Plenty of people are going to sound in on the Minnesota reservation school massacre. New shrill demands for more "gun control" will certainly feature prominently on editorial pages and broadcasts across the land, and some might even grudgingly acknowledge that it looks like the weapons were taken from a cop.
I've pretty much written all I have to say on this and any other school shootings here.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Buckeye State Blackmail
Ted E. Daniels, editor of the Ashland Times-Gazette is threatening to publish the names of CHL holders if the Ohio legislature amends the concealed carry law so that the information is no longer disclosed to “journalists.”
Well, I guess if you’re gonna ask permission to exercise a right, this sort of nonsense should be expected. Still, Daniels is behaving like a cheap extortionist thug, and ought to be treated like one.
What has always struck me about this law is how government takes it on itself to decide who they will and will not recognize as a “legitimate” journalist. I’ve raised this concern several times now.
As I understand the law, I probably wouldn’t qualify to get the list of names (not that I would want it), but this group would.
Well, I guess if you’re gonna ask permission to exercise a right, this sort of nonsense should be expected. Still, Daniels is behaving like a cheap extortionist thug, and ought to be treated like one.
What has always struck me about this law is how government takes it on itself to decide who they will and will not recognize as a “legitimate” journalist. I’ve raised this concern several times now.
As I understand the law, I probably wouldn’t qualify to get the list of names (not that I would want it), but this group would.
Cop Killer
“Ban bill to target cop-killer handguns and rifles,” declares Michael P. Norton of State House News Service, just like he knows what he’s talking about.
Of course, the first line of the story admits that what’s being talked about is potential capability—no real cops killed with the pariah firearms can actually be produced. But the damage is done, and once more, the establishment propaganda machine manages to score a point with the uninformed under the guise of objective journalism.
But perhaps we’re taking the wrong tack on this. Perhaps we ought to up the ante.
Maybe we should insist they’re not cop-killer weapons, but soldier-killer weapons. After all, what they’re alleged to be capable of defeating is paramilitary equipment, as opposed to traditional police gear. It’s only when the police have become militarized that the special capabilities of these firearms are spotlighted.
Then we can invoke Justice James McReynolds’ rationale in US v Miller, when he observed: “In the absence of any evidence tending to show that possession or use of a ‘shotgun having a barrel of less than eighteen inches in length’ at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia, we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument.”
The corollary to this, of course, is, if a firearm can be shown to have such a reasonable relationship, the Second Amendment would guarantee the right to keep and bear such an instrument.
Yeah, I know. Keep dreamin'.
Of course, the first line of the story admits that what’s being talked about is potential capability—no real cops killed with the pariah firearms can actually be produced. But the damage is done, and once more, the establishment propaganda machine manages to score a point with the uninformed under the guise of objective journalism.
But perhaps we’re taking the wrong tack on this. Perhaps we ought to up the ante.
Maybe we should insist they’re not cop-killer weapons, but soldier-killer weapons. After all, what they’re alleged to be capable of defeating is paramilitary equipment, as opposed to traditional police gear. It’s only when the police have become militarized that the special capabilities of these firearms are spotlighted.
Then we can invoke Justice James McReynolds’ rationale in US v Miller, when he observed: “In the absence of any evidence tending to show that possession or use of a ‘shotgun having a barrel of less than eighteen inches in length’ at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia, we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument.”
The corollary to this, of course, is, if a firearm can be shown to have such a reasonable relationship, the Second Amendment would guarantee the right to keep and bear such an instrument.
Yeah, I know. Keep dreamin'.
How Many Lies Can You Tell in 60 Minutes?
SayUncle has made a good start at deconstructing last Sunday's anti-gun hit piece on 60 Minutes.
He exposes some of the obvious lies, and provides some good dope on Ed Bradley's narco-terrorist source--a John Kerry fundraiser, naturally.
"I TiVoed it and may have more later," he says. I hope he does, because he's doing a good job with this.
Leave it to the Establishment propagandists to spook the Eloi by claiming overseas insurgents need to come here for guns. NRA printed an excellent article on this by Jim Pate.
He exposes some of the obvious lies, and provides some good dope on Ed Bradley's narco-terrorist source--a John Kerry fundraiser, naturally.
"I TiVoed it and may have more later," he says. I hope he does, because he's doing a good job with this.
Leave it to the Establishment propagandists to spook the Eloi by claiming overseas insurgents need to come here for guns. NRA printed an excellent article on this by Jim Pate.
NRA's Montana SNAFU
News Release, Montana Shooting Sports Association
It looks like NRA is sabotaging Montana legislation clarifying "the right to self defense with firearms."
MSSA attributes it to a mid-level staffer thwarting the clear will of NRA management.
Call me cynical, but if NRA doesn't fire the guy, I'd say he's doing exactly what his masters want him to do. I can't help but wonder which legislator(s) they're appeasing?
It's not like we haven't seen a disconnect between what Fairfax says and what it does before.
I'd like to be wrong this time. But the term "SNAFU" speaks volumes.
--------------------
Andy Barniskis passes along this on-topic addendum:
Last year in Pennsylvania, NRA employee John Hohenwarter agreed to not to oppose legislation that was very hostile to gun rights (HB 2403) on condition that it be kept in committee until after the 2004 NRA Convention in Pittsburgh. Perhaps he didn't want betrayed NRA members to make a fuss at the convention. Mr. Hohenwarter and his boss Randy Kozuch did this without consulting any grass roots organizations or NRA legal council [sic] and they never responded to inquiries into the matter. Every major sportsmen's group in Pennsylvania united in the largest coalition in our history to oppose the anti-gun rights legislation that the NRA did not oppose.
We have received recent reports that John Hohenwarter replaced a competent NRA state liaison in New Hampshire and NRA members in New Hampshire are now trying to undo the damage.
Now we see that Montana NRA members have good reason to be angry with Randy Kozuch...
Harry Schneider, PSA Chairman
Pennsylvania Sportsmen's Assn.,
NRA Life Member
It looks like NRA is sabotaging Montana legislation clarifying "the right to self defense with firearms."
MSSA attributes it to a mid-level staffer thwarting the clear will of NRA management.
Call me cynical, but if NRA doesn't fire the guy, I'd say he's doing exactly what his masters want him to do. I can't help but wonder which legislator(s) they're appeasing?
It's not like we haven't seen a disconnect between what Fairfax says and what it does before.
I'd like to be wrong this time. But the term "SNAFU" speaks volumes.
--------------------
Andy Barniskis passes along this on-topic addendum:
Last year in Pennsylvania, NRA employee John Hohenwarter agreed to not to oppose legislation that was very hostile to gun rights (HB 2403) on condition that it be kept in committee until after the 2004 NRA Convention in Pittsburgh. Perhaps he didn't want betrayed NRA members to make a fuss at the convention. Mr. Hohenwarter and his boss Randy Kozuch did this without consulting any grass roots organizations or NRA legal council [sic] and they never responded to inquiries into the matter. Every major sportsmen's group in Pennsylvania united in the largest coalition in our history to oppose the anti-gun rights legislation that the NRA did not oppose.
We have received recent reports that John Hohenwarter replaced a competent NRA state liaison in New Hampshire and NRA members in New Hampshire are now trying to undo the damage.
Now we see that Montana NRA members have good reason to be angry with Randy Kozuch...
Harry Schneider, PSA Chairman
Pennsylvania Sportsmen's Assn.,
NRA Life Member
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