October 2009 – Page 19 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Pennsylvania Voters Back Preemption

As you might know, there is a chance that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court may soon hear a case regarding gun and firearm laws here in Pennsylvania. The current law came out of a case 13 years ago called Ortiz v. Commonwealth. There, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled that the state legislature is the only body that has the power to establish gun laws in the state and that municipalities cannot pass their own gun law ordinances.

Do you (ROTATED) agree or disagree with the Supreme Court of Pennsylvaniaâ€™s ruling that the state legislature should be the only body of government to establish gun laws here in Pennsylvania? (PROBED: And would that be STRONGLY or SOMEWHAT AGREE/DISAGREE?)

56% TOTAL AGREE (NET)
39% STRONGLY AGREE
17% SOMEWHAT AGREE
38% TOTAL DISAGREE (NET)
11 % SOMEWHAT DISAGREE
27% STRONGLY DISAGREE

Also, the spread between gun owning and non-gun owning households was only five percent. So it would seem preemption has broad support among a large number of Pennsylvanians.

How To Get a Gun in Canada

The Firearms Blog takes a look at the process. Interesting. I thought it was relatively difficult to get a restricted license in Canada.

Democratic Nominee Onorato Runs Left

Describing rumors of his pro-gun positions as “mischaracterizations,” when Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato declared his candidacy for Governor in Philly this morning, he called for non-specific “common sense” gun control.

I asked a reporter on the scene what exactly a “common sense” gun law was, but he didn’t have any specifics other than a vague reference by Onorato to child locks. However, he did say he would get back to Onorato on it.

It seems rather odd that Onorato is seemingly running left on gun issues, when he said later that these issues won’t really matter in the 2010 election, it will be more about the economy. If he does, it will be at his own political peril. Of course, he might already know that given this tweet from John Micek:

Onorato event in HBG is in front of Colonial-Era Graveyard. Put out an APB to Metaphor Police.

UPDATE: He also specifically mentioned lost-and-stolen, a law that would turn the legal system upside down for gun owners. We would have to prove our innocence rather than law enforcement proving that we did anything wrong.

Got to Get Down to MAIGTown

The Mayor of Darby, PA, the town I have the unfortunate requirement to name as my place of birth on every 4473, is a member of MAIG. One of the Darby borough council members is under investigation for straw purchasing. If Mayor Helen Thomas is really interested in cracking down on illegal guns, maybe she needed to start with her own Borough Council.

ParaUSA Makes The Greatest 1911s Ever!

And the Federal Trade Commission can totally kiss my ass.

Reloading Presses

TD has a new Lyman reloading press, and offers a review of the equipment. No doubt people will tell him he’s nuts for not just getting a Dillon. I started off with a Lee kit, which worked decently enough. A reader was kind enough to send a Lee progressive press, which I’ve used to reload .44 Magnum. Lee reloading equipment works, but it definitely has its design flaws, especially their progressive presses which have a bit of a Rube Goldberg feel to them, and tend to have minor hiccups which interfere with the reloading process.

Lately I’m pondering getting a rock tumbler so I can handle very significant amounts of brass, and something that will be a little quieter than a vibratory tumbler. Probably not something I’m going to get until I start getting serious about reloading again. But I have been collecting a lot of used brass. Limiting factor for me has been powder, primer, and time.

I Often Wonder How the Left Justifies This

Certainly they are fans of government regulations, but that has consequences. Consequences like this. It’s very difficult, actually, for ordinary people to avoid committing federal crimes. How do progressives justify a regulatory state with the power to destroy lives over something so trivial? How do they justify strict liability for crimes that can put people away for such a long time?

Is This Election Time Posturing?

Both DA candidates in Philadelphia say they will have no tolerance for illegal guns.

“My number one priority as a father of three daughters and a lifelong resident of Philadelphia is to make Philadelphians feel safer. And we are going to do that by prioritizing illegal guns. We are going to be going after the people that are using guns illegally. We are going to be going after the people that are selling guns illegally.”

I have no real beef with this position. But will they follow through if elected? If Bloomberg’s group were lobbying to put illegal gun traffickers and people illegally using guns in jail, I would have no problem with the group. But that’s not what they are doing.

High Public Approval for Hunting

80% of Americans approve of the practice. That’s not great news for Wayne Pacelle, but we know from the gun fight, that a lot of Americans support the Second Amendment, but when you start arguing specifics, you lose support. But we’ve done very well with broad arguments, and hunters can too. The danger I see is that hunters have not yet accepted the “no one gets thrown off the lifeboat” philosophy that most in the shooting community have come to understand. Look at the large numbers of people in rural counties with strong hunting traditions that voted for a ban on dove hunting in Michigan?

Cases Progressing to Massachusetts High Court

Massachusetts’ gun licensing scheme is being challenged all the way to the Supreme Judicial Court. You need a license to own a gun in Massachusetts, and for pistols, the license is discretionary issue, meaning the police can say no just because they don’t like the looks of you, and they often do. It’s common in Massachusetts for people in one town to be able to get a license to carry a handgun, and someone the next town over can’t even get a license to own one.

UPDATE: Speaking of Massachusetts. I wish more people were this on the ball with Letters to the Editor.

UPDATE: This Massachusetts police forum is raising concerns about the suitability of the plaintiff in this Second Amendment case. That is indeed a legitimate concern. Interesting though, that even in Massachusetts you have cops supporting the Second Amendment for the most part. So much for law enforcement standing behind the gun controllers eh?