Bitter – Page 148 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Democratic Nominee Onorato Runs Left

Describing rumors of his pro-gun positions as “mischaracterizations,” when Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato declared his candidacy for Governor in Philly this morning, he called for non-specific “common sense” gun control.

I asked a reporter on the scene what exactly a “common sense” gun law was, but he didn’t have any specifics other than a vague reference by Onorato to child locks. However, he did say he would get back to Onorato on it.

It seems rather odd that Onorato is seemingly running left on gun issues, when he said later that these issues won’t really matter in the 2010 election, it will be more about the economy. If he does, it will be at his own political peril. Of course, he might already know that given this tweet from John Micek:

Onorato event in HBG is in front of Colonial-Era Graveyard. Put out an APB to Metaphor Police.

UPDATE: He also specifically mentioned lost-and-stolen, a law that would turn the legal system upside down for gun owners. We would have to prove our innocence rather than law enforcement proving that we did anything wrong.

WTF in Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s tourism lobby group is changing their name. Why? Because when it was named the Wisconsin Tourism Federation 30 years ago, the acronym WTF didn’t have any meaning. Nowadays…well, you read the interwebz.

As I told JR Absher, this is really too bad. If they were really innovative, they could have embraced the acronym when appropriate. I could see some great ad campaigns to attract younger visitors playing off the name. Or, since they are a lobby coalition, if a piece of particularly egregious legislation was introduced, it would be a fun political ad that would get the attention of legislative staffers if used properly.

Links Between Brady & MAIG Established.

With yesterday’s announcement that the Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner is working to promote Bloomberg’s MAIG coalition, I decided to a little bit of research on just who reached out to him on behalf of the NYC mayor. Turns out what I found supports the research by Carl in Chicago, but it comes straight from the mouth of Bloomberg’s Pennsylvania staffer.

Max Nacheman is cited as the Pennsylvania Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coordinator, and his background in politics is a page out of the who’s who of gun control advocates. It seemed awfully coincidental that the entire Bloomberg mayor’s group agenda is also supported by the anti-gun Brady Campaign. What is absolutely not coincidental is the connection that Max Nacheman brings between the two groups.

As Bloomberg’s representative for Pennsylvania, Nacheman is responsible for visiting towns and promoting the idea that they should pass illegal local gun ordinances. In May 2009, Max Nacheman spoke at the Lancaster City Council meeting in support of “lost-and-stolen” legislation and revealed the connection between MAIG and the established gun control movement.

Max Nacheman, Philadelphia, stated that he represents a National Coalition of Mayors, of which Mayor Gray is a leader, Mayors Against Illegal Guns and the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence.

That’s right, Nacheman admitted that in his position with MAIG, he also represents the Brady Bunch and that they both seek to accomplish the same agenda.

Before Nacheman became a spokesman and organizer for both Michael Bloomberg and the Brady Campaign, he came to Pennsylvania as a student at UPenn. While he was there, he happened to study Religion and US Public Policy. Interesting, and just where have we heard of a project that involves religion as a justification for public policy?

Eventually, he started working with the Hillary Clinton campaign for the Democratic nomination for President. Clinton’s support of gun control is long established, though it is unclear if he ever worked specifically on the issue for her campaign. However, once Barack Obama secured the nomination, Nacheman opted to stick around to support anti-gun State Representative candidate Steve Rovner based on reported campaign expenditures. As a candidate, Rovner stuck out to Bucks County gun owners as one of the only candidates to embrace gun control group endorsements which he lined up after Max Nacheman started working with his campaign. Fortunately, not even Nacheman could save Rovner’s challenge to the incumbent.

Nacheman, interestingly, cites his address in the campaign reports as Bashing Ridge, New Jersey. Max would hardly be the first gun control advocate to cross the Delaware in order to blame Pennsylvania’s pro-gun culture for the crime and corruption of New Jersey and New York. We gun owners in Eastern Pennsylvania have grown used to seeing CeaseFire New Jersey’s Bryan Miller all over Philadelphia. Perhaps the next time Max Nacheman comes over to promote MAIG-backed illegal gun control ordinances, he can hitch a ride with Bryan Miller and offer to pick up the bridge tolls with Brady Campaign funds.

Making a Difference

It’s amazing what you can do for the Second Amendment in just a few minutes. As you all know by now, Sebastian and I are NRA Election Volunteer Coordinators that assist pro-gun candidates in finding NRA members who want to be politically involved to help keep Pennsylvania pro-gun. It’s not a terribly time consuming task, and it pays off when we hear that candidates specifically recognize gun owners as making a difference to their campaign.

I had a phone conversation today with a State Senate candidate and his Campaign Volunteer Coordinator who are gearing up for a special election next week. Rep. Bob Mensch is running for the open Senate seat in district 24, and yesterday we announced NRA-PVF’s endorsement in the race. Rep. Mensch’s opponent has been dodging debates and interviews, and she doesn’t exactly seem to be up on relevant state issues – something important for those who want state office. I haven’t seen her say a word about gun rights, only a friend of hers claiming in one interview that she used to hunt. So this could be potentially bad news for gun owners if this seat goes from an A rated candidate to an unknown who, at best, has her friend pay a simple platitude to hunting.

But back to that phone call. Knowing that they have the endorsement of NRA-PVF is huge news to Rep. Mensch’s campaign. Even though they are polling ahead of the Democratic candidate, it’s a seat that her party wants to win. In a special election where people may forget to vote, it’s vitally important that we make sure gun owners and other friendly-to-the-cause voters show up. So that is where Rep. Mensch needs our help. I’m about to put out an email to all of our contacts up here with the call to action, and information on how they can at least get a sign up in their yard even if they can’t help on Election Day.

I can’t tell you how excited the campaign staffer was over that offer to get the word out to those willing to volunteer. Just knowing that they have the NRA endorsement and then to have us call the very next day offering to try and scrounge up volunteers, they were so appreciative. The volunteer coordinator couldn’t express enough how much it meant to have a gun owner call and ask how to make the biggest difference for the campaign. Ultimately, these are the actions that make things go smoothly for us at the State House. These are the things that you can do to make a difference in your state – a tangible difference.

As easy as it is to just pound away on the keyboard, and as much as I do think new media is useful, these types of activities – picking up the phone and offering to help, and getting involved at the local level – are what make the most difference when it matters on an important vote. So with that in mind, I’m going to head up to the district on Tuesday and help with the GOTV operation. I may even poke Sebastian and see if he wants to go up this weekend and contribute a few hours. I think even he was rather amazed in November when at the end of a two hour calling shift, you could look down and realized you just reached 200+ voters, or in doing on precinct walk, you hit 50 households of voters. That kind of local reach is hard to do with a new media, so these kinds of traditional local political activities ought not be discounted by those who spend time in the internet world.

More on the Media Spectacle of MAIG

SayUncle airs concerns over the lack of media coverage on mayors who are departing Bloomberg’s anti-gun group. Since I wanted to do a tally for someone else looking for a biased slant, here’s a tally at where we stand on headlines:

Supporting Mayors who are Staying Put
Edler notes NRA pressure to quit Mayors Against Illegal Guns (WA)
NRA wants York mayor to quit gun group (PA)
Mayor stands up to NRA pressure (SC)
Rhinelander Mayor Responds to “Anti-Gun” Accusations (WI)
NRA slams Jones (AL)
NRA slams mayor’s ties to gun control group (SC)
Henry resists heat from NRA (IN)
Mayor attacked by NRA (WI)
NRA mailer targeting Roefaro hits local mailboxes (NY)
Mayor Fretti joined â€œMayors Against Illegal Gunsâ€ (GA)
NRA targets Walaker’s gun position (ND)
What We Think: A lesson on civility (GA)
NRA targets Riley affiliation (SC)
Riley stands by membership in group targeted by NRA (SC)
Walaker gets off best shot (ND)
SC mayor targeted by NRA for illegal guns stance (SC)
“Mayors Against Illegal Guns” under fire (AL)
NRA criticizes SC mayors for joining group that fights illegal guns (SC)
Praise Mayors Against Illegal Guns for tackling a problem (WA)
White roses and thorns (PA)
Pro-gun V’land mayor under attack by NRA (NJ)
NRA campaigns to get N.J. mayors off Mayors Against Illegal Guns, report says (NJ)
NRA can’t persuade Elizabethtown leader (PA)
More detail about that gun group debate among Yakima council members (WA)
Common sense missing from illegal gun arguments (SC)
Mean Streets of Mobile (AL)
Council won’t cap paying Ensey legal fees (WA)
Mayor discusses MAIG (PA)
NRA Versus Mayors Against Illegal Guns (FL)
NRA has sights on BG Mayor Walker (KY)

On Mayors who Resigned
Wiggins Denies Being Member Of Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition (IN)
Pa. mayor quits organization after NRA mailing (PA)
Weekend Wrap (NY)
East Berlin mayor’s gun group affiliation raises ire (PA)
Jardine: NRA takes aim at mayor (CA)
Gun debate targets East Berlin mayor (PA)

Mixed Coverage*
NRA takes aim at Akron mayor (PA)
Support Bouley (NH)
Anti-gun group counts some local mayors as its members (PA)
Louras no friend of gun rights (VT)
NRA spokeswoman: Mayor was listed as member of anti-gun group (NM)
‘Are You Now or Have You Ever Been …?’ (NM)

*Mixed is defined even as covering mayors who are still in the group, but written by pro-gun people asking them to leave, coverage of multiple mayors who have taken different courses of action, and a really weird one out of NH that wasn’t even relevant.

Overwhelmingly, the mixed stories are by gun owners writing letters to the editor in order to get coverage that their local paper seemingly won’t cover.

You would never know by this breakdown in headlines that Bloomberg was touting more than 450 mayors a few weeks ago, and now he’s losing them so quickly that he removed the counter from his website and put up a plea for more members. In the Pennsylvania coverage, no one has mentioned that the state coalition is down by more than 15% in just two weeks.

Clinging to Henry Arms

Henry Repeating Arms has a new ad campaign that embraces Obama’s infamous clinging quote. According to the Outdoor Pressroom, this ad, along with a foray into television advertising, caught the eye of the New York Times. Now they are joking at Henry about whether the real result will be selling lots of custom Bible holsters similar to the one featured in their ad.

Another Round of Good News for Us, Bad News for Bloomberg

On Friday morning, I noticed that the little counter on the MAIG website had Bloomberg’s numbers down to 400 mayors. Meanwhile, the news release touting more than 450 mayors was running on the website. (Apparently they haven’t discovered the memory hole, even though this would be an appropriate use for it.) Later that day, after more mayors were scrubbed, Sebastian noted that they removed the counter completely so you can no longer easily count the number of mayors in their organization. All of this happened after they removed their handy map and moved a request to join to the top of the home page.

So with all of the changes that Bloomberg is so desperate to hide, let’s do a survey of where we stand in the effort to oust mayors from anti-gun coalition:

NRA’s Postcard Mailing
NRA sent a postcard to members in select cities of MAIG coalition members in Pennsylvania and around the country. They set up a corresponding website and interactive map inspired by our use of the same type of map for Pennsylvania. We did directly contribute to quite a bit of research on mayors nationwide, but especially on Pennsylvania mayors based on information uncovered while doing the long series of initial Bloomberg posts.

Obviously, as the 800 lb. gorilla, their mailing has generated many media hits and direct pressure on mayors around the state. Reports range from anecdotal stories of small town mayors swamped by angry residents wondering what the hell they have been doing to small town mayors facing censure votes for making their town look anti-gun to NRA members simply giving up and not even picking up the phone. Some good, some awesome, and some sad.

PAFOA’s Educational Outreach
Shortly after the Bloomberg series of posts, Pennsylvania Firearms Owners Association wrote to 15 mayors the organization thought they might be able to influence informing them of positions taken in their name and politely asking the mayors to resign from Bloomberg’s coalition. This morning PAFOA decided to turn up the pressure and asked their local members to call their mayors and again ask for their resignation. While the organization is not as large as NRA, it is full of activists who are more likely to be inspired to act quickly on the hells of success in other towns.

So where to do we stand as we head into this next round of taking out Bloomberg’s power structure in Pennsylvania?

On August 17, I reported there were 103 mayors in Pennsylvania who were members of MAIG. Â We’re now down to 87. Â Fifteen of those mayors left by resigning from the organization and one died.
In the same post, I asked: “Do you think the 684 residents of Ulysses know that Mayor Jane Haskins was campaigning against concealed carry and has supported lawsuits that put gun shops out of business?” Â Mayor Haskins was among the first to leave the organization after the NRA postcards landed in her town.
I also noted a geographical surprise: “It might surprise people to see that most of the mayors who support Michael Bloomberg are not in the Philadelphia suburbs. In fact, 32% of the mayors are in far western Congressional districts.” Â The statistical breakdown runs just about the same. Â Only 25% of the mayors who have departed the organization were from those far west Congressional districts. Â If they convince more mayors to leave, then we’ll have a more expected spread.
In August, the number of residents reached by Mayor Mike’s message was 2,899,142. Â We’ve cut that down more than 33,000. Â (Half of that number is Philadelphia alone. Â The other big contributer is Pittsburgh. Â It would be tough to convince either mayor to leave. Â So a drastic change won’t likely happen with this statistic.)
The following day, I mentioned that Pennsylvania is the largest source of mayors for the anti-gun crusade. Â “If he has at least 450 mayors, that means 23% of them are from Pennsylvania!” Â Even reduced to 87, with all of the other mayors flocking to leave the coalition, we still have 22% here in Pennsylvania. Â That’s disappointing, but it is a very small dent that we’ll keep working to make bigger.
I also mentioned that nine mayors have pushed illegal preemption-violating local gun ordinances have been members of MAIG. Â Unfortunately, I don’t have great news to report on this front. Â The York mayor who is proudly standing by Bloomberg pushed through a resolution supporting one gun a month in Pennsylvania after this campaign started. Â However, this does reiterate that we need to reduce Bloomberg’s numbers to keep his influence minimal.

So overall, we’re not doing too badly. Â However, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Â By far, Pennsylvania has more mayors than any other state. Â And if gun owners here don’t get active, they will lose their rights. Â This is just one move, but it’s disabling what Bloomberg has envisioned as the future of the gun control movement. Â We might as well make him a political liability and cut this thing off at the knees, so-to-speak.

For those who wonder about the PA mayors who have left, here’s the latest list:

Akron Mayor John McBeth
Beech Creek Mayor David E. Orr
Bowmanstown Mayor Keith G. Billig
Brackenridge Mayor Jeffrey Cowan
East Berlin Mayor Keith Hoffman
Gettysburg Mayor William Troxell
Harmony Mayor Cathryn H. Rape
Midway Mayor Karen Bartosh
Mt. Penn Mayor Josh Nowotarski
North Irwin Mayor Leonard L. Santimyer
Slatington Mayor Walter Niedermeyer
Summit Hill Mayor Paul R. McArdle
Tower City Mayor Dale Deiter
Ulysses Mayor Jane Haskins
West Reading Mayor Shane Keller

If your town or boro is on this list, please take a moment to call your mayor and say thank you.

Fact Checking Mayor Mike’s Ads since USA Today Won’t

In looking over the mayors who are not actually in office, I tried to put together how many of those mayors were not actually in office on the day that Bloomberg ran the anti-concealed carry advertisement in USA Today. I did this a while ago in my Mayors Against Guns research, but I completely forgot to note it. I have since updated with more information, and what I found was rather jarring.

It would appear that at least 19 of the mayors whose names ran in the USA Today ad were not actually mayors of the cities listed. At least one was attributed to a city he has never represented while most were long booted from office. That’s not a policy spin dispute, that’s a matter of flat out lying.

Add to the fact that at least two mayors have directly said they never approved their signature to the advertisement, and I would say that USA Today should be asking some serious questions before accepting any other ads from Mayor Mike.

Last night’s episode of Cam & Company featured a spokesman from Buckeye Firearms Association who argues that several mayors he’s heard from or about did not even know they were members since they do not ever recall signing up for the coalition. This raises concern that they did not give Bloomberg permission to print their names in support of his policy position in the USA Today advertisement. That would put the number of names erroneously printed at 24. Two dozen errors on one page is not acceptable in any newsroom, why would USA Today publish such falsehoods as part of an advertisement?

If you are looking to advertise with USA Today, perhaps signing Bloomberg’s name to a pro-gun measure, you can find the specs here. Technical specs are widely available, but ethical specs are apparently optional.

UPDATE: The Mayor of Winter Park, FL is on Cam & Company tonight. He confirmed that Mike Bloomberg never checked with them before signing their name to the advertisements and letters to Congress.

Dust Off Your Keypads in Support of Former MAIG Mayors

I’ve noticed a trend in the media coverage of mayors who have been asked to leave Bloomberg’s anti-gun group. For the most part, the mayors getting coverage are those who are sticking to their anti-gun positions. The mayors who looked at the policies Bloomberg was signing them onto and leave are getting very little coverage. Here’s a summary of headlines about avowed anti-gun mayors:

Edler notes NRA pressure to quit Mayors Against Illegal Guns (WA)
NRA wants York mayor to quit gun group (PA)
Mayor stands up to NRA pressure (SC)
Rhinelander Mayor Responds to “Anti-Gun” Accusations (WI)
NRA slams Jones (AL)
NRA slams mayor’s ties to gun control group (SC)
Henry resists heat from NRA (IN)
Mayor attacked by NRA (WI)
NRA mailer targeting Roefaro hits local mailboxes (NY)
Mayor Fretti joined â€œMayors Against Illegal Gunsâ€ (GA)
NRA targets Walaker’s gun position (ND)
What We Think: A lesson on civility (GA)
NRA targets Riley affiliation (SC)
Riley stands by membership in group targeted by NRA (SC)
Walaker gets off best shot (ND)
SC mayor targeted by NRA for illegal guns stance (SC)

And here is the only article I can find that talks about a mayor who left:

Wiggins Denies Being Member Of Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition (IN)

Here is a rather odd letter to the editor calling for support for a mayor’s anti-gun participation, but the mayor left. So I’m not sure how to classify it:

Support Bouley (NH)

Consider that at least 46 members have left according to NRA’s map. That’s more than 10% of the claimed numbers of the group. Since NRA pointed out MAIG actually included 28 members in their 450 claim who aren’t actually mayors of those cities, it’s up a tick to 11%. (That’s on par with the loss in Pennsylvania of 12% of his mayors.) None of those facts are making it into the media accounts.

View “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” in a larger map

If your mayor has left the group, make sure to write and say thank you. You might also consider a letter to the editor in support of your mayor’s decision. Don’t let the narrative be that every mayor is standing by Bloomberg & NYC-style gun control.

UPDATE: There are more headlines today. The skew is again in favor of those sticking by Bloomberg:

“Mayors Against Illegal Guns” under fire (AL)
NRA criticizes SC mayors for joining group that fights illegal guns (SC)
Praise Mayors Against Illegal Guns for tackling a problem (WA)

One in favor of a mayor who dropped:

Pa. mayor quits organization after NRA mailing (PA)

One mixed:

NRA takes aim at Akron mayor (PA)

PA Mayors Leaving Bloomberg’s Group

This is a cross posting from PAGunRights.com of the most up-to-date information I can find about the Pennsylvania mayors who are leaving MAIG. My reference to local here is anything the 8th, 13th, or 19th districts since those are the areas covered by the site contributors.

A roar of protest is spreading among Pennsylvania mayors who are rejecting New York City-style gun control and leaving Mayor Bloomberg’s anti-gun group. His Pennsylvania coalition once numbered 103 mayors, and in a matter of weeks, it has fallen to only 91. With help from gun owners who are willing to pick up the phone to protect their rights, we can reduce that number even more.

One report from a mayor claimed that she was called by nearly a dozen gun owners during her lunch hour on the day NRA notifications reached mailboxes. She quickly called to resign from the group, leading the still-rising wave of resignations of Pennsylvania mayors.

View Bloomberg’s Anti-Gun Mayors in Pennsylvania in a larger map

As you can see, mayors who have recently left the group include:

Akron Mayor John McBeth
Beech Creek Mayor David E. Orr
Bowmanstown Mayor Keith G. Billig
Harmony Mayor Cathryn H. Rape
Mount Penn Mayor Josh Nowotarski
North Irwin Mayor Leonard L. Santimyer
Summit Hill Mayor Paul R. McArdle
Tower City Mayor Dale Deiter
Ulysses Mayor Jane Haskins
West Reading Mayor Shane Keller

Unfortunately, some mayors are making their position against lawful gun owners clear and standing by Mayor Bloomberg’s efforts to restrict concealed carry licenses and sue gun stores out of business. York’s John Brenner says he plans to continue his membership and proudly cites his support for eradication of statewide preemption by passing illegal local gun control ordinances. Sadly, the only NRA members featured in the story said they were not willing to make the phone call to demand their mayor stand up for the Second Amendment.

In addition to Mayor Brenner, these local mayors have refused to resign from the group:

Ambler Mayor Charles T. “Bud” Wahl
Carlisle Mayor Kirk R. Wilson
Doylestown Mayor Libby White
East Berlin Mayor Keith E. Hoffman
Gettysburg Mayor William E. Troxell
Hatboro Mayor Norm Hawkes
Mount Wolf Mayor James F. Kinder
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter
Telford Mayor Jay Stover
Windsor Mayor Larry Markel

Let’s make sure that NRA members, gun owners, and hunters in these towns are willing to pick up the phone or even send an email in defense of their rights.

Since our update last week, NRA-ILA has launched a detailed webpage to keep gun owners updated on the status of mayors in the anti-gun coalition. The site is a tool to compliment the recent postcard mailings sent to gun owners around the country. You can find not only the current list of mayors, but also mayors who have quit the organization, MAIG members who are not actually mayors as advertised, mayors who recently lost elections, and MAIG members who are currently facing charges or have been convicted of various crimes ranging from assault to corruption.