April 2009 – Page 17 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Campus Carry Update

If the polls released over the past few days are making the Brady’s crap their pants, this news is going to have them reaching for the Imodium.Â Â The Missouri House has passed a bill that eliminates the restrictions that people with concealed weapons licenses face on college campuses.Â Â Best part?Â It passed 106-41.Â A House committee in Texas also recently passed the same bill, 5-3, sending the bill to the full House for consideration.

We’d like to congratulate the new NRA State Liaison for Missouri on the victory there.Â Prior to her new position in State and Local Affairs, she was the Media Liaison who handled blogger outreach, sending us press releases and answering our questions.Â So we’re very happy for this accomplishment.

Small of Back Carry

Brillianter takes issue with a method of carry we’ve probably all tried at some point or another, namely small of the back carry.Â I carried this way for several months when I first got my license, because it seemed like a reasonable place to conceal.

Strong side carry seemed too bulgy and when you first start to carry, you think everyone can notice that.Â Truth is, bulges along your side are normal these days with all the crap people carry around with them.Â Bulges along your back are not.

Now I carry a Glock 19 at 4:00 strong side, in a Kydex in-waistband holster.Â If I can’t wear an outer-shirt, 2:00 works with a shirt pulled over, even though it’s not as comfortable.Â The Kel-Tec P3AT I carry in a pocket holster either in the strong side front pocket, or in my inside coat pocket, which makes for a nice cross draw.

Inky Looking for Content, Finds Brady Campaign

It looks like along with all of their money, the Philadelphia Inquirer has also lost all of their creative thinking abilities. In an effort to fill their editorial page this morning, the Inky decided to simply publish the current Brady agenda and slap their own name on it, calling it an editorial.

But the starting point has to be stricter gun control measures – including a national assault-weapon ban, wider reporting of lost and stolen guns, universal background checks, and limits on handgun purchases.

Round 2 of Helmke v. Feldman

It appears that Paul Helmke and Richard Feldman are back for another round of point/counterpoint today.

Where’s My Wheelbarrow of Cash?

I’m going to take this issue up with the NRA.Â And here all this time I’ve been promoting NRA out of concern for the cause.Â What a fool I’ve apparently been.Â Thank you, thank you, lefty bloggers, for showing me the light.

Bad Idea Out of Germany

The Germans are known for probably the best idea humanity has ever come up with, and unfortunately, also one of the worst.Â This decidedly lies betwixt beer and Hitler, but is not in the realm of good ideas, if you ask me:

Germany may require gun owners to lock weapons in safes that can only be accessed with a fingerprint, as the country considers tightening firearms laws after last monthâ€™s school shooting, a government minister said.

That sounds all well and good until you slice your finger open cleaning your gun for a match the next day, and then can’t get into your safe in the morning because you marred your fingerprint.Â It also makes you susceptible to problems like this, which are common to a lot of electronic locks.Â There are also ways to defeat thumbprint scanners, and electronic locks, if you’re clever.Â In the case of many electronic locks, you don’t even have to be that clever.

Personally, I don’t think you can beat the old fashioned dial combination lock for both security and reliability.Â Properly taken care of, they will last a long time.Â Incidents like what happened in Germany are exceedingly rare.Â Thieves breaking into houses to steal guns are a lot more common.Â I think it would be short sighted for the German Government to mandate a type of lock that is easier for thieves to defeat, in order to prevent something much more rare.

Wow, They Really Are The GOA of Gun Control

Tom Diaz of VPC has some advice for his movement that if you took out the word “control” could have come from Larry Pratt:

I am sick and tired of the incrementalists in the so-called â€œgun control movement,â€ the strategic geniuses and direct-mail fundraisers who fed the shark by bits and pieces for years until it ate their movement.Â Many who ran off the beach now mock the ones who stayed.Â Itâ€™s a dead issue, you understand, and those who fled have more important things to blog, twitter, opine, and bloviate about.

Larry can feel your pain Tom, I’m sure.Â Even if it’s from the other side of the coin.Â Of course, how many legislative victories does VPC have?Â Oh, I suppose some credit can be taken for coming up with the “assault weapons” bogyman.Â But wasn’t that incrementalism?Â Meant to get the public used to real gun bans?Â The 1994 ban itself was built on top of another incremental victory with the National Firearms Act, then the Federal Firearms Act a few years after that, which was further built upon with the Gun Control Act of 1968.Â HCI (now the Brady Campaign) had a string of legislative victories in the early 90s, and if it wasn’t for the election upset in 1994, they would have really screwed us.

But I can’t tell you how relieved I am to see this poison appearing on the gun control side of the issue too.Â Keep holding out for that one big win, Tom.Â And we’ll keep incrementally chipping away at the regime your cause built up over the 20th century.

Interview With Joe DeBergalis

This is the last in our series of interviews with Board Candidates, which means it’s now time to get your ballots in.Â I will be engineering a fun series of reminders for you.Â As with our interviews with Scott Bach, and Edie Reynolds, my questions are in bold, and the answers italicized.

What, if anything, do you think the NRA can do to help introduce downstate people to the shooting sports and the Second Amendment?

This is a very difficult question to answer, to categorize any citizen of New York as either a “Upstate” or “Downstate” is to invite argument and vigorous debate.

Well, putting that aside then, what do you think NRA can to get more people involved in shooting?

Let’s examine the issue at hand as one that is societal in nature and easily remedied.Â The NRA, through its official state affiliate – The New York State Rifle and Pistol Association – reaches thousands of shooters across the state each year.Â Anyone so inclined, may avail themselves to a wide variety of shooting experiences….as my campaign motto suggests, “From Black Powder to Black Rifle…”

No matter what your interest is or where you may reside- there is a shooting discipline for you.

Aside from NRA, is there anything you would recommend to individuals, to get more people active?

We need to invite those who may be interested to join us at the gun club, the range or even the match.Â I know personally that this is the one of the best methods to get those interested involved…

Addressing specifically the Second Amendment, what is your philosophy on spreading the concepts to the uninitiated?

Regarding introducing anyone to the Second Amendment, I would certainly hope that all citizens – young and old – would be well versed on their civil rights guaranteed under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. That being said, as one that has instructed at the high school, collegiate and Post-Graduate Level, I – unfortunately – know that not to be the case.

Wherever I present, I go to great lengths to fully “enlighten” those that will listen that the Second Amendment has nothing to do with the “National Guard” or one of my favorite pastimes of hunting. It is plain and simple, the amendment that guarantees us our freedom – the right to self-defense against tyranny.

We’d like to thank Joe for taking time to answer our questions.Â Now get those ballots mailed in!

Quote of the Day

From Nancy Pelosi:

We don’t want to take their guns away. We want them registered. We donâ€™t want them crossing state lines.

Sorry Nancy.Â It’s not going to happen.Â I’m not going to register mine.Â I think enough people feel the same way it’ll work out the same way it did in Canada.Â For Pennsylvanians, if you live in the following Congressional Districts, be sure to contact your Congress Critter:

District 3 – Kathleen A Dahlkemper
District 4 – Jason Altimire
District 10 – Christopher Carney
District 11 – Paul E. Kanjorski
District 12 – John P. Murtha
District 17 – Tim Holden

These are our Congressional delegation that likes to claim some “blue dog” credentials.Â I have left out the radical liberals, though they should hear from you too, just with a different message.Â Be sure to express skepticism that by supporting the Democratic Party, you’re supporting your rights.Â Even though Congressman like Jason Altmire are very pro-gun, they have to fear other Democrats tarnishing them with talk of gun control.Â That’s the only way we’re going to shut Pelosi up, if her Blue Dogs feel like they might be in trouble if she pushes something.

Point-Counterpoint at the LA Times

This one involves Paul Helmke and Richard Feldman.Â Feldman puts the smack down on Helmke.Â If you’re wondering, yes, it’s this Richard Feldman.Â Â I managed to scrounge up a copy of Feldman’s kiss and tell, and have been meaning to write a review on it.Â Feldman has turned on NRA, but I don’t think he’s turned on the movement as a whole, as his buddy Bob Ricker did.Â The book drips with ego, and his conclusions about NRA are largely wrong, in my opinion, but it’s worth reading if you can pick up a used copy like I did.Â I don’t recommend people feed the monster by buying it.