Snowflakes in Hell

He has signed onto HR1022, the McCarthy Gun Ban, which bans a number of common sporting and target rifles, in addition to many common shotguns:

Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-8, a co-sponsor of a bill to reinstitute the assault weapons ban and son of a former Philadelphia police officer, said the government needs to be “proactive” to quell gun violence.

“While I support the right of gun ownership and I believe in the Second Amendment, I strongly believe that if someone wants to fire an assault rifle they should join the military,” Murphy said.

The congressman’s opponents in this year’s House race, however, said reinstating the assault weapons ban would do little, if anything, to stop gun violence.

Tom Manion, a Republican from Doylestown Township, said the focus should be on stricter law enforcement, not on enacting more gun laws.

“I really don’t think a ban on assault weapons is going to do anything to keep the criminals from getting their hands on guns,” Manion said.

Concealed weapons permit or not, Congressman Murphy, I can promise you that Mr. Manion will be getting my vote this fall, and I will do everything in my power to make sure the 1200 person club I belong to, and my many thousands of readers know why.

The Bill Congressman Murphy has signed on to, does not merely ban “assault weapons” , whatever they are, it bans two of the most common target rifles being sold today, including the AR-15, and many models of the Ruger 10/22.  It is so badly worded, that it would, in effect, ban all semi-automatic shotguns, and many common semi-automatic rifles like the M1A, and the M1 Garand.  The Ruger Ranch Rifle would also be banned under this bill.  It give the attorney general authority to ban any firearm, so long as the attorney general makes a judgement that they are not sufficiently “sporting” guns, by whatever definition the attorney general chooses to use.

This is a bad law for hunters and shooters, and voters in Pennsylvania’s 8th district should be aware their congressman has signed onto it.

Mayor Michael Nutter:

“I looked him dead in the eye when he came in and told him how disappointed I was in him.”

Oh dear.  So Mayor Squidward is “disappointed” in a cop killer, and I, an NRA member, am scum of the earth.  Surely the Mayor’s moral compass is as true as any!

A retired Philadelphia Police officer takes the city politicians to task:

Yet Mayor Nutter repeats the usual sophistry about guns. Hizzoner said, “That officer was assassinated on the streets of Philadelphia. There was nothing that could have protected him - that weapon penetrates vehicles.”

His statement illustrates why our elected representatives are unable to reduce violent crime.

The mayor’s lack of knowledge of weaponry notwithstanding, there is one patently obvious policy that definitely would have protected the officer.

If Levon Warner had served his full sentence, he would’ve been in prison until 2012. He could not have committed any crime in 2008.

If Howard Cain had served his full sentence, he would’ve been in prison to 2052. He would not have murdered anyone in 2008.

If Eric Floyd had served his full sentence, he’d have been in jail, not robbing banks, in 2008.

But all three served less than the max and committed more violent crime. This time a cop ended up dead. Why isn’t the mayor addressing this more easily remedied and more salient issue?

Read the whole thing.  The Mayor isn’t addressing the issue because we can’t have a real, public discussion about the dreaded topic of personal and civic responsibility; something that’s sorely absent in many of the city’s worst neighborhoods.  It would take real leadership to address it, and the voters of that city aren’t going to get it from its Democratic machine.

A comment asks for my thoughs on this.  I don’t see why Doctors should be different than any other business owner.  The primary objection, I would imagine, is that it violates their hippocratic oath to “do no harm.”  But to me, that doesn’t require being taken to suicidal conclusions.  The “do no harm” directive applies to the practice of medicine, it doesn’t apply to a doctor’s right to defend himself, and the employees and patients in his practice.

To me, it’s a matter of personal choice for the doctors.  If a doctor chooses to have a gun in his office, fine by me.  If he chooses not to, that’s fine by me too.

As Bruce points out, step one is to unload the firearm, not get an ice cold bucket of Miller Lite.  Any guess on what The Garden State would do to an FID holder if this happened?

Pretty conclusive that states with right-to-carry laws have lower crime rates than those that don’t.

Newt Gingrich thinks the GOP is in a lot of trouble come fall.  Eric ponders that if Newt’s outlook is right, it might mean voting Hillary is the best move for the country.  I do think Obama is the easier candidate to beat, but that’s not to say I think McCain is sure to beat him.  Newt wants to restore the GOP brand, but I think that’s going to be difficult as long as Iraq is an issue.  Iraq is the bull in the china shop for the GOP.

I am not optimistic about our prospects this fall, especially for gun owners.  The pendulum is swinging around, and I can promise you that an increased Democratic majority will put our gun rights in serious jeopardy, no matter how Heller turns out.  A Democratic sweep in the fall may very well make Heller completely irrelevant.

One of our IHMSA guys, who is pretty much a revolver shooter, likes to show up at our thursday indoor matches with an old S&W snubnose chambered in .22LR.  The barrel can’t be any longer than two or so inches, but he manages to shoot 20 credit card sized animals with it at 25 yards.  I scored a 25, but that was using a Ruger Mk.III with a 6 7/8 inch barrel riding below a red dot scope, and a custom Volquartsen trigger.  Pretty clearly I have room for improvement if I’m barely scoring higher than a guy shooting a snubby revolver with practically no sight radius.  But hey, I’m into the mid 20s.  A few weeks ago my goal was just to break 20.  Now I have my eye on breaking 30.  If I can score 25 outside consistently, my IHMSA classification will be AA.

Tam has the digs on the Smith & Wesson gun lock issue.  I have a 629, and have never used the lock, or had it engage unexpectedly when shooting.  I use the gun to shoot IHMSA Field Pistol, Production category.  I only carry it in the woods, and even then, I usually have the Glock as a backup.

That’s not to say I like the lock being on there, though.  Too many gun manufacturers seem be interested in having their guns not be illegal in a lot of the nanny states (like Massachusetts, where S&W is located) that mandate this crap.  I would like to see the industry write off the states that pass this stuff, or at the least, do multiple versions if they really feel the need to exploit those markets.

Keyboard and a .45 reports that the state is seriously backlogged, and can’t process the license applications fast enough.  Bad news for muggers, rapists, and thugs in Texas.  Hey, maybe Texas will catch up to Pennsylvania eventually :)