The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …
There’s an interesting opportunity to listen to a federal case in front of the 9th Circuit today. If you have time and ability, you can tune in to hear Dave Hardy in US v. Rodman just after noon (Eastern).
Here’s a bit of background on the case.
UPDATE: It looks like it can be embedded, so here’s the video where it will be live-streamed later today.
You may have thought that zero tolerance had reached a low point with the infamous Pop Tart “gun,” but Lakes of the Four Seasons, an HOA in Indiana, has managed to take it even lower.
According to the reason they gave for firing a worker, even speaking words that indicate you might own a firearm are a violation of their “zero tolerance” on guns rules and is grounds for losing your job. The guy did not carry to work. He did not threaten anyone. He wasn’t spotted with a gun just off the job site. He merely acknowledged that he owned personal firearms at home. And that isn’t acceptable in the Lakes of the Four Seasons community.
For that thought crime, the residents of the neighborhood felt like he needed to be banished and have his source of livelihood cut off. Because he’s one of “them” who dares speak that he lives his personal life a little differently.
I like alliteration, and it seems that the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee might, too. Word has been spreading that the Committee might actually meet to move a pro-gun bill today. Of course, it comes with a word of warning that they might try to move the pigeon shooting ban out, too.
The Senate GOP has been the blockade to pretty much everything in Pennsylvania the last few years. On the Chair of the Judiciary Committee, Stewart Greenleaf, has an ever worsening NRA grade as he constantly blocks pro-gun bills with opening doors to poison pill amendments. If you believe in free market wine, you can thank Chuck McIlhinney for blocking privatization.
I’ll be honest, even with an election year, I didn’t think that preemption had any chance to move at all in the Senate given how much they have gotten in the way of other reforms on our issue and others in the last couple of years. This is great news, and I’ll be calling my non-Judiciary Committee senator to let him know that if he wants my help this year, there better be a vote. I know my senator needs visible support from women based on the ads he’s running. I’m going to let him know that I’m happy to help, but only if there’s a vote and he votes for stronger preemption. Play the cards you’ve got – and helping a campaign is something everyone can do.
John Richardson has a great post outlining his research on a North Carolina judicial candidate whose name sounded a little familiar. It turns out that it’s because of his anti-gun statements in legal proceedings during his previous jobs.
Being an informed voter is vital to protecting your rights. For a quick guide, NRA has already released at least some of their grades for this year.
In Pennsylvania, we’re still waiting on some votes to take place on preemption (though it did just pass the House for the last time today, now it goes to the Senate), so we only have Congressional grades at this point.
Caleb watched The Purge so you don’t have to and then reviewed it from a self-defense perspective. However, even though I have not seen the movie, not ever seen a single preview for this movie, and have less experience doing self-defense training with firearms, I know there is something fundamentally wrong in his review.
…if you’re under imminent threat, you get everyone in a central, easily defended location. I would consider the house to be under imminent threat for the entire 12 hours of the Purge, so before the event started, everyone would be ushered into the safe-room/bunker, which would be nicely equipped with cots, video games, food, weapons, and security monitors, and we’d all stay there. For 12 hours. Spending 12 hours with your family is a small price to pay for not getting murdered.
There are plenty of families for whom spending 12 uninterrupted hours together would be a guaranteed recipe for murder. I personally think his advice should have come with a disclaimer on that one.
I was mostly disappointed to learn that movies don’t always teach good self-defense techniques. This means that I might need to reconsider the method learned from my favorite crappy sci-fi flicks: nukes solve everything.
At first, I couldn’t believe the headline. But it’s real. MSNBC is really arguing that NRA is responsible for Ebola issues in the United States. Really.
The stupid is just a little much today.
In this profile of planned gun control group election spending, there’s a key nugget of information quite relevant for the gun control crowd:
The subject barely registers in polling that shows voters far more focused on the economy and terrorism. This week’s Associated Press-GfK poll showed less than 1 percent of likely voters named guns as the nation’s top issue — a view that many House and Senate contests reflect.
It’s not completely surprising given headlines that make it appear like the new normal includes workplace beheadings and organ-liquifying diseases around the country.
That said, that also means our people also aren’t that engaged on the political front, or they are more motivated by other issues than guns. If something else is pissing them off to get engaged for our candidates, that’s still great. Though, if that description fits you, make sure campaigns and politicians know that you’re also motivated by gun rights. Telling a campaign coordinator that you’re motivated by Second Amendment issues goes much father than telling a pollster.
Speaking of reaching out to more women, this is one of the first ads I’ve seen from NRA that really tries to hit at female voters.
It’s message is much closer to that of other female-centered general political advertising. It’s personal and has a specific story, which is a refreshing change from many of the ads running from the NRA commentators which are general “the world sucks and the sky is falling” kind of themes.
The fact is that advertising like this is much easier to identify with, even if someone has never been in that situation. A similar humanizing ad from Sen. Mitch McConnell is getting attention specifically because of how much it makes him seem like a real human instead of just some robot in Washington.
Just like a candidate isn’t likely to jump all over a sexual assault victim, they aren’t likely going to try and attack this woman who obviously believes that McConnell was key to her daughter’s return. These are ads that make lower information voters feel good and make them think, “Yeah, I can identify with that person if I was ever in that situation. If I can identify with them, then maybe I should consider the candidate they are backing.”
The only concern I have about NRA’s ad is that it may be assuming too much in that lower information voters have any idea who Bloomberg is backing. He’s a great guy to demonize because few people like wealthy billionaires who haven’t lived their lives telling them what to do, but that doesn’t mean they know which candidates he’s backing or exactly how he’s involved in their local races. It would be most effective if the ad was shared by local folks along with a message of which area candidates are anti-Bloomberg. Maybe that’s what we’ll see happen. With about an hour on Facebook, it’s already nearing 700 shares.
I am just now starting to really like some of the efforts to market more feminine gun accessories.
For years, the extent of actual gun gear related to women was having something come in pink. Pink is fine. Plenty of women like pink, and it’s great that their market is served. But when I see pink guns, I think of how much my 6-year-old niece would like it.
I have never liked pink. When I was a girl, my preference was purple. As an adult, it’s all shades of brown and shiny like rose gold – which another company just released to the market recently.
But when I saw this pop up on Jacqueline Janes’s Facebook page, I fell in love.
This is beautiful, and feminine, without a trace of pink.
It’s almost like men in the industry are starting to realize that adult women probably shouldn’t be exclusively marketed to like 10-year-old girls. Or, maybe women have finally taken over enough spots in the shooting world that they could now voice their opinions that the novel pink offerings are cute and all, but they aren’t really attractive. (In the case of the pretty fleur-de-lis hand guard, it’s a woman-owned company from the looks of it.) It’s nice to really start to see more variety in the pretty gun gear market.
Eric Holder has announced he’s stepping down as Attorney General. The best prediction of the next happenings at the Department of Justice was found on Twitter:
Holder to resign
In related news, right now at the Justice Dept, hard drives are "accidently crashing"
— Matthew (@Matthops82) September 25, 2014