You can’t make this stuff up

On: By: admin

On the ongoing chaos in the State Senate:

  • Libous “Would Love Very Much to See” a Senate Coalition – “Regardless of the outcome of a too-close-to-call race in the 46th Senate District, Sen. Thomas Libous said Republicans are still open to forming a “coalition government” with a breakaway caucus of Democrats …”
  • View of ballots good sign for GOP – “A judge said he was “inclined” to hear the legal arguments behind the mostly Republican-brought challenges to absentee and affidavit ballots that will decide the winner in the 46th state Senate District …”
  • Liz Krueger blasts GOP ‘contempt for democracy’ – “… State Senate Republicans are intentionally stalling vote-counting in two State Senate districts with bad-faith challenges to legitimate votes, to prevent two duly-elected Democratic senators from being seated in the State Senate. They believe this would allow them to seize power in January and use that power to make deals and buy the loyalty of additional senators …”
  • Dem Smith to join GOP coalition – “Queens Democrat Malcolm Smith is joining forces with Republicans in a new coalition to run the fractured state Senate, the Post has learned.  In a stunning move, Smith, the former Senate majority leader, will join the Independent Democratic Caucus, which includes four other renegades who will help keep the GOP in charge …”
  • Court papers filed in Amedore-Tkaczyk fight – “As I reported this morning, attorneys for Republican Assemblyman George Amedore and Duanesburg Democrat Cecilia Tkaczyk will face off in court today over which of 877 absentee ballots in a close state Senate race should be counted.  Republicans objected to most of these ballots — roughly 680 — and a number of the challenges had to do with voter residency. Challenges were also lodged based on incomplete applications for ballots …”

Schneiderman on a roll

On: By: admin

Eric Schneiderman is on a roll.  First, he successfully defended the constitutionality of the Sullivan Act in the 2nd Circuit.  Next, he went after some gun show promoters, obtaining whopping fines of up to $200 from them.

Going for the trifecta, he’s started a coalition of State Attorneys General opposed to nationwide CCW reciprocity.  They’re mostly the usual suspects: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.  It’s a PR stunt, but he’s good at them.

More on control of the State Senate

On: By: admin

As of now, George Amedore holds the lead in the SD-46 recount.  If it holds, Republicans will hold the State Senate 32-27-4. However, it appears likely there will be lawsuits:

Sales volume crashes NICS

On: By: admin

Black Friday gun sales are way up, so much so that the NICS system became overloaded.

Reports from around the country show a strong interest in firearms:

Seemingly oblivious to the fact they’re losing the culture war, the Times calls upon Obama to go after Congress on the issue:

“… Mr. Obama talked about starting “a broader conversation” about reducing gun violence.  The best place to start is in Congress, which has been grossly negligent toward constituent safety for the past 20 years as it bows to the demands of the gun lobby …  Mr. Obama is free of the pressures of campaigning — and free to lead the nation toward sensible laws that can help reduce the flood of guns and related homicides.  The need for strong leadership on this issue is growing as statehouse politicians cave to ever more lethal demands from the gun lobby …”

Congress, however, is not free of re-election worries and that should keep any gun control proposals bottled up, assuming Obama even cares enough about the issue to try and do something on it.

Gun Owners Against Illegal Mayors project

On: By: admin

The Second Amendment Foundation is launching a media campaign against members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns who have been convicted of various crimes.

Featured in their print ad are former White Plains Mayor Adam Bradley, convicted of domestic violence against his wife, and current Monticello Mayor Gordon Jenkins, convicted of several counts of trademark infringement for selling counterfeit sneakers.

Post-Sandy attitudes

On: By: admin

Not surprisingly, the 911 system failed during Hurricane Sandy.

It remains to be seen if this, along with the looting that took place in the storm’s wake, will led to a new appreciation by elected officials for private citizens having firearms for self-defense.

Control of the State Senate

On: By: admin

It’s been almost two weeks since the election and control of the State Senate is still up in the air.  With Simcha Felder choosing to caucus with the GOP, it’s now tied at 31-31 with one race to close to call.  I suspect we won’t know who is running the show until the legislature returns for start of sessions in January at the earliest.

He’s not going away

On: By: admin

Mayor Mike is going to be out of office next year.  That does not mean he’s going away any time soon:

“… What’s clear from Bloomberg’s heavy spending in such a short period of time is the mayor has no plans to leave the national political stage once his third term expires next year and, in fact, seems likely to gear up rather than ratchet down his spending for those who support his agenda and against those who don’t … The message from Bloomberg’s world is clear: The mayor is here to stay as a political force …”

Yeah, I figured as much.  Fortunately, his gun control campaigns have been quite ineffective in the past and he seems unable to grasp that the general population does not care about the issues the same way he does.  I don’t see his Independence USA political action committee as being a game changer in the world of gun politics.

Learning experience

On: By: admin

Buzzfeed has an excellent article on why the GOP blew the election, “A New Republican Generation Gets Ready To Take Over.”  NRA should take note of it as well because their “All In” campaign sucked ass.