One of my new years resolutions is to pay less attention to the thoroughly irrelevant people at CSGV. Even now, it’s apparent Bloomberg and the White House are the ones calling the shots on gun control. But I will still cover the Washington Post tearing into their horrendous hatchet job on John Barrow (D-GA).
Month: January 2013
Freudian Slip?
Split Between Reid and Obama?
So says the Washington Post, but the article speaks of how Democrats may accomplish gun control:
Senate Democrats have yet to decide the order: whether to start with background checks — their most likely victory — and try to build momentum, or to save that for the final piece so the effort ends on a positive note.
I’ve talked about the dangers of momentum before, and one reason to oppose the entire agenda is so they don’t get any. It’s also interesting that they admit the other measures are not “positive.” That is correct, because the are punitive; they punish all of us for the actions of a madman. The fight against the background check bill will undoubtedly be the toughest, but the anti-gun people should have to give something up, and by that I don’t mean we only take half your delicious cake instead of the whole thing. It means you insist on having some of my cake, I get some of yours too, which was really mine that you took from me in the first place.
I sincerely hope any bill that starts moving gets amended with some of their cake. Then they can decide what they are willing to give up. Often times that’s enough to kill the bill, because when it comes down to it, they aren’t willing to engage in real compromise.
Hanging Out With Joe
The Vice President will apparently take part in a Google+ Hangout on Thursday (tomorrow) on gun violence. It’ll begin 1:45 p.m. at WhiteHouse.gov. Of course, we should all attend. Don’t let them own the field. The public relations campaign for gun control is about to begin.
Waiting on the Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show Statement
Just to put this out there, I’m reducing the number of posts about the Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show to one a day. We’ve covered the apparent collapse of the show pretty thoroughly, but it remains newsworthy to highlight just how our gun culture has really learned to stand up for one another in the last several years.
Last night, Pennsylvania’s Olympic Gold Medalist Jamie Gray – billed as the ESOS’s guest of honor – canceled her appearances at the show. She posted on Facebook:
As an avid outdoors woman who grew in this sport in part due to my experience at ESOS, it’s a decision that doesn’t come easy but I have decided that I will NOT participate. My decision is due to what I feel would be an inability as an Olympic athlete to represent my sport, industry and USA Shooting teammates in the best possible manner given the political climate that will be present as a result of the decisions that have been made.
Perhaps the biggest news that doesn’t seem to be confirmed anywhere through a statement, but the official ESOS website now only lists one sponsor willing to be associated with them – Progressive Insurance. Cabela’s and Outdoor Channel have officially dropped out, but the disappearance of the Comcast logo indicates that maybe they don’t even want to be associated with the fiasco that this has become.
When it comes to the diversity of sportsmen standing with us, it has so far mostly been from hunters and archers. However, today Towne Marine announced that they are pulling their massive 30 boat display out of the ESOS in protest of their decision to ban modern semi-automatic firearms. Based on the map on the website, it appears they were the second largest display in the fishing hall.
The other interesting turn of events surrounds an archery event at the ESOS. It’s a world qualifier event, so it’s not something to just cancel without serious harm to the sport. However, the International Bowhunting Organization clearly felt they needed to something to stand up for gun rights even though they are trying hard not screw competitors who need to compete in this qualification. Here’s the meat of their statement on how they are striking the balance:
The PA-3D Bowhunter’s Challenge and IBO Indoor Nationals will take place as previously advertised, albeit without IBO representation. The local PA-3D Bowhunters organization has opted to host and oversee the shooting event on its own. The logistics involved in administering the competition, along with registered participants’ concerns with travel plans and airline reservations, are contributing factors for the decision to continue these events.
Proceeds received by the IBO in shooter fees, along with the Rinehart Target Fee, will be donated to the National Rifle Association specifically to fight the threats to The Second Amendment currently being faced by law-abiding American firearms owners.
The IBO stands with those who have chosen to boycott the Eastern Sports and Outdoor show and strongly condemns the action taken by Reed Exhibitions. (emphasis added)
Going back to the gun world, surprisingly, it took GunBroker until late this afternoon to pull out of the show. Given their reliance on business from people who absolutely support semi-automatic rifles, I would have assumed they would have pulled themselves out earlier.
While we have focused on many of the smaller vendors who are pulling out, news also comes today that one of the largest vendors that had space in four key sections of the show has joined the boycott.
Sportsmans Liquidations is one of the largest vendors at the show, Locker said. It originally had signed up for a large chunk of space — 130 booths, typically 10- by 10- feet apiece, split up into four different areas at the show.
Speaking of those smaller vendors, Keystone Country Store in Ft. Loudon, PA deserves some attention for their efforts. Not only are they pulling out of the show, but they told the media that they are instead having a celebration for the Second Amendment at their store. Part of the proceeds from their celebration will go to the NRA.
For the non-profits that have pulled their booths from the ESOS, the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs announced that they are currently working with Cabela’s to get special days set up there to promote the organizations that are taking a huge hit by joining the boycott.
Given the size of some of the new boycotters, I think it’s safe to say that upwards of 1/4 of the show will be empty this year. If Comcast really did pull out as a sponsor, then they have lost 3/4 of their sponsors for the year. On Facebook, the boycott page has nearly twice as many followers as the actual ESOS itself. According to media reports, Reed Exhibitions plans to release a statement sometime this week. At this point, you really have to wonder what on earth they plan to say.
What is Unusual?
Uncle asks, since Heller mentions “dangerous and unusual” weapons. I like to go back to Dave Hardy’s example from his lecture on the subject at the 2010 NRA legal seminar. I tend to think when it comes to this topic, that classes of arms should be interpreted rather broadly, and one also has to look to police use.
If you narrow a category enough, anything is unusual, and all guns are dangerous. The courts ought to look at prohibitions on subsets of weapon classes with skepticism. For instance, if a state decided to ban all derringers made by Bond Arms, one could argue such a small subset is unusual and not in common use. But the superset of handguns are. What about the Undetectable Firearms Act that was a result of a public scare ginned up by the anti-gunners? That is also a subset of protected arms. There might be instances where banning a subset of a larger protected class may be upheld, but I would generally believe strict scrutiny should be applied. If we reject that preventing criminal misuse is not a reason to ban handguns, how can it be a reason to ban a subset of handguns?
I’ve also advocated that the courts should consider police use when making a determination about “common use.” If a type of weapon is part of ordinary police equipment, it can’t be dangerous and unusual, and ought to be defined as in common use, even if it’s only in common police use. That would get us protections for things like body armor and “patrol rifles.” It may also get us machine guns, since machine guns are increasingly becoming more common in police armories.
But this is just thinking out loud. It’s a far cry from the courts ever adopting such a standard. As it is, I’d be nervous going to court with even New York’s draconian gun and magazine ban.
Police Corruption in Chicago
Dave Hardy points to a study that shows why Illinois gun owners probably don’t have much faith that the state will actually protect them – well, a study that isn’t simply a matter of publishing the skyrocketing Chicago murder rate.
An analysis of five decades of news reports reveals that since 1960, at least 300 Chicago Police officers have been convicted of serious crimes, such as drug dealing, beatings of civilians, destroying evidence, protecting mobsters, theft and murder.
Moreover, the listing of police convicted of crimes undoubtedly underestimates the problem of corruption in the Chicago Police Department (CPD). The list does not include undetected and unreported illegal activity, serious misconduct resulting in internal disciplinary action, and officers who retire rather than face charges.
Keeping Up The Political Fight
When I’ve tried to motivate gun owners to get involved in political campaigns, one of the most common excuses given for not helping out is that one or more of their local lawmakers is anti-gun. Well, that’s just dandy, but what about the pro-gun guy/gal running statewide? They still need every vote they can find in every region of a state.
That’s the attitude of a winning campaign. And, to give the man credit, that’s exactly how Obama ran his campaign. I’m reading the legacy report right now between surfing for gun news, and this tidbit really popped out for me:
We didn’t win a majority of votes in every neighborhood, but every neighborhood helped us reach 51 percent in states and 270 nationally.
Basically, they sought out every single vote they could find because they knew that it would all add up in each state. I didn’t matter if it was in a Congressional district that would go overwhelming GOP, every Democratic vote they could find there would help the top of the ticket.
There’s much more to consider when it comes to campaign organizing in the report. However, I think it can be summed up as a form of making volunteer efforts social. The numbers show that it works. The people who made it a social network were nearly 3x as likely to spend 10+ hours a week volunteering for the campaign.
I find it frustrating in many ways because we already have the resources to repeat this kind of success on gun rights. They are called gun clubs and gun ranges. They offer facilities, networks, and can even pool together some money for cheap activism tools like pens, paper, and stamps. Many have enough to pay for things like phone lines that members could use or meeting places for people to put together campaign signs or prepare literature drop materials. Now we just need more of the culture that is willing to put together such events now and/or at election time.
The Reports on the “Dueling” Gun Rallies
Today, the primary anti-gun organization in Pennsylvania decided to host a rally in the Capitol. In response, some gun owners decided to counter it. It’s still not over, and I hope that the pro-gun folks remain respectful and simply stick to some post-rally lobbying rather than trying to argue with hardcore anti-gun advocates.
Here are a few reports of what has happened so far. PAIndependent posted a photo of CeaseFire PA’s indoor rally that looks to be about 150-200 people. They also noted that the outdoor rally by gun rights folks didn’t do too shabby given the weather:
Impressive crowd at this morning’s #gunrights rally on Capitol steps, considering the wind chill is in the negatives. At least 100 here.
— PA Independent (@PAindependent) January 23, 2013
And here’s a great sign with a photo courtesy of @JonEMTP:
UPDATE: A later report says that there were about 250 pro-gun people.
Targeting the Kids of Gun Owners
A Missouri lawmaker is pushing a bill that would require parents to report the guns they own to any schools their child attends so that it can be noted in the child’s record. Somehow, putting a mark in the records of the children of gun owners is being framed as “encourag[ing] gun safety in the community and in the household.”
Except the bill doesn’t seem to do any of that based on the report. The only thing they say that is mandatory under the bill is for the schools to act as registration offices for guns. It simply puts a spotlight on those kids to be targeted by school officials to overreact to any little instance of minor trouble, regardless of any actual or perceived threat. A minor misbehavior that might get a kid of non-gun owning detention could result in in-school suspension for the child of gun owners out of fear that they need to be watched & kept away from other students in case they get upset by the punishment.
While the media report does highlight that the chance of this passing is “slim-to-none,” I would repeat Glenn Reynolds channeling Buffy the Vampire Slayer here: “[home schooling is] not just for scary religious people any more.”