Let’s see what I have here in the tabs:
Embattled police chief Mark Kessler releases a new video that could be charitably described as intimidating, less charitably as a bona fide threat. The fun part it’s looking like he’s going to spill the dirt on the local politicians. I’m told the reason most of these small coal towns have police chiefs is to keep the state police from looking around too much, and asking too many questions.
Toomey is feeling the heat. Good. At best Toomey was hoodwinked by Schumer and Manchin. At worst he was part and parcel to the deception that the turd sandwich of a deal was actually good for gun owners. Neither speaks well.
Clayton has a bleg out looking at some of the history of mental health prohibitions. More here.
Bloomberg dumped 350 large into the Colorado recall elections. The least we can do is making buying New York style gun control in Colorado more expensive for Bloomberg.
More on that “Sickness in our Souls” Colorado Senate President John Morse was speaking about.
Ignorance and hubris makes for a humorous combination.
Down Range TV has an excellent article about guns in the home with children.
Kessler is what is psychiatric professionals call “Bat-Shit Crazy”
“I’m told the reason most of these small coal towns have police chiefs is to keep the state police from looking around too much…”
Remember a few years ago when a couple people in the police department of one of those towns in Schuykill County (was it Shenendoah?) got busted for aiding in the covering-up and sweeping-under-the-carpet, the murder of a Mexican immigrant by some star high school football players?
I often idealize the “Good Ole Days” of rural Pennsylvania when I was a kid, but these kinds of vestigial incidents should remind us that in fact, “Real American” justice of the past was only justice until it set its sights on you, after which, look out. And don’t dare be non-WASP.
Yeah, here it is. Shenendoah, My grandfather bought a farm there, almost exactly a century ago.
Kessler is a short bus rider and his supporters ride on the front of that bus. Take some notes here, this is how this is going to play out. MPOTEC is going to use § 203.14. Revocation of certification, to revoke his certification after he fails a required psychological exam. Gilberton is going use that revocation as a reason to terminate the 15 year contract they signed with him. The borough will then quickly move to sell all police gear and equipment. They will either farm out service to PSP or a neighboring department.
Then it will get interesting. Kessler’s threats will escalate and he’ll end up being arrested for § 2706. Terroristic threats. Of course there will be some aggravating factor that will up the grading to a felony 3.
Just wait for it.
“I’m told the reason most of these small coal towns have police chiefs is to keep the state police from looking around too much, and asking too many questions.”
As a former NEPA resident I can assure you that this is true. And all of those small coal towns are corrupt as hell.
Oh yeah, the reason these one man departments are still around is to protect council members and their family as well as the mayor and his family. They only exist to cover up crimes. If you look at how little Kessler has done in the last 5 year (UCR data), he only issues about 10 summary citations a year for public intoxication and disorderly conduct.
He has already leveled some veiled accusations against friends and family of the council on his Facebook page. It appears as though he is taking the attitude that if he goes down, he’s bringing the borough council and employees down with him.
He knows he’s getting fired. The thing that scares the heck out of me is how hard he wants to go down. There is a very good reason he was the lowest paid full time cop in the state.
The article on guns around children ignores a “status”- “secured and loaded.” For those who normally carry a “controlled” firearm, do they really unload and lock the firearm before heading to bed? I know this can be done safely, but a good number of accidental shootings come from this very act. Isn’t securing a firearm the function of a safe? A firearm for self defense can’t be brought to bear without access and ammunition. If they are locked up and unloaded, with no serviceable ammunition nearby, then the ability to defend is greatly reduced. The article seems just this side of locking both up separately, similar to what DC required.
If there are people in my house, I know where they are at all times, especially if they are children. I also train my children in the same manner as Eddie Eagle, which has already proven itself worthwhile (not with a real firearm, but a toy that looked close enough). I encourage other parents to consider doing the same because they never know what might happen. In the end, good stewardship of any weapon (or frankly any powerful tool) requires finding the right balance and making the educated decisions we all make. The article was short of what I expected- I was hoping for a conveyance of considerations to improve decision making.