Snowflakes in Hell

Influence people against you, that is.  This shining example of assholery represents the sad state that the Pennsylvania open carry movement has fallen into:

I am so disgusted with gun-stupid people like Melodee Reeves and the likes that I could throw up!

This is something best left to be said on a pro-gun forum.  Not out in public as a Letter to the Editor.  You’ll never reach someone, or influence others by calling people “stupid.”

Not only did all the anti-gun letters published in this forum infuriate me

That’s great, but have you really spent so much time in the echo chambers on forums that you’re unaware that you’re dealing with a news outlet that publishes Letters to the Editor online?  I can promise you they published yours with glee.  Nothing helps the media paint gun owners as fools as gun owners themselves, more often than I think most of us would like!

Reeves: When you see me or Meleanie carrying open, you can breathe a sigh of relief that we are watching out for your safety as well as our own. Shame on you! Go take a firearms-safety course and learn to shoot. I dare you because I know you’ll like it!

Even if she does like it, I doubt she’s going to want to associate with a group of people who are going around suggesting that anyone who doesn’t like the idea of open carry is an idiot.  Carrying a firearm for self-protection is not for everyone.

This movement has drifted far from what it was originally starting out as.

The Firearms Blog weighs in with his choices.  RAH would appear to be our resident expert on the keeping and bearing of arms on the high seas, and on what will and won’t get you into trouble when you enter territorial waters or ports.  Avoidance seems to be the preferred method of dealing with pirates.  That’s pretty much the right strategy for any armed confrontation.  I like the idea of a fake RPG, but you’d be awfully screwed if the pirates produce something that looks similar, only isn’t fake.

Joe Huffman helped set a reporter straight on Obama’s record.

Traction Control has it.  I hope everyone out at GBR III is having a good time.

My tour of sportsmens groups in Bucks County continues apace, and I’m continuing to sign up volunteers.  I have spoken with a club every night this week, except for Monday.  Tuesday I spoke at Branch Valley, which has 500 members.  Last night to a packed audience at my own club, which has 1100 members.  Tonight I speak at Conestoga Rod & Gun Club, a 200 member club.  I’ve had a good reception pretty much everywhere.  Many gun owners came up to me and told me they were unaware of Congressman Patrick Murphy’s record on guns.  Gun owners, overall, seem to be very worried about this election.  They ought to be.  The stakes are high.

This weekend, the National Director of Sportsmen for McCain will be staying with Bitter and I.  We’re glad to help save the campaign some money.  He’ll be accompanying me to talk with my club’s archers on Friday, to a military rifle match at Holmesburg Fish & Game in Philadelphia, and we’ll all be headed to the big rally on Sunday at 1PM at Pike Township Sportsmen’s Association in Oley.  Should be a productive weekend.  We have to deliver Pennsylvania for McCain.  I think it’s possible, despite what the polls are saying.  I’ve believed since the beginning of this race that Obama will over poll.  We have to turn out.  If we turn out, we can win.  Not only for McCain, but for our state and Congressional races too.

The Bucks County GOP is noticing our activities too, which is good.  They are noticing that gun owners are on the ball and doing things in the county.  This will attract support from politicians.  The worst thing that can happen is for politicians to feel taking a position on gun issues won’t help them any.  If they feel that way, they won’t really bother.  As Bitter said, the perception of activity matters.  Even if you only have a handful of volunteers who are really helping out, that makes a huge difference.  Word of mouth gets around, people get involved, the powers that be notice, and before you know it, gun owners in your area are a force to be reckoned with.  It doesn’t really take much.

Via Instapundit, The LA Times brings us twelve gauge rifles.  The picture shows Sarah Palin handling a shotgun, carrying it the way you’re supposed to:

Right? Or maybe not? What do you think?

Hey, is that even the right way to hold a rifle? Can’t you shoot your foot off like that?

Oh yeah, pretty clearly Sarah Palin is a rube who doesn’t know how to handle a gun.  Only LA Times reporters know that.  I’ll tell you, I’d feel a lot safer on a trap field with Sarah Palin than an LA Times reporter.

Won’t somebody please pay attention to us?  This is the same load of horse crap they’ve been peddling for the past twenty years.  Just remember, when they say these firearms have no sporting purpose, they lie.

Phil Goldsmith has been running around Pennsylvania trying to get to know gun owners, and looking for some allies.

Goldsmith hopes to leverage the unsuspected moderateness of our citizenry. CeaseFire PA has formed a PAC and this year will try to “pick off” — electorally, not violently — a handful of legislators whose opposition to gun control seems out of step with their constituents. Goldsmith’s goal is to make officials as fearful of crossing CeaseFire PA as they are of tangling with the NRA — and his trip makes him hopeful it can happen. “In Elk County, I saw more elk than people,” he says. “And the elk are on my side.”

What a great pro-hunting message.  The Elk are on your side?  I guess because those rural cousin humping rednecks keep insisting on shooting them eh?  Good thing Sarah Palin isn’t around!

Get involved Pennsylvanians.  These guys aren’t going to give up.  They can bring money to the table, but what they can’t bring are votes and volunteers.  We have to bring those.

If Larry Pratt took your post here and reprinted it on GOA letterhead, it would be entirely believable.  Is that really the kind of company you want to keep?  Is the Brady Campaign becoming the “no compromise” Second Amendment group?  Well, GOA probably makes money money and has more dues paying members than the Brady Campaign.  Maybe we should let Larry know he might have some competition.

UPDATE: Man, Larry really is going to have his work cut out for him.  Now it’s AHSA getting into the game too.  Those releases are so similar, you’d almost think they coordinated their message or something.

This would seem to indicate that Barr’s campaign staff expected an endorsement.  Some are saying they were told NRA wouldn’t endorse this year.  I have to wonder how much contact Bob Barr has with his campaign staff, and what he was leading them to believe.  As an NRA Board Member, and as a politician who worked in Congress with NRA for many years, Barr had to know he wasn’t getting the endorsement; NRA would either endorse McCain, or not endorse.  Bob Barr has done some wonderful things for NRA, pariticularly in fighting the International Gun Control Movement, but on a third party ticket, there was just no way that was going to happen.  It’s a shame his staff seems to think they were going to get the nod.

In Norfolk, where it’s apparently hazardous to carry while black, things are starting to get nastier:

The 24-year-old Hampton resident said police told him to leave because he had a gun. Moore said he refused because the law allows him to display a weapon in public places. He said he was handcuffed, charged and led out of the building.

Norfolk police spokesman Officer Chris Amos confirmed that a summons was issued but declined to comment further.

Waterside receives city funding but is officially owned by a private entity, Waterside Associates, whose partners include the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, said NRHA assistant executive director John Kownack. Its policy prohibits weapons, yet weapons are not included on a list of prohibitions posted at Waterside’s entrances, he added.

I’m going to guess they are charging him with criminal tresspass.  I think most malls tend to be posted in the fine print.  It’s always good advice that unless you’re absolutly positively sure you’re in a public place, not a public accomodation, but a place owned by the public, or a public right-of-way, to comply with an order to leave if you’re asked.

But the Norfolk Police are pretty clearly out to make sure that no one in their city can exercise their right unharassed.  They’ve already settled once, no doubt other lawsuits will, and should be forthcoming.

But look at the difference in activism in Virginia vs. some of the things I’ve seen here.  You have people who were going about their business, not looking for trouble.  Trouble found them.  It will happen.  Now you have a pretty clear example of the police targeting young black men carrying guns lawfully.  The racial component will help with public sympathy, because while people might not understand why someone would carry a gun, most of the public believes racial discrimination is wrong.  And you’ll notice Phil Van Cleave playing that angle:

“I don’t see a conspiracy here – I see more ineptness,” he said. “And there may well be prejudice too.”

Moore is black. Van Cleave and most of the others are white.

Moore said a friend who was with him at Waterside also was carrying a gun and also had challenged police when asked to leave. He said his friend, who is white, was not charged.

That’s going to raise some questions in the public’s mind.  VCDL is doing alright here, if you ask me.

These are the kind of idiots that will ruin it for everyone.  If he was arrested for aggrevated assault before this instance, his LTCF was null and void.  The Delaware County Sheriff should have issued a revocation notice.  Even if he didn’t, it doesn’t change the fact that he was no longer qualified to carry a firearm on his license.

Tester is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of Montana gun owners too:

“I feel very secure in my Second Amendment rights with Barack Obama in the White House,” he said. “I honestly do. And if I didn’t, I’d say it.”

Tester added, “I’ve got a lot of guns, and he ain’t going to take one of them away from me.”

He follows up with hopes to bring unprofitable, taxpayer subsidized Amtrak lines back to Montana, that were closed in 1979.  You know what happened to the last batch of Democrats who surrendered our gun rights for promises of pork?  Go ask them.  They’ve been out of office in 1994.  I can forgive Democratic politicians doing what they need to do for the sake of party, but going out of your way to cover up his atrocious gun record?  That’s not how I expect an A-rated politician to behave.

Sensibly Progressive takes a look at the American Hunters and Shooters Association, and notices their positions are exactly the same as the Brady Campaign.

There seems to be a lot of discussion, so I thought I’d open up comments to the following topic:

Anti-Pirate weaponry.  If you’re sailing the high seas, what would you like to have?

Let’s keep it in line with what’s reasonably available to civilians.  We’d all love to have a harpoon anti-ship missile obviously, but let’s be real.  I’d probably go for a .50 caliber rifle.  It’s got a reasonable amount of destructive power, can reach out pretty far.  As a backup to that, an AR-15.  Let’s also not underestimate the power of a few small, deck mounted, black powder cannon.  It killed pirates just fine 200 years ago, and it will still work today.  I would also add some excellent optics on board, both on the long range rifle, and for spotting to see if the ship in question is friendly, or hostile.

What do you think?

The NRA has endorsed the McCain/Palin ticket.

NRA’s alert details the terms.  A judge signed a permanent injunction against the city.

This AP article hints that NRA may be preparing to endorse the McCain/Palin ticket:

The NRA has not yet endorsed a presidential candidate, but LaPierre planned news conferences Thursday in Pennsylvania, Missouri, Colorado and Nevada to make an announcement on the presidential election. He declined Wednesday to reveal which candidate the NRA would endorse but added that the group would “be foolish to overlook the vast areas of agreement” it has with McCain.

I don’t think there is any other choice here.  We must defeat Obama.  With him running around threatning consequences to radio and TV station broadcast licenses, it would be hard to even hold the Campaign Finance stuff against McCain at this point.

Looks like there’s about to be a fight between the Obama Campaign and the National Shooting Sports foundation.  Just a guess here, but I’m betting that the list is protected by trade secret laws, which I understand is handled at the state level.  This should be interesting.

My understanding is that with trade secrets, if someone, for instance, left the list out on a table, and someone from the Obama camp picked it up, the campaign would not be liable.  But if they inticed someone to get it for them, they could be liable for misappropriating a trade secret.

More interesting stuff: There is a federal law called the Economic Espionage Act, passed in 1996, which makes misappropriating a trade secret a federal crime.  It not only makes the misappropriation of trade secrets a federal crime, but also conspiracy to misappropriate trade secrets a crime.

Makes them shaped like cartridges.

HR 1845 has passed the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously.  It had one amendment on it, and will have to go back to the house for a vote, but after that, which should be smooth sailing, it’ll be on to the Governor’s office for a signature, which should be forthcoming.  After this:

• Sheriffs will have to issue emergency LTCFs for qualified applicants.
• Carry completely lawful in state parks
• No Katrina like gun confiscations in Pennsylvania.

Job well done for all the parties involved in getting this to passage.

UPDATE: I’m told the house passed it unanimously right after the senate passed it.  So all it requires now is Rendell’s John Hancock, and it’s law.

Last night, literally just after walking in the door from speaking at Branch Valley up in Perkasie, I called up Caleb’s show to talk about the EVC stuff I’ve been doing.  Since I called in a little early, we ended up talking about Metallic Silhouette for a bit.  I think I start at about 35 or so minutes into the show.

Looks like the guy who got arrested open carrying at an Obama rally is going to trial:

District Judge Douglas Loughner ruled in Beaver County Court Monday that John Noble, 50, of 1063 Willowbrook Drive should stand trial on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and disrupting a public meeting, stemming from the Sept. 29 rally for Democratic presidential running mates Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

The stakes are high on this.  If the state prevails in court here, people who open carry in a public place will be risking being arrested for disorderly conduct.  This is a big part of the reason I’ve been a pain in the ass about not provoking confrontations unnecessarily.  It was entirely predictable that trouble was to be found going to an Obama rally openly armed.  I think there’s no ground for the charges brought.  I really hope a judge agrees with that, or we’re all screwed.

Blackfork relays to us a video of the Panola County Club Championship for 2008.  Sounds like this club is lucky enough to have several high masters.  You will notice which types of rifles seem to be preferred; exactly the type our local congress critters Patrick Murphy and Alyson Schwartz have signed on to ban:

These matches don’t just happen in Texas.  They happen all over Pennsylvania too.  My club isn’t lucky enough to have a 600 yard range, but we make due at 200 using reduced targets to approximate distance.  This language in HR1022 should tell you exactly the kind of underhanded gun banners Schwartz and Murphy really are:

A semiautomatic rifle or shotgun originally designed for military or law enforcement use, or a firearm based on the design of such a firearm, that is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, as determined by the Attorney General. In making the determination, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that a firearm procured for use by the United States military or any Federal law enfocement agency is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes solely because the firearm is suitable for use in a sporting event.

You can forget about your M1 Garand too.  There are plenty of other semi-auto rifles that have their roots in a military design.  Note the last part, which says that just because a firearm actually is used in sport doesn’t mean it’s for sporting purposes.  In fact, it demands the US Attorney General presume as much.

I’m always amused by the lack of knowledge of reporters:

But the semi-automatic ammunition used in one of the weapons would have been illegal under an assault weapons ban that expired in 2004

Semi-automatic ammunition?  What’s that?

That question, debated for almost 200 years, was first directly addressed by the Supreme Court in June 2008, when the court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the Second Amendment refers to gun ownership as an “individual right,” affirming in the District of Columbia v. Heller case that a citywide ban on handguns was unconstitutional.

Except it hasn’t been debated for 200 years.  Not even really 100 years.  You won’t find any piece of writing from the 18th or 19th century that speaks to the Second Amendment as a collective right.  That notion didn’t come about until the 20th Century.

The proposals put forward by Obama, on the other hand, indicate a preference toward government restrictions intended to curb crime. During a debate on the eve of the Pennsylvania primary, Obama described the right to bear arms as parallel to the right to own private property. In both cases, he said, local governments can regulate how the right is used, as with zoning laws in the case of property.

A preference to control crime, or control guns?  Controlling guns doesn’t control crime.  Didn’t you just admit in a previous paragraph that DC was the Murder Capital of the U.S. despite the ban?

But I’m mostly nitpicking.  Overall, it presents both sides of the issue well.  I just wish reporters would speak to experts more often to try to clear up facts.