Guns – Page 49 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Why No One Should Trust Social Media

This fascinating article in Mic talks about how Snap tried to pick Mike Bloomberg’s deep pockets using the gun control issue, but apparently they weren’t biting. Apparently they told Bloomberg’s Everytown folks if they didn’t buy all the ads, then they would be available to the NRA as well. They didn’t bite on that one, because apparently Everytown was already talking to Snap’s news division about a big ol’ chunk of earned media they felt would be more valuable.

This is how the game is played folks. They didn’t have to jump in bed with Snap’s advertising division, because their news division had already jumped into bed with Bloomberg!

It’s a joke. Seriously, don’t believe anything you see in the media, and especially social media. You can’t even go with “Trust, but Verify.” Expect you’re being lied to and seek primary sources.

Bellwethers to Watch for in the States

There’s a lot of gun stuff happening in the states, but much of it is friendly states getting more friendly, and the bad states getting worse. But there are some states to keep an eye on, and sadly we probably have more states going from friendly to hostile than we do the other way around.

Illinois is considering legalizing suppressors. Illinois has been one gun unfriendly state that’s been improving. We can thank the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals for a lot of that, and we can also thank the people who have been working hard to press those advantages in the legislature.

Nevada is considering banning guns in public libraries.Â Nevada is a bluing state, where Democrats are increasingly asserting control. Along with Washington and Oregon, Nevada is a state to keep an eye on. It is at risk of falling into Bloomberg’s orbit. The same is true of New Mexico. At this point, any state controlled by Democrats is in serious danger of entering Bloomberg’s orbit and never coming back.

People look around and see a world full of win for gun rights. I see a real risk that another half-dozen states start moving more toward California-style gun control. What’s going to happen when blue model failed states start driving more and more people to leave? What happens when they come to your state? You can see why I believe we need some base protections for gun rights that apply everywhere.

Weekly Gun News – Edition 56

Thanks for all the advice on club membership solutions, in the last post. I thinkÂ it’s about time to clean out the old tabs. Hopefully some of them are gun news that can be used, rather than work stuff I just left open. Here goes:

Sheriffs have been a great asset in fighting Bloomberg. You know what most Sheriffs are? Elected. I think all CLEOs should be elected offices. Also, from New Mexico: Bloomberg pulling out all the stops to get gun control passed in New Mexico.Â This is probably a prelude to a ballot measure.

John Lott: France had more public mass shooting casualties in 2015 than the US suffered during Obama’s entire presidency.

Pennsylvania is looking to ban Ivory. This amounts to a ban on guns that have ivory grips or ivory in the furniture.

Speaking of cops and gun control, gun control advocates are pushing for the cops to adopt smart guns. Might as well push for them to adopt phasers. The cops have already spelled out what they want from a Smart Gun, and it’s science fiction.

CeaseFire PA is having a forum on March 1st in Abington. It’s publicly advertised and it doesn’t say it’s only open to anti gun folks. They keep claiming to want a conversation, so maybe we should give them one.

Who could have predicted? The powers that be in California are angry that people have figured out how to comply with the law. I believe California’s next move will be to ban semi-automatic rifles entirely.

It all depends on how you ask the question: Everytown pays for polls to try to sink pro-gun bills in Florida. By now most politicians know that polling on this issue is generally #FakeNews.

“Gun control advocates try to keep pressure on, despite legislative losses.”

Good News, because most gun control has been and still currently is aimed at disarming them: “African-American gun club says membership surged in Trump era.”

More along those lines: “Why Black Gun Ownership Is Seeing Explosive Growth In Donald Trump’s America.” I don’t see why it’s such a surprise that Black Americans would act like other Americans in the face of insecurity and uncertainty.

Maybe this is a sign that I’m too fat these days, but I have to agree with Miguel that this line of argument annoys me. If I could carry something the size of a gun that could very successfully help me survive a coronary, I would. But AED’s are a bit heavy, and you need someone to set it up.

Josh Horwitz of the Coalition to Stop Gun Ownership is a very sad panda. Rather than defend the Obama Social Security Disability Gun Ban, he resorts to attacking the NRA for being mean toÂ the mentally ill.

NBC ran a segment on Ghost Guns that’s pretty much #FakeNews.

Kim DuToit is back blogging. I’d say welcome back to the party, but not much of a party going on with gun blogging these days as compared to when Kim used to blog. Someone today introduced a post of mine as by “long time blogger.” Well, shit, I guess I am at this point. How did that happen?

At first I figured this was parody, but now I’m not so sure.Â The reason to use black targets is, I don’t know, because it contrasts sharply with the light shining through the bullet holes? I’m pretty sure most of those artsy targets won’t show bullet holes very well.

Hunters are their own worst enemies. Seriously.

Seattle’s Gun and Ammunition Tax doesn’t seem to be raising a lot of money. It was never intended to.

Editorials like this from the Philadelphia Inquirer aren’t even worth linking anymore. This basically boils down to “Philly’s a shithole, so something must be done. Gun control is something, so therefore it must be done!” Sorry, Philly, you’ve been playing this game as long as I’ve been involved in the issue. You’ve even been given more gun control laws to use, and you have never bothered.

A new kind of non-brass shell casing? Looks expensive to me.

Off Topic:

A deplorable vote for Angela Merkel. I found this a good read. Basically, the author suggests the alternative to Merkel are Nazis or Commies. There was a time when Germany was faced with that choice before, and if you recall, it didn’t end well.

Gun Control Has Never Worked for Democrats

Really, for most Dem politicians, gun control is preening virtue signaling meant to make sure the right people know they support right kind of people values. For Dems in safe urban districts, this doesn’t come at much of a cost. But what the Democratic Party faces today is that it’s been reduced to those safe urban districts. In order to come back, it’s going to have to appeal to people in the suburbs and exurbs. This is how the Dems came back strong in 2006.

Salena Zito argues that women with guns are the next threat to the Democratic Party.

A very important nugget from the poll: Like every woman interviewed at the outdoor show, an overwhelming 80 percent of them support the goals and objectives of the NRA.

So they represent a large chunk of white, suburban, conservative, pro-Second Amendment women who didn’t particularly like Trump but couldn’t vote for Clinton. They kept their opinions to themselves at dinner parties and pulled the lever for Trump in the voting booth.

Croney said that definitely described her.

Remember the Hillary Clinton that ran ads against Barack Obama in Pennsylvania for being too anti-gun? Yeah, if that Hillary Clinton had run for President, maybe she’d be in the White House.

I keep telling Dem friends, “Look, Hillary was a uniquely awful candidate.Â How bad is Hillary Clinton? She lost to Donald Trump.” It’s often a tough pill to swallow, but it’s true. Hillary did literally nothing to have broad appeal. Her girl power campaign was alienating to men. That’s bad news when you need Black and Hispanic men to turn out for you in numbers that rival Barack Obama’s if you’re going to win.

Making gun control the centerpiece of her campaign only scared off voters who might have been open to her in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. That virtue signaling works for Dems in safe districts. It’s bad news in a nationwide race. Barack Obama ran both times downplaying his support for gun control. It was only after he didn’t have to face voters any longer that we saw his true colors on the issue.

It’s Important to Understand Just How Hostile The Courts Are

I see it all the time: people who believe the Second Amendment is an obvious, self-enforcing unmovable rock of American law. If you spend any time talking to gun owners, you will run into this. The basic idea that judges could simply interpret it out of the constitution is such an anathema to many people like this, they will often refuse to accept that it could happen.

In that vein, the 4th Circuit sitting en banc, in a 10-4 ruling deciding the fate of Maryland “assault weapons ban” have held that weapons that are “most useful in military service” are simply categorically unprotected. Because almost all modern firearms have a military pedigree, this interpretation would allow nearly any firearm to be banned.

The ruling was 10-4. Just let that sink in. That’s not even close. We have had to convince four additional judges to prevail here. A lot of people have done analysis of the ruling already, like Charles C.W. Cooke and John Richardson. What I want to do is look at a breakdown of the judges:

Majority

Judge King wrote the majority opinion, and was appointed by President Clinton.
Chief Judge Roger Gregory joined the opinion. He was recess appointed by Bill Clinton, but George W. Bush put him on the bench permanently.
Judge Harvey Wilkinson wrote a concurring opinion. He will never sit on the Supreme Court so long as there’s any life left in the National Rifle Association. He is a “conservative” judge, but one who hates gun rights. He was appointed by President Reagan.
Judge Motz was appointed by President Clinton.
Barbara Milano Keenan was appointed by President Obama.
James A. Wynn was appointed by President Obama. He joined Judge Wilkinson’s opinion.
Henry Franklin Floyd was appointed by President Obama.
Stephanie Thacker was appointed by President Obama
Pamela Harris was appointed by President Obama

Joined in Part

Albert Diaz was appointed by President Obama. He only joined the 2nd Amendment and 14th Amendment portions of the decision.

Dissent

William Byrd Traxler was appointed by President Clinton, and wrote the dissenting opinion.
PaulÂ Niemeyer was appointed by President George H.W. Bush
Dennis Shedd was appointed by President George W. Bush
G. Steven Agee was appointed by President George W. Bush

Boy I sure am glad we taught the GOPe and those assholes McCain and Romney a lesson they won’t ever forget! Even if George W Bush and Reagan hadn’t flubbed a few nominations, we still would have lost because the 4th circuit Court of Appeals is absolutely stacked to the gills with Obama and Clinton nominees. You know the old adage that only the Republicans get court picks wrong?

Today the majority holds that the Government can take semiautomatic rifles away from law-abiding American citizens. In South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland, the Government can now tell you that you cannot hunt with these rifles. The Government can tell you that you cannot shoot at targets with them. And, most importantly, the Government can tell you that you cannot use them to defend yourself and your family in your home. In concluding that the Second Amendment does not even apply, the majority has gone to greater lengths than any other court to eviscerate the constitutionally guaranteed right to keep and bear arms.

In addition, the majority holds that even if it is wrong when it says that the Second Amendment does not cover these commonplace rifles, Maryland can still lawfully forbid their purchase, even for self defense in oneâ€™s home-the core Second Amendment right. My friends do not believe this ruling impairs the rights citizens have under the Constitution to any significant degree. In my view, the burden imposed by the Maryland law is considerable and requires the application of strict scrutiny, as is customary when core values guaranteed by the Constitution are substantially affected. I recognize that after such a judicial review, the result could be that the Maryland law is constitutional. I make no predictions on that issue. I simply say that we are obligated by Supreme Court precedent and our own to treat incursions into our Second Amendment rights the same as we would restrictions on any other right guaranteed us by our Constitution.

Therefore I respectfully dissent.

Written by a Clinton Appointee. Sometimes they don’t get what they want out of a judge either.

Crowninshield Gets Three Years for Manufacturing Without a License

For those of you who remember, Daniel Crowninshield set up a scheme whereby a person would purchase an 80% lower, then would pay him to use his CNC mills to finish it. The government argued that this amounting to manufacturing without a license. A novel theory, to be sure, but because they picked the right guy they never had to test out this novel theory in court.

Now, if youÂ help people machine AR-15 lower receivers for profit, you can probably expect to spend some time in prison. Just a bit of general advice for people who might be tempted to try to walk the razors edge on violating or not violating the Gun Control Act: it probably will not look very good to a jury if you go by the alias “Dr. Death.” I mean, it’s a free country and all, but just sayin’.Â I’d also not advise not walking the razor on GCA while being a domestic violent misdemeanant,Â allegedly in possession of an unregistered machine gun.Â I’m sure that probably played into the decision to take the plea deal. Now the feds get to claim a scalp without having to test their novel theory of manufacturing without a license in court.

UPDATE: AlongÂ the same vein, attending open carry protests and making sure everyone knows who you are, and knows that you’er armed, when you have two felony raps is also not going to make things easy on your lawyer.

“Guns in America” Forum

Tomorrow at Central Penn College in Summerdale, PA there will be a forum featuring David Keene, former NRA President, and Shira Goodman, Executive Director of CeaseFire PA. It runs from 7-8PM.

Keene has generally been a great spokesman for the issue. If anyone in the area wishes to attend, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. It’s a bit of a hike for me.

Are They Going to be Real Volunteers This Time?

Moms Demand Action and Everytown (which is to say Bloomberg) are planning on flooding legislative sessions with activists. One wonders whether their “more thanÂ 100 volunteers” will once again be paid protesters, or whether they’ve found some real moms who care enough about the issue to give up a weekday. Florida has a very active session planned:

Bill to legalize open carry in Florida. Open carry isn’t my thing, but I don’t see why it ought to be criminalized.
Legalize carrying of firearms in non-sterile parts of Airports. If someone is intent on shooting up the place, they aren’t going to be deterred by a sign or a law on the books somewhere.
Allow firearms to be carried on college campuses. College students are adults. I don’t think it’s ever made any sense to restrict permit holders from carrying on college campuses.
Allow concealed weapons permit holders to carry guns at any legislative meeting, committee meeting, county or local government meeting. Local government meetings are a magnet for kooks and crazies, which is why I’d like to carry a gun if I go to one. Again, not going to deter anyone intending to shoot up the place.
Legalize carrying firearms by permit holders in career centers? What the hell is a career center? This is a prohibition I’ve never heard of in any other state.
Require that courthouses provide temporary storage for permit holders. This is already the law in Pennsylvania, so I don’t see why Florida shouldn’t join the fun.
Expansion of stand-your-ground to place the burden on prosecutors to prove that there is no viable self-defense claim. This is what they’ll fight tooth and nail.
Ballot measure on eliminating the 72-hour waiting period for LEOs to buy personal handguns. I’d vote “no” on this. I don’t see why they shouldn’t have to follow the same rules as the peasantry.

That’s pretty ambitious, but Marion Hammer is a force of nature, unlike Shannon Watts, and the Demanding Moms, who are a force of Bloomberg. I know which one I’d be more scared of if I were a Florida legislator.

Important Ruling From PA Superior Court

The en banc Superior Court, in Commonwealth v. Goslin, has ruled in favor of the defendant without dissent:

We disagree with the trial courtâ€™s conclusion that the language of Section 912(c) is vague.

Rather, we conclude that, in order to ascertain the meaning of Section 912(c), we need not look beyond its plain language.Â The plain meaning of Section 912(c) provides two separate defenses:Â possessingÂ andÂ usingÂ a weapon on school property â€œin conjunction with a lawful supervised school activityâ€ as well asÂ possessingÂ â€œfor other lawful purpose.â€ (emphasis added, as Chief Counsel Prince specifically argued this exact construction and noted the different verbs utilized related to the different provisions)

The Court concludes:

Although we are concerned about individuals possessing weapons on school property, we are bound by the broad defense that the legislature has provided defendants in such cases.

Josh Prince is raising money for legal defenses, as the case is headed back to lower court for a re-trial. I wouldn’t exactly go carrying firearms on school grounds because of this ruling, but it seems pretty clear the legislature intended to supply a broad defense for people engaged in legal activity. We now have the second-highest court in the Commonwealth recognizing that.

UPDATE: More discussion here. It looks like the DA is dropping the charges rather than going through with a re-trial. Josh Prince also points out that this only creates an affirmative defense. The DA can still charge you.

Delaware Non-Resident Reciprocity Back On?

A reader noted that the blurb about non-resident reciprocity ending in September has disappeared from the Delaware Attorney General’s web site. Does this mean it’s not happening? Let us hope so. Many of us in Pennsylvania have Utah and Florida licenses to be able to carry legally in Delaware.