Under no circumstances should you consider a long gun-shaped device a toy gun or a gun accessory for a video game. The sacred g word shall not be uttered, and we aren’t talking about the big guy upstairs. Find out more about this absurdity from JR.
Author: Bitter
More Bloomberg Updates
…later. There has been so much activity on the issue in the last two days, and I haven’t had time to keep up with it. My mom came to town the same day that Sebastian left, so I haven’t been able to keep up with all of the good news from the field.
Suffice it to say, if your mayor is on the list, call them promptly. There is a very strong movement afoot to clear the ranks of anti-gun politicians, and they can join their right-thinking peers in a wave against Bloomberg. By Monday, I might be able to add your city to the full list of drops. I will also have an updated Pennsylvania map for you.
Those Damn Anti-Gun Manatees
It looks like those pesky manatees are having a gun buyback. Boaters beware.
Curious Questions about Gun Possession Arrest in DC
The headline says a man with a gun was trying to enter the Capitol during Obama’s speech. But reading the article indicates there’s a little more to the story that shows he actually was not a threat at all.
A man with a shotgun was arrested on Wednesday night by U.S. Capitol Police while attempting to gain access to Capitol grounds as President Barack Obama began to deliver his speech to a joint session on healthcare.
Capitol Police stopped Joshua Bowman, 28, of Falls Church, Va., at approximately 8 p.m. on Wednesday night several blocks away from the Capitol as he made a “failed attempt to gain access to [a Capitol] barricade,†a spokeswoman said.
After consenting to an administrative search of his vehicle, a shotgun in its case with ammunition was found in the vehicle’s trunk. He was transported to Capitol Police headquarters where he was processed and charged with carrying an unregistered firearm and possessing unregistered ammunition.
For those of you who don’t know, these barricades are erected in the middle of some streets that, according to a map, look like they should be open to traffic. They are blocks from the actual Capitol building because they are posted around the Congressional office buildings that surround the Capitol.
It seems to me that someone up to no good would not keep his shotgun cased in the trunk and consent to a search. If there were no nefarious reasons for him to be there, then I do hope that he fights like hell because it sounds as though he was traveling in a manner legal by FOPA standards. Anyone who has driven in DC can tell you how easy it is to get lost in that city and end up near monuments and buildings you never expected to be near. If this man was following the law but ended up lost, he should not be prosecuted for this unregistered bullshit.
Follow the Reno Adventures on Twitter
Given the ease of transporting an iPhone vs. a laptop, I expect that Sebastian will be updating mostly via Twitter while he’s hanging out with other gun bloggers. If you don’t follow him on Twitter, you should.
I’m quite confident he’ll have more insightful commentary on the event other than the fact that Reno’s airport smells bad. Expect pictures live from the scene, too.
What an Odd Flight Route
I was just checking on the status of Sebastian’s next flight on FlightAware and discovered that Southwest has a pretty creative route for this particular flight number.
Most flights I’ve been on either fly between two cities repeatedly throughout a day or they travel in one general direction (say, Charlotte to Nashville to Dallas). But Sebastian’s next flight starts each day in Dallas and flies northeast to St. Louis. From there, it turns northwest to Omaha before a turn to the southwest to Las Vegas. Obviously, the next stop is to the northwest again to hit Reno. Then it continues on its northwesterly track to Portland before going northeast toward Spokane. I wonder how many flights do such and extreme zigzag around the country.
“You Lie!”
I did not watch the President’s address. I didn’t feel the need to listen to the same version of a speech he’s been delivering since before the election. But as soon as I heard about Congressman Joe Wilson’s outburst, I cringed. I just knew that would come back to haunt him, and he obviously did as well given his near immediate apology.
However, the more I thought about it, the less upset I am about how the affair reflects on health care reform opponents. First, the comment was in reply to Obama’s statement that Republicans are lying. While that doesn’t make the breach of decorum appropriate, it does provide an important opportunity to refute Democratic talking points that the GOP otherwise may not have had.
On top of that, I think the style of the British Parliament is kinda awesome. Spirited debate with a bit of spice isn’t always a bad thing. It is not the process our Congress uses, and I understand that. But, seeing the jokes on Glenn’s site about a transition to that style did crack me up.
Ultimately, Wilson will pay a price for his outburst. Daily Kos and ActBlue mobilized to use it as an opportunity to raise more than $100,000 for his Democratic challenger over night. Some members of Congress are calling for formal punishments. His district is a fairly solid GOP area (PVI R+9). But between the negative attention that Wilson will attract to South Carolina, along with the fiasco that is Mark Sanford, hopefully the Republican voters don’t feel too beaten down by 2010.
Pretty Picture
I would refer to this picture as a moment of zen, but since it is a dying star, there’s probably very little zen-like about it.
Click to enlarge.
More on the Company that Cannot be Named
Freedom Group announced their new leader this morning. I find it absolutely fascinating that they are so desperate to disassociate themselves with the Cerberus name that in all the companies named in the release and all of the experience cited, Cerberus isn’t mentioned once. At this point, it’s almost a comedy to see how they go out of their way to avoid saying the name that cannot be said.
So, think we’ll see a new name on the NRA ballot in coming year?
More Mayor Updates
As updated on PAGunRights.com, there have been a few members dropping out of the Bloomberg coalition over recent days. Specifically, two mayors in Pennsylvania have removed themselves from the coalition and another member passed away in recent days. While it would have been nice to change the mind of the mayor of State College who recently passed due to complications from surgery, we can at least celebrate the opening of minds of the mayors of Ulysses and Summit Hill.
View Bloomberg’s Anti-Gun Mayors in Pennsylvania in a larger map
Non-Pennsylvania losses also include:
Mayor Jerry Taylor of Boynton, FL
Mayor Linda Riner-Mizell of Dundee, FL
Mayor Mark Hawke of Gardner, MA
Mayor A.J. Holloway of Biloxi, MS
Mayor Jim Bouley of Concord, NH (New Hampshire’s only mayor on the list!)
Mayor Dale Strasser of Brunswick, OH
Mayor Kathy Taylor of Tulsa, OK
Mayor Thomas M. Taylor of Franklin, WI
Mayor James Schmitt of Green Bay, WI
Mayor Dave Ross of Superior, WI