Pennsylvania – Page 45 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Third Party Shenanigans to Make Even a Cynic Roll Their Eyes

The ballot access laws in Pennsylvania are notoriously tough for anyone who doesn’t have the nomination of a major political party, so it makes for big news when people qualify. In two local Congressional races, it’s likely to give us some very severe headaches in seats that are otherwise rated extremely competitive or complete toss-ups.

The most frustrating is the birther who plans to try and pull votes away from the pro-gun Republican nominee in PA-7, Pat Meehan, by claiming to be a Tea Party candidate backed by far left Democrats. (In reality, there was a Tea Party candidate in the race earlier this year, but he ran as a Republican in the primary and was defeated.) He’s pretending that he had no idea his most helpful supporters just happen to be officials with the Democratic Party, some of whom have been publicly recognized by the anti-gun Democratic campaign for their grassroots support. The Democrats aren’t even trying to deny what they did here, and they are eating it up. They don’t think their guy can win on a race based on issues, so they are instead trying to add fringe candidates to the right side in order to split off any votes they can.

What’s worse is that these same “grassroots supporters” for the birther also filed petition challenges in the primary campaign to pressure all of the Democrats not personally chosen by party leaders off of the ballot. They really are afraid of any competition at all and will use any tactic other than a clean campaign to get their way.

Here in our neck of the woods, there’s a new independent candidate in PA-8. By new, I mean just got on the ballot. Because he’s the kind of guy who runs for every office every election cycle. Oh, and he told Tea Party supporters at a forum that voters are all stupid because a) they vote, and b) don’t vote for him and his brand of crazy.

Tom debuted a brand new campaign strategy at tonightâ€™s forum: Tell voters how much they suck. They suck for being voters. They suck for possibly being Republicans. They suck because they donâ€™t vote for Tom. They suck for even turning out to such an event.

When not telling voters how much they suck, Tom indicated he may not honor treaties, and it didnâ€™t really sound like he would give much thought to helping out Israel should they get attacked.

He’s likely going to try and appeal to angry Republicans who can’t get over the fact that their favorite candidates didn’t survive the primary. That’s exactly what the Democrats would like to happen – at least by a cursory glance at the race. After all, this is a blue district that would really only go red with a Republican focused on economic issues – the message the party appears to try and focus on this year. In other words, this is the year the seat could go back, especially since the GOP nominee is a former Congressman who only lost by 1,500 votes last time he ran.

Except, oddly enough, it looks like the Democrats might be lining up to kick Angry Crazy Candidate Tom off the ballot. I suspect it’s because they would rather have disaffected Republicans vote Democrat to “send a message to the GOP” rather than voting third party. They may well need every vote they can get, even if it’s just a spiteful vote from some conservatives being pissy about things not going their way every single time.

Ultimately, this means we’re going to have to work even harder for pro-gun candidates to not only beat the competition from both sides – Democrat & Crazy – but also overcome the margin of ~~error~~ fraud. I have a feeling that I’ll be hoarse come September with all of the phone calls I’ll be making and doors I’ll be knocking on.

Killing for the Revolution

Now we know the motive of the Public Shooting Range Killer. Apparently he was plotting to overthrow the government, and was stealing his way into an arsenal. The Patriot-News is noting that “Rebel activity” is on the rise. Geez. No one tell Darth Vader. Peake is apparently pleading that he found Getgen dead, and merely took the rifle off of him. He’s also refusing to name the group he belongs to.

I’ll be surprised if this guy got more than one other person to buy into the notion of stealing and robbing their way to revolution.

A Lie Repeated Often Enough …

Joe Grace and Phil Goldsmith, the two people behind CeaseFire PA, are trying their level best to minimize the damage potential of McDonald:

While support for the reporting of lost or stolen handguns grows, hundreds of Pennsylvania police chiefs have come out in favor of another reasonable reform to close a loophole in state law that allows state residents to sidestep law enforcement and obtain permits from Florida to carry concealed guns, even if their applications were denied in Pennsylvania.

This loophole lets people with criminal backgrounds get out-of-state permits to carry guns in the commonwealth, even after state authorities determine they shouldnâ€™t be allowed to do so.

None of those laws have been upheld on the merits. The suits were dismissed because of standing and ripeness. In other words, they have to prosecute someone for failing to report a gun before the law can be challenged. To date, none of the 45 cities and towns that have passed this law have prosecuted a single person under them — laws they claim are critical for prosecuting criminals.

There’s also not a single state that issues a license to carry a firearm that doesn’t perform a criminal background check on applicants. None. The idea that hardened criminals, with extensive records, are getting permits to carry from other states is just nuts. We could solve much of this problem with universal reciprocity, but you won’t hear them supporting that idea.

Public Range Shooter Caught

Some excellent good old fashioned police work have lead authorities to get a suspect into custody. Sounds like the alleged murderer was a correctional officer. Police called out the SWAT team to bring him in. I would like to note this is a use of SWAT teams I can approve of. I also got a chuckle out of this:

For two days, authorities scoured the range for evidence — a tough job because of all the spent shell casings littering the grounds. By the end of last week, police said they knew the kind of gun used to kill Getgen.

Yeah, not the place I’d want to have to gather evidence on a shooting — but they did it, and got their man. I am very happy they caught this guy. This was indeed a case of murdering the guy to get his gun, which made him very dangerous to have roaming the streets, which hopefully after a fair trial, he will never see again.

PA Liquor Gestapo Strikes Again

This time raiding a gun club and a firehouse, who have been selling alcohol to members without a liquor license, a practice I cam promise you they have been doing for a loong time. Gun club was probably a member looking to get even with someone for a transgression.

Yes, some shooting clubs have bars. Every one I’ve been to or heard about has procedures in place that if you’re coming to socialize (i.e. drink) you get flagged and can’t enter the firing ranges.

But let me just say I am so glad that crime in this state is under such firm control that the State Police have the resources rid our society of the scourge of unregulated liquor sales. Clearly this gun club and firehouse were sending drunk people onto the streets by the hundreds to poop on lawns, puke on the sidewalks, and pass out in theÂ azaleas.

Note this part they are speaking of at the end:

Kriedeman said club licenses, other than those issued to veterans organizations, are issued as long as a vacancy exists in the county. Club licenses can be obtained through purchase or transfer if a vacancy does not exist. Veterans organizations can receive liquor licenses even if there are no vacancies.

See, in Pennsylvania, we ration liquor licenses. Each county only has a certain number available, so if you want one, you have to wait for some other establishment to give theirs up. Given the hassle, it’s no wonder some private organizations just take their chances. Perhaps it’s time to consider making liquor licenses more freely available in Pennsylvania, like they are in most other states? This has impeded the restaurant business in this state for years.

No Charges for Lehigh County Sheriff

It is actually a crime in Pennsylvania overcharge for a License to Carry, but the District Attorney for Lehigh County isn’t going to charge the Sheriff. It would appear that the Sheriff is going to make clear the state mandated $25 dollar license is available, but will still issue the credit card sized $38 dollar license. To me this is preferred. We are required to carry the licenses with us while carrying, and an oversized piece of paper isn’t going to last five years in a wallet. But it looks like some jurisdictions that issue cards are going to stop because of the controversy, and go back to just the state prescribed paper.

Update on Cumberland Public Range Shooting

They’ve performed the autopsy, but aren’t releasing details, except to say he was shot multiple times from a distance. They are still asking people to keep an eye out for his rifle which was taken from him.

Road Side Cameras

Governor Ed wants to use road side cameras in order to catch Insurance scofflaws. They’ll apparently read the license plate number and cross reference with insurance records. Anyone not having insurance gets a fine. Rendell bills it as a revenue generating measure.

I’m glad some people are fighting this. I’m against using fines as a revenue tool, especially when it involves putting cameras in public places.

Public Shooting Range Scenario

We’ve been discussing what appears to be a slight trend toward robberies, including one murder, happening at Pennsylvania Game Commission public ranges. There’s a few things about the latest case involving a murder motivated by robbery that I think are interesting to ponder. Here’s what I would think:

The guy was shot from a distance, meaning he probably didn’t see it coming. My feeling is that it’s next to impossible to defend against someone willing to kill you for your gun — or rather someone who has made a conscious decision he will murder to get it.
The guy probably met his killer, who would have needed to get close to get a look at the gun. I can’t imagine if you were going to commit murder to get a gun you wouldn’t want to make sure it was worth enough to justify the risk. I know criminals think differently than normal people, but most of them still understand risk and reward. I would also wager the murderer knows something about guns.
It’s going to be very difficult, unfortunately, for the police to track down this bozo. There’s unlikely to be any witnesses. Their best bet is if he tries to fence the rifle, which I would imagine he would, because the motivation would presumably be money. The rifle is unusual enough that it’s going to be hard for him to fence discretely.
The buddy system seems dubious in value if this guy is shooting from a distance as a sniper. Your buddy is unlikely to notice where the shot comes from, and will probably end up just as dead as you if he doesn’t act quickly, and his actions are unlikely to help you. If this murderer is posing as another shooter, a buddy would likely be a significant deterrent, since the shooter would pretty immediately be under fire from your buddy after shooting you (notice you still probably get shot)
I’m unsure about whether he’d have been shooting as a sniper from concealment. It would seem easier to show up at the range with a gun as a shooter, and wait for the guy to go downrange. Reason being you can get a look at the gun, and keep a good eye on your victim. Downside is if someone else shows up, there’s a witness who saw you.
I believe if this guy gets away with it, he will do it again. You have to be pretty twisted to do something like this. The money will be good, and this bozo obviously has no regard for someone’s life at all. Hopefully the unusual nature of the weapon will get him caught when he fences it.

All in all this is a very scary situation, because I can’t see an easy way to defend against it. You can carry to the range, but I’m not sure that’s going to help you. Certainly can’t hurt, but this robber/murderer has a pretty scary MO. I would imagine the only way to defend against it would be to have police constantly watching and patrolling around the range. Maybe this is one of those cases where having body armor and a trauma plate would be a significant advantage! Perhaps the Mall Ninjas are smarter than we thought!

Another PA Range Robbery Previously

This one was a few weeks ago, but the guy was robbed at gunpoint, also for his AR-15. I doubt these are connected, but any time I go to the range I’m carrying. Guns are valuable. I wouldn’t have 1000 dollars in cash on me unarmed, and that’s basically what you’re toting when you’re transporting firearms.