Gun Nuts Media

According to DC’s brief in the Heller case, the 2nd Amendment only applies to the Federal Government and not to the 50 states and the District of Columbia.  It’s actually an interesting argument, as they pirate a bit of the pro-gun rhetoric in their brief.

In the brief, the district makes an additional argument: That the founding fathers’ concern in drafting the Second Amendment was to protect states from an overbearing federal government that might restrict access to firearms as a means of crippling state militias.

As such, the Second Amendment only restricts Congress, they argue.

“The primary goal of those who demanded (the Bill of Rights) as a condition of ratification to the Constitution was to control the federal government,” the lawyers wrote. “That is especially true with respect to the inclusion of the Second Amendment.”

It’s interestig because they used the long held belief of pro-gunners that the 2nd Amendment exists to protect the people from the federal government, and twist it to mean that the 2nd Amendment protects state militias from the federal government.  It’s an interesting ploy, for certain.

Now, if you look at it in light of those other 9 Amendments in the Bill of Rights, then the District’s argument doesn’t really hold a lot of water; but it still remains in line with the traditional bi-polar nature of the left believing that the Bill of Rights applies to individuals…except the 2nd Amendment.

Alan Gura, one of the attorneys for “good guys” in Heller does point out the deepest flaw of DC’s argument.

The fundamental flaw, he said, is that the district is a creation of Congress and the federal government, so the D.C. Council would be subject to the same restrictions as Congress in passing gun-control laws.

I really think that DC is grasping at straws here; they’re feeling the ground erode from under their arguments.  Hopefully that won’t amount to wishful thinking on my part.

It’s a hell of a state, Always looking for more guns to regulate. A new bill introduced by State Assemblyman Michael Ginareis would remove the excemption on black powder and muzzleloading firearms. People looking to purchase said types of guns would have to get a permit for an “antique weapon” so that they will be allowed to purchase and own black powder and muzzleloading firearms.

I’m hoping that this bill doesn’t pick up any traction in the New York House whatsoever, because it would be bad news for black powder enthusiasts (myself included) nationwide. Our pet guns, as well as those semi-blasphemous “modern” muzzleloaders have enjoyed a place almost completely off the radar of gun control advocates. That may be changing, as gun control continues to take a drubbing across the country, the other team will look to perceived “low hanging fruit” to regulate.

That’s where this bill becomes dangerous, because it’s kind of an easy PR sell. “We don’t want to ban them, we just want to make sure they’re regulated like any other gun” would be the nation wide call if this New York bill gets any real action.

It may seem far fetched, but it’s important for us to remember that the bulk of the anti-gun movement are extremists who are very good at playing to the middle demographics.

Obviously, if you’re a resident of New York, please contact your State Reps and express your opposition to this bill. The title of the bill is in the link above.

And gun related deaths are down.

The incidence of violent crime in Michigan in the six years since the law went into effect has been, on average, below the rate of the previous six years. The overall incidence of death from firearms, including suicide and accidents, also has declined.

Not particularly surprising to any of us, since most studies have shown that when carry laws are opened up, crime either goes down or the carry laws have no effect, but rarely does crime go up when CCW laws are expanded.  According to the article in the Free Press, 1 in about every 65 residents of Michigan now has a permit to carry a concealed firearm, a rate which I find absolutely fantastic.

I don’t really have much to say about that article, but there is one humorous part later on when the reporter talks to the head of the Michigan chapter of the Million Mom March about Michigan’s gun laws.   It’s not “ha-ha” funny, but rather it’s amusing because it demonstrates the “we cannot be wrong” mindset that a lot of these folks are driven by.

Shikha Hamilton of Grosse Pointe, president of the Michigan chapter of the anti-gun group Million Moms March, said she believes overall gun violence (including suicide and accidental shootings) is up in Michigan since 2001. Many incidents involving CCW permit holders have not been widely reported, she said.

That’s right, since the government statistics don’t agree with her pre-conceived notions,  than the government statistics must be wrong, because her ideology cannot possibly be wrong.

The headline on this article in a Hampton Roads, Virginia newspaper is a pretty prime example of misleading information being disseminated by the press essentially on behalf of gun control groups.

Despite Tech shootings, gun show rules unlikely to be altered
Goddard says he will describe the injuries from the four bullets that ripped into his son, Colin, who is among the survivors. He and other parents will urge lawmakers to close a loophole in the state’s gun laws. They want to end a practice that allows some firearms to be sold at gun shows without a background check on the buyer.

In case anyone has forgotten, the VA Tech shooter did not buy his guns from a gun show. The loophole that he slipped through has been closed by the NICS Bill, or HR 2640 that we have long been lobbying to pass, and that still awaits a signature from President Bush.

Thankfully, some of the state Senators in Virginia still have a bit of common sense about them.

“They’ll very likely be asked to explain the connection between the gun show loophole and the massacre at Tech,” said state Sen. Kenneth Stolle,

R-Virginia Beach. “None of what happened has anything to do with the loophole.”

Gun shows had absolutely nothing to do with VA Tech. I find it rather grotesque that the parents of victims from the shooting are being paraded around and used as a platform for gun control measures which have absolutely nothing to do with VA Tech, and would have done absolutely nothing to prevent the atrocity at VA Tech.

I suppose it’s pretty much the MO of anti-gun groups, push push push and don’t slip on the blood you’re standing in.

Chris Cox, the Executive Director of the NRA-ILA wrote an open letter to Michael Sullivan, the acting director of the ATF.

Those licensees who do choose to fight to retain their licenses face several obstacles.  Chief among those is BATFE’s incorrect application of the term “willful”…Dealers who omitted as few as 19 pieces of information out of 51,240 separate boxes on 880 different forms (an error rate better than that in BATFE’s own National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record) have been treated as “willful” violators and subjected to revocation proceedings, resulting in years of costly litigation.

The entire letter is worth reading.  It quite accurately points out several of the areas in which the BATFE has been clearly abusing their authority, including gun shows, harassing gun smiths, etc.