2011 – Page 49 – Shall Not Be Questioned

GOA Backs Different Reciprocity Bill

GOA is backing a new bill being introduced by Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA). From the GOA press release, it appears that the primary difference is that it would allow people in states that do not issue permits to carry in any other state without a permit. The only problem with this bill is that we tried it before, and it failed in the Senate. The situation in the Senate has not remarkably improved, and it’s likely that Schumer had a few more votes up his sleeve against the bill if he needed them. The reason the current bill doesn’t have those provisions is that it’ll recover a few needed votes if this goes to the Senate.

Remember that we not only need to pass this bill, we are quite likely to need to override a veto if we want this to become law. At the least, you need sixty votes in the Senate for it. While I’m sympathetic to the aims of the GOA bill, the only impacted state is Vermont, and Vermonters can easily obtain a non-resident license from New Hampshire that gets them around the problem.

I appreciate that GOA is doing a lot better on this subject than NAGR, and they have at least decided to support a similar bill. But I don’t believe their bill is going to go anywhere.

Arms Dealer Classifieds

Arms Dealers has been running an add on the sidebar for some time, so we’re happy to see that they are announcing a new gun related classifieds section. To go along with that they are giving away free stuff.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette Doesn’t Get HR822 Close to Correct

We can expect the amount of hysterics over HR822 to continue, and for it to get ridiculous, such as this editorial in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

H.R. 822, or the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act, would force every state to honor every other state’s permit to carry a concealed gun — no matter how lax the other state’s standards. That would mean a convicted felon who can’t pass muster in, say, Pennsylvania, could get a permit elsewhere, and local law enforcement would have no choice but to let him walk around with a loaded weapon.

You see, she must have heard of this “Florida Loophole” thing, but instead of doing actual research to understand the issue, she’ll just shoot her ignorant mouth off. First off, in the language of HR822:

Notwithstanding any provision of the law of any State or political subdivision thereof, related to the carrying or transportation of firearms, a person who is not prohibited by Federal law from possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm, and who is carrying a government-issued photographic identification document and a valid license or permit which is issued pursuant to the law of a State and which permits the person to carry a concealed firearm, may carry a concealed handgun (other than a machinegun or destructive device) that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, in any State, other than the State of residence of the person, that-

That automatically excludes felons, people who have been adjudicated mentally ill, and anyone with a misdemeanor domestic violence convictions. That makes sense, since these people may not legally own or possess firearms in all 50 states. She also brings up Florida Loophole poster child Marqus Hill. I have shown why Mr. Hill is a failure of the City of Philadelphia, and not the State of Florida. That irrelevant to begin with, because HR822 does now allow you to carry in your state of residence on a reciprocal license, so HR822 would have been no assistance to someone of Marqus Hill’s disposition.

So either MAIG is employing the ignorant to speak out against HR822, or they have resorting to being deliberately deceptive. Not that I can blame them. Half truths and hysterics is all they know.

A Fair Criticism of My Approach to PCUSA

Over at the Captain’s Journal. He believes that gun control is a spiritual battle, as the right to bear arms is granted by God, and that the battle to preserve it is a matter of religion, morality, and righteousness.

I can’t really answer his criticism, because I think it’s correct. Spending enough time in a single issue to tends to make you think more practically about things and less religiously. I agree the right is granted by God, but it has to be protected by men, and for most of our struggle that’s been done through the political process.

Though, in terms of arguing the case from within the context of within a Church, I think the Captain’s approach is probably smarter.

PETA Strikes Again

Apparently they consider it a travesty that Prince William is a bird hunter, and are begging Kate Middleton to put a stop to it. If I were Kate, that would mean I have a very public dinner of pheasant.

As one might expect, the PETA nut cases are once again mischaracterizing the nature of bird hunting, and operating under the delusion that humans were never meant to be predators.

Never Has a Law So Simple Caused So Much Hysterics

You’d think the Florida Legislature had passed a state law required a detailed proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem from every single local legislator in the country by some unreasonable deadline, judging from the amount of hysteria I’ve seen in the media over the preemption law with teeth. How hard is it to repeal a law at the next town meeting?

After watching all the hewing and hawing from local officials in Florida, I’d really like to get this passed in Pennsylvania. It’s been great watching as local officials, who for years have gotten away with passing and sometimes enforcing laws, thumbing their noses at the state legislature and getting away with it, now suddenly find themselves held accountable.

Getting to Court

IJ put together this lesson on the process of taking a case and getting it to the Supreme Court. Â I think it’s useful to give those who don’t really think about the legal process a good insight into just how much work it takes to get a case going.

Another lesson: If there’s anything our legal system does well, it’s kill trees.

Close Prisons and Pass More Gun Control

This is Governor Andrew Cuomo’s solution to New York’s rising crime rate.

Fast and Furious Not Getting Play in GOP Field

The Daily Caller is upset that the GOP isn’t saying anything about the widening scandal involving Fast and Furious. Now we have tapes, just like in Watergate. Today comes news that Customs has seized 30 guns headed south into Mexico. Anyone bother to check to see if any of those 30 were Fast and Furious guns. Also note Reuters continuing the meme that this was just a botched operation, rather than a deliberate effort. It’s pretty clear Fast and Furious was working exactly how it was intended to work.

It’s sad enough that the media is, for the most part, completely ignoring Fast and Furious. There’s no reason for the entire GOP field to ignore it too.

Friday Morning Wakeup Call

It’s been John Philip Sousa Week over at Old Picture of the Day blog. He’s been featuring old photos of the March King, and some of his marches. Yesterdays march was one I was not previously familiar with, but it’s fabulous for one of Sousa’s lesser known marches:

If that doesn’t supplement your morning coffee, I don’t know what will. I have an interview late afternoon today, with a company that makes a network monitoring product. This job would involve more low level programming, basically writing, analyzing and debugging device drivers under FreeBSD. I’d also be doing a lot of performance analysis, and development work on high-performance storage arrays. If I understand what they are looking for correctly, which I’m not sure I do, this job would take me back more into the engineering realm, My last position was more high-performance computing, general IT, and some high-level programming, supporting pharmaceutical research.

I’m trying not to pigeon hole myself. I’m willing to look at jobs that are different, even if it means a substantial pay cut, if it gets me into an interesting career path. We shall see.