Month: April 2017
@NYDailyNews hysteria on reciprocity bill
Some PSH from the Daily News on reciprocity:
“Look around, look around, New York City, at how lucky we are to be alive right now: Over nearly three decades, Gotham has led the country in protecting ever more of its people from the ravages of violence — particularly violence at the barrel of a gun. From the peak of the crack-fueled murder epidemic in 1990, murders here have plunged by 84% and shootings by 81%, driven in no small part by the NYPD’s vigorous enforcement of some of the strongest gun laws in the nation …”
Except New York’s gun laws weren’t designed as a public safety measure.
“… Now, a very real threat to that living legacy winds its way through the halls of Congress down in Washington …”
“Big Tim” Sullivan must be laughing in his grave over this.
“… The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act — a National Rifle Association dream — would be a nightmare for cops looking to keep New Yorkers, and themselves, safe on city streets …”
It’s a nightmare only in so far as it disproves the long held liberal/progressive belief that more guns = more crime.
“… In a country where 55 million people, spread across states as diverse as the very landscape, own guns, reciprocity would force our densely populated city to accept lowest-common-denominator rules from places where anyone who can move a trigger finger can legally wield a firearm …”
What exactly does population density have to do with where and when people can legally carry a firearm?
“… Eleven states allow residents to carry firearms without any permit whatsoever — meaning, without so much as a background check …”
Given that constitutional carry is a recent change, what does this say about the effectiveness of gun control laws as a crime deterrent?
“… Florida has issued permits to 1,400 felons, 216 people with outstanding warrants, 128 with domestic violence injunctions against them, and a half-dozen registered sex offenders …”
Convicted felons cannot legally possess firearms. Period.
If this is an issue in Florida, is there any serious effort to change the laws there? No.
“… No one could legally stop a Floridian from flying or driving here, gun in tow …”
What is stopping them now? The law? There’s no magic barrier surrounding the City.
“… It’s not that we envision hordes of violent tourists terrorizing innocent New Yorkers …”
So the problem is what?
“… It’s that residents of New York could easily take a short trip, get armed and come back — instantly undermining every gun law we have …”
Aha! Locals are the problem. Floridians with guns are ok, but native New Yorkers? Fuggedaboutit.
“… Officers of the NYPD are charged with enforcing the statutes of the city and state. Under that framework, they must make split-second judgment calls about what to do when they see, for instance, a bulge in a jacket or in a pant leg. In a world of concealed carry reciprocity, a thick fog will set in: They will have no way of knowing whether the people they encounter might be legally carrying. Which will add an untold dimension of danger to every interaction …”
Police in other municipalities already deal with this yet they do not appear to have any issues. Do the DPD have special cognitive powers others do not, or are the NYPD just a bunch of idiots?
“… And since there is no national gun permit database, if this legislation — which President Trump has promised to sign — becomes law, the NYPD would be powerless to determine promptly whether a given gun permit is legit …”
Suspects are to be presumed innocent and individuals cannot be stopped without just cause. Merely being suspected of carrying a concealed firearm should not give cause for anyone to be stopped by police.
“… Imagine: Ever more armed New Yorkers able to assert that they’re allowed to carry, and cops with no way of knowing otherwise …”
Imagine New Yorkers being able to legally do what the overwhelming majority of people living outside the beltway already do.
“… The danger is clear and present. And the hypocrisy from a Republican Party that 10 minutes ago claimed to revere states’ rights is enough to choke on. If you don’t get shot first.”
This is why the Daily News’ circulation is way down.
Action, not words
Politico reports that The Donald will speak at the NRA’s Annual Meeting during the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum.
All he needs to say is that he is going to put his full weight behind the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act so that the Senate can bring their bill S.446 to the floor for a vote. Time for him to back up his campaign promise with action.
Kearns to run for County Clerk
Democrat Assemblyman Michael Kearns is running for Erie County Clerk this fall and has received the endorsement of the county Republican committee.
Kearns has been supportive of gun rights while in the Assembly.
Donovan meets with Moms
Moms Demand Action astroturf met with Rep. Dan Donovan to lobby against H.R.38:
This was unnecessary as Donovan has always been antigun.
Maloney to introduce CDC gun research bill
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney plans to introduce legislation to provide funding for so-called gun violence research:
“… Congress Member Carolyn B. Maloney (D–Queens/Manhattan) and Senator Edward J. Markey (D–Mass.) introduced legislation on April 15 to address the issue of gun violence across the United States. The bill would set aside $10 million in funding each year for FY2018-2023 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct or support research on firearms safety or gun violence prevention … “Gun violence is a public health crisis,” said Maloney. “Yet, for too long the gun lobby and its allies in Congress have prohibited our nation’s leading federal public health researchers from studying gun violence to learn more about what drives it and how it can be prevented. With 89 people dying each and every day from gun violence, our country cannot afford Members of Congress playing political games with riders or restrictions on life-saving public health research and data collection. We must finally lift this senseless gag order.” …”
Funding for this sort of thing was prohibited years ago by Congress as it was nothing more than political propaganda supporting the gun control agenda.
House bill is H.R.1832 with Yvette Clarke, Eliot Engel, Gregory Meeks, Jerrold Nadler and Thomas Suozzi as co-sponsors.
Senate bill is S.834 with Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer as co-sponsors.
When everyone’s not on the same page
A couple of weeks ago Republican Assemblyman David DiPietro acknowledged that there is SAFE Act funding in the state budget and has been since the beginning.
We’ve also covered the fact that SAFE cannot be de-funded in the budget.
Republican Senator Cathy Young did not get her story straight before speaking about this topic on the floor of the Senate.
John Cornyn speaks on reciprocity bill
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn on when the reciprocity bill will be taken up in Congress:
“… “Well you know we got so much going on now it’s just it seems like there’s not much room, but my hope is later this year we can get it teed up and, of course, depending on when the House takes their version of that will help move it along, but I’m hoping sometime this year,” Cornyn said … Republicans still lack 60 votes to stop debate on any legislation and go forward to a final vote, but Cornyn thinks that voters in blue states with concealed carry could help pressure certain Democratic members to support the legislation …”
This could be problematic given that his bill S.446 has 36 sponsors with no Democrats while the House version H.R.38 has 187 sponsors only 3 of whom are Democrats.
Gorsuch to decide whether to take gun cases
We’re going to find out soon if Justice Neil Gorsuch is pro-gun or not as SCOTUS has two petitions pending on gun cases:
“… The most important is a petition from gun rights activists asking the court to find for the first time that the Second Amendment right to keep a gun for self-defense extends to carrying firearms outside the home. In cases from California, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that it did not. “Any prohibition or restriction a state may choose to impose on concealed carry — including a requirement of ‘good cause,’ however defined — is necessarily allowed by the [Second] Amendment,” it said. A strongly worded dissent said “any fair reading” of the Supreme Court’s 2008 decision finding a constitutional right to gun ownership for self-defense “compels the conclusion that the right to keep and bear arms extends beyond one’s front door.” A second case involves whether those convicted of certain crimes can be barred indefinitely from possessing firearms …”
The California case is Peruta v. California which is backed by the NRA & CRPA. This is the one that could ultimately make New York shall-issue.
I believe the second case is United States v. Games-Perez.
Junior considering running for Governor
Donald Trump, Jr. floated the idea of running for Governor next year.
What does he bring to the table?
Positives:
- He’s not Andrew Cuomo.
- He is legitimately pro-gun.
- Can raise the money necessary to run a serious race.
- Name recognition.
Negatives:
- The Trump name. All the people who still have not gotten over the ’16 election will come out in force in an effort to defeat him and humiliate his old man.
- The New York Republican Party.
The Republicans could do a lot worse than to put him up as their candidate.