuesâ€”tax cuts, spending slashes and reduced governmentâ€”have utterly no appeal. They look up government as now good.

So basically, the independent unaligned voters are really just Democrats.Â I don’t think it’s that simple.Â I don’t pretend that all independents are libertarians, only some of them are, or that they are more socially conservative progressives, some of them are, and I definitely don’t think they are all pretty much Democrats or Republicans who don’t know how to fill out a voter registration.

For various reasons, I think independent voters feel the parties don’t represent their positions, so they stay out of the process.Â I certainly feel that way most of the times.

Quote of the Day

“[Gun control] is an issue that, again, doesn’t break down under normal party lines, and if we’re going to win this we have to build a coalition, and that coalition in my judgment should include every southeastern Republican and Democrat. There’s no excuse for anybody from the southeast not voting to support common sense gun legislation” – Governor Rendell, 12/03/2007

Within several miles of my house are at least four gun shops.Â Literally right around the block there is one. Â When you think about how many shooters a single gun shop can service, that gives you an idea of how many gun owners there are in this area.

My shooting club, which is 10 miles up the road in the next Township has 1100 members, and we’re at our limit.Â There’s a waiting list to join.Â If you went to apply today you’d be turned away.

Chester County issues approximately 11,000 LTCs, Montgomery County issues about 19,000, My county (Bucks) issues about 24,000.Â Delaware County issues about 12,000. Â That totals 66,000 licenses issued in the Philadelphia Suburbs.Â The city itself issues 32,000. Â License holders are typically the most active in the gun rights community, and 100,000 region wide is nothing to sneeze at.

Ed Rendell seems to be operating under the mistaken impression that no one in the suburbs cares about the second amendment.Â I think he’s wrong, and come election day, we may have to single out a few vulnerable members of his little “coalition” and demonstrate that.

More Eating Our Own

If folks want to know why I will never join or give a dime to GOA, this is a big part of the reason why. I followed over to their site, and found the accusation in the fall newsletter. Now, given that it was the Wisconsin Ethics Board that made this mistake, I can understand how this made it into the newsletter. I think a phone call might have been in order, but it’s a pretty official source, so I’ll give them a break on the original inclusion.

But now, knowing it’s a mistake, do you think maybe a public retraction is in order? It seems like the honorable thing to do. But I’m afraid WGO is more interested in crapping on NRA than being honorable.

I don’t think it’s healthy for gun owners to only have one voice, but it’s definitely not healthy gun rights activists and organizations to form a circular firing squad, and I won’t have any part of organizations that promote it. It’s one thing to disagree, it’s another to do what GOA and their state affiliates have been doing as of late.

Gone With the Wind

Despite temperatures in the mid 30s, and winds of 25 mph with gusts up to 50 mph, my club was still shooting trap tonight.Â We’ve been rained out the past few weeks, so I was eager to shoot a few sets, despite the conditions.

Winds that high either send the clays into the upper atmosphere, when you’re expecting it to crest, or send it out so quickly that by the time you get a bead on it, it’s so far out your chance of hitting is narrow.Â Clays thrown more sideways really go that way if the wind is helping it.Â Let me also say, it’s also amusing to see the wadding shoot a few feet out, and then go sideways.

All in all, a fun time, despite my score of 18 and 13.Â I think it’s good to shoot under adverse conditions.Â Â If you can keep your game together when it sucks out, you’ll be better for it when it doesn’t.Â I’m not sure I’d consider 13 keeping my game together, but I’ll take 18 given the conditions.Â I was considering a third set, but on my second, the snow flurries started, and I figured that was my cue to call it a day.

Looks like Laura Washington …

… is busy spewing crap again.

Word Counts

ATF have been sending out the updated book of all state and federal gun laws to FFLs. I got mine a few days ago. Ride Fast got his too, and has some interesting observations about state gun laws.

FBI NICS Additions

First Dave Hardy talked about it over here.Â Clayton Cramer doesn’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing.Â David Codrea thinks it’s madness.Â I agree with Clayton that the mentally ill are more likely to be stopped by background checks rather than criminals.Â Â But is NICS constitutional?Â Technically speaking, it’s a prior restraint on the exercise of a right.Â If it were printing presses we were talking about, it wouldn’t be a constitutionally permissible law.

NICS exists because the vast majority of Americans think people should have to pass a background check to buy a firearm.Â Even among gun owners, it’s rare to find people who argue that abolishing the instant check system is a worthwhile endeavor, but I have to admit I find Bruce’s commentary here telling:

If anything can be learned from the events that unfolded in Rochester this afternoon, it’s that more must be done at the federal level to prevent persons of questionable mental status from purchasing duct tape and road flares.

Or to paraphrase what I’ve heard from others: if someone can’t be trusted with a gun, they can’t be trusted with matches and gasoline either.Â There are a lot of ways to cause mayhem and destruction for those who wish to do so.

I’ve said before that I consider NICS to be a minor infringement, and I’m not certain it’s worth burning political capital to eliminate it in the current political climate.Â I wouldn’t underestimate the value it has in making the public feel good that the current laws are adequate.Â But is it constitutional?Â Is it a worthwhile restriction, aside from making people feel better about guns being legal?Â Should we make getting rid of it a priority? Â I’d love to hear people’s opinions in the commentary.

Leviathan Strikes Again

It seems to me the Pennsylvania legislature should just get rid of this whopper of a stupid law.

An old state law is coming back to haunt a few of the residents of Pennsylvania: If you sell the belongings of another person, you are required to have an auctioneer’s license. The state issues them as part of a monumentally exhaustive process that can take months and possibly require a formal apprenticeship.

Sounds like a trade group pushed for that licensing to artificially constrain supply in the market for selling other people’s crap, and now are pushing to have that monopoly enforced.Â There is no just reason why selling other people’s stuff should require a license from the state.Â The free market can sort that one out, and our politicians should allow it to.

Akins to Fight

Apparently the Akins Accelerator folks are going to fight the ATF determination in court after all. I wish them luck. I’m rather skeptical about being able to recover damages from ATF for the determination. How would the suit overcome soverign immunity? I would think that ATF, acting in it’s capacity to adminsiter the GCA 68 and the NFA would be able to claim soveirgn immunity against a damages suit. Can any attorney’s comment on that?

Though, filing suit over the determination strikes me as meritorious, and given ATF’s track record in court, probably has a good chance.

The Pushback Begins

Pennsylvania Democrats, particularly Western Democrats, are pushing the house leadership to drop the gun control issue.Â They know it’s going to hurt them if gun control becomes a big issue, and Democrats are seen as the ones pushing it.

Kotik says the Democrat-controlled House should be focusing on issues such as property tax reform and health care. Kotik says he and the other members who signed the letter should not be asked to put up votes on social issues he believes are likely to go nowhere in the Republican-controlled Senate.

He’s absolutely right.Â It makes no sense for Democrats to address an issue like gun control when there’s no chance of passage.Â Ed Rendell has a lot to learn about the state he governs.