Schneiderman’s gun bust

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To much media fanfare, Eric Schneiderman announced a series of gun show stings called “Operation Background Bust” resulted in the arrests of 10 people. Here is video of his press conference:

This whole thing smells of a setup.

First off, when was the last time a State Attorney General put on a full court press for a bunch of misdemeanor appearance tickets? Second is the timing. H.R. 822 will be going to the Senate soon for a vote. This has to be an attempt to derail that bill.

Tom was on The Daily News with Ginny Simone discussing the issue:

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The Tea Party Gun Lobby

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From Carolyn McCarthy’s latest fundraiser e-mail blast:

“… The redistricting process is already underway in New York.  Once it is finished, the Tea Party Gun Lobby is going to try every trick in the book to elect some far-right politician who they’ll have in their back pocket …”

WTFO?

Antis 2 votes short?

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There has been much PSH in the New Jersey media over the possibility of H.R. 822 becoming law.  After reading this piece, “Gun laws in the Garden State, ” which quotes noted gun bigot Brian Miller of Ceasefire New Jersey, it is easy to see why they are so upset:

“… Miller sees a real possibility that the Democratic-controlled Senate will approve the bill, possibly as an attachment to a piece of essential legislation, such as authorization for Defense Department appropriations. “My understanding is that our side is two votes short of enough votes to keep that from happening,” he said. “But there are a number of undeclared senators, including (Pennsylvania’s) Bob Casey, who advertises himself as a moderate-to-liberal Democrat but is pro-gun …”

They don’t have the votes.  It is going to happen.

Labate campaign kickoff

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Stephen Labate is having a campaign kickoff fundraiser this Wednesday in Lindenhurst.  He is running against antigun incumbent Steve Isreal in CD-2.  I met him several months back and do believe he will make a serious effort to unseat Isreal.

Talking and doing

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There is a big difference between a politician talking about something and actually doing something about it.  Case in point, this article from NorthJersey.com, “Christie opposes handgun leniency“:

“Governor Christie opposes a push in Congress that would effectively override New Jersey’s strict laws against concealed handguns, even though the state’s entire Republican delegation in the House voted for it this month … Christie has not spoken publicly about the issue, but his spokesman confirmed in an e-mail that the Republican governor has not changed his position since the 2009 campaign, when he opposed a bill that narrowly failed in the Senate …”

You can tell Christie is really concerned about this.  The sum total of the political capital he’s willing to spend on this issue is to have some anonymous, low-level staffer respond to an e-mail inquiry by quoting a two-year old position statement he made previously.  True, this is more than Gov. Cuomo has done.  I’m not aware of any statement he’s made about H.R. 822.

Nevertheless, if either Christie or Cuomo were really bent out of shape over the bill then why haven’t they been lobbying Obama and Congress over it?  Why haven’t there been any formal press releases from their offices?

The sound of inevitability

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It has started to sink in to various media outlets that H.R. 822 will be voted on in the Senate.  Ronald Brownstein writes at National Journal, “AWOL in a Gunfight“:

“… If the legislation reaches the Senate floor, it has a solid chance of obtaining the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.  But Obama has been conspicuously silent on the measure—to the mounting frustration of big-city mayors fighting the idea …”

And therein lies the problem for the antigunners.  Those opposed to the legislation are mostly just a handful of leftist mayors and other professional politicans.  The general public isn’t upset over the idea.  It’s not like Congress is being inundated with calls and letters by Joe Citizen opposing this bill.  With the exception of Michelle Schimel, our state legislature has been quiet and so has Governor Cuomo.  Some might not like the idea, but they are not expending political capital trying to defeat it.

“… All 10 states that refuse to recognize any other state permits are part of “the blue wall”—the 18 states that have voted Democratic in at least the past five presidential elections.  In that way, the legislation represents an effort by politicians primarily from conservative red states to impose their views about access to guns onto residents in blue states …”

No.  For this to be true the public would have to angry over this and they very clearly are not.  There is nothing going on even remotely like what we saw with Obamacare or even “gay marriage” where lots of pissed off people were contracting their representatives to voice an opinion.

“… Fearful of alienating blue-collar and rural voters, Obama may be hoping the Senate will bury the bill without his involvement … If Obama stays silent, states at the core of his electoral coalition may soon find their laws controlling concealed weapons shot to pieces on Capitol Hill …”

So?  Brownstein again makes the assumption that H.R. 822 is wildly unpopular in places like New York which it just isn’t.  He also assumes that groups like the Bradys, NYAGV, etc. have an ability to help or hurt Obama depending upon which way he goes.  I do not believe that to be true anywhere.  From the AP story, “Gun issue represents tough politics for Obama“:

“… analysts say that when it comes time to vote, the gun issue is more likely to motivate gun rights activists than gun control supporters …”

Yep.  I have yet to see mentioned anywhere that there would be a downside to Obama if he goes along with the bill.  What I do see if much whining and PSH from the opposition.

“… supporters who hoped to see Obama adopt a stronger stance on guns and act in the wake of the Giffords shooting look like they’re going to be disappointed. “We haven’t given up hope,” said Dennis Henigan, acting president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, “but our impatience is growing with each passing day.” …”

Yeah, like Obama cares.

A little short

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The results are in for the Poughkeepsie Mayors race and we’ve come up a little short in the effort to oust incumbent MAIG member John Tkazyik.  Absentee  ballots have been counted and he won with 95 votes, about 1% over opponent Ken Levinson.

Anti-Romney candidates

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Here is a good article by syndicated columnist Victor Davis Hanson, “GOP running out of anti-Romneys.”  The opening paragraph sums everything up nicely:

“Nominating Mitt Romney is sort of like taking grandma’s castor oil.  Republicans are dreading the thought of downing their unpleasant-tasting medicine but worry that sooner or later they will have to.”

Unfortunately, I think he’s right.  From a RKBA standpoint, the very slight edge Romney has over Obama on the issue is that he realizes that he needs to at least appear pro-gun in order to win, while Obama seems to be going for not looking openly hostile to 2A rights.  That gives our side some leverage over Romney.

What H.R. 822 does for NY/NJ

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I came across this blog where the author says that H.R. 822 does nothing for him in New Jersey as CCWs are next to impossible to obtain.  Ditto for many New Yorkers.

While it is true that H.R. 822 does nothing directly for either states with regard to the discretionary authority of pistol licensing agents, the bill does offer indirect benefits to residents of both our states:

  1. It will increase the number of citizens legally carrying firearms in each state.  As per John Lott, More Guns = Less Crime.  This will take away a primary argument used by the antigunners to justify their position.
  2. It will put pressure on the state legislatures to reform our laws.  Why should non-residents be allowed to legally carry and not residents?
  3. The antigunners are shitting themselves over the possibility it will become law and it is damn funny to watch.

While H.R. 822 is not the end-all, be-all piece of legislation some people want it to be, it is a positive step forward.

More good news from the Brady’s

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More good news from the Brady Campaign via their Facebook page:

“H.R. 822, the “Packing Heat in Your Street Bill” passed in the U.S. House 🙁 When we come back from Thanksgiving, the gun lobby’s pawns want to “amend” the bill, which would skip the normal process of open debate and hearings.”

Translation: They don’t have the votes to block it.