Snowflakes in Hell

The Peruvian Police have some very menacing looking riot gear.  I’m not sure I’m comfortable with how they appear to be marching either.

For once I share Bryan Miller’s sentiment on something.  I also think Clinton’s assault on Obama’s stance on guns is laughable on its face.

So, we must turn our attention to the Democrats. Democrats like Clinton should know by now that pandering to the pro-gun community will not work. How many Dems have to be ostentatiously photographed in duck blinds or loudly claim fealty to the Second Amendment - and then lose - for the rest to realize that such pro-gun nonsense fools no one on either side? To pro-gunners, these are amusing missteps by candidates who would never get their votes anyway, and it makes the rest of us yearn for a candidate who is genuine and principled.

I agree, it’s not going to help her win that vote.  Pretty much everyone knows what Hillary’s position was on the issue, and no amount of kowtowing to the pro-gun vote is really going to help her much.

That said, it has to be frustrating for gun control activists to see candidates on both parties running away from their issue like a panicking crowd in a bad Godzilla movie.

From Andrew McKean of Outdoor Life’s “The Gun Shots” blog:

On the other side, some of the most passionate gun-rights advocates claim their Second Amendment rights allow them to carry guns anywhere, forgetting that the American landscape is dotted with areas where private guns are prohibited. These include prisons, military installations and most public buildings.

The sensible middle is where this proposal should be debated. The Interior Department should relax firearms restrictions in national parks and refuges because it keeps honest people honest. And because it would prevent otherwise law-abiding gun owners from inadvertently becoming felons simply because they cross a jurisdictional boundary.

I am not at all opposed to the proposal for allowing unconcealed or cased firearms to be transported through National Parks. If that all the DOI is willing to give us, I’ll take it, and will advocate strongly for it. But I wouldn’t discount so readily how inconvenient the ban on concealed carry is for people who have state licenses to do so. The perspective of someone out west might be a bit different than mine.

Out West, the parks are big, and boundaries more apparent. Here the parks are small, and often not readily apparent. I routinely drive through property owned by the Department of Interior, namely Valley Forge National Park, sometimes Hopewell National Historic Site, and on the grounds of Independence National Historical Park. In the last case the street outside these places is technically under authority of DOI, but it also a Philadelphia city street. Am I to cross the street? Or drive around Valley Forge constantly? Going miles out of my way?

Most people who drive through these state rights-of-way are often unaware they are in a National Park. While DOI says they enforce state law on state rights-of-way, there’s always the problem of hitting a deer (a real possibility in Valley Forge), and suddenly finding yourself in violation of federal law because you stopped.

The National Park restrictions on concealed carry a major impediment to those who choose to carry. I would hope sportsmen will get behind the most recent efforts to force DOI compliance with state laws on this matter, and won’t merely support a “middle ground” which will only really benefit them.

It looks like Senator Coburn is planning on an amendment to S.2483 that would require all lands under jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior to follow state law in regards to possession of firearms. You can read Coburn’s case for passing this amendment here.

I have heard also that John McCain will be signing on as a co-sponsor of this amendment. Any bets on whether Hillary or Obama will? Just keep that in mind for those who claim there’s no difference between McCain and the Democrats.

Sometimes bad eggs can get a hold of guns.

I have occasional problems with RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury).  This one I get from my habit of sleeping with my left arm under the pillow and over my head.  I quite often wake up with a numb arm, or a numb pinky and ring fingers.  Then to add insult to injury, I spend all day resting my elbow on my armrests.

The end result is entrapment of the ulnar nerve at the elbow (cubital tunnel), causing my fingers to tingle a bit if I flex my elbow a bit too much, or bump the funny bone even slightly.  In a sitting position with arms extended or slightly bent, I’m fine, but I can feel the fingers tingling if I work the elbow too much.

For the next few days, I’ll have to splint my arm at night so I can’t end up in that position, and lay off overusing and abusing my elbow at work.  When I was younger, I used to get away with all this, but it seems getting old sucks.

Looks like Bucks County’s former Congress Critter has decided to run for State Representative in my district:

Saying he is ready for a change in how he serves the public, Mike Fitzpatrick, former congressman and Bucks County commissioner, has announced he will run this year for the state representative seat held by Democrat Chris King, D-142.

The 44-year-old Republican said the job, if he gets it, will give him the chance to hold public office again but stay a little closer to his wife, Kathy, and six children, ranging in age from 7 to 18. Since being defeated by Patrick Murphy, D-8, in the 2006 congressional election, Fitzpatrick has worked as an attorney at the Middletown law firm of Begley, Carlin and Mandio.

I think Chris King has will have a fight on his hands.  It’s worth pointing out that Fitzpatrick took Bucks County during the 2006 election.  It was only the parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties that are part of our district that pushed Pat Murphy over the top.

It’s hard to say who I would get behind in this race.  On one hand, Chris King has had little time to have much of a voting record for me to judge, but I am wary of a Democratic Controlled house with Ed Rendell in the Governor’s mansion for another two years.  Turnout for Republicans may be low in 2008, so Chris King will have the advantage of an energized Democratic party going for him.   I wouldn’t bet on this race.

This is one barrel who’s bottom I’d be happy to scrape, but this blogger isn’t all that happy with Florida’s poor ranking.  I’m too busy to fisk today, but that’s OK, because Rustmeister did it for us.

Over at Ahab’s.

SayUncle has a link over to Bruce Stern’s collection, which is being auctioned off.  He’s an NRA board member that recently died, and was quite a collector.  I saw the parts of his collection that were donated to the NRA museum, which were displayed at the last Board of Directors meeting, and they were very impressive pieces.

If you have 40 grand burning a hole in your pocket, and ever wanted an MP-40 submachine gun, or your very own German Maxim machine gun, now’s your chance.   For a little less money, you could have your own flame thrower, or perhaps a 20MM anti-tank gun?

Clayton Cramer thinks that Barack Obama is lying when he says he doesn’t want to take anyone’s guns.  I think so too.

From Call me Ahab, lots of cool stuff.  The fact that Remington has made an AR for the hunting market says something about the anti-gunner’s claim that these have no sporting use doesn’t it?

State Rep Stan Saylor, my new hero, is calling on the Philadelphia Parking Authority to be investigated for issuing bogus parking tickets:

Several Pennsylvania state legislators are tired of hearing complaints from constituents about bogus parking tickets. State Representative Stan Saylor (R-York) is calling for an investigation of the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) after the agency’s meter maids insisted a wheelchair-bound man, Frank Pinola, failed to feed a parking meter on June 21 and July 30. Before the issue drew public attention, the PPA had demanded $92 from Pinola, who was not driving on those occasions.

He’s introducing a bill that would require photographic evidence to accompany all parking violations.  I would very much support this bill.   A friend of mine who lives in the city, but who had use of her father’s car while she was in college, got a 300 dollar ticket for an unregistered automobile, even though the automobile was lawfully registered to her father in Iowa, and insured.  Because it had previously been titled in Pennsylvania (it used to be my car), the PPD issued her a ticket, sent to her previous (read my) address.  They accused her of lying when she contested the ticket when the matter of the car being legally registered was brought up, and said the tag was stolen.  She didn’t have money to fight it any further, and just paid the fine.  The Philadelphia Parking Authority are thieves, pure and simple, and I’m happy to see someone finally doing something about it.

I wouldn’t be a good Pennsylvania blogger if I didn’t cover Phil’s prediction from Punxsutawney:

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Here Ye!

On Gobbler’s Knob on this fabulous Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2008 Punxsutawney Phil, the Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators,
Rose to the call of President Bill Cooper and greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.

After casting a weather eye toward thousands of his faithful followers, Phil consulted with President Cooper and directed him to the appropriate scroll, which proclaimed:

“As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me. Six more weeks of winter it will be!”

You have to love any place called “Gobbler’s Knob”. This is most decidedly Pennsylvania at its weirdest. There’s video you can click on. See for yourself. It’s surprising PETA doesn’t show up at this thing. The movie Groundhog Day really isn’t really that far off.