All about guns, legislation and politics in New York
Former Assemblyman David Koon, who was defeated in the ’10 elections, announced he’s running again this fall:
“… Koon entered politics after his teenage daughter, Jennifer, was abducted in 1993 from a suburban Rochester parking lot and murdered. The horrific incident led Koon to be a national advocate for improved 911 service, particularly for cell phones …”
That’s not what he was best known for. He was a flaming antigunner and sponsor/co-sponsor of just about every antigun bill introduced in the Assembly and would happily advocate for them on the floor whenever one came up for a vote. He stops just short of being as detestable as Michelle Schimel (her voice gives her the edge.)
Assembly debate over the microstamping bill did not happen today. The bill has been on 3rd Reading since January so the only reason I can see for wanting public discussion is waning support for the bill in the lower house.
To be helpful, I sent out a statewide press release, “Schimel’s Gun Control Proposal Lacks Public Support.“
Microstamping bill A-1157B is on the Assembly Debate List for today. The session is scheduled to start at 1:30pm with a live feed available here.
I cannot recall any other gun control bill being put on the debate list in the Assembly in the past 20 years. This is another sign the antis are having problems bringing it to the floor for a vote. Michelle Schimel must be getting desperate.
Some speculation that Mitt Romney could name his running mate before the GOP convention, “Romney could pick VP early, and cash in often“:
“This year, there is at least a small chance that Republican Mitt Romney might break with tradition and name his vice presidential choice earlier in the summer … The tradition is to announce the No. 2 around the time of the convention to inspire grassroots activists and seek maximum publicity for the final two-month push to the November 6 election. But in this case, the Romney team has discussed whether to announce the pick a few weeks earlier to generate buzz for his campaign during August and help raise campaign funds …”
While those may be valid reasons for announcing his pick early, a much better reason is to shore up his lackluster support among traditional GOP constituencies, including gun owners. Being the anti-Obama candidate is probably not enough to motivate undecided and independent voters to turn out and vote on election day. People would much rather have someone they support on the ballot, as opposed to just a choice between the lesser of two evils.
A good VP pick, with solid pro-gun credentials (not Chris Christie), would go a long way in helping Romney win this November.
In spite of having more than twice the money and a party enrollment advantage of more than 3-1, Democrat NYC Councilman Lew Fidler lost to newcomer Republican David Storobin in the SD-27 special election by 16 votes.
This is especially amusing as Fidler’s campaign paid for a pro-gun control mailer to the district which angered one of our members sufficiently enough to go out an vote against him.
When I first saw yesterday’s tweet about the Governor and microstamping I naturally assumed the worst. After reading this story in the Daily News and seeing the video of the press conference where the topic comes up, I believe this was probably just a set up done by NYAGV with the help of their friends at the Daily News.
Jump to the 9:15 mark to see where the reporter asks about microstamping.
“Cuomo says he’d like to see microstamping bill passed, but he doesn’t expect it to happen any time soon.”
Mitt Romney is now officially the Republican candidate for president. The lack of enthusiasm for his candidacy is still palatable.
I received a free bumpersticker from his campaign in today’s mail: Romney. Believe in America.
Believing in America is not the problem. Believing in Romney is.
National Review has a good article on how conservatives can keep Mitt Romney in line, “Romney and the Right.” If you go through it and replace “conservative” with “pro-gun” you can get a sense of what we’re dealing with this election. Some examples:
“This November, millions of [pro-gunners] will find themselves in the familiar position of holding their noses to vote for a problematic Republican presidential candidate, because the alternative is far worse …”
“… it is important for [pro-gunners] to make it clear early that they will have no qualms about criticizing Romney if he doesn’t run and govern as a [pro-gunner], although they will gladly give him their support when he earns it …”
“… If Romney is convinced that [pro-gunners] will enthusiastically support him no matter what, then he’ll make the calculation that he has room to migrate [antigun] during the general-election campaign and throughout a potential presidency. But if he feels uneasy about his support among [pro-gunners], he’s much more likely to run and govern [pro-gun] …”
This is the way NRA should explain it to the membership. Their “All In” BS isn’t going to motivate anyone.