Snowflakes in Hell

Ahab has the digs on Darfuris being denied their right to bear arms.  I think we can predict where this one is going.

I managed to find a copy of the polling data Governor Rendell was touting, bought and paid for by CeaseFire PA. Let’s look at some of these polling questions and you tell me how loaded you think the questions are:

In the last week in Philadelphia, three police officer were shot, including one fatally. Which statement do you agree with more:

1. These shootings represent a crisis that needs to be dealth with immediate, and a part of the solution is to pass common sense handgun safety laws to protect our police officers

2. The shootings are a tragedy, but we should not rush to trample on our right to bear arms to address the problem.

61% of 600 Pennsylvania voters went with 1, and 32% with 2. The questions for the lost or stolen bill, which garnered 96% approval, were:

Support for handgun safety measures: Require handgun owners to immediate report lost or stolen guns to the police?

What if you phrased it this way?

Support for gun control measure: A firearm owner convicted of failing to report a lost or stolen firearm to the police can face a felony charge involving several years in prison?

Of course, that might not get them the result they want. There was a time when politicians might have paid attention to these polls, but when they did, gun owners voted a lot of them out of office. How did that happen if we’re such a minority? Because polls don’t matter. What matters is what motivates people to vote, and when we get screwed, we show up at the polls and pull the lever for the other guy. Hard core gun rights activists may be a minority, but a lot of people care about our issue. People who care bout implementing gun control enough to vote it? Now there’s a minority.

Corn kills!

Assuming we prevail in Heller, Joe Huffman has a good suggestion on how to proceed…. that is cautiously.  One of my chief fears is that people will start pushing second amendment claims against things like machine gun possession.   While I would like to see the second amendment include a right to possess automatic firearms, it’s not something to start out of the gate with.

As for what to try after the DC ban?   There’s not much easy pickings at the federal level.   The ban on National Parks is the only thing that comes to mind, but I think incorporation is probably a better thing to try to get before going after the “bearing” part, rather than the “keeping” part.  We could go after the “sporting purposes” clause, but then someone has to get prosecuted for importing a firearm before it can be challenged.

A fine rendition of our Governor, I must say.  Other movie references that work for Fast Eddie…. quote from Rendell has he left the Capitol:

You have not heard the rast of Ed Wendell! I will return! You shall see! I will be baaack! So rong, earthrings!!

More real quotes from our Governor to follow later.

I’m happy to see so many people interested in going to the Second Amendment Blogger Bash alongside the NRA Annual Meeting in Louisville, KY. May 16-18th. So far, the interested or confirmed parties are:

• Call me Ahab
• Captain of a Crew of One
• Chicago Handgun Rights
• Countertop Chronicles
• Dave Kopel
• Days of our Trailers
• GreatBlueWhale
• Les Jones
• Michael Bane
• Murdoc Online
• Of Arms and the Law
• Right Wing Nation
• Rustmeister
• SayUncle
• Sharp as a Marble
• Snowflakes in Hell
• Squeaky Wheel Seeks Grease
• The Adventures of Roberta X
• The Armed Canadian
• The Bitch Girls
• The Breda Fallacy
• The Maddened Fowl
• The Ready Line
• The Ten Ring
• The Unforgiving Minute
• USCitizen
• View From The Porch

Good to see some of our Gun Blogger Rendezvous friends coming out too.   I should note that this event shouldn’t be seen as a replacement for the Rendezvous, organized by Mr. C.  If you come to one, you might as well come to both.  There’s currently no plan for a formal shooting event in Louisville, and even if some people want to head out to the range, you won’t be shooting out to 1000 yards like you can at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous.  Different events, and both worthy of attending.

Well, strictly speaking it’s true.  But that’s not to say a Kalashnikov can’t get the job done.  The 7.62×39mm Soviet round will kill deer just fine.

Uncle refutes some media myths about castle doctrine in Texas, and points out that the hysterical media coverage might be responsible for the incident in question:

Why would he think that a law that eliminates the duty to retreat instead justifies killing two burglars that were not an imminent threat to him and were not on his property? Probably because he heard that line repeated over and over by the anti-gunners in press coverage of the bill.

Maybe now it’s time to start being factual and doing research?  Nah!  Sensationalizing stories is easier and sells more papers.

Wyatt has an interesting news item about John “It’s not real marriage” Street agreeing to officiate a gay non-wedding. When questioned about this, in his infinite courage, and willingness to stand up for what he may or may not believe in (we’re not sure), he says:

“It’s not marriage. It’s not real marriage. They can’t be married,” said Street, a Seventh-day Adventist. “It’s not a religious ceremony. I mean, it’s not really marriage.”

I hope when he officiates, he’s not reading from a teleprompter:

Not too much longer…