Snowflakes in Hell

He has signed onto HR1022, the McCarthy Gun Ban:

Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-8, a co-sponsor of a bill to reinstitute the assault weapons ban and son of a former Philadelphia police officer, said the government needs to be “proactive” to quell gun violence.

“While I support the right of gun ownership and I believe in the Second Amendment, I strongly believe that if someone wants to fire an assault rifle they should join the military,” Murphy said.

The congressman’s opponents in this year’s House race, however, said reinstating the assault weapons ban would do little, if anything, to stop gun violence.

Tom Manion, a Republican from Doylestown Township, said the focus should be on stricter law enforcement, not on enacting more gun laws.

“I really don’t think a ban on assault weapons is going to do anything to keep the criminals from getting their hands on guns,” Manion said.

Concealed weapons permit or not, Congressman Murphy, I can promise you that Mr. Manion will be getting my vote this fall, and I will do everything in my power to make sure the 1200 person club I belong to, and my many thousands of readers know why.

Mayor Michael Nutter:

“I looked him dead in the eye when he came in and told him how disappointed I was in him.”

Oh dear.  So Mayor Squidward is “disappointed” in a cop killer, and I, an NRA member, am scum of the earth.  Surely the Mayor’s moral compass is as true as any!

A retired Philadelphia Police officer takes the city politicians to task:

Yet Mayor Nutter repeats the usual sophistry about guns. Hizzoner said, “That officer was assassinated on the streets of Philadelphia. There was nothing that could have protected him - that weapon penetrates vehicles.”

His statement illustrates why our elected representatives are unable to reduce violent crime.

The mayor’s lack of knowledge of weaponry notwithstanding, there is one patently obvious policy that definitely would have protected the officer.

If Levon Warner had served his full sentence, he would’ve been in prison until 2012. He could not have committed any crime in 2008.

If Howard Cain had served his full sentence, he would’ve been in prison to 2052. He would not have murdered anyone in 2008.

If Eric Floyd had served his full sentence, he’d have been in jail, not robbing banks, in 2008.

But all three served less than the max and committed more violent crime. This time a cop ended up dead. Why isn’t the mayor addressing this more easily remedied and more salient issue?

Read the whole thing.  The Mayor isn’t addressing the issue because we can’t have a real, public discussion about the dreaded topic of personal and civic responsibility; something that’s sorely absent in many of the city’s worst neighborhoods.  It would take real leadership to address it, and the voters of that city aren’t going to get it from its Democratic machine.

A comment asks for my thoughs on this.  I don’t see why Doctors should be different than any other business owner.  The primary objection, I would imagine, is that it violates their hippocratic oath to “do no harm.”  But to me, that doesn’t require being taken to suicidal conclusions.  The “do no harm” directive applies to the practice of medicine, it doesn’t apply to a doctor’s right to defend himself, and the employees and patients in his practice.

To me, it’s a matter of personal choice for the doctors.  If a doctor chooses to have a gun in his office, fine by me.  If he chooses not to, that’s fine by me too.

As Bruce points out, step one is to unload the firearm, not get an ice cold bucket of Miller Lite.  Any guess on what The Garden State would do to an FID holder if this happened?

Pretty conclusive that states with right-to-carry laws have lower crime rates than those that don’t.

Newt Gingrich thinks the GOP is in a lot of trouble come fall.  Eric ponders that if Newt’s outlook is right, it might mean voting Hillary is the best move for the country.  I do think Obama is the easier candidate to beat, but that’s not to say I think McCain is sure to beat him.  Newt wants to restore the GOP brand, but I think that’s going to be difficult as long as Iraq is an issue.  Iraq is the bull in the china shop for the GOP.

I am not optimistic about our prospects this fall, especially for gun owners.  The pendulum is swinging around, and I can promise you that an increased Democratic majority will put our gun rights in serious jeopardy, no matter how Heller turns out.  A Democratic sweep in the fall may very well make Heller completely irrelevant.

One of our IHMSA guys, who is pretty much a revolver shooter, likes to show up at our thursday indoor matches with an old S&W snubnose chambered in .22LR.  The barrel can’t be any longer than two or so inches, but he manages to shoot 20 credit card sized animals with it at 25 yards.  I scored a 25, but that was using a Ruger Mk.III with a 6 7/8 inch barrel riding below a red dot scope, and a custom Volquartsen trigger.  Pretty clearly I have room for improvement if I’m barely scoring higher than a guy shooting a snubby revolver with practically no sight radius.  But hey, I’m into the mid 20s.  A few weeks ago my goal was just to break 20.  Now I have my eye on breaking 30.  If I can score 25 outside consistently, my IHMSA classification will be AA.

Tam has the digs on the Smith & Wesson gun lock issue.  I have a 629, and have never used the lock, or had it engage unexpectedly when shooting.  I use the gun to shoot IHMSA Field Pistol, Production category.  I only carry it in the woods, and even then, I usually have the Glock as a backup.

That’s not to say I like the lock being on there, though.  Too many gun manufacturers seem be interested in having their guns not be illegal in a lot of the nanny states (like Massachusetts, where S&W is located) that mandate this crap.  I would like to see the industry write off the states that pass this stuff, or at the least, do multiple versions if they really feel the need to exploit those markets.

Keyboard and a .45 reports that the state is seriously backlogged, and can’t process the license applications fast enough.  Bad news for muggers, rapists, and thugs in Texas.  Hey, maybe Texas will catch up to Pennsylvania eventually :)

Politics, that is.

h/t to Rachel Lucas.

From Rightwingprof, talking to Jill Porter who you might remember from two days ago:

Look, idiot, here in central Pennsylvania, we have lots and lots of guns, and very little crime, absolutely none compared to you. Why is that? Don’t try to answer: That’s what is known as a rhetorical question.

Here’s why. We. Don’t. Tolerate. Crimimals.

You worship criminals. You bow and scrape at the mere mention of Mumia’s name. You elect liberals who accommodate criminals at every opportunity, letting them go free on minimal bail or OR, putting them in halfway houses, slapping them on the wrists, and sending them to group therapy. And what do they do? Why, they commit more crime as soon as they get the opportunity, and they will continue to do so as long as you elect morons who put them back out on the street.

This is something the Philadelphia chattering classes absolutely don’t understand.  They, in fact, refuse to understand it.

Great tits weather global warming pretty well.   No, really.

Tom King relays something said to him by a police officer in Pittsburgh during the 2004 Annual Meeting:

No, thank you and all the NRA members who came to our city. this was the largest, most peaceful, the cleanest family oriented and financially successful convention held in this city. There have been no fights, no litter, no drunkenness and the restaurants/stores are all saying you guys spend money. This city needs that! The sad part is that our Police Chief had all our SWAT Teams on alert because he predicted it would be like ‘old Dodge City’ with you drunken gun owners shooting up the city. On behalf of my brother officers and the city of Pittsburgh thank you and please come back; you guys are the best.

That would probably make Jadegold, and other like him, cry.  Read the whole thing.  Of course, a bunch of rowdy gun bloggers will be descending on the Annual Meeting this year, so you never know what’s going to happen!

Ed Rendell shows his true colors, in case Pennsylvanians ever had any doubts.

“Get these weapons off the street.  Get those large-capacity magazines off the street.  As the mayor said, the only people who should have weapons like this is the police and the military.  We should outgun the criminals, not vice versa.”

Not to be outdone, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey so eloquently stated:

Police commissioner Charles Ramsey became incensed at the news conference when a reporter asked if, in fact, the weapon that killed Sgt. Liczbinski might not be covered by an assault weapon ban:

“Let me just say this — if it’s not an assault weapon by definition, then add it to the frickin’ list.  Add it to the frickin’ list!  We don’t need it.”

The problem is, the SKS is not an assault rifle.  It never was an assault rifle.  It’s never been banned, and there’s no reason to put it on any “list”.  I am so sick of the bullshit that spews out of that city on a daily basis, and I’m glad, at least, in this instance someone in the media asked a difficult question of Commissioner Ramsey.  Now if only they would do more of that.

In response to this call, gun hating Congressman Joe Sleetsak Sestak has signed on as a cosponsor to HR1022.  Sestak defeated Republican Congressman Curt Weldon last fall, and represents the town I grew up in.  Here’s hoping the folks back home give this asshole the boot.

This bit from Call me Ahab is rather curious:

No guns were recovered from Boyar’s dormitory room, but Guimond says officers found evidence that weapons had been in the room.

What is evidence that guns had been in the room?  Do they leave footprints?

Apparently all the proceeds from sales today at Geno’s Steaks will be going to the Steven Liczbinski Family Memorial Fund.  Joey Vento is a man who still cares about his city, even though its politicians put him through the ringer.

Normally, NRA conventions are in convention facilities that prohibit firearms, but not this year.

One of Louisville’s biggest conventions, the National Rifle Association, begins Friday May 16th with most events at the fairgrounds.  The NRA is advising its members to feel free to bring along their own firearms if they are so inclined.  And apparently even to a speech by the republican presidential candidate John McCain.

So McCain called off the Secret Service.  He is either a man of great faith in NRA members and lawful gun owners, or a man of great faith in kevlar. But seriously, if McCain is trying to woo gun owners, he’s making all the right moves so far.

UPDATE: Argh!  Might be a reporter error.  I’m awaiting further clarification.

UPDATE: It was a reporter mess up.  You can carry at the convention center, but it’s unknown as to McCain’s security plans.  My advice is to expect security at the event.

UPDATE: Dave Hardy advises caution about carrying at the convention.

Nabbed. Good news, though there is the unfortunate aspect of this, that he didn’t offer the opportunity to be sent to join his co-conspirator.

Rebecca Peters is apparently doing some research on the effectiveness of gun control laws.  Since VPC has already cornered the market on Google based research, perhaps Ms. Peters can use Yahoo.

Armed and Safe provides a timely reminder in regards to ATF reform.  We need to get this passed.  If you think the ATF is bad now, wait until you see Obama’s ATF.

Before the gun lobby pays attention, asks Jill Porter of the Philadelphia Daily News.  Well, how many indeed?  But we are paying attention, but here’s what we see.  Let’s take a look at Eric Floyd, one of the scumbags who gunned down Sergeant Liczbinski:

The man wanted in the fatal shooting of a Philadelphia policeman failed to show up at a prison halfway house in Erie a year before he walked away from the ADAPPT Treatment Services facility in Reading, state officials said Monday.

Eric D. Floyd, 33, of Philadelphia, who is wanted in the Saturday shooting death of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski in North Philadelphia. also has a criminal record that goes back at least 14 years, according to court records.

Floyd was charged in a robbery in Philadelphia in 1994, then convicted the next year. He spent four years in state prison for the crime.

In 2001 he was charged with a robbery in Lancaster, then convicted of the crime the next year.

Two convictions for armed robbery, and let they him out after a few years.  He quickly disappeared from the halfway house.  So how many indeed Ms. Porter, before we stop blaming the NRA, blaming the guns, and start locking these predators up in prison for a very long time?  Armed robbery isn’t stealing a car, it’s a serious, violent crime.  Who thought that after his first conviction, he should be let out of prison?  How crazy  do you have to be to think letting him out early a second time is a good idea?

The criminal who actually shot Sergeant Liczbinski, Howard Cain, also had a history of armed robbery, but he’s currently taking a dirt nap courtesy of Philadelphia’s finest.  His rap sheet?  Four counts of robbery, carrying firearms without a license, and criminal conspiracy.  What was he doing on the streets?  Especially when he got 10 years in prison for each armed robbery count.

The third suspect, Levon Warner, who the Philadelphia police have in custody, also had previously been convicted of armed robbery, and was sentences to 7 to 15 years.  That was in 1997.  I guess he didn’t end up doing the 15.

Howard Cain, Levon Warner, and Eric Floyd.  These are the people who are responsible for Seargent Liczbinski’s murder.  Making excuses for them by blaming the gun, blaming the NRA, or blaming the law, diverts responsibility for their actions, and cheapens the justifiable outrage over their crimes.  It also takes the pressure off of politicians and judges for not doing everything they can to ensure that criminals like this stay behind bars where they belong.  It should not take the death of a police officer to realize that dangerous men need to be seperated for society, for everyone’s sake.

Jacob Sullum of Reason:

Speaking of which, shouldn’t the constitutionality of D.C.’s gun ban hinge on the Constitution, as opposed to the suicide rate in Montana? By cautioning against “blind allegiance to the Second Amendment,” the VPC essentially concedes that D.C.-style gun control is unconstitutional, while arguing that it should be upheld anyway.

If they just go by the constitution, they lose.

Read this, and see what he thinks about guns:

The Northampton prosecutor said that the state attorney general does not need legislative approval to require Pennsylvania gun owners to report their missing weapons or to mandate gun merchants to inform their customers that they cannot permit their guns’ use by anyone not legally authorized to possess a firearm. He believes a Pennsylvania statute stating the “attorney general may adopt, after public hearing, such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the enforcement and administration of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL)” gives Mr. Corbett the necessary leeway to impose the aforesaid regulations.

This guy is going to be a disaster for gun rights, and it’s very important that he get nowhere near the Attorney Generals office in Harrisburg.  Pennsylvania is becoming increasingly Democratic, and we don’t stop the tide, we’ll be New York and New Jersey before you know it, and I’ll be a Texan, Tennessean, or Arizonan.

Hillary apparently plans on getting rid of the gas tax by imposing a gas tax.  Gas taxes are basically a tax on oil company profits.  Proposing to get rid of the gas tax by renaming it a windfall profit tax will accomplish about as much as McCain’s gas tax holiday.