Year: 2008

Open Primaries in Pennsylvania

Here’s a good CenterDaily article about the primary system in Pennsylvania.  Originally my opinion on open primaries was negative.  I felt that it was a freedom of association issue, and that the parties should be able to control who votes in their primaries.

I’ve since changed my mind, and decided that if the political parties wish to hijack the election apparatus of the state in order to choose delegates to their convention, then the state gets to set the terms under which its election apparatus gets used.  If the parties don’t like this, they can go back to using a caucus system like they do in Iowa.

So I’ll get on board with making Pennsylvania primaries open, and while we’re at it, how about joining Super Duper Tuesday so that candidates will actually pay attention to us.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Good News for Dave Hardy
  2. A Party Leader to Be Ousted
  3. Bucks GOP Can Get Bent

Robinson Arms Controversy?

From Robinson Arms XCR Wikipedia Entry:

On January 1, 2008, Alex Robinson, CEO of Robinson Armament Co., announced his endorsement of Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on the Robinson Armament Co. website. This has led to considerable controversy in the firearms enthusiast community, as Romney indicated on a December 16, 2007 interview on Meet the Press that he would sign a reauthorization of the expired Federal Assault Weapons Ban. This endorsement is seen as peculiar because reauthorizing the Assault Weapons Ban would make sale of the XCR to civilians in the United States illegal. The endorsement has led to calls for a boycott of Robinson Armament Co. in the firearms community.[2]

Robinson Armament has released a statement about this.

Many of you are supporting one of the very pro-gun candidates. That’s great. The question is: What if Mitt, Rudi, or John get the nomination? I think this is fair question.

If one of the solid gun stance candidates do not win and we totally alienate the other candidates, where are we?

If we were all really smart and working together to make sure all the bases are covered, we would make sure that we have some people working with the candidates who have less than stellar pro-gun records. Just in case they make it.

The reason I’ve been working with Romney is that I knew early on that he would be a contender. He’s got a lot going for him that a lot of people like. Though gun control issues are the biggest issues for you and I, many Americans feel there are bigger and more important issues. I completely disagree. A candidate’s stand on the Second Amendment is a litmus test. Candidates who want gun control are typically for big government, want to tax us out of existence, and support lots of other liberal ideas.

Read the whole thing. I don’t know if I’ll be willing to join the call for a boycott over this, but it’s some pretty bad political reasoning. Alex Robinson should have a talk with Bitter, who worked in this issue in Massachusetts under Romney. He’s unreliable, and will throw anyone under the bus if the political winds change, and he thinks it’s politically expedient for him to do so. It would be one thing if Romney already had the nomination locked up, but he doesn’t. It’s still time to fight for pro-gun rights candidates.

UPDATE: One guy even wants to go so far as to cut up and destroy his SBR XCR.  I’d be happy to take it off his hands if it makes him feel dirty.  I might be convinced to join a boycott, but I won’t go so far as suggesting people destroy a perfectly good rifle!

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Glum About 2008
  2. Giuliani’s Pass
  3. Romney’s Court Advisor: Robert Bork

Second Amendment Blog Bash Update

It’s been a while since I updated on events with our Second Amendment Blog Bash planning for the NRA Annual Meeting this May 16-18 in Louisville, KY.  We discovered this weekend that Glenn Beck will be the speaker at the Annual Banquet.  There have been a few more registrants, which brings us up to thirty blogs represented.  We have verbally heard that a few more blogs are probably going to be coming too, so we’ll keep you updated.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Glenn Beck Leaving Fox?
  2. What Will NRA Do?
  3. Thirdpower’s Blog Bash Thoughts

Georgia Could Gain a Seat or Two in House

It makes sense, since a lot of southern and western states are gaining population lost from the Northeast.  Massachusetts is probably going to lose one congressional seat when the next census is taken.

Pennsylvania isn’t experiencing population loss, but we’re growing at about 1/4th the rate of the rest of the country, and, most importantly, the state is having difficulty keeping young people from leaving.  In the long term, Pennsylvania will probably also begin to lose population, unless we can improve the business climate in the state.  Our governor, who has never seen a tax he wouldn’t like to raise, certainly isn’t helping in this regard.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Brain Drain
  2. Yay for Tolls
  3. Brad’s Guest Blogging Next Week

NRA and ATF Reform

Bitter and I attended part of the Board of Directors meeting for the NRA this weekend, since we were in Virginia this weekend.  Chris Cox’s report before the Board stressed the dire need for ATF reform, speaking about how far back this problem goes, and their strategy to fix it through congressional action.  Also stressed were all the upcoming challenges we will be facing in 2008, which are numerous.  I was also quite happy that he thought highly enough of our meeting with NRA folks at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous to mention that specifically in his report before the directors, given that we were a tough crowd.

The NRA isn’t a closed society.  Any member can attend the Board of Directors meeting, though some items do tend to be discussed in executive session, with only board members and officers present.  Of course, I’d be a liar if I told you it was exciting and riveting.  Think of your local gun club meeting, only a lot longer, and with a lot more items to discuss and report on.  More speeches too.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. I Will Not Help Ack-Mac Destroy NRA
  2. Day Two
  3. Later in the Week