Pennsylvania – Page 18 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Taking a Look at Bloomberg’s Mayors in 2013

It seems like we just put the presidential election behind us, and yet, there are already more elections to think about in terms of gun rights. Most political observers are already looking to 2014. However, Pennsylvania gun owners should be looking to this year’s municipal elections against mayors who have been lobbying Washington, DC officials in support of a ban on semi-automatic rifles and more via Bloomberg’s MAIG.

Many of the mayoral races are unchallenged, but others are closer than you would expect. Penndel’s 2009 mayoral race was decided by just 68 votes. Those in Pennsylvania might think that since Penndel is a pretty tiny borough, that seems like a pretty big margin. However, it doesn’t take into account significantly decreased turnouts in these off-year elections. Fewer than 26% of registered voters in the county actually cast a ballot in local races that year.

In the next county over, the contest for Pottstown mayor was decided by just 2 percentage points – even as write-in candidates took 5 points in the race. Somewhat farther north, the mayor of Roseto was elected by only 53 votes. Out in the western part of the state, Ingram’s anti-gun advocate mayor won his last election by just 9 votes.

If you want to help weaken Bloomberg’s anti-gun alliance, then this is a great way to start. Find out about your own races and get involved in the races around you if you can. Think about the race decided by 9 votes – you could help reach that many voters in one hour on a Saturday afternoon.

PA Attorney General Goes National on Gun Control

Not content to simply add new concealed carry restrictions, Attorney General Kathleen Kane has decided to promote bans on commonly owned firearms and accessories used by Pennsylvania residents in a national television appearance. She took to Chris Matthews’ show to say that Pennsylvanians would gladly accept new gun restrictions.

Pennsylvania Cities Get in on Gun Control Lobbying Game

I can’t tell you how very happy I am that Pennsylvania’s Governor, Tom Corbett, has made it pretty clear that gun control will not be on his agenda. Even though there are many anti-rights bills introduced, there’s no serious threat that any of them will move at the moment. That said, it’s not stopping local towns from weighing in on the fight.

On the pro-rights side, New Britain, PA is considering a resolution to reaffirm the Second Amendment is an individual right and that the town “strongly objects to the passage of any new law or regulation … that infringes upon Second Amendment rights.”

Explaining why she wanted the resolution, [Councilwoman Mary Pat] Holewinski said, â€œWhen I was elected and sworn in, I swore to uphold the U.S. Constitution and the Pennsylvania Constitution. I introduced it as a means for borough council to show support for the Constitution.â€

On the anti-rights side, we see a bit more action. First there was the effort by Lower Makefield to lobby for ending preemption, but they deserve credit for rescinding their resolution. Now, we have Upper Moreland using town resources to lobby for more gun control, seemingly for full registration in addition to semi-automatic rifle bans and more.

We Need a New Term

At last night’s local meeting to oppose local tax dollars & resources being used to lobby for gun control, there was one anti-gun advocate who claimed the “I’m a hunter, but…” status. Typically, the movement would call him a “Fudd.” But, I think this guy needs a new term because he went much farther in his comments.

He commented that he remembered the wide introduction of semi-automatic shotguns and how reluctantly came around and accepted those as lawful for use, but that wasn’t what he wanted the supervisors to promote banning. He wanted our semi-automatic rifles banned because they are just like hand grenades and flame throwers – or something.

So, stupidity aside, I couldn’t let one thing go. The guy barely accepted the lawful use and ownership of semi-automatic shotguns, common firearms that have been in production since 1902. I’ve posted this tweet from Cam Edwards before, but it has new meaning today:

The AR was designed in 1957 and sold to the public beginning in 1964. Perhaps we should go ahead and ban that newfangled rock and roll too.

— CamEdwards (@CamEdwards) January 24, 2013

I think I found a guy who would agree. From his talk of reluctantly accepting firearm technology developed in 1898, I’m pretty sure this guy would be fine with being told that the Second Amendment is really about muskets. Oh, and just like Glenn Reynolds notes about so many anti-gun activists, he was an old white man.

Great Analysis of the Philly Burb Political Dynamics

I was quite pleased to come across two quality election analyses of two Pennsylvania congressional district and their traditional counties of representation. They happen to include both my current county (Bucks), and also the county I grew up in (Delaware). Having read them both, they are quite thorough and good, and done by people who seem to have a grasp for the political situation we’ve been facing here in the Philadelphia suburbs. If you’re interested in the suburban Philadelphia political dynamic, or in Pennsylvania politics in general, I highly recommend following the links. I think it’s very important for all Pennsylvanians to understand the dynamics here, because with the western part of the state rapidly depopulating, politics in this state, including gun politics, is going to increasingly be decided in the Philadelphia suburbs.Â First, here is an excerpt from the Bucks County analysis:

Bucks, along with the other three suburban counties on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware Valley, was traditionally a Republican stronghold. While Lower Bucks, dominated by union influence, has traditionally been Democratic, Republicans have always dominated county politics on a local and statewide level. Bucks County voted about four points to the right of the nation in the 1980 and 1984 Presidential elections and about seven points to the right of the nation in the 1988 Presidential election. The right Republicans, ones who could connect with Lower Bucks’ working class, heavily Irish Catholic population, could even squeeze out votes from Lower Bucks. Even if a Republican wasn’t a great fit for Lower Bucks, middle and upper Bucks provided more than enough votes to give Republicans a strong victory countywide. Middle and Upper Bucks have traditionally had a very Christian population but one with a pacifist streak.

However, Demographic changes that have magnified since the early 1990s have stripped Bucks of its historical position as a Republican stronghold. With minority growth in the borough of Bristol, Bristol Township, and Bensalem Township, Morrisville, and Falls Township, Lower Bucks has become harder for Republicans to win crossover votes in the lower third of the county. Additionally, middle aged Jews who had the money to leave Northeast Philadelphia, or their wealthy college graduate children, largely settled in middle Bucks around the Newtown or Doylestown areas …

Read the whole thing, because it’s top notch analysis. It comes with some very interesting heat maps that show how different parts of the county and congressional districts voted.Â The analysis of Delaware County and the 7th Congressional districtÂ is equally good:

For years, Delaware County, Pennsylvania had an almighty, well organized Republican machine that controlled the local government and its politics. Party bosses and the “War Board,” the county Republican Party’s executive committee, ranÂ everythingÂ in Delaware County. Even in the county’s historically black areas, like Chester, Republicans controlled many local offices. Current Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Chester) served as Chester’s mayor between 1999 and 2002 and Chester even had a Republican mayor until 2012.Â …

The author then goes on to document how Delco has swung hard in the other direction, mostly due to demographic changes. The overall picture in both counties, at least how I read the maps, isn’t so much that the GOP has lost adherents, though the strong social conservatism and bungled war efforts during the Bush years certainly have contributed to that, but that the traditional GOP voters are moving farther out, with urban, largely Democratic voters from Philadelphia moving into the near suburbs. That’s making it more difficult to draw safe GOP districts.

The good news is the cohort of voters which have formed the traditional GOP base swung back in the 2010 and 2012 elections. If you think the Obama effect is temporary, that’s a good thing. There might be a basis to get a lot of suburban voters back into the fold, if the GOP is smart. The sad part is, the GOP is quite often far from smart. The “culture wars” have not helped the GOP in this area. In terms of gun politics, there is still a rather healthy gun culture in Chester and Bucks counties, to a lesser extent Montgomery county, and to a considerably lesser extent in Delaware County, especially the eastern parts. There is a basis through which we can form a movement. Creating a pro-gun movement for Pennsylvania’s future is going to depend greatly on mobilizing activists in this part of the state. In my experience, it is hard, but Obama is currently providing us a base from which to do it.

New Local Anti-Gun Groups

Reasoned Discourse breaks out in just about every corner of anti-gun activism. The same is true for local groups that are popping up in Southeast Pennsylvania.

The first example, found via PAFOA, is Bucks County Against Gun Violence. What’s item one of tonight’s anti-gun agenda?

Facebook – changes that have been made to safeguard the facebook page

Yes, shut down dissent! Based on what I see, they appear to report all pro-gun comments as spam on Facebook. This group is so extreme that they support an idea that would ban gun owners from purchasing and transporting firearms across city lines. Yes, city lines.

Then there’s Bucks Safe which is run by a public official, and his meeting announcement informs us that he’ll only allow you entrance if you agree to his mission statement. Since he’s holding his meeting on private property, he can have them turn away anyone he deems unsuitable or with opinions that don’t match his sufficiently. This is the same Pennsylvania lawmaker who called continued ownership of semi-automatic rifles a dangerous loophole that he plans to close by declaring possession illegal.

These folks don’t want a serious discussion about what measures might actually reduce gun violence. They just want to make the laws complicated enough that gun owners who think they have some kind of “right” to own firearms are put in jail or disarmed. They don’t want to hear debate, nor will they tolerate the presence of gun owners who might have different ideas in their midst.

Making the Gun Confiscators Upset

Rep. Steve Santarsiero believes that federal gun ban proposals that allow grandfathering of currently owned lawful firearms are “limited bill[s]” that he believes “leave a considerable loophole” of continued ownership and possession that “we here in Pennsylvania should and, indeed, must close.” That’s part of his pledge to justify legislation that will “outlaw both the purchase and possession” of modern semi-automatic sporting rifles.

So, as you can see, Rep. Santarsiero has pretty much deemed himself among the most extreme gun control advocates in the state of Pennsylvania. The fact that the government hasn’t just come for your guns yet is a dangerous loophole to him. Yet, it turns out that he is worried about the support that another bill in Pennsylvania is getting at the moment. He posted this call for action for gun control supporters on his Facebook page and that of his new anti-gun group, Bucks Safe:

One of my colleagues in the PA House, Daryl Metcalfe (R-12), has proposed a bill, House Bill 357 (a number that he chose intentionally) that would prohibit Pennsylvania from enforcing any new federal measures aimed at curbing gun violence. Please write to Representative Metcalfe (Hon. Daryl D. Metcalfe, 144 Main Capitol Building, PO Box 202012, Harrisburg, PA 17120-2012, (717) 783-1707, Fax: (717) 787-4771), and let him know that his proposal is both bad policy and unconstitutional.

I admit that I haven’t focused on this bill much because it’s really only relevant to any discussion at all if we’ve lost the fight politically at the federal level. I’d rather focus people’s efforts on not losing in the first place. However, given Santarsiero’s reaction to the bill, I think it’s worth highlighting. If you have the political enthusiasm for one more letter, go ahead and write to your Pennsylvania state representative and encourage them to sign on to the bill. Let’s see if we can’t increase the sponsor count so that Rep. Santarsiero feels a little more defeated in his quest to confiscate firearms from Pennsylvania gun owners.

Ending Reciprocity

Just as promised on the campaign trail, Pennsylvania’s Attorney General is now “modifying” reciprocity agreements to restrict carry in the Keystone State.

Pennsylvania residents who have Florida permits can keep them, but they will no longer be valid in Pennsylvania. More importantly, non-Florida non-residents with Florida licenses can no longer carry in Pennsylvania. If you are a Delaware resident who carries in Pennsylvania on the Florida permit, you’re no longer legal to carry here.

In fact, if I’m reading the press release and agreement correctly, there’s a good chance that Florida non-residents who may have been carrying on a Florida license in the last week have actually been carrying illegally. The new agreement went into effect last Friday, but the Attorney General did not post it or announce it until today.

It would be great if a lawmaker would float Constitutional carry while another at least floats a bill to get reciprocity out of the hands of the Attorney General. If she plans to abuse her authority, then take the authority away from her.

UPDATE: Interestingly, Philadelphia politicians from the AG’s party are trying to claim that reciprocity agreements are being completely dissolved:

Her decision to dissolve Pennsylvaniaâ€™s reciprocal conceal carry license agreement gives law enforcement and prosecutors a powerful tool that will keep Pennsylvanians safe.

Does this mean that the modification is just a first step and that other agreements will actually be dissolved?

Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gun Control Package

Fortunately, even the sponsors are basically conceding that their modern semi-auto ban and repeal of Castle Doctrine aren’t likely to go anywhere. However, even western Pennsylvania lawmakers are touting that they are supposedly hearing from other legislators that they are open to talk of more gun control.

Bill to Defy Federal Gun Control Introduced in Pennsylvania

I’m glad Pennsylvania is joining the list of states poised to defy any new draconian federal gun control. You can see the bill here. I absolutely support this bill moving forward in the event we actually get some horrid law out of Washington, but I would caution until it looks like we’re going to get something out of Washington, it’s probably best if we keep this one on the back burner. The message has been sent, but we need to be prepared to push this to the hilt if something passes in D.C.