Snowflakes in Hell

Of Arms and the Law gives us the text of a new law that has been introduced in Congress by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland.  This looks like a bill even federalists might be able to get behind, since it appears to be essentially restoring second amendment rights through the 14th amendment.  It doesn’t explicity cite the source of Congressional power, but I seem to recall that Congress does not specifically have to state the enumerated power under which it passes legislation, it just has to fit within the scope of it’s powers.  So if my non-lawyer eyes are reading this right, it would let someone denied the right to have a firearm in Washington D.C., Chicago, or New York to obtain a firearm for self-protection, state or local law to the contrary.

That means this bill will absolutely infuriate Mayor Bloomberg, and for that reason alone, I think it would be worth passing.  Sadly, as Dave mentioned, there’s a snowball’s chance in hell of that happening, which is a sad statement on what’s become of our Congress.

So on the first week of the blog I’ve managed 858 visits to the site, from 787 hosts, totalling 1618 hits. I’m not complaining for a first week. Many thanks to those who have linked to me, particularly Bitter and Unc, who’s kind links are responsible for a good portion of my traffic. Thanks also to the folks who I can see have me bookmarked. You guys are about half my traffic! I hope I can keep coming up with reasons for you to come back to visit.

Also, I’m always looking for topics and things to blog about, particularly if they have a Pennsylvania slant to them, so if you have ideas, feel free to send them to sebastian at snowflakes in hell . com.

Does anyone else who’s already seen Dave’s documentary think the background music sounds vaguely like a porno soundtrack in some places? :)

So this afternoon, while I was waiting for the battery to my 18V cordless circular saw to charge, after it died on me in the middle of a cut, I decide to watch Dave Hardy’s documentary, In Search of the Second Amendment. My impression is that the documentary is well done and is interesting to watch even if you’re not a total gun nut. If you know anyone who is interested in history, or on the fence about gun control, I would recommend this video. You will certainly walk away with from it with a greater appreciation of the Second Amendment as one of the palladiums of our liberties than you might have had before.

One quote in the documentary, from Glenn Reynolds, stuck in my mind particularly:

One of the interesting things about the gun control debate, is that in a way it’s sort of a litmus test for what people think about their fellow citizens in general. My own sense is, that Americans tend to respond well to crisis, and generally can be trusted to try to do the right thing.

Which is exactly why I think this issue matters so much to me. What you think about the right to keep and bear arms says a lot about what you think in general. For instance, I think folks like Wayne Fincher, and the Arkansas Militia, are a little whacked.  But I completely trust them to have automatic weapons, and believe it is their right to have them.  And to peaceably assemble, and freely assocate with other folks of the same mind. I don’t think it any different than folks getting together over coffee and discussing the benefits and problems of markism. Both aren’t my kind of thing, but it’s their right as free Americans.

Glenn is absolutely right. To accept the right to bear arms is to accept an entire philosphy about one’s relationship to one’s government and fellow citizens, and I will always come down on the side of treating people like adults rather than children, even if that means getting it wrong with some people.

The other positive thing about Dave’s docuementary is that it gets well spoken, educated individuals in front of the camera talking about a subject that many people wronly associate with ignorant and unedcated whackjobs.  Don Kates is compelling discussing his civil rights background, and there is a lot of discussion about the unsung role that arms played in the civil rights movement.

So if you have anyone in your life who is on the fence about the second amendment, or the subject of gun control, I would order them a copy of the docuemtnary and watch it with them.  It’ll present the subject in a way they’ve probably never experienced, and might even get them to change their minds.

Great job Dave!

Jeff Soyer has some good continuing discussion of the Harvard Study. One thing that strikes me is, if they are arguing that ease of obtaining guns because of their prevalence is a factor in homocides, wouldn’t the overall number of guns per capita be a more relevant number? For instance, Pennsylvania’s household owership rates is unremarkable, but we have one of the highest number of guns per capita of any state. Our murder rate, however, is about the same as New Jersey, despite the fact that we have Philadelphia, and New Jersey has no large cities, and very low rates of gun ownership and guns per capita.