It’s relatively easy to keep up on the activities of anti-gun bloggers, since there are so few of them. Remember Nancy Robinson? Who showed up at Yearly Kos whining that lefty bloggers wouldn’t pay attention to her pet issue? She did start a web site Where Did the Gun Come From, but it looks like it doesn’t get updated much.
“That created a sense of urgency,” said Nancy Robinson, a Newton resident with a teenage son who will serve as the coalition’s executive director. “We needed to move ahead.”
In 1990, the year Citizens for Safety was first formed, Boston had 152 homicides, the highest number on record. The group helped create after-school programs and jobs for city teenagers. They focused on compelling gang members to get together for basketball matches. They were among several grass-roots organizations whose work with police helped lead to the so-called “Boston Miracle.”
Color me skeptical that basketball can solve violent crime, but I’ll give kudos for the effort here. I will take issue with this, however:
Robinson said she wants the group to have a national effect and be able to pressure federal authorities to enforce gun laws and urge legislators to pass new laws that would force stricter background checks on gun purchasers.
Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis and Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who are expected to attend the announcement, said they welcome the group’s return.
“We have a new start and new emergency and renewed commitment,” Menino said.
The group’s goals do not please everyone. Andrew Arulanandam, spokesman for the National Rifle Association, said new gun laws would not be effective.
“The reason that gun control laws don’t work is that they require the cooperation of a very unlikely source, and that is the criminal,” he said. “A criminal intent on committing a robbery or assault or whatever is not hindered by that law. He will do whatever, she will do whatever to get a gun.”
Nancy Robinson’s problem is that from the early 90s until now, background checks have been instituted nationally, and Massachusetts has passed numerous gun laws. Why did crime go down in the 90s, but it is going up now, when gun laws nationall have not substantively changed, and gun laws in Massachusetts have just gotten more strict? Maybe it was the basketball.
“As an avid sportsman, I value the time I spend taking my own children hunting. As a Member of Congress, I know that we must fight to preserve the Constitutional right for individual citizens to keep and bear arms. Hunting and shooting sports are valued traditions in Pennsylvania, and I will always fight to protect the Constitutional right to bear arms,” said Congressman Carney.
The Second Amendment Caucus is opposed to the banning of firearms, their accessories, their manufacture and their importation, and recognizes the right of lawful citizens to carry a weapon both at home and while traveling the nation.
“I have been vigilant to the assaults hurled upon the Second Amendment during my time in office and I joined the caucus to continue the fight,” continued Carney. “The Constitution is clear on this—Americans have the right to bear arms, and I will fight to protect it.”
Senator Brad Ashford of Omaha says his proposed bill would have caused 19-year-old Robert Hawkins to be reported before the rampage. Others disagree.
The bill would require gun dealers to include trigger locks on every sale, mandate that stolen guns be reported within 48 hours and trace how youths get firearms.
Because parents who are careless enough to allow their firearm to fall into the hands of their mentally disturbed, convicted felon son are, of course, going to dutifully report it to the police as the law says.
This law wouldn’t have prevented anything, except give the police something to charge the father with.
When Hillary Clinton attacked Barack Obama for his ties to a Chicago real estate developer who is facing trial on federal corruption charges, the spotlight revealed far-ranging political connections, including one with Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a strong Clinton backer.
Antoin “Tony” Rezko gave $15,000 to the Democratic National Committee in 2000, when Rendell was chairman. Although there is no known direct contribution to Rendell from Rezko, Rendell received a $1,000 campaign contribution in 2005 from Ali D. Ata, a former Illinois official and co-defendant in the case against Rezko.
I think it’s a generally good policy for politicians not to take money from anyone connected with Chicago politics. That city oozes more than any other in the country, with the possible exception of New Orleans.
It’s looking like McCain is trying to woo some of the gun vote back, and has landed Florida gun show promoter Victor Bean’s endorsement:
Senator McCain will sign on to a national right-to-carry bill if Congress brings it to his desk. As far as he is concerned, the gun show loophole is a moot point, and he will appoint judges who follow the Constitution.
Perhaps it’s because I’m not a Floridian, but this is the first I’ve heard of Victor Bean. I do have to wonder what makes McCain think the gun show issue is now a “moot point”?
The assault guns could be gaining popularity because they are relatively inexpensive and easy to find, Fidone said.
AK-47s are priced online for as low as $400. Other types of rifles cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars more.
That’s just one example of some of the blatant ignorance you’ll find in this poorly researched farce. It’s it funny, though, how all these articles seem to all follow the exact same pattern? Curious indeed.
Paul Helmke’s reaction to the DOJ brief was apparently different from Dennis Henigan’s. With Bush establishing a middle ground a lot closer to where the Brady Campaign would like it to be, it makes it easier for Henigan to move the ball closer to Brady’s goal.
9:05 - Blah blah blah. Lots of greeting. On HDTV you get to see exactly how old some of our elected leaders really are.
9:07 - Obama and Kennedy are sitting with each other. I guess they are best buddies now. Just don’t let Ted drive home.
9:11 - Off the bat with a message of unity. Democrats and Republicans working together. I prefer when they bicker personally.
9:12 - Now it’s the economy, stupid. Bush is touting the agreement reached on the stimulus plan which will accomplish exactly nothing in terms of helping the economy.
9:14 - Lower taxes, I like lower taxes.
9:16 - Bush talks a tough talk on spending and earmarks. If he had done that two years ago maybe Republicans would still have their majority.
9:19 - Bush wants to make private health coverage deductible. I think this is a good idea to put private coverage on par with employer group coverage. The Democrats don’t seem to stand up and applause for choice and freedom from government control of health care. Kind of tells you how they think doesn’t it?
9:20 - Blah blah blah…. Education. What ever happened to abolishing the Department of Education, back when Republicans were cool? Last I checked my copy of the constitution, it doesn’t grant power to Congress to regulate education.
9:23 - We do need to pass free trade agreements. That should get more applause than it did. I worry free trade is going out of style.
9:25 - Apparently Bush’s copy of the constitution has something about the federal government being responsible for people’s jobs in it. I must have a copy that’s missing some things.
9:26 - Energy policy is probably the biggest snake oil selling going on these days. Clean coal and nuclear are at least real energy sources. Notably absent is ethanol and hydrogen. Good.
9:28 - I should note that I was never a fan of the Republican stem cell research provision, but I think it’s odd that the Democrats didn’t stand and applause for advancement of research that makes adult stem cells possible to use. Seems to me that’s a good thing no matter what you think about the issue.
9:30 - Confirm judges. I agree.
9:32 - Now it’s time for entitlements and immigration. I agree with Bush on entitlements. Bush touts his guest worker program again, which I support, provided we don’t offer amnesty for people who are already here unlawfully. Bush implied he was still on board with amnesty. This is a political mistake.
9:35 - Now it’s time for talking about terrorist killing. It doesn’t seem to get the applause it used to, sadly.
9:39 - Onto Iraq. The Surge. Our soldiers are doing great work. Yay! The surge is working. Democrats silent. Republicans applause.
9:45 - When it comes to supporting soldiers, Democrats seem to applause vigorously. When it comes to specifics on supporting their mission, silence.
9:47 - Everyone likes troops coming home. Democrats don’t like having basing withdraw on the recommendations of commanders and progress on the mission.
9:51 - Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace. I’ll believe it when I see it.
9:53 - Bush send a warning to Iran. I’d prefer to send missiles, but this is why I’m not president.
9:55 - The Democrats don’t like warrantless surveillance. I don’t either.
9:57 - America apparently is number one in fighting famine, which is why we are busy driving food prices through the roof by turning food into motor fuel. The best anti-hunger initiative the US could undertake would be to end agricultural subsidies and stop using corn ethanol for fuel. But you won’t hear anyone suggest that.
10:01 - Lots of flowery language about “We the People”, and The Union being strong. Bush is actually pretty good on his delivery tonight.
All in all, a pretty boring and uneventful state of the union. Looks like I picked the wrong week to not drunk blog this, it would have made it a lot less dry.
UPDATE: E-gads! Sibelius is awful. If she’s a “rising star,” as the Fox pundits said, maybe I should be more optimistic about the future of the Republican Party. She sounds and looks like she’s been lobotomized.
If you have some time to read, over at The Volokh Conspiracy, Ilya Somin and Orin Kerr have been debating the proper role of judicial review in our republic. It’s well worth a read.
I tend to side with Professor Somin in this instance. The idea of legitimacy through “consent of the governed” has always struck me as problematic, because I think the purpose of government, first and foremost, has to be the mutual protection of rights. A “consent of the governed” legitimacy model surmises that the democratic process offers any meaningful consent. I did not consent to have John McCain and Russ Feingold limit my rights to speak out against them in any meaningful way, yet all three branches of the federal government have upheld this, despite the fact that I believe the majority of people would recognize it was a violation of freedom of speech if it were explained to them in detail.
I do think the judiciary needs to be true to the original meaning of the law, and not impose wild and inconsistent theories about legal interpretation. I want to understand the biases and philosophies of the judges we put onto the bench, because I don’t think there’s any theory of legal interpretation that will act as a bulwark against personal bias that will still preserve the court’s role as a check against the other two branches of government. The judiciary needs to have an active in here, and ought not make a presumption that those branches will enact constitutional laws. I think conservatives need to beware in restraining the judiciary, they don’t go so far as to make it a gaggle of “yes” men.
A Pennsylvania couple angry at the noise from airliners flying overhead has expressed their anger by painting an obscene message on the roof of their home.The two-metre-tall sign is directed at the Federal Aviation Administration, which recently altered the plane routes around Philadelphia International Airport.
I grew up in the town next door. Folsom is where my high school was. Noise from air traffic was always there, but it must be pretty bad now with the new traffic patterns, particularly since UPS likes to fly out fully loaded 747s in the middle of the night.
Activists have been taking up the issue of open carry here in The Keystone State. Now there’s a blog dedicated to it by a fellow Bucks County resident. I’ve never been big on open carry personally, but I’ve seen what activists in Virginia have been able to accomplish, and it’s defied my expectations. It’s not as uncommon in Virginia as it used to be, and “the law” is pretty much aware that it’s legal now. I’ve only ever seen open carry in Pennsylvania twice, once on a bus in Harrisburg, and once on the Appalachian Trail.
John Edwards’ snake oil salesman rural liaison, Mudcat Saunders, agreed to answer reader questions, but I’m guessing wasn’t counting on Bitter enteringthe fray. She caught some interesting flack from an undecided voter, who apparently was mostly concerned over whether John Edwards hunted and had guns in his home. Bitter had this to say:
However, Sherri, I would consider that you look at previous Edwards statements to address your concerns. The number of guns he owns is irrelevant. John Kerry owns guns, but in his home state, the cost is so high to be approved for even a round of ammunition that many hunters who don’t bring home large salaries have either given up their guns or risk owning them illegally while they use what’s left of their ammo. Gun ownership is still legal, but they have effectively made it impossible for anyone outside of the middle class and higher to do legally.
The folks who wish for a candidate who is sufficiently pure on the second amendment need to realize that there are a lot more of these types of ignorant voters out there than there are of us, and that’s exactly the kind of person that Mudcat Saunders is after. If we are not also evangelicals for the second amendment, we’re doomed. Ignorance is the brick wall we hit that limits what second amendment advocates can accomplish politically.
Bitter says she’ll let us know if Mudcat ever come back to answer the questions, but I’m guessing , like a snake oil salesmen who starts getting townspeople screaming at them that it gave them hives, he’s split town in a hurry.
Pennsylvania is third in the nation when it comes layoffs. Ed Rendell came into office with a promise to turn Pennsylvania around. What stellar results eh? Raising taxes and tolling our highways is generally not an effective way to promote economic growth. Nor is increasing regulations on businesses.
This morning John Hohenwarter, the NRA’s lobbyist and representative in Harrisburg, said Nutter would be squandering taxpayer dollars — which could be better used to put police officers on the street — if he mounts a futile legal challenge to established precedent that prevents local governments from enacting their own gun laws.
“We heard the same thing out of Mayor Street’s office the last couple of years,” Hohenwarter said. “The programs that the mayor is backing are nothing more than attempts to grab headlines,” he said. “Chances are, it’s going to be thrown out immediately, and if they keep trying to appeal it, you’re looking at a lot of cost to the city for nothing.”
Allentown police caught this guy, who is charged with two counts of murder:
Torres was driving on Turner Street Friday afternoon when he was pulled over by police and arrested. He was wearing a hooded sweartshirt with a skull-head pattern on it, pajama bottoms and fuzzy lion-faced slippers at the time. He was still wearing the get-up when he was arraigned after midnight at Lehigh County prison.
Follow the link for the picture. I’m going to be, probably not the first to say, that this whole wearing pajamas in public fashion has now officially gone way too far.
Caroline Kennedy has endorsed Obama saying he’d be “A President like my father.” Except that her father wasn’t a socialist, and was a member of the NRA. I don’t know how to feel about Obama’s victory over rout of Hillary Clinton in South Carolina.
I tend to cheer him only because of my visceral disdain for Hillary Clinton and my admiration of Obama’s political talents. Hillary believed she was the anointed one, and I have to admit to taking great pleasure in her realization that this won’t be a cakewalk for her.
Bitter made a fabulous crock pot meal of collard greens, pork shoulder, and dumplings, all slow cooked in the croc pot. I have to say that it was excellent. The smell of pork in the air is absolutely heavenly. It’s times like this I am very glad I’m not a Jew or a Muslim. They don’t know what they are missing.
A Pennsylvania man finds himself suddenly faced with charges for killing his wife:
A kinky sex escapade ended this week with the electrocution death of a Pennsylvania woman and the arrest of her husband for manslaughter. According to cops, Toby Taylor, 37, first claimed that his wife Kirsten was shocked by her hair dryer. But he then admitted that the couple was “into weird sexual behaviors,” according to a probable cause affidavit. Taylor then explained that he hooks clips to his wife’s nipples and “plugs the cord into a electric strip” and shocks her. On Wednesday evening, Taylor said, Kirsten removed her clothes, attached the clips, and shocked herself. He then picked up the electric strip and shocked her several more times, adding that he had placed a piece of electric tape over her mouth during the jolts. After the last shock, Kirsten, 29, “fell over on to her face.” Taylor initially thought his wife was joking, but quickly realized she was unconscious. He then dressed her in preparation for driving to the hospital, but instead called 911 when she stopped breathing.
Ouch! He stands charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment. This lead to a discussion with Bitter as to whether justice is really served by charges here. If I were the DA for York County, I’d probably offer a plea to reckless charge in exchange for dropping the manslaughter, but most normal human beings are aware that hooking up someone else’s nipples to a power strip in all its 120V 60Hz 20 amp glory runs a severe risk of killing that person.
If you’re into kinky electrocution sex, get yourself one of these. While I’m sure that use will invalidate the manufacturer’s warranty, it’s far less likely to kill, and it even seems to come in kinky sex toy-like colors.
Since it doesn’t appear this couple had any children (I’d hate to think of how you explain that “Daddy is hurting mommy” to a kid anyway), I think these two are great possibilities for 2008 Darwin Award winners.
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