Snowflakes in Hell

In a move that’s sure to make my next wheelbarrow a bit less laden with crisp, unmarked bills, I felt the NRA statement on the DOJ Brief was weak. I feel I should further elaborate here.

First, NRA’s detractors are bound to tout this as a prime example of everything they think is wrong with the National Rifle Association. Based on what I’ve been seeing various places, that’s already happening. I’m not going to join that camp, but I am going to lay out why I think a more strongly worded statement was needed here.

The NRA needed to be diplomatic about how it went after the issue, and as much as people might want to see it, they can’t afford to attack the Bush Administration in a big and public way. In short, they have to be nice. But they didn’t have to just roll over, which I think is what they did. Former NRA President Sandy Froman goes into more detail in this article as to where exactly the Bush Administration has let us down:

But it does not ask the Court to affirm the DC Circuit Court judgment in favor of Heller, either. Instead, it asks the Court to vacate (or throw out) the lower court opinion, and send the case back for a rehearing applying a lesser standard of review to the rights embodied in the Second Amendment than are typically applied to other amendments in the Bill of Rights, like the First and Fourth Amendments.

Read the whole thing. If you read the brief in its entirety, the Solicitor General is not only asking for a standard that would, presumably, uphold a number of federal gun laws, but contains language that suggests they would want to leave the door open to even further restrictions, such as a new assault weapons ban or a ban on certain other types of firearms.

The gun vote was a primary driver for making sure Bush won the White House in 2000 and 2004, and the NRA endorsements he received played a big role on that. The Heller case is arguably the most important struggle gun owners have ever faced, and I don’t think its unreasonable to demand something greater than lukewarm support from The Administration on this matter. I think a proper response would have been to praise The Administration for what they got right, but make it clear that the level of review called for in this brief is unacceptable to the NRA. Sandy closes out with some good language in her article:

Each presidential candidate must speak out on this brief. The Justice Department has not gone far enough to support the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Second Amendment, and so those who aspire to lead our nation must step up and call on the Supreme Court to affirm the judgment of the DC Circuit striking down the ban.

This is a chance for all the GOP candidates to show what they’re made of, distinguishing themselves from the Democrats.

In short, had I been charged with writing a statement for NRA, mine would have looked more like Sandy’s. Praise what the Administration got right, explain what they got wrong and why it does not please us, explain how important this case is for our gun rights, invite the GOP presidential aspirants to talk about how they could do better.

I think there were ways to let the GOP know we are displeased, without jeopardizing relations. I don’t think we got that, and I worry that rolling over will cheapen NRA’s endorsement, and send a message to the next President that there’s no risk in upsetting the gun vote, because where else are we going to go?

UPDATE: Joe isn’t surprised.  To be honest, I’m not really surprised either.  But I do want to do better in 2008 than we did in 2000.  Bush is a reflection of the politics we had to settle for in 2000.  It wasn’t too long ago when candidates were arguing for licensing of gun owners.  The political climate is much more favorable now, and I want to ensure that the GOP candidates for 2008 understand we expect more of them than we did of Bush.

Michigan had a grand opportunity to end Mitt Romney’s campaign tonight, but it appears they were not in the mood to do the rest of the country a favor and sink this ship.

UPDATE: Bitter notes some disrespect Mitt paid to John McCain.

Dustin is on a roll today, now with some video on NSSF’s program to educate the media.  Without the media scaring and misleading a public that’s largely ignorant of firearms, we’d have a much easier time getting our side of the story out there.  No doubt few reporters bother to attend this type of seminar, and that’s a shame, but we have to try.  If the gun control movement loses its parrots in the media, it’s over for them.

Libertarianism was something I flirted with in college and in my early post college life.  I decided it wasn’t a political movement, so much as a religion, and it’s why walked away from it.  I’m not interested in being pure, I’m interested in being an advocate for causes that I think enhance personal freedom and limited government meddling in private affairs, and advancing those causes politically.   Libertarians, in my experience, are not interested in seriously advancing their ideas politically, because to do so, you have to build a “tent” that’s big enough and comfortable enough for enough people to get under to win.  Libertarians, in my experience, tend to spend more time about arguing over whether someone belongs in the tent than they do trying to grow it.

I would consider Megan McArdle a fellow traveler, and someone who belongs in our tent of people interested in promoting liberty.  But Megan McArdle has spent a lot of time lately criticizing Ron Paul, and recently suggested that Ron Paul’s demise is good for libertarianism.  Read the comments.  If you want to know why I can’t abide by “movement” libertarians anymore, read her comments.   I’ll pick out some choice ones:

Don’t think that we will forget this treasoness behaviour. What you do now will be with you for ever more. ‘When the time comes Megan,… when the time comes’.

And yes, that is a thinly veiled threat.

As the ‘Revolution’ grows, You have no idea.

I guess it doesn’t matter how many dissidents they have to put down in the name of liberty.

I am an anarchist and to me a statist, even a minarchist, is much worse than a racist.

Because a rule by the strong over the weak is guaranteed to have positive outcome for individual freedoms!

I don’t think we did lose big in NH. If you look at the towns that just didn’t count Paul’s votes and consider the lop-sided contridictions of the electronic vote versus the hand re-count … Obama probably beat Hillary and Paul probably took 3rd or 4th.

It’s a conspiracy!  I point this out not to poke fun at anyone but as a warning, because we have folks in the gun rights movement who also think this way, and who would place our movement far outside the mainstream.  Gun rights must be a large tent as well, and we also have folks who are interested in driving the insufficiently pure out of the movement.  Once we become that, it’s over.  The last thing we want the gun rights movement to look like is the Libertarian Party.

… in this guy’s pants.  If you’re going to carry illegally, you might want to reconsider carrying so many spare mags, even the TSA drones know you’re strapped.

I’m glad to see Dustin take this idiot to task.  It’s amazing how quickly journalists, who have probably never fired a gun or shot competitively in their lives, suddenly become experts in how many rounds I do or don’t need when it suits their prejudices.

NRA has apparently gotten the Parking Lot bill fast tracked in the Georgia Legislature, but Governor Perdue is apparently chickening out and siding with the Chamber of Commerce on this one.

UPDATE: Yeah, yeah, I had to make the chicken joke.

It looks like Holmesburg Fish and Game Protective Association, which has been under threat of being expelled from the land it leases from the city for it’s club grounds, is still working on securing a lease:

Yes, we’re still here. Yes, we’re still in business. No, it’s not yet a done deal. HF&GPA has four main priorities right now. They are to lobby the Fairmount Park Commission (FPC) for a lease, to get member dues for ’08 in, to recruit new members and to complete the work on club ground that was postponed because of the threatened closing.

The club officers and negotiating committee will take care of approaching the FPC about securing a lease, but if you have any contacts with the FPC we’d be most interested in hearing about them and would be very appreciative for your help. This effort will be ramping up now that the holiday recess is over.

The way most members can help is by sending in your $100 dues for ’08 as soon as you can. An FAQ I can address here is- if the club should have to close (Arrrrg! Not if we have anything to do with it!) your dues would be pro-rated and the unused portion reimbursed. An alternative for you would be to pay $50 towards your ’08 dues now and the other $50 in May, but the club would prefer you send the full dues if possible.

We’re now more optimistic about HF&GPA being around for years to come than at anytime since August 1^st 2007 – a date that will live in infamy. But, all of the bad press and political maneuvering has taken its toll. We have lost members and need to replace them if we’re to maintain a fiscally sound and vital association. Do what you can to help bring in new members and you’ll also be helping to insure the longevity of the HF&GPA.

That’s good news. I’m glad things are looking up for them. I know our club has taken in some Holmesburg people, but I hope they will stay members and continue the fight.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, please don’t forget to thank Philadelphia City Council (and especially Joan Krajewski and her office) for supporting our bid to stay where we are. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that Council unanimously supported us in several votes. They also represented us in our negotiations with the other agencies. Without Council’s help and guidance, we’d be selling club assets out of cardboard boxes by now. Please make a point of expressing your gratitude and urging that the FPC afford us a lease. Thank you all for supporting your club leadership through these trying times. Brighter days are ahead if we stay the course if we continue in our roles as responsible and hospitable sportsmen and women.

I’m glad the city is burying their normal gun hating political rhetoric and doing the right thing here. There was nothing to be gained from the city kicking honest sportsmen and women off their facilities.

Everyone should go through this site, of the National Institute For The Prevention Of Workplace Violence.  If you want to understand why it’s hazardous to speak about our participation in the shooting sports, our collecting or various other shooting related activities in the workplace, these set of Human Resources worms are a big part of it.  Look at early warning signs.  Also the section on gun violence.

Apologizes to Human Resources professionals who might be among my readers who are not corporate stooges, but I’ve met precious few HR folks who have a philosophy of HR that is truly beneficial to the employee, rather than focused entirely on preventing the company from being sued.

If I operated this blog under my real name, it would be a virtual guarantee I’d have a very difficult time finding employment.  What about people who show up on background checks, an activity companies are doing increasingly for new hires, as having a concealed weapons license?  It’s not just the politicians we have to stand up to, it’s the corporate weasels who promote this kind of stereotyping that must be stood up to as well.

Young people have been really big on Obama, despite the fact that he’s peddling the same old crap the Democrats have been peddling for decades.  The GOP need to learn how to court the young vote, unless they want to look at Democratic majorities for decades to come.  What are some ways to lose young voters?   Well, you can start by advocating a ban on video games.  Especially when it’s pretty obvious the advocates are repeating crap they have been hearing and have not actually played the game.

Yep… banning video games.  That’s sure to energize young voters.

VCDL has a legislative tracker for state matters that looks pretty good!   They are going to need a useful tool like this in Virginia, because 2008 is going to be a rough year for gun owners there.

“There is no reason for law-abiding gun owners to oppose a background check,” Kaine (D) said. “Now more than ever in the aftermath of April 16th, Virginians understand that this is a public safety issue.”

Yeah, except for the fact that we already banned private sales of handguns in Pennsylvania, and it’s been so effective at fighting crime, that Philadelphia is screaming for one-gun-a-month.  Wait a minute…

• One-gun-a-month has been oh so effective in Virginia that now we need to agree to end private sales.
• The ban on private sales has been oh so effective in Pennsylvania that now we must agree to one-gun-a-month restrictions.

Just making sure I get that straight.

I’m glad the San Mateo County Sheriff in California has so thoroughly solved actual, real crimes, that they take time out to bust small time poker games.

Police in San Mateo County, California apparently first spent months investigating the small-stakes poker game. From this firsthand account, it looks like a couple of the officers were playing regularly for several weeks before sending in the SWAT team, guns drawn, last week. If California is like most states (and I believe it is), a poker game is only illegal if the house is taking a rake off the top. In this case, it looks like that “rake” was the $5 the extra the hosts asked from each buy-in to pay for pizza and beer.

Police also took a 13-year-old girl out of the home, away from her parents, and turned her over to child protective services. In addition to the charge of running an illegal gambling operation, the hosts are also charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Good thing the poor girl was saved before slouching toward an inevitable life of crime.

You know, I don’t even care if the folks involved here were taking money off the top.  Can someone explain to me why this is a crime?  Is illegal gambling worth the trauma of a 13 year old girl getting a gun stuck in her face by a SWAT team and then taken away from her parents?

This is a disgrace.

I noticed that we have not heard any statements distancing the Administration from certain statements in the brief of Bush’s solicitor general.  Therefore I must conclude that Bush supports these statements, which basically outright state that we can’t have a second amendment that puts any federal gun laws in jeopardy, nor can we have any interpretation of the second amendment which might jeopardize certain other laws should they be reauthorized, nor can we think about jeapoarding possible future bans on certain firearms.

NRA’s weak statement on this matter can be easily explained with this metaphor:

Gun owners are the abused spouses of the Republican Coalition.  Yeah, he beats us, but where are we going to go?   And don’t we still love him?

Republicans should know this: it’s not like Americans love you guys.  Far from it.  Gun owners were a key part of starting the Republican Revolution in 1994, and were credited with defeating both Gore and Kerry in 2000 and 2004 respectively.  Even the Democrats in 2006 relying on pro-gun blue dogs to seize power.

Learn this Republicans: We stay home, or start taking a closer look at those blue dogs, and you lose.  Keep us happy, or we will decide we’re sick of this abusive relationship and will stop pretending and stay home, or go find another lover to court us.