The 2nd Circuit Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Sullivan Act.
More on control of the State Senate
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:
Sen. Mike Gianaris on @fud31 right now
— Capital Tonight (@CapitalTonight) November 26, 2012
Gianaris stresses there are hundreds of objected to ballots that could be decided by a jude.
— Capital Tonight (@CapitalTonight) November 26, 2012
Gianaris: “This is going to be decided in a court room at the end of the day.”
— Capital Tonight (@CapitalTonight) November 26, 2012
Sales volume crashes NICS
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Turnout down 15%
Voter turnout was down in New York by 15% from 2008. Some of this can be attributed to Hurricane Sandy, but nationwide 14 million fewer people voted for president this time around so clearly it’s not just New York.
The AnarchAngel offers some analysis. The bottom line is that people just did not bother to vote.
… If you chose not to decide you still have made a choice …
Bloomberg FAIL
Despite the fact that the candidates largely ignored their issues, the antigunners are claiming victory with Obama’s re-election.
Mayor Bloomberg is not one of them. His efforts at throwing money around didn’t work out so well:
“Late in this year’s election cycle, Mayor Michael Bloomberg suddenly announced the creation of a “super PAC,” Independence USA, through which the billionaire mayor could funnel unlimited sums of cash to candidates who support his political agenda of gun control, gay marriage and education reform. Looking at the federal races Mr. Bloomberg aimed to influence through the new political action committee, however, a majority of his candidates narrowly lost last night …”
See, it’s not all bad.