Gun Rights – Page 73 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Beating You With Your Own AR

I don’t generally use my ARs for home defense. Most of the time they stay in the safe. But that’s not because I think they are unsuitable. When I have kept an AR handy for home defense, I’ve generally kept it with a loaded magazine, bolt in battery on an empty chamber. This guy thinks an AR is useless for self-defense, because he’s such a badass he’ll just be able to take your gun and beat you with it:

â€œI need an assault rifle and 20 round clips to defend my homeâ€

Bullshit. First of all who in the hell are you defending your home from? The Taliban? Unless you are sitting in a chair at your front door, magazine in, round chambered and safety off, you are not going to shoot a damn thing. So in reality, if I had broken in, by the time you got up, got the gun out and started loading it, I would have taken it from you and beat you to death with it.

And by some miracle, you got it loaded, and actually shouldered it to fire, you are going to miss because I will be too close for it to be effective unless your plan is to watch in awe as the bullet passes through the wall when you miss me and you kill your neighbors SUV.

We’re often accused of being chest-beating neanderthals, but who is doing the chest beating here? I half expect him to proffer Joe Biden’s advice about double barreled shotguns next. I get tired of these self-proclaimed self-defense “experts” opining on topics they know little about. I sincerely doubt your average SWAT team, which tends to practice entering homes with considerably more equipment and training at their disposal than your average home invader, would feel confident knowing their suspect was sitting inside the house with a loaded AR, ready to shoot whatever comes through the door. Better hope that door goes down on the first strike with the battering ram, and you get extraordinarily lucky and catch him taking a dump on the toilet or something.

I’m fairly certain knowing that, surrounding the house, and convincing the suspect to come out peacefully would be the preferred option over entering the house. I’m definitely sure they would not bet money they could get in the house and beat the suspect with his own AR before he could start launching bullets their way.

Time to Give Starbucks a Break: 2013 Edition

There’s always a risk when bringing this issue up of summoning the drama llama, but I can’t help but think Starbucks Coffee has shown sufficient resolve to follow the laws of the respective states with regards to carry that dragging the company further into this issue may very well be unproductive. I think that goes double if people start dragging AR-15s into Starbucks to show their appreciation. This kind of stuff is Folsom Street FairÂ for the gun rights movement, in neighborhoods across the country instead of being confined to San Francisco with all the other weird. I am not opposed to showing Starbucks some love, I’ve even encouraged it in the past, and participated myself, along with a lot of other people. I just believe if we’re going to show appreciation, it would behoove us to leave the rifles at home. To be honest, I think even pistol OC, if done to make a point (and not just because you do it) probably isn’t helping Starbucks remain comfortable with their decision.

At this point, I think if Starbucks reverses its policy, we have no one to blame except ourselves. We’re already seeing hints this may be getting pushed too far by our own side. Last year, when this issue heated up again, I thought our side was working too hard to help the antis keep the issue alive. I think the best way we can help Starbucks is not to fan the flames. Keep spending your money there, and when the antis make noise, drop a note to corporate saying you’re a regular customer, and you appreciate their decision to follow state law on firearms.

Christie Signs Some Gun Bills

Alert from ANJRPC quoted below. Not too surprising considering Christie’s general disdain for civil liberties, as was recently expressed. But if he vetoes the worst of it that’s at least something. I also think there’s a better chance of winning on the terror watch list issue in Court than most other things:

This afternoon, Governor Christie announced that he signed 10 of the gun bills on his desk.Â Â Two of those bills are helpful to gun owners, six are neutral in their impact on gun rights as a result of amendments based on gun owner input, and two were opposed by gun owners.

Three other horrific anti-gun bills – the worst of the bills that made it to the Governor’s desk -have not yet been acted upon by Governor Christie: the Sweeney “centerpiece” FID bill, the fifty caliber ban, and the trace data bill that would require the State Police to violate federal law.

It is critical that the Governor’s office continue to hear from gun owners on the three bills that have not been acted on yet.Â Â Please do your part and keep urging the Governor to veto these bills.Â Â Please call the Governor’s office ASAP atÂ 609-292-6000, write him atP.O. Box 001, Trenton, N.J. 08625, orÂ send an emailÂ using the online contact form.

The 3 anti-gun bills on which the Governor has NOT yet acted are:

S2723Â – the awful Sweeney “omnibus” bill, which throws out existing FID cards and replaces them with either a privacy-invading driver license endorsement or other form of ID; suspends Second Amendment rights without proof of firearms training; ends private sales between background-checked licensed gun owners; effectively creates a registry of ammunition purchases and long gun sales; and imposes a 7-day waiting period for handgun purchases.

A3659Â – the fifty caliber gun ban, which in its final versionÂ bans firearms that shoot centerfire cartridgesÂ of any caliberÂ that attain a muzzle energy of 12,000 ft-lbs. or greater.Â Â Though limited grandfathering has been added in response to gun owner concerns, the firearms must be registered, cannot be passed down to heirs, and owners will be civilly liable for damages if the firearm is used in a crime.Â Â Additionally, the bill has been amended specifically to prevent anyone with a pending order for these firearms from taking possession of them.

A3797Â -Â Mandates that the State Police publicly disclose confidential ATF gun trace data in violation of explicit federal law limiting that data to law enforcement use only. This is an attempt by frustrated gun banners to circumvent the federal Tiarht Amendment, so that idiosyncrasies of the ATF’s trace system can be exploited and manipulated to falsely suggest that law abiding citizens are a source of “crime guns.”Â Â ATF has opposed similar efforts to circumvent confidentiality, which could compromise ongoing investigations. Note: a conditional veto by the Governor removing just the offending parts of A3797 would be sufficient.

The 2 bills that HELP gun owners which the Governor has signed are:

A3788Â – Prevents public disclosure of personal information of licensed firearms owners, including name, address, and phone number.Â The legislation prevents a repeat of what happened in New York State in January, when several newspapers obtained personal information of Empire State gun owners via freedom of information requests and then published that information both in print and on the internet.Â Â Publishing personal information of gun owners jeopardizes their safety and makes them targets for gun theft, in addition to raising significant privacy concerns.

A3796Â – Addresses an anomaly in New Jersey’s “assault” firearms statute that prevents those still in possession of banned firearms from lawfully disposing of them.Â Â This bill reopens a compliance window for a short time during which banned firearms could be lawfully disposed of.Â Â Although the compliance window is too short, and the bill fails to allow for lawful disposition of banned magazines and ammunition, it nonetheless offers a limited compliance opportunity that is a temporary improvement over current law.

The 2 bills opposed by gun owners which the Governor signed are:

A3687Â – Terror Watch List bill.Â Makes it possible toÂ suspendÂ Second Amendment rights without a specified requirement of due process, based on a secret government list compiled by federal bureaucrats with no published standards, no identified procedure to correct errors, and potential for enormous abuse by those in power.Â ProponentsÂ of the bill have argued that due process is available because there is a right to appeal any permit denial under New JerseyÂ law.

A3717Â -Â Requires submission of certain mental health records to NICS without an explicit, stated requirement of due process within the legislation itself.Â Â ANJRPC has no objection to the core purpose of this legislation, but believes that the legislation needed to explicitly state that only records of persons who have had judicial due process (with a right of appeal) should be submitted to NICS. Proponents of the bill have argued that the NICS system itself, as well as New Jersey mental health law, contain independentÂ due process requirements.

The 6 bills signed by the Governor that have been neutralized in their impact on gun rights are:

S1279Â – Upgrades penalty for unlawful transfer of a firearm to a minor (specifically amended to exempt lawful instruction and training, competition and target shooting)

S2720Â – Makes records regarding the total number of FID cards and handgun permits issued subject to public disclosure (does not disclose identity of gun owners)

S2804Â – Upgrades penalty for unlawful firearms possession by felons or those engaged in serious criminal behavior.

S2430Â – Creates a study commission on gun violence.

S2468Â – Permits vehicle impoundment where felons or those engaged in serious criminal behavior are unlawfully in possession of firearms.

S2719Â – Anti-trafficking legislation (amended to prevent numerous unintended consequences to legal gun owners).

Please watch for upcoming alerts and updates, and please keep contacting the Governor’s office!

Keeping the Issue Alive

The Washington Post is pretty clearly trying to keep the background check issue alive for the benefit of gun control advocates, as we head into Congress’ summer recess. It’s not just the Washington Post either.

The media is also pretty clearly already prepping the groundÂ to downplay the Colorado recalls, so it becomes a heads we win, tails you lose issue; they come out on top no matter how it goes. That’s why it’s important to follow up with more victories in 2014. The recalls are at best a message. They are right about that. The if we’re going to be rid of these new laws, the legislature will have to change hands.

Lead Meme Again

Probably one of the single biggest threats to gun rights is the attempts to ban lead ammunition over environmental concerns. Since Newtown, the issue has been relatively quiet, butÂ now the meme flies again here, and again here. It’s also being picked up by the regular media.

This is one of the biggest threats to the shooting sports, and gun rights in general, because they have a reason to essentially ban affordable ammunition for a reason that isn’t merely a desire to eliminate civilian gun possession. Additionally, again, it’s an issue where even a lot of gun owners aren’t going to understand the issues involved, especially when our opponents are lying about the alternatives being cheap, easy, and perform the same.

Most ranges these days are doing some level of lead reclamation. The mechanics of reclaiming lead aren’t complicated, and the economics favor doing it, given the high cost of copper and lead these days. But I believe it’s going to be a difficult issue over time. In this issue we face a trifecta of anti-hunting groups, anti-gun groups, and greens. We face the fact that hunters, generally speaking, can be incredibly self-destructive and quite vulnerable to divide and conquer tactics.

Especially since gun control has been failing, when pushed through traditional methods, I expect the lead issue to become a serious push moving forward. This all started because California Condors were showing up with lead poisoning, which wildlife advocates quickly blamed on lead ammunition fragments being eaten from carrion that had been shot and gutted by hunters. California moved to ban all lead ammunition from condor territory. Now they are moving to ban all lead ammunition in hunting anywhereÂ in California. Â A key thing to watch is whether lead poisoning among condor populations drops. So far, the ban has not reduced incidences of lead poisoning in condors. Nonetheless, the proffered explanation is the ban does not go far enough. Tell me if you’ve heard this one before?

MAIG Still Stepping in It

First they read the name of Terrorist Kabalamov, or whatever the bomber’s name is, and that caused a media sensation that seems to have caused the media cycle to shift decidedly against MAIG’s favor. Now MAIG is saying that someone coming at you with an axe handle isn’t armed with a deadly weapon. His argument seems that if someone doesn’t have a gun, you’re not justified in using a gun. This seems to have been a bit much even for Chris MatthewsÂ (h/t SayUncle).

So MAIG is endorsing the “proportional force” standard, generally employed in countries where self-defense is effectively unlawful. Be a man! He pulls a knife, you fight him with a knife. He pulls a baseball bat, well, do some grappling and hope you don’t get your skull bashed in. Fortunately, proportional force is a relatively extremist viewpoint few Americans agree with, and this is a big reason why.

Happy Tuesday: News Links

Any day where the dew point is under 50 and the high is only supposed to hit 82 is a good day in my book, so with the servers being kept cool with fresh outside air, here is the news:

Hey, gun people are everywhere. What’s more important is for other people to realize that.

Connecticut is going to talk about weakening their self-defense laws even further (they already have a duty to retreat).

Dave Hardy takes another look at the racial implications of SYG. Not the narrative you’ve been hearing in the media, is it?

Josh Horwitz of Coalition to Prevent Gun Ownership hates logic.

Does MAIG support sexual harassment?

Joe gave me a scare for a bit, but it raises a good question of how many of us have first aid training? I admit to being deficient in this area.

Good to see folks had fun at the Northeast Blogger Shoot. I went shooting in New Hampshire once, but the journey through Mordor has only gotten more perilous.

Destroying gun control as a political movement is our end game. To do that, we have to make it a toxic issue for both parties. We have succeeded, largely, in convincing many Republicans. Now the Democrats have to be freshly punished for their late transgressions. Maybe then they’ll finally get it for good.

The Brady Campaign gets one of their lawsuits tossed. I’m sure it was helpful for fundraising letters while it lasted. Eugene Volokh has more on the lawsuit getting tossed.

Expect the antis to keep pushing this concealed carry insurance mandate. Anything to drive up the cost and deny the poor the same rights the 1% have. They even have a blog.

Senate Democrats have abandoned efforts to pass a law this year. This has the right people very upset.

NRA is appealing the 18-20 year old gun rights case to the Supreme Court. I’ll be surprised if they grant cert on this, but anything is possible.

Smith & Wesson employees seem particularly worried about the prospect of more gun control in Massachusetts. They should be worried. The left has shown that gun control fantasies are more important to them than good paying jobs.

They Can Add Me to the List …

… of people who are not fans of Chief Kessler. IÂ think his being the public image of this issue in Pennsylvania is more harmful than helpful. In the past few years, I’ve I haven’t been talking as much about what I think is smart activism, versus what I think is just clownish behavior can actually hurt the cause. I’ve heard Chief Kessler speak, and heard what he has to say, and I did not walk away with a favorable impression of him as someone who can carry our message effectively. The news stories since then have not dissuaded me from that view.

In the wake of the Newtown tragedy, we had a strong, local upwelling of pro-gun sentiment that happened relatively spontaneously. After years of trying and failing to organize in various contexts, it was something to feel optimistic about. But as time wore on, the sensible folks who wanted to do real political engagement were pushed out by the clowns and whack-a-doodles, and the crowds aren’t turning out anymore. The potential is there, but it’s not surprising to discover most gun owners don’t really want to engage in loud and aggressive open carry protests and counter-protests all of the time. Every tactic has its limits.

After this groundswell got started, the local politicians were paying attention. Even politicians we never figured would touch the gun issue with a 20 foot pole were at least willing to come see what the buzz was about. Now I’d be surprised if they want to touch the gun issue with a 50 foot pole, especially if they think it’ll mean having to explain their involvement with a group allied with Chief Kessler’s CSF to their largely suburban constituents.

Only about half of households are gun owning, and many of them are completely unfamiliar with the gun culture. They have a difficult time even putting something like IPSC or IDPA into context, let alone something like a Constitutional Security Force. Additionally, it’s always a good rule of thumb is that when even fellow gun owners are put off by your tactics, it’s a signal you might want to rethink what you’re doing. You can hew and haw all you want about how wrong they are, and you might have a point, but at the end of the day you need to bring those people along with whatever you want to accomplish.

There is a very strong strain in the pro-gun community that seems to believe only good intentions matter, and arguing over what makes for effective tactics amounts to a form of elitism. I’ve resisted these conversations in recent years, because to be honest, I haven’t had the time or energy to deal with it. But I’ve watched too much opportunity here in Pennsylvania get sacrificed to clownish behavior in the past few months to keep completely silent about it.

Here’s the cold, hard truth: if we do not manage to keep suburban legislators and suburban voters on the side of, or at the least acquiesced to the idea of civilian gun ownership, Pennsylvania will slowly begin transforming into New Jersey and New York. Attitudes might be a bit different in places like Gilberton, but because of migration patterns in Pennsylvania, it’s increasingly suburban Philadelphia voters who call the shots in state elections. You can’t avoid having to consider what those voters think of you.

And it’s not just suburban voters; suburban gun owners have to feel comfortable being involved. Tactics that alienate and keep them on the sofa are cutting off your nose to spite your face. It takes more than a couple dozen activists with megaphones, banners, flags, and ARs and AKs strung across their chests to defeat a gun control bill, to push a pro-gun bill, or to successfully swing elections. Whether you want to accept it or not, those three things are the meat and potatoes of political action. Anything that doesn’t involve supporting those processes is window dressing.

As a movement, we seem to enjoy window dressing a bit too much these days, and my fear is that’s going to kill us if we’re not careful.

Balanced Article on Machine Gun Shoot

From Slate. I appreciate it when reporters legitimately make an attempt to step outside their comfort zone. Of course, at least one of the gun owners he interviewed shows why our own people are a bigger impediment to advancing gun rights than the gun control zealots. See here:

Darwin Edwards and his friend John Paskey left the Big Sandy Shoot early. The 4,000-mile round trip from Kentucky, Edwards says, was worth doing once. He says the machine gun community proves the efficacy of rigorous background checks: “Machine gun owners are one of the few groups of people who can prove they’re not felons.” Ammo remains “really just not available because of the feeding frenzy” fueled by the gun control legislation. But Edwards isn’t worried. He’s got enough ammo to last him the rest of his life. He’s deeply disappointed that the Senate didn’t pass gun control. “The majority of people in the country, including me, were in favor of that particular bill,” he says. “I don’t see how any thinking person would vote against it.”

He’s got his, so who cares, right? If only that attitude were rare as hens teeth.Â “Machine gun owners are one of the few groups of people who can prove they’re not felons.” And you know what? Despite that, they still banned them. Once they get the rest of us out of the game, we’re not going to be able to stop them when they come to confiscate your now ungrandfathered machine guns. This guy had the nerve to call other gun owners uneducated. He’s a world class fool, blind to the realities of this issue.

ATF Could Get a Director

The Senate is close to a vote on B. Todd Jones who’s been nominated by the Obama Administration as ATF director. He’s not, by any means, a good pick, as he’s shown he’s willing to carry Holder’s water and retaliate against whistleblowers. NRA has decided not to pick the fight. Given what’s being arrayed against us, I’m not sure a confirmation fight over ATF is worth picking either. What would be the end? Either Jones never gets a hearing, in which case he continues to serve as “acting” director until Obama’s term runs out, or you force the White House to put up another nominee who will likely be just as bad. If we’re going to pick second term confirmation fights, I’d rather reserve them for federal judges, or, God forbid, a Supreme Court confirmation.