The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …
PA License to Carry information is not considered public record by Bucks County.
UPDATE: Still waiting to hear from Delaware County, Montgomery County, and the City of Philadelphia. Â Chances are if none of them will release, no one else will either. Â I might check with Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is located, because they issue more LTCs than any other jurisdiction in the country.
I mean, given that we’ve had Parker, and now a New Jersey court (frigging New Jersey!), saying the second amendment protects an individual right, the folks at the Brady Campaign and Violence Policy center have to be crapping in their pants.
UPDATE: The Brady’s seem to have noticed my fun at their expense, and commented that they aren’t really that worried:
Even the Parker decision — which is definitely regarded as out-of-step with precedent — allowed that “reasonable restrictions†would still be permitted under their new interpretation of the Second Amendment. So the things we actually advocate for (background checks, anti-trafficking laws, child-safety locks, law enforcement) aren’t impacted by the Parker ruling.
They are right about Parker still leaving a lot wide open, but you have to admit, for pro-second amendment decisions to be coming out of New Jersey is pretty startling, even to me. I can’t imagine that if an individual rights view is ultimately upheld, it will make things easier for them.
… it can happen anywhere. Satan called, and said it’s getting chilly.
Chester County is the county that issued my current PA LTC, so I was most interested in their response:
We do not disclose that information.
Cpl. Joe Kusnersyk
Chester County Office of Sheriff
17 N Church St.
West Chester, Pa. 19380
Kudos to the Chester County Sheriff’s office for keeping LTC holder information private. I will have to contact Bucks County, who I have to renew with, as they are my current county of residence, to ensure they follow the same policy.
After the debacle involving the Roanoke Times, I’ve decided to contact some of the local county sheriffs to see whether they would release LTC holder info to reporters. I’ll be relaying what they say as I get a hold of them.
One stunning thing is that most of the Sheriffs in Pennsylvania don’t seem to have e-mail contact info. This is the 21st century people. Time to get with the times!
Ben Wittes of TNR Online is calling for the repeal of the second amendment (sorry about the registration wall).
It’s time for gun-control supporters to come to grips with the fact that the amendment actually means something in contemporary society. For which reason, I hereby advance a modest proposal: Let’s repeal the damned thing.
At least this approach is an honest attempt to work within the bounds of the constitution, rather than just try to pretend certain parts of it that are disfavored aren’t there, but you can’t really repeal a right. The constitution does not explicitly grant rights, it recognizes them by forbidding the state from interfering with them. Repealing the second amendment would not end my right to self-defense, it would just eliminate the vehicle by which the constitution protects it; the right to bear arms.
But if the Parker decision is forcing advocate of gun control to take the position of “Let’s just repeal part of the Bill of Rights”, that’s a good thing for us, because that is a political non-starter with the public, and puts us on a much better footing than our opponents. Â Amending the constitution requires overwhelming political agreement on an issue, and on this issue, we’re not anywhere near that. Â The fact that this is part of the Bill of Rights, rather than something like the income tax, or prohibition, that was added later, will only add to the burden.
Don’t tell John Street or any of the other Philadelphia politicians, but one of the city’s landmarks, relatively unknown landmarks, is gun related.
The Sparks Shot Tower.
The first shot tower in the United States.
Circa 1808
Molten lead was poured from the top of the tower through grids or screens of different sizes. The drops that formed became perfectly round as they dropped. There was a vat of water at the bottom of the tower to catch the drops and cool them.
The lead shot was used for small arms, muskets, and shotguns.
I’ll have to pay this site a visit at some point.
Since Parker, I’ve heard an idea floating around, that I’ve heard before, but Parker is prompting me to blog about it: that the NRA doesn’t really want to see the Supreme Court rule that the Second Amendment is an individual right because it would dry up their funding source. I don’t buy this line of thinking for a lot of reasons, and I think the NRA’s reluctance to use the courts can be alternately explained.
For one, the NRA’s political lobbying wing is a separately funded branch called ILA.  The NRA membership dues do not go toward political lobbying, they go toward traditional NRA functions which center around supporting the shooting community through education, competition, and publications. If gun control were put to bed once and for all as a political issue, the NRA would continue to operate these functions, as it has for most of its history. I would still continue to be a member, and I’m sure a lot of other folks would too.
Another reason I’m not buying it is because an individual rights ruling isn’t going to put the issue to bed by a long shot. There will be many many fights ahead, because even with a strong, very broadly recognized right to keep and bear arms, there are still a lot of ways to complicate our lives that would probably pass constitutional muster. How many people do you think, for instance, would continue to own guns if they were required to muster for two weeks in the summer time for militia duty? I have my doubts that registration would be considered to be unconstitutional.  In fact, you could probably use a militia powers justification for it at the national level.
The reason the NRA is reluctant to engage the courts is because doing so carries a lot of risk. While I like the Parker case a lot, and am optimistic we’re going to get a favorable ruling out of it, it’s still a huge gamble. If we’re wrong, the second amendment is effectively read out of the constitution, and things could get very ugly for us after that.  I can’t honestly say I blame the NRA, especially given that they’ve been pretty successful at conventional political lobbying, for viewing the courts as the least predictable and most hazardous path of redress. I’m not sure I really disagree with them.
The past month has brought the issue of hunting and gun rights to the forefront, but I saw some folks while traveling through Oklahoma that reminded me of another part of the shooting community that’s growing rapidly:
Sandy and James Duke of the Oklahoma Gunslingers. Just strangers passing on the highway, but given the number of NRA and other related stickers I ran across on the trip, there are quite a lot of shooters out there, at least traveling between Texas and Pennsylvania. So if Sandy and James Duke, or any of their fans manage to come across this… I’d like to say Howdy to the Cowboy Action Shooters from the Black Rifle Shooters.
Anyone have any idea whether the Cowboy Action Shooter community is involved with RKBA or not? I’d hate to think there’s a growing shooting community out there that we’re not reaching.
Dredged from the archives at What Would John Wayne Do!
I know that a lot of us carry firearms for personal protection, which had led me to wonder about the title of the thread. When you’re carrying, do you imbibe? Obviously, we all know that you shouldn’t drink and drive, but what about drinking and packing?
Please note, I am not a legal expert, and nothing I say should be construed as legal advice or counsel, please feel free to ignore me, and heed me only at your own risk.
Okay, now that I got that out of the way, let us look at the particulars of drinking and packing.
First thing we all know is that alcohol and firearms don’t mix. I can personally say I’ve had that pounded into my head for years, and the 2 alcohol related firearms accidents I’ve been witness to have reinforced that feeling. So, we can eliminate getting drunk and carrying; I think everyone’s okay with that.
Let’s imagine a hypothetical situation. You and the missus go out for dinner and a movie. At dinner, you have two drinks. Being a man of decent size and pacing yourself, two drinks does not raise your BAC above the legal limit, nor impair your judgment (you think). On your way to your vehicle, you are confronted and blah blah blah, you end up plugging some citizen who wanted to lighten you and wife of your goods. When the police officer shows up, how do you think his reaction will be if he smells alcohol on you? Now imagine the same scenario, except you are sober as a Baptist preacher on Sunday.
My feeling is that if I’m planning on having a few drinks, I leave the pistol at home; better yet so that I don’t have to go around unarmed, I don’t drink when I’m out. Plus, it saves me a tonne of money; buying booze from a liquor store and drinking at home is a lot less expensive. A great way to kill two birds with one stone is to volunteer to be the designated driver. I do this a lot as it allows me to stay sober, stay armed, and I get to laugh at the antics of all my drunk friends. I call that a win-win situation.
There are some states that forbid CCW holders from imbibing while they are in public and armed, some states don’t permit CCW holders to bring their firearms into bars. Know your local laws regarding weapons and alcohol before you do anything.
And remember that alcohol and firearms don’t mix.
It felt like this was especially appropriate as St. Patty’s Day is tomorrow. Indiana (where I love) has no prohibitions on carrying concealed in bars; I’ll be the designated driver for tonight’s St. Practice Day festivities, pretty much for the reasons stated above.