Raising the Barr

By the time Rep. Chenoweth introduced her bill, there were 11 original cosponsors -- a significant number indeed. Consider that the other leading bill to repeal the Lautenberg gun ban only had one original cosponsor when it was introduced earlier this year. That bill, introduced by Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), would only repeal the retroactive part of the gun ban, leaving the ban in place for the future.[Emphasis Added-DC]

Really?

It would seem so:

Rep. Barr shows support for Lautenberg ban.

In early March, Rep. Bob Barr endorsed the concept of the Lautenberg gun ban, calling it "important and worthwhile legislation." Barr's comments appeared as an editorial in the March 6, 1997 issue of USA Today, where he called for only a limited repeal of the Lautenberg ban. While he opposed the retroactive part of the ban, Rep. Barr endorsed the underlying principle behind the Lautenberg gun ban, stating that,

This [Lautenberg gun ban] is important and worthwhile legislation, and we cannot allow its effectiveness to be reduced.

Unfortunately, this was not the first time that Rep. Barr has expressed his support for the underlying principle behind the Lautenberg gun ban. On September 28, 1996, Rep. Barr issued a memo on his Congressional letterhead stating that:

The Lautenberg amendment with the Barr language is strong protection for women and children. [Emphasis in the original.]

And then on October 12, 1996, Rep. Barr sent a letter to the editor of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, again saying that he had fought hard to "improve" the Lautenberg language. He noted that because of his amendment, the Lautenberg gun ban could now pass constitutional muster and not be struck down by the courts. Barr stated:

Under the Lautenberg language -- which was cleared up through my amendatory language that was adopted -- there was no consistent definition of "crime of domestic violence," and therefore the entire provision would have been declared unconstitutional. My language corrected this deficiency by setting forth the common elements of the crime that would apply to everyone. [Emphasis added.]

Rep. Barr was also one of the Representatives who voted last September in favor of the Lautenberg gun ban as part of the omnibus spending bill (H.R. 3610).

The above statements would seem to indicate that Rep. Barr is content with only repealing the retroactive nature of the ban, and thus, leaving the gun ban in the federal code in perpetuity.

We've seen the best the Republicans are offering us--this is all the LP can muster? We are so screwed.

I'm writing in Papoon for President.

"He's Not Insane."

Lowering the Barr

The ruling “will go down as one of the Supreme Court’s most important rulings on behalf of liberty,” says Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr.

Forgive me, Mr. Barr and the LP, if I roll my eyes.

Maybe if you'd man up and address this I'd assign you some credibility on gun rights and liberty. But instead, you're acting like a typical politician and a typical political party--ignoring it and hoping it will go away before too many people notice.

That's not going to happen.

I'm thinking of doing something to turn up the heat, and the most bang-for-the-buck idea I can come up with is a contest--inviting readers and other bloggers to design a poster themed on Bob Barr and his support for the Lautenberg gun ban. I've already received one from an activist I correspond with after I told him about this idea.

I could host graphics for people who don't have blogs here, and provide links to logs that feature posters of their own and their readers'. And here's a handy tool for creating them.

Which means I'd need to pick a date to submit entries by and to showcase them, a way to pick a winner, and probably some kind of prize.

On the other hand, candidate Barr could just decide to have a candid discussion with gun owners...

[Via 1894C and Peter W]

"Protecting Your Freedom Since, Um..."

21 Guns, Salute enters the Bob Barr Poster Contest.

Speaking of which, Western Rifle Shooters Association has posted the gallery to date (not bad since this was just announced the other day).

We're having fun--please join us--if you have a blog I'll direct traffic there. if you don't, I'll post your entry here.

And even if you're not the artistic type, there's still a way to participate--and I'd actually like to get everyone reading this to do so:

Tonight at 6:30 (I assume EST since the blog appears to originate in VA), Bob Barr's son and campaign spokesman, Derek Barr, will be "liveblogging" at Good Sense. As you can see from the "Comments," I've already set the stage for the reason I'm holding this poster contest:

Why is the Barr campaign and Libertarian Party not replying to email inquiries about his support for the Lautenberg gun ban?

Some backup during the live blog will be appreciated, especially if the response needs to be expanded or clarified. I understand from the "Reader Information" link that it's not a chat room and a moderator must decide on passing on all questions.

Anyway, I'll be there watching, and hope you can make it, too. These people want the gun owner vote, but they continue to ignore our legitimate concerns.

Bob Barr Poster Contest: It's On

[Poster design by ryanmguard]

We talked about this here.

Since that time, there has been no response from either the Bob Barr campaign or the Libertarian Party. Indeed, the LP continues to beg support from gun owners via solicitations that ignore emails we have sent to them. They even issue media statements saying the other candidates are "get[ting] free passes on [the] gun issue."

Well they don't get a free pass either. Don't tell me you've got a "pro gun" candidate when he has endorsed and introduced edicts as offensive to Liberty as any.

If the "Party of Principle" thinks their best course is to continue ignoring this rather than addressing it squarely, that's their choice. But some of us aren't going to stay silent while they do.

Western Rifle Shooters Association introduced their poster last week. Now we have this one.

Let's have a contest.

Design a Barr/Lautenberg poster of your own. If you have a blog, post it and send me a link so I can send traffic your way. If you don't, just send me your graphic as a .jpg file.

I'll post them as I get them, and will pick a time--maybe two weeks from now--to present them together. I still have to figure out how to select a "winner" and what prize I can come up with, but what the heck--let's have some fun.

And feel free to let the LP and Barr campaign know about this.

UPDATE: Good one!

Put a Fork in it Barr, it's Done

Ian Branson finally gets Bob Barr to address the question we've been asking, and the tap-dancing and obfuscation begins. Telling the audience how he improved a bad bill hardly addressed his assertion that Lautenberg "is strong protection for women and children," or his claim that his amending language kept it from being "declared unconstitutional." He then goes on to support the concept of "prohibited persons" (how libertarian!). Incidentally, Ian has the entire event recorded--it's a monster file, 56 minutes of 720p video with a total file size of 2.46 Gb, but if you have time to download it and want to see the whole thing, right-click here and save it to your computer.

So the answer is, no, he won't repudiate his past support and spearhead the effort to repeal. Instead, he'd prefer you be caught in the trap and then go through a Catch-22 appeals process that has no funding to change anything--and won't for the foreseeable future.

It's not just me who's had enough of this guy.

David Nolan has pronounced the Barr campaign dead. Other LP activists are trying to oust him as the nominee. Meanwhile, Barr is employing the authoritarian tactic of appealing to the state to knock out his competition in New Hampshire.

I also note the post about Barr inviting Ron Paul (or more specifically, Ron Paul's money) to join his ticket is no longer featured on the main page of the Barr Blog (although entries appearing before and after it was posted do). A little "Commissar Vanishes"?

That last move was bugging me. I was trying to figure out what simultaneous wooing and insulting reminded me of, and then it hit me.


I'm going to start calling Barr Otis B. Driftwood.

Bob Barr Showing Leadership

Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party nominee for president, has invited GOP Congressman Ron Paul to be his running mate in the upcoming election.

I know this says his presumptive running mate, Wayne Root is OK with this, but what about the LP delegates who approved the ticket? I don't pretend to know how that process works, but I'd assume party leadership is more than simply placing a crown on one's own head. I also find it more than curious that there is currently nothing about this on the LP website, or blog, or press release page.

So what reason could Barr have for doing this?

Oh, I don't know...

[Via Matthew Maynard]

I Told You...

On January 8th, the Libertarian Party’s most recent presidential candidate Bob Barr sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee encouraging the “swift and positive” confirmation of Eric Holder, President-Elect Obama’s choice for Attorney General. Barr had only positive things to say about Holder, who he has worked with in the past during his years as a United States Attorney and Congressman serving on the House Judiciary Committee.[More]

I told you Bob Barr is a weasel.

Read this letter and gag.

"...professional pride and personal pleasure..."

Good grief. Seriously, gag.

What a wonderful testimonial from a former NRA Director and Libertarian Party presidential candidate.

And remember:

[T]here is no stronger defender of the Second Amendment in Congress.

[Via John Richardson]

Bob Barr's (Incomplete) Gun Record

Yes, George Dance addresses Lautenberg, but totally avoids Bob Barr's refusal to repudiate it and apologize.

Without that repudiation and apology, GOA isn't doing their reputation for "no compromise" any favors. It's evident they're jumping through hoops to redirect the argument to what he's done that they like. But Barr's and the LP's nonresponsiveness can only mean he's unrepentant (more like unwilling to take political heat). That GOA doesn't demand a retraction before jumping in to help the guy makes their "F-" rating for John McCain look more than a bit disingenuous.

And I think I've made my views on McCain pretty clear.

Don't Wink at Gun Owners

An Open Challenge to Libertarian Presidential Candidate Bob Barr

Mr. Barr,

As WarOnGuns visitors were recently reminded, based on reporting by Gun Owners of America:

On September 28, 1996, you issued a memo on Congressional letterhead advocating:

The Lautenberg amendment with the Barr language is strong protection for women and children.

On October 12, 1996, you sent a letter to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, claiming you "improved" the Lautenberg language so it could not be struck down by the courts, stating:

Under the Lautenberg language -- which was cleared up through my amendatory language that was adopted -- there was no consistent definition of "crime of domestic violence," and therefore the entire provision would have been declared unconstitutional. My language corrected this deficiency by setting forth the common elements of the crime that would apply to everyone.

On Mar. 6, 1997, your editorial, "Don't Wink at Violence," was published in USA Today. In it, you wrote:

[Lautenberg] is important and worthwhile legislation, and we cannot allow its effectiveness to be reduced.

Despite the fact you then voted for Lautenberg as part of an omnibus spending bill, there are those who would like to hear your reasoning. I'm among those.

But I think you need to go one step further. With the exception of your USA Today piece, which can be purchased individually (but not disseminated in total without violating copyright), the other referenced documents aren't accessible to scrutiny.

This issue will not go away, Mr. Barr--you will either address it directly, and explain yourself--or ignore it.

I challenge you to release and post the full text of your memo, your AJC letter, and your USA Today opinion piece, and let gun owners read your words for themselves. And I challenge the Libertarian Party to demand it of you as well.

Bob Barr Poster Contest Finalists

Regulars know about this. If you're just finding out, you can read more here.

Bottom line, both the Bob Barr presidential campaign and the Libertarian Party have ignored repeated correspondences asking them to explain their candidate's support for the Lautenberg gun grab. So we had some fun with it and held a poster contest.

Here are the entries. WoG visitors can select the winner.

RyanMGuard


Western Rifle Shooters Association


DarkBlog


Mindful Musings


Real Gun Guys 1


Real Gun Guys 2


21 Guns, Salute

These are great. Thanks to you who entered. Now it's time to vote.

POLL CLOSED AND REMOVED FROM THIS POST ON 7/28/08

One vote per visitor/computer. I'll create a sidebar link to remind people of the contest, and announce the winner next Monday--along with a prize that I still need to determine.

No Thanks to Bob Barr

When Lou Matteo got his handgun collection back, town police averted a legal battle based on a new U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding an individual's right to own a gun.

Matteo, 75, turned over his firearms in March after a verbal spat with his wife led to an order of protection against him. Guilderland police refused to give the guns back, citing a federal law barring anyone under an order of protection from possessing firearms.

"Gee," mused Bob Barr bewilderedly, "why is everybody mad at me...?"

[Via Jeffersonian]

There's an Email Going Around...

..that says the "Banquet headliner" will be Bob Barr.

I do hope someone will ask him a pertinent question or two.

And I did say I'd probably get back to addressing this.

I've looked at it and don't really see what changes the core facts that:
*Barr supported a far-reaching federal infringement on RKBA, and
*He has avoided directly explaining himself to gun owners--and actually intentionally ignored those concerns--as has the LP.

That a supporter/apologist thinks it would not be smart politics to man up hardly addresses the principle here--and as I've said, if we were interested in the usual politics of avoidance, the two major parties give us plenty of choice. We expect the LP to be different. If they're not, why do we need them?

The irony is, articles like the one on Nolan Chart help spread these concerns farther than the reach of this blog, so hopefully if more Barr defenders involve themselves it'll result in what I've been asking for from day one, which would have made all this arm-waving to get a few simple questions answered unnecessary.

[Via M. Terry]

The Sounds of Silence

Have you noticed the total silence about this issue in the Presidential campaign?

By his actions - not his words - we know that Barack Obama is a long time proponent of every imaginable gun control scheme. He is a perfect fit for the gun grabbers in his party.

And where is John McCain on this issue? Silent.

--Bob Barr Campaign Solicitation E-Mail

You know what to do if a presidential candidate keeps silent about a gun rights-related issue, Bob?

Hold a poster contest.

[Via Peter W, Jeffersonian]

Bob Barr Poster Contest Update

I haven't forgotten, I've just been busy. I suppose we should wrap this thing up.

A public record has been created documenting the Barr campaign and the national LP know about the Lautenberg concerns and have chosen to ignore them. That means they have chosen to demonstrate no difference between their MO and those of the major parties.

I'll plan on doing a final presentation and vote on Sunday. Anyone still wishing to participate has until Saturday night. Here's how.

Sorry--I still haven't decided on a prize. I'll come up with something.

In the mean time, get your entries in if you want to play, and check in on Sunday to vote--which means I'll also need to design a poll...

If It Ducks Like a Duck...

Derek Barr cheeses out. At least the campaign can't claim they're unaware of gun owners demanding an explanation for Bob Barr's support of the Lautenberg gun ban. Further refusal to squarely address it can only be seen as an intentional strategy.

Jay21 responds with an open letter.

The Real Gun Guys enter the poster contest.

And the LRC blog has noticed.

Look Back in Anger

Gun rights advocate David Codrea is an angry guy. For one thing, he is angry about what has happened to Second Amendment rights in America: Just seeing the title of his blog, The War on Guns, is enough to tell one that.

Lately, though, Codrea has been especially angry at Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr.

Not angry--just insistent on a straight answer. The Barr campaign and the LP addressing this early on and giving their side would have perhaps made all this unnecessary--that they still have not, and that George Dance thinks that's the politically smart thing to do--shows a fundamental disconnect with gun owners who are tired of the same old evasion they can get from either of the major parties.

Go read it yourself, and don't forget Part Two, where it's suggested I'm being "misrepresentative." I'll probably have something to say about that in a few days.

Decision Time for Bob Barr

I am an attorney located in Atlanta, and am ready, willing, and able to support Congressman Barr to the full extent of Federal election law. However, you and the campaign should know that I will not be making further contributions, in kind or in cash, until this matter is addressed satisfactorily.

Western Rifle Shooters Association turns up the heat.

Why not take a minute and help convince both the candidate and his party that ignoring our concerns is not an option?

info@bobbarr2008.com

campaigns@lp.org

Bob Barr Continues to Erode Whatever Credibility He Has Left

I can't tell if it's because he's truly ignorant or because he has an agenda. [Read]

We're the Only Ones Domesticated Enough

The Putnam Sheriff's Department's domestic violence officer was arrested Friday night on a charge of domestic assault.

Good grief. Can it get more ironic?

So does this mean she'll be the "Only One" not voting for Bob Barr?

[Via Carl S]

And the Winner Is...

Real GunGuys, for this entry in the Bob Barr Poster Contest:


The prize?

I decided on a copy of "The Gang.

Congratulations and thanks to all for entering. Contact me (dcodrea AT hotmail DOT com) so I can get mailing details to ship your DVD to you.