December 2013 – Page 5 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Breaking News: California Waiting Period Might be in Trouble

A Federal District Court in California has denied the State a Motion for Summary Judgement on it’s 10 day waiting period law. This may put the law at risk of being tossed for being unconstitutional:

For example, there is no evidence regarding the nature of the background checks performed, how much time is necessary to perform a background check, or why 10-days are necessary in order to perform a background check. Harris admits that in the past California has had waiting periods that have ranged from 1 to 15 days. However, there is nothing before the Court to suggest that the 10-day period is a â€œreasonable fitâ€ that is not substantially broader than necessary to determine if an individual is disqualified from owning a firearm. More information is needed. The Court will not grant summary judgment on this issue based on the bare arguments presented.

As for the â€œcooling downâ€ rationale, Harris has not presented sufficient evidence that the 10-day waiting period is a â€œreasonable fit.â€ For example, there is no evidence concerning how the 10-day period was determined for purposes of â€œcooling off,â€ any evidence concerning â€œcooling offâ€ and gun violence in general for those wishing to purchase a firearm, or that the 10-days is not substantially broader than necessary.

I get skeptical the Courts are really going to do anything substantive with the Second Amendment, but every once in a while they surprise me. I’m pleased a court has seemingly seen through the state’s bullshit. Hopefully at trial they’ll recognize this for what it is; a means to discourage people from exercising their rights.

Schumer Still Trying for UFA Expansion

Schumer is still talking about floating an expansion to the Undetectable Firearms ActÂ when it comes before the Senate today:

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in an interview Friday he plans to separately propose expanding the law to require that all firearms have integral metal components detectable by X-ray machines.

I haven’t seen Schumer’s proposal yet, and I don’t think anyone else has either, but I’d be willing to bet it would ban a number of guns currently on the market. Their target in all of this has always been to ban polymer framed pistols like the Glock, or to cause some other issue that just makes engaging in the gun manufacturing business difficult.

h/t to Jacob, who notes that Schumer’s not even keeping up with technology.

Quote of the Day: ATF Sting Edition

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel deserves some kudos for something you don’t see much of these days: real reporting. The article details that the botched tactics used in Milwaukee weren’t limited to that city. It includes this gem of a quote:

“To say this is just a few people, a few bad apples, I don’t buy it,” said David Harris, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and an expert on law enforcement tactics and regulation. “If your agency is in good shape with policy, training, supervision and accountability, the bad apples will not be able to take things to this level.”

The fish rots from the head. “A few bad apples,” was the excuse for Fast and Furious too. Is Jones doing anything at all to clean up the agency? Not that any of us had high hopes, or really any hope at all, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

Happy Monday News Links

If you’re like me, you’re watching the thermometer and hoping that it’ll rise enough today to solve the snow problem outside. Because I work from home three days a week, I don’t have to bother with shoveling the driveway unless I have to go somewhere, which gives it some time to melt. But despite the disappearing snow, we have no shortage of news links:

Cerberus Capital may have found an investor for The Freedom Group, that would allow some of their unhappy investors (namely pension systems for anti-gun states) to get out.

“If they can do that, of course, they can also plant evidence without a trace. . . .”

Thirdpower finds another instance of “I’m a gun owner, but …”Â Not to overlook its twin brother, “I support the Second Amendment, but …”

The DeSantis Holster Company Greatly Annoys Me.

Thirdpower checks on some MAIG mayors and starts to believe they are fudging the roles. Given how many mayors complained they didn’t know what they were signing up for, I think if any reporter decided to dig, they’d find a lot of examples like Thirdpower found.

The Daily Beast does a puff piece on Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, and how he’s taking on the big bad NRA.

Trap shooting to come back to Minnesota schools? We need more of this if we’re going to have any prayer of ending the hysterics in public schools.

A reader sent me an article, but I thought I’d go dig up the original source:Â US v. Miller, how the Second Amendment was subverted.

Moms Demand Guns continues to use falsities to bully retailers into banning guns. I think they won’t have much luck, as long as we can avoid the mistakes our side made with Starbucks.

Washington State Registry? I Guess PA Isn’t Alone

I too am surprised that Washington State has a gun registry, but it sounds like the kind Pennsylvania has, where they just co-opted the state background check system to compile one, despite assurances that such a thing would never happen. It’s even in the law! I wouldn’t be surprised if Washington State took some advice from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which in the case of ACSL v. Rendell, said even though it’s a list of all the guns you’ve ever bought, it’s not a “registry,” like the kind the law forbids, it’s only records of sale.

I’m always rather surprised that people on the other side of this issue get shocked and indignant that we don’t trust them. If they are assuring you that X will never be used for Y, you can probably take it to the bank that it will. It proved too tempting for our State Police, and the Rendell Administration was willing to push the courts to fudge the definition in its favor. Despite the fact that this case was decided in 2004, few in either the Governor’s mansion or the Legislature have shown much interest in a fix.Â We at least are still getting a billÂ introduced, but there hasn’t seemed to be much interest in moving it forward.

What’s With the Cheap, Expensive Whiskey Trend?

Sitting inside while watching the snow come down through the window I’m convinced is why man invented whiskey. Now that rye whiskey has made a resurgence, I can enjoy the weather the same way my Pennsylvania ancestors did, before that failed nanny state experiment known as Prohibition nearly killed this local style forever. But when it comes to rye, there’s some things appearing in the market place I don’t understand.

There’s currently several market attempts to essentially pass off as high-end product something that closely resembles moonshine. The first one I’ve tried recently is Dad’s Hat Pennsylvania Rye. This is a new rye brand that’s made locally right next door in Bristol, and while I think this rye has great potential if aged more, my first reaction was that it was bottled before its time. Dad’s Hat also make a white, un-aged whiskey product. I noticed the other dayÂ Jack Daniels is making one as wellÂ that sells for close to 40 dollars (!!!!) a fifth at the local state store.

I have no issue with the idea un-aged, or little aged whiskey products, but white whiskey is usually referred to as white lightning, or white dog. It is what you end up with after multiple distillations of the mash, but before the whiskey goes into the charred, white oak barrels which is where, over time, it turns from white lightning into whiskey. Whiskeys that were un-aged, or aged too little, were previously relegated to either the bottom shelf, or bottles that said XXX that your Uncle kept hidden out behind the woodshed.

I get nostalgia for the good ol’ days when our alcoholic ancestors drank motor fuel, but I’m just not going to pay a premium for something that’s not far from what grandpa used to store in the bathtub in case the Treasury men came knocking. Old Overholt is a perfectly fine rye whiskey for the price. Bulleit is also making a decent rye for less money. I currently have in the cabinet a Knob Creek rye that I like a lot. There’s a lot of companies starting to manufacture decent rye whiskey. But I don’t get the idea of selling un-aged or poorly aged products and charging top shelf prices for it. Surely this is a fad?

UPDATE: Uncle explains the origins.

UPDATE: The more things change, the more they stay the same:

Besides, the Whiskey Rebellion didn’t really have as disastrous an effect on Monongahela as is often portrayed. It could be argued, in fact, that it was the best thing to happen to American whiskey since the Revolutionary War popularized the substitution of American products for such “loyalist” items as tea and rum. The imposition of the excise tax may have made distilling prohibitive to some individual farmers, but for the commercial distiller the result was the elimination of an entire class of competition, and at a cost that could be simply added as an expense to the final price.

New England Mayor on Gun Control Groups

A mayor in New England speaks out on MAIG’s efforts to control gun ~~crime~~ owners in a column called “Enough is Enough.” You might want to read his take on MAIG before commenting…

On a related note, Thirdpower notes some fuzzy math by MAIG and its claimed membership in Illinois.

Multiple Gun Control PACs, Same Backer

I guess the gun control groups have decided that the best strategy they have now is to create multiple groups to create the appearance of increased support for gun control. When I saw this headline from this morning, I was confused:

Gabrielle Giffords sets up gun control PAC

Giffords already set up a gun control PAC. The newest gun control PAC headed by the same couple as the other gun control PAC is using a new name – the Rights and Responsibilities PAC.

Bizarre Carry Permit Situation in Beaver County

There are accusations that discounted or free licenses to carry are being granted to political friends and supporters of the Sheriff of Beaver County, and the story just gets weird from there.

From the various reports, it apparently started when a citizen sitting in a public area of the public office recorded a conversation between the Sheriff and a Constable that revealed he was undercharging for permits for selected people. The recording became public, and the Sheriff’s first response appears to have been to call the District Attorney and demand that there be an investigation for violation of the wiretap laws and leaking of confidential information rather than address the real problem of using licenses to carry in this manner and possibly shorting the county its share of fees.

It turns out that the DA found there was zero expectation of privacy between the individuals given their roles as public officials and where they had their conversation, and nothing confidential was leaked. So, the Sheriff now appears to claim that it was all above board because he was purposefully handing out the licenses in order to see if one of his secretaries who had recently filed a grievance against the office was leaking information. However, the person who benefited with the discounted license was apparently never informed prior to the event that he was part of such a plot and had to pay up later. Needless to say, there are people who doubt the after-the-fact claims of a secret investigation.

It appears the DA has turned the evidence related to the issuance of discounted licenses to carry over to state authorities, and a source tells the local paper that a grand jury has been called related to some sort of investigation into the Sheriff’s office.

They also report that the state Auditor General’s office found the Sheriff may not be charging the appropriate fees mandated by the state for carry licenses or writs of execution, which now means the County Controller is also investigating.

It’s very odd, indeed. Even if the licenses are being issued according to the law in regards to background checks, it is very troubling to hear that there are concerns that discounts and freebies are being used to benefit political supporters while those who aren’t so well-connected are forced to pay the higher, state-mandated price.

Comment Period for ATF 41P Coming to End

LotsÂ ofÂ goodÂ adviceÂ out thereÂ on how to comment against ATF 41P, which will change the way NFA trusts work and generally make it impossible for many people to get NFA items like suppressors. I feel bad that I haven’t been harping on this issue, but as loathe as I am to be fatalistic, I don’t think there’s any stopping this. I certainly would never discourage anyone from writing, but I wouldn’t feel too bad if you didn’t get around to it.

They put this out for public comment because the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) requires them to do so. If an agency wants to change a regulation, Congress has prescribed a certain song and dance has to be gone through, including a public comment period. But they aren’t required to listen to any of it if they are intent on the change. The fix is in, in other words. The Administration intends to use this regulation change to punish us for thwarting his agenda. It’s one of those “elections have consequences” things.

And I’d note this will make it very difficult to ever get suppressors out from under the NFA, because it’ll mean fewer people have access to them, and with fewer people having access to them, there’s less of a constituency to drive political change. This will mean the first thing we probably need to drive for are either eliminating the LEO sign-off requirement through Congressional action, or passing more sign-off laws at the state level, like Tennessee has done.