Gun Rights – Page 374 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Robinson Arms Controversy?

On January 1, 2008, Alex Robinson, CEO of Robinson Armament Co., announced his endorsement of Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on the Robinson Armament Co. website. This has led to considerable controversy in the firearms enthusiast community, as Romney indicated on a December 16, 2007 interview on Meet the Press that he would sign a reauthorization of the expired Federal Assault Weapons Ban. This endorsement is seen as peculiar because reauthorizing the Assault Weapons Ban would make sale of the XCR to civilians in the United States illegal. The endorsement has led to calls for a boycott of Robinson Armament Co. in the firearms community.^[2]

Robinson Armament has released a statement about this.

Many of you are supporting one of the very pro-gun candidates. That’s great. The question is: What if Mitt, Rudi, or John get the nomination? I think this is fair question.

If one of the solid gun stance candidates do not win and we totally alienate the other candidates, where are we?

If we were all really smart and working together to make sure all the bases are covered, we would make sure that we have some people working with the candidates who have less than stellar pro-gun records. Just in case they make it.

The reason I’ve been working with Romney is that I knew early on that he would be a contender. He’s got a lot going for him that a lot of people like. Though gun control issues are the biggest issues for you and I, many Americans feel there are bigger and more important issues. I completely disagree. A candidate’s stand on the Second Amendment is a litmus test. Candidates who want gun control are typically for big government, want to tax us out of existence, and support lots of other liberal ideas.

Read the whole thing. I don’t know if I’ll be willing to join the call for a boycott over this, but it’s some pretty bad political reasoning. Alex Robinson should have a talk with Bitter, who worked in this issue in Massachusetts under Romney. He’s unreliable, and will throw anyone under the bus if the political winds change, and he thinks it’s politically expedient for him to do so. It would be one thing if Romney already had the nomination locked up, but he doesn’t. It’s still time to fight for pro-gun rights candidates.

UPDATE: One guy even wants to go so far as to cut up and destroy his SBR XCR.Â I’d be happy to take it off his hands if it makes him feel dirty.Â I might be convinced to join a boycott, but I won’t go so far as suggesting people destroy a perfectly good rifle!

More on the New Jersey Issue

Armed and Safe doesn’t like the legislation either, but mentioned one thing I wanted to talk about:

The amendments also remove language specifying that the legal owner of a lost or stolen firearm who complied with the reporting requirements would not be civilly liable for any damages resulting from a crime.

Yep–the bill initially contained language that would protect the owner from liability stemming from his being the victim of a crime, but the legislators, in their infinite wisdom, removed that provision.

That’s actually a bit we wanted them to remove. Currently there is no tort that exists for a person being held responsible for the criminal misuse of property that was stolen from them. By removing liability on the part of a gun owner who reported a lost or stolen firearm, the legislature would have been implying a tort did exist for those gun owners who failed to report a lost of stolen firearm under this statue. Therefore a gun owner in violation could not have only been fined, but also could be sued by the victims.

Not too Late for New Jersey

The vote is today.Â Call your senators and ask them to oppose this legislation.

Gun Safety Is Back!

Joe is right that it’s old news, but I hadn’t seen it in the media for a while.Â Now it’s back just in time for the elections.

The families say they want to make sure guns are not allowed on college campuses. And they want lawmakers to require that everyone who purchases a gun in Virginia first go through the FBI’s instant background check system that blocks felons and the mentally disturbed. Although federal law requires background checks, it applies only to federally licensed firearms dealers. No checks are required when a private dealer sells weapons at a gun show. Fifteen states have closed what gun safety advocates call the “gun show loophole.”

Emphasis mine.Â Can you get any more biased than that?Â At least they were kind enough to call us gun-rights advocates rather than the “gun lobby”.

I don’t doubt that these folks are undergoing a serious grieving process over the loss of their loved ones, but none of the bills they are proposing would have stopped Cho from being a murderous asswipe.Â We have already fixed that problem.Â I feel for these people, but once they choose to enter a political scuffle, the laws they are advocating should not be beyond debate, nor should their position be given absolute moral authority.Â We should not decide public policy based on grief and emotions.Â The family members of Virginia Tech victims are advocating removing liberty from their fellow citizens, and that should create the utmost burden for them in terms of defending that position in the public sphere.Â A pity the Washington Post doesn’t seem to feel that way.

Losing in New Jersey

Looks like those bills are passing. Here’s how they think of honest gun owners in The Garden State:

Failing to report a loss or theft could result in fines of $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for all subsequent offenses.

Assemblyman Louis Manzo, D-Hudson, said the intent is to force straw purchasers to either risk large fines and exposure to lawsuits or report to law enforcement they’re losing handguns in bulk.

“Taken alone, as they would be for an honest firearms owner, the fines are not financially devastating. But for straw purchasers, who would have to report 10, 20 or even 50 guns at or near the same time, problems quickly start to arise,” Manzo said.

Yeah, I mean, it’s only a few thousand dollars for you honest gun owners who get a gun stolen but don’t know about New Jersey’s onerous reporting requirement. It’s not a big deal right? Not to mention the humiliation of being put through the ringer by the legal system. Louis Manzo can go to hell.

I do want to make a point that a lot of folks over in New Jersey, particularly Scott Bach of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, have worked very hard to try to defeat these bills. It’s worth pointing out that the bills that eventually passed are far less bad than they would have been had it not been for the efforts of ANJRPC. Why don’t you drop Scott a note and thank him for the effort he’s put into this. It’s New Jersey, so we won’t always win, but we have to fight there, and it helps those people who decide to stay and do that on our behalf to know their efforts are appreciated.

A Letter to Mike Sullivan

I’m glad to see this is happening, at least.Â As I’ve said before, there’s a big difference between grassroots opposition to Sullivan and the NRA coming out officially against him.Â It seems they have decided to take the route of trying to engage Sullivan, rather than try to defeat his nomination.Â Combined with the hold placed on his nomination, will this be enough to get his attention and do something?Â I hope so.Â We’re stuck with Sullivan for another year, even if he never gets confirmed officially for the job.Â Who we have after that is anyone’s guess.Â The only long term solution to this problem is to pass HR4900.

Compromise

Robb Asks:

Waiting periods for firearms purchases will be waived if the person purchasing the firearm has, on their possession, a firearm (unloaded, of course).

Because waiting periods are to “cool off”. If you already own a gun (and simply having it on you means you have plenty of access to it) then there is no reason to make you wait for another.

Any takers on why this would be a bad / non workable idea?

In California, or any other jurisdiction that already has a waiting period, this would be a good compromise to make.Â In a situation where the passage of a waiting period is a political inevitability, it would be a good compromise to make.Â Absent that, don’t make it.Â The only time you ever offer a deal is when there’s a good chance you’re going to lose anyway, or you’ve already lost, and you’re just trying to make things less worse.

Easy Access

Pro-gun Progressive takes on the “easy access to guns” canard showing up in the Baltimore media.Â Funny, just a few days ago the BBC was touting this crap too.

What is “easy access”?Â Basically, any access is “easy access” to these people.

Attention New Jerseyans

The New Jersey Senate votes tomorrow on several important anti-gun bills. It’s important to urge your legislators to vote no.

These bills will be voted on by the Senate tomorrow, Thursday, January 3. Please contact your State Senator today at (609) 292-4840 and respectfully urge him or her to protect the Second Amendment rights of New Jerseyâ€™s law-abiding gun owners by opposing S2470, S2934, and S2431.

Also, because you’re bending over so nice for the Senate, the assembly is ready to come in for sloppy seconds, and is scheduled to hold a vote on the judiciary committee on several of the gun bills being voted on by the Senate:

A4620 and A3035 are companion bills to legislation currently being voted on in the State Senate. It is critical that A4640 and A3035 are defeated or, at the very least, amended to match the Senate versions.

Committee Information:
Thursday, January 3, 2008
11:00 AM
Committee Room 12, 4th Floor
State House Annex
Trenton, New Jersey

Assembly Judiciary Committee:

Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein (D-14), Chair
(609) 395-9911
Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-15), Vice-Chair
(609) 292-0500
Assemblyman Christopher Connors (R-9)
(609) 693-6700
Assemblywoman Nellie Pou (D-35)
(973) 247-1555
Assemblywoman Joan Quigley (D-32)
(201) 217-4614
Assemblyman David Russo (R-40)
(201) 444-9719

There are a lot of sportsmen left in New Jersey, and they’ve shown they can affect election outcomes. There’s no reason gun owners have to always lose, even in The Garden State.

Maybe They Don’t Read Their Own Appropriation

Red’s Trading Post details how, for the past several years, ATF has been ignoring language in their appropriation from Congress that they need to lay off on the minor paperwork violations.