Bob Owens is reporting the Obama Administration has announced restrictions on the federal program to deliver surplus military equipment to police departments. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I do tend to think making the department go to their civilian overseers for approval is not unreasonable. On the other hand, I think it’s not a bad thing, generally speaking, for this equipment to end up widely distributed to local communities, rather than just setting in federal government warehouses. Even if you’re a real wookie suiter “insurrectionist,” it’d be a hell of a lot easier to liberate equipment from your local PD than it would be from the feds if the S were to ever HTF.
Year: 2015
Even in NJ, we can win some
Evan Nappen gets a judge to rule that the law means what it says.
In a published decision binding upon all New Jersey municipalities, the New Jersey Appellate Division has confirmed that New Jersey municipalities may NOT require added forms for firearm permit applications beyond the state forms.
It’s a little thing, but little things add up. Also note, “funded in part by the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund.”
Weekly Gun News – Edition 2
It’s a pretty slow news week on the gun issue, but I think I have enough for the weekly gun news.
Lower Merion Township was denied a stay in its lawsuit over it’s illegal ordinances.
In Oregon: punching back twice as hard.
North Carolina is working on a bill to get doctors out of the business of badgering their patents about guns, unless, you know, you come in with a gun shot wound, or you say something that indicates you may be suicidal. I don’t like these bills, but the SJWs that run the medical societies have made it necessary.
North Carolina is also working to get rid of its racially motivated gun control law, and is ironically being fought by gun control advocates who want it to stay in place. Of course, they don’t have much game in North Carolina.
Oregon’s new background check bill won’t make anyone any safer, says the Albany Democrat Herald. Also, buying legislation isn’t cheap.
Campus Carry will be back on the agenda next year, says Marion Hammer, NRA’s Lobbyist in Florida.
Blood dancing isn’t just for gun control activists anymore. Never let a crisis go to waste.
The proper response to DEA agents coming onto to a train and asking where you’re going: “Apparently Russia, officer. Because I didn’t think in America is was any of the government’s damned business.”
Jews and Guns in Northern Virginia.
A mother is suing her son’s school because they wouldn’t let him wear an NRA t-shirt. Good.
Oklahoma’s governor vetoes more pro-gun bills.
Dems pushing to ban online ammo sales. I doubt this is going anywhere.
Don’t forget we have an election coming up in Pennsylvania, and it includes Supreme Court justices.
The Republicans talk a good small government game, but when the chips are down, pleasing social conservatives is more important.
I’ll be wearing black on June 2.
Peirs Morgan is still a jerk, but at least a jerk over there, where maybe we’ll get lucky and Jeremy Clarkson will punch him again.
The Gun Blogger Rendezvous X is being run by Lucky Gunner. I’d love to go again, because it was always a good time. But it’s difficult and expensive to get out to Reno from the east coast. LG is giving away a 150 dollar ammo voucher to attendees, which is tempting, but it’s a $500 plane ticket.
Chuck Schumer isn’t an idiot, but he does grandstand on behalf of idiots.
Why are gun control activists so violent?
Instapundit: Operation Choke Point Strikes Again.
Are New Jersey’s lawmakers wising up on smart guns? The Bergen Daily Record can’t resist flinging childish insults at Second Amendment advocates, but perhaps they are angry things aren’t working out the way they had hoped.
I’m not sure what NSA’s program has to do with gun rights, to warrant NRA’s involvement, but it did occur to me that if such a program could be weaponized by a hostile Administration. They could use it to target NRA’s grassroots network and lobbying efforts. This would make the opposition’s efforts MUCH more effective if they were coordinated with the White House. But weaponizing a program for political purposes? That’s crazy talk. This is the most transparent administration ever!
2A Rally Photos
Yesterday was the 10th Annual 2A Rally at the PA Capitol. Pictures can be found here. I have not gone for several years. Mainly because we’re not facing any major threats. The situation in Pennsylvania is this: With the GOP firmly in control of the legislature, we’re not likely to see any bad bills. With Governor Wolf in the Governor’s mansion, we’re not likely to get anything done. So for the next four years, it’s a stalemate unless the Democrats manage to gain seats in the legislature. The other issue is numbers. Illinois does their IGOLD rally day which was turning up thousands. That’s many people makes an impression on legislators, especially when you can get repeatability every year. We’ve always struggled with that in Pennsylvania. Illinoisans had issues that galvanized their grassroots. We don’t have anything like that here in Pennsylvania.
I’m not saying don’t go, but if you do, I’d head in after the speeches to your lawmaker’s office and try to speak with them one-on-one about your concerns as a gun owner. If you can bring someone else from the district too, that would be even better. I’m big on the impact of direct contact with lawmakers. Not so much on rallies and protests, unless you can turn out numbers that wow lawmakers. That’s a hard thing to do without an issue or threat that galvanizes people.
Should Police Carry Glocks and Other Glock-Like Handguns?
Bob Owens tossed this grenade last week, and I expected to see a lot more explosion. If there’s anything that gets debate going faster than a post that people will take as “your gun sucks,” I’ve never run across it. But it’s largely gone by without much argument in the blogosphere. I noticed that Miguel agrees, and Glenn Reynolds did too.
But really, I wouldn’t consider any response worth my time if the person isn’t a trainer. Those are the people who see a lot of examples and have experience with the limitations of the people they train. The only experience I’ve had with drawing my Glock under stress has been under the stress of competition, and even that’s been a while. I do regularly practice drawing with my finger indexed properly, but not under extreme stress, so I really don’t know if I have enough experience to comment.
All I can say is I’ve stopped fingering triggers on the draw after I conditioned myself not to do it. What would I do under the stress of a deadly force scenario? I don’t know, and I don’t think most other people know either until it happens. That’s why we train. I’ve seen studies about how fine motor control goes to hell when you have a bunch of adrenaline running through you, but if you look at things strictly through that lens, then we should all be carrying broadswords and battle axes, rather than handguns. Yet people do manage to successfully and safely defend themselves with pistols on a regular basis, including striker-fired pistols without manual safeties.
So you won’t see me write up a lengthy post on why Bob is wrong, because to be honest, I don’t have the expertise. I’m not a trainer. But I still plan on carrying a the same Glock I’ve carried since 2002. What do you think?
Court Victory in Rhode Island
Clayton Cramer is reporting that the Rhode Island Supreme Court has struck down the state’s may-issue permitting regime. This is a short opinion, and not one based on the Second Amendment, but rather the right to keep and bear arms provision of the Rhode Island Constitution, and previous case law in that state. It does not squash the “good cause” requirement under Rhode Island law entirely, but the court would seem to take a very liberal reading of it. The Court quashes the Chief of Police’s denial, and orders him to reconsider the case, offering the plaintiff the right to come back into court if he is unsatisfied with the final decision. The Court doesn’t come out and say it directly, but it would appear he’ll get his permit.
Here We Go Again: George Zimmerman Gets Shot
Apparently the media’s zero to sensationalist time is pretty damned low, as they are already couching their headlines to make it seem like Zimmerman has claimed yet another victim. USA Today headline, “George Zimmerman Involved in Shooting.” If you follow through to the article, you’ll note that he was apparently shot by someone else, and was taken to the hospital. Also note that in the background section of the story, they fail to mention that Zimmerman only fired at Martin because Martin was pounding Zimmerman’s head into the pavement. CNN is pimping the same headline. This guy is going to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder. Given the trouble he’s had with women since, I’ve said he should look into the monk’s life. That might be all that’s really left for him. At the very least, moving to a different part of the country would probably be wise. I’m kind of tired of seeing this guy in the news.
Calls to Turn Weaponized IRS On NRA
A few weeks ago, Yahoo News published a hit piece on NRA. I figured this was likely ginned up by some of our opponents in the gun control movement. Most of the mainstream outfits would love a story like that, but the fact that it only appeared on Yahoo, to not much fanfare from the rest of the media, hinted to me that whoever wrote it probably did not follow the barest of journalistic standards, and quite possibly was an operative from the other side, especially given that the author is associated with a left-leaning group Center for Public Integrity, which is supported by supported by George Soros’s Open Society Foundation and has a board stocked with people who are not friendly to Second Amendment freedoms.
At the end of that article, you’ll notice a quite lengthy update, where NRA has addressed many of the allegations against it. When I first saw this article, I thought that it was probably a coding error on their web site, because to be honest, the firm they hire to do that kind of work has been sloppy in the past. Because we’re often using the PVF web site to look up grades, I can’t tell you how many times it’s just been broken. Though, it’s been pretty good recently, so maybe they’ve hired some better people.
Of course, none of this has stopped our author, Alan Berlow, from noting the calls for the Obama Administration to sick his weaponized IRS on NRA, calls that are coming from the rabid dogs at Coalition to Stop Gun Ownership.
A key thing people get confused about when it comes to campaign finance laws is what constitutes political activity. To use an example, here’s an add NRA ran in Colorado ahead of the 2014 elections:
Some folks might say this is clearly political activity, but it does not call for people to support for, or oppose any bill or measure. It does not mention any candidate for federal office. This is educational outreach, rather than political activity. This ad could even be funded under the auspices of a 501(c)(3). In fact, a good bit what NRA does that many people might think is “political” is done under a 501(c)(3), NRA’s Freedom Action Foundation.
This article was pretty obviously a targeted hit piece. That’s even more apparent when you consider none of the other MSM outlets, who’d love to be all over a story like this, really touched it. The only other outlets I saw talking about it are Townhall and Brietbart.
Weekly Gun News – Edition 1
I decided I should probably have a consistent name for this feature. Since I tend to do about one link post a week, I’ll call it “Weekly Gun News.” If it’s a particularly good news week, maybe I’ll have “Extra Gun News.” I started doing news links after Sandy Hook, when there was just too much going on to talk about everything, but a lot of stuff I didn’t have time to talk about was important. Since then, I’ve kept up the practice.
How did a Traffic Officer armed with a pistol take out two shooters armed with rifles? Bob Owens has the details.
Miguel: California is learning that gun confiscation is really really expensive. If they think it’s expensive now…
Cheer up Oregon, not all the news is bad: a reciprocity bill is moving along. I guess the Democrats feel like they need to do something for us on the one hand, if they spanked us with the other.
John Richardson has all the details on the Oregon Background Check bill. Clayton Cramer notes that bad ideas spread, and that there’s no evidence background checks accomplish anything, and are probably even harmful. He should know, since he published a paper on it.
John Richardson has a look at Bad Apple Lawyers, a parody on Brady’s “Bad Apple Gun Dealers.” He starts with anti-gun Law Professor David Kaireys. You’ll see him in the media here fairly often, as a reliable go-to guy when a reporter wants a good anti-gun viewpoint couched in the respectability of a professor of law.
What Virginia has in store for it if the state continues to blue. Two factors drive Virginia bluing: out of control growth of the federal government and population loss in the Southwest part of the state. Cuts to the Navy probably don’t help either, since it’s a major industry in the tidewater area.
Constitutional Carry looks to be dead in Maine for now. Maine was always a bit of a stretch goal.
Sadly, I think he’s right: Charles C.W. Cooke doesn’t think the Bill of Rights would pass if it was proposed today.
I like NRA’s new snarky articles, this one mocking Josh Horwitz. Mockery is probably the most effective rhetorical weapon one can employ, and there’s a lot that’s ridiculous and humorous about the gun control movement.
Bloomberg outspent us 5 to 1 in Vermont and got nothing for it. That’s because influencing legislators isn’t a money game. First, lawmakers know astroturf when they see it and second, they know where the passion is on this issue.
I was very surprised to see a balanced article on the ivory ban coming out of the New Bedford newspaper. An ivory ban is a gun ban in some cases, therefore we fight.
Hey, TTAG is seeking out Millennials to appear at a shooting range with NBC’s Ronan Farrow. Getting a bunch of young people you don’t know and who have never spoken to reporters on camera before? What could possibly go wrong? Maybe we’ll luck out and NBC actually has good intentions here *snicker*
Popehat has more on free speech in the wake of the Garland shooting.
IJReview gives NRA HQ the Buzzfeed treatment, in a good way.
The Chattanoogan talks to Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clark, “Instead, what jumped off the pages was the reason the Klu Klux Klan became near-extinct. Once blacks were able to arm themselves to protect against kidnapping and lynching, things really began to change in terms of black freedom.â€
The Masonic Fraternal Police Department? This has to be the strangest thing I’ve read all year.
Slate discovers that Bernie Sanders, despite being an unashamed socialist, may be a bit too gun nutty for the modern progressive, saying gun control is “one issue of overwhelming importance to the Democratic base,” which is pretty laughably naive. Slate is such a joke these days.
Briefs have been filed in the Peruta case. Clayton Cramer notes that one of his papers on VPC’s Concealed Carry Killers, has made it into one of the briefs.
Reason questions why the left wants federal control over policing. Because it’s about the control, and the left has always believed you can run things better with the right people in charge. They being the right people, of course.
Knife Rights a New Front in the Second Amendment
Andrew Branca notes that Freddy Grey’s knife was, in fact, illegal. We need to repeal all knife laws. Laws against sharp pointy things are even more ridiculous than gun control. Even Bloomberg News is recognizing that Knife Rights have become the new gun rights. Of course, I wouldn’t agree gun rights have gotten old, but the Second Amendment isn’t just about firearms, it should be about all personal weapons, armor, and other accouterments.
Against my better judgement, I became involved in a comment discussion on this article that appeared in Raw, accusing the NRA of not caring about the rights of African-Americans, because they weren’t standing up for the Second Amendment rights of Freddy Grey. I viewed my goal in this to dispel myths, rather than sling insults back at people. I do not speak for NRA, but in my opinion, when defending the organization online, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using “we” if you’re a member. It is, at the end of the day, your organization, and it helps people understand this isn’t just about some nefarious gun lobby:
Myth Number 1: NRA doesn’t care about the rights of someone like Freddy Grey. For one, even though NRA is not directly involved in knife rights, KnifeRights.org is a lot of the same people, and there’s cooperation. We are working to try to repeal and preempt the kinds of laws that got Freddy Grey into the situation that got him killed.
Myth Number 2: NRA doesn’t care about the rights of blacks. Gun rights is only for white people. No, we stand for the right of all peaceable people to keep and bear arms for self-protection. Gun control is actually far more burdensome for poor blacks to exercise their rights than it is for white people who can more often afford license fees, training classes, and to live in communities they aren’t likely to get harassed by the cops.
Myth Number 3: NRA is just the sales arm of the gun industry. It’s amazing how many people have a genuine and sincere belief that this is actually true. I believe it’s a deliberate self-deception at times, because if you’re for restricting the freedoms of millions of Americans, some of whom might be a lot like you, that kind of makes you a real killjoy. But if you’re fighting against some nefarious imagined “gun industry,” well, that’s just sticking it to the corporate man, and you one can think oneself a hero of the common man.
These were the common myths. Of course you had plenty of crap like this:
Niger [Innis]? he’s another self hating black man, who hates his race. Tell me about Wayne LaPiere’s lack of racism. Tell me about Pedophile Nugent’s lack of racism. When the NRA leaders stop making speeches about rebelling against the government, and attacking blacks and Mexicans, I’ll believe there;s no racism in the NRA. until then, the NRA is nothing but an organization dedicated to scaring ignorant white people into buying guns, out of fear of a black president and brown and black people.
He’s not speaking about the actual National Rifle Association, but instead a caricature of the organization constructed partly by the writer’s vivid imagination, partly by agitators who work very hard to divide Americans against one another, and partly by Ted Nugent, who is the former type’s wet dream, since he self-caricatures.
As an organization, NRA needs a lot more people like Sheriff Clark speaking for the organization, and a lot fewer people like Ted Nugent. Knife Rights, for its part, responded very well, I thought, to the current events happening in Baltimore.