Bitter – Page 37 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Mixed Results in Pennsylvania’s Elections

Unfortunately, the two Supreme Court justices who did not deserve retention were retained. However, with 99% of state precincts reporting, the favored judge of Superior Court won, Vic Stabile.

Locally, our elections were a mixed bag. On the one hand, the lesser of two evils won the county-wide offices. However, a MAIG mayor managed to retain his seat by a stinking 8 votes.

This is why gun owners need to at least look at what’s happening right in their backyards. I’m not saying you need to track every little borough happening or know every little piddly fight going on between township and county or whatnot. As I told folks yesterday, simply look up the page to see if your mayor is in MAIG. If s/he is, vote for the opponent. It’s a simple strategy. In Pennsylvania, mayors aren’t legally allowed to make gun policies, so you don’t need a “pure” candidate, just send a message by voting people out if they back Bloomberg.

Sending a Message to the Judiciary

Unlike many states, Pennsylvania gun owners actually have a method to send a direct message to the judicial branch about their views on how judges might be doing at either upholding or uprooting our rights to keep and bear arms.

Pennsylvania does a range of judicial elections – outright partisan competitive elections at some levels and during some years, and then retention elections (simple, is this person doing a good enough job to remain on the bench vote) for some levels of the court. There are perks and drawbacks to such a system, but it is our system. That means we gun owners should participate.

Tomorrow is Election Day, and the only offices on the ballot are local, county, and judicial. It means that turnout will be ridiculously low. Gun owners need to be concerned since we just had an elected judge make a completely new interpretation of our concealed carry laws that made any Pennsylvania resident carrying on an out-of-state license a criminal.

In fact, two Supreme Court justices are up for a retention vote tomorrow. One of them, Chief Justice Ron Castille, wrote the opinion that has opened the door to redefine Pennsylvaniaâ€™s self-defense standard from one which requires the state to disprove a claim of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt, to one where the defendant has to prove self-defense by a preponderance of the evidence. This would essentially shift the burden from the state to the defendant. If gun owners think this is a bad idea, then vote against retention.

Gun owners aren’t the only interest group that should be looking more to the courts as voters. A Tea Party group is also encouraging voters to vote against retention of both justices up tomorrow. Whatever you think about their views on whatever it is that’s irking them is irrelevant, what it presents is an opportunity to see that Castille is especially weak.

This isn’t the only time in recent months that gun owners have needed to wake up to judicial elections. In Erie, there’s a low level judge who just blatantly ignored the state’s preemption law. This is a situation that can easily be solved at the ballot box, and the message will spread to other judges.

Unfortunately, of all the bad rulings issued for gun owners lately, Chief Justice Castille is the only one facing an immediate election. However, he can be sent home. We should take the opportunity to help him enjoy his retirement a little earlier than he expected. (He actually faces mandatory retirement next year, so it’s pretty pointless to keep him on the court. Unfortunately, he is fighting that mandatory retirement. Though he can’t fight a voter-mandated retirement.)

Defining Guns Down

Bob Owens noticed that Shannon Watts, the head of Moms Demand Action, put out a new definition for the guns the group wants to ban: “An assault weapon enables humans to shoot 10 rounds in one minute.”

Bob goes through and provides video examples of all types of guns that can shoot 10 rounds in one minute or less.

That means guns that Moms Demand Action want to see banned include lever actions, bolt actions, and even single-shot shotguns. He provides plenty of evidence that shows all can load and fire 10 rounds or more in less than a minute.

A Look Back

I came across this page from an 1897 Sears Catalog the other day, and I just wanted to share it as a novelty of a time where you could actually order by mail, and were even encouraged to bulk buy with neighbors.

I think my favorite listing is the one with the line, “Nothing like it ever retailed for less than $5.00.” I also find it amusing how much of a drastic price increase it was (41%!) to get the pearl handle instead of rubber.

Know Your Rights, Even When the ACLU May Not

Yesterday, a story popped up on Photography is Not a Crime (another great blog highlighting rights of the law-abiding that are frequently trampled) about a low level ACLU representative getting angry at a photographer for taking photos on a public Massachusetts street that she just happened to be working on that day.

The girl decked out in her ACLU gear didn’t just inform the photographer that she’d rather not have him take her photo, she tried to claim trumped up charges that he was engaged in a criminal act by taking a photo that just happened to have her in it.

This doesn’t surprise me coming from ACLU representatives because I witnessed a group of ACLU “volunteer observers” at the 2004 Pittsburgh NRA meeting trying to intimidate NRA supporters who were snapping photos of the anti-gun protests taking place on the public space outside of the convention center with similar threats.

One girl in particular, probably an older college student or recent graduate, was particularly aggressive in claiming that gun rights supporters had no right to take any photos at all on the public sidewalk and that she would report us to the police if she thought we took any photos of her sitting on the sidewalk.

I just point out this story because it’s useful to understand that the underlings who may be representing ACLU in some form at any gun-related events may try to use the same false charges that photography in public places is a crime against gun owners to try and intimidate them from documenting an event or participating one way or the other in public protests. I have never seen another ACLU volunteer observer team at an NRA meeting again, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen again.

Trick or Treat, Ladies

As a bit of a Halloween surprise, the ladies of Los Angeles County got a special notice that the state has decided to release a mentally ill serial rapist in their area.

The man admits to raping 38 women in 9 years, and he was found to have “mental disorders that make [him] likely to reoffend.” But, hey, a judge ordered him released, and the Deputy District Attorney assures people that it’s all fine and dandy. She promises that the women who live around the house he’ll be assigned to can feel safe because, in theory, the cops will try to keep an eye on him.

Of course, there’s no indication that LA County will start issuing carry permits to the innocent women who have suddenly had this habitual rapist moved into their community.

WaPo Says Bloomberg “Misleading” in His Virginia Attack Ads

Give credit to the WaPo for this one, they just rated Bloomberg’s effort to attack Ken Cuccinelli on gun rights 3 “Pinocchios” out of a possible 4. In fact, in their minds, these attack ads by anti-gunners should be considered to have “[s]ignificant factual error and/or obvious contradictions.”

They note that nothing that the ad complains about in regards to Cuccinelli’s record has anything to do with the murderers they show on the screen. Unfortunately, that won’t keep Bloomberg’s $3 million spend off the air.

Henry Rifles Moving Some Production Out of Jersey

From Outdoor Pressroom, it looks like Sandy gave Henry Repeating Arms some motivation to move manufacturing for some of its .30-30 and .45-70 cal. rifles to Wisconsin. They also add that the work ethic and support of a hunting/gun culture is just as much a reason to flee New Jersey.

No More Concealed Carry for Neighborhood Watch

Sanford, Florida plans to announce that anyone who has a concealed carry permit and chooses to carry a firearm may not participate in the Neighborhood Watch programs. They can carry their guns all they want, but they can’t be acting under any “authority” of Neighborhood Watch.

If you want to contribute to the safety of your community, you have to leave your gun behind and put your personal safety at risk.

While I do think that George Zimmerman made some less-than-perfect decisions on his infamous evening out, I don’t really see how anything that Sanford is proposing helps the situation.

Sanford officials claim that the ban on people legally carrying firearms will revitalize the image of the program that has reportedly suffered following the trial, but I’m not sure how telling me that I should give up my personal protection and take one for the team is an incentive to participate.

The real message they are sending here is that even though Floridians who are legally carrying a concealed firearm have already proven themselves to be law-abiding citizens, they cannot be trusted when it comes to neighborhood public safety issues. Do they think that concealed carry holders are going to give up the guns or give up the program first? I can pretty much assure you, it won’t be their personal protection.

Bigger Money in Virginia

Mike Bloomberg is putting nearly $3 million into Virginia’s elections across different races now. Politico is also reporting that Bloomberg has made smaller investments in lower level legislative races.

For those gun owners who say that they aren’t concerned about the gubernatorial winner because the legislature will keep the gun control threat at bay, this may possibly change your calculations.