Let’s not waste some money

Press release response to Albany Co. wanting to keep funding their so-called gun buyback program.  Tom was on a news brief on WGY during a break of Rush’s program talking about it.

Where bills come from

Good AP story on where a lot of bills originate from, “Legislation templates make proposing bills easy“:

“For state legislators across the country, sponsoring bills can be as easy as filling in the blanks. Groups from both ends of the political spectrum offer lawmakers model legislation requiring a minimal amount of tailoring from state to state … “

Well, not exactly.  The template needs to be translated to conform to state law and that does require some lawyering.

“… The model legislation often intersects with the legislative goals of advocacy groups … The guns-in-cars measure has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association, and similar laws have been enacted Arizona, Louisiana and Utah …”

Of course the antis do the same.  Much of their stuff comes from the Legal Community Against Violence which has a section on their website “Model Laws” that has templates for semi-auto bans, .50 cal bans, dealer liability, etc.  Compare their templates to current antigun bills in Albany.

DioGuardi announces run

Former Congressman Joseph DioGuardi announced his intention to run for Senate against Kirsten Gillibrand.  I can’t get excited about this.  His previous comeback attempts, most recently in ’08 when he tried for the Republican nomination to run against Congressman John Hall, went nowhere.  I think his time has long passed.

Let’s waste some money

Albany Co. wants to keep their so-called handgun buyback program going with an extra $10K of taxpayer money.  Here’s a link to Resolution 44 requesting funding.

Not off the table

Pundit Steve Chapman opines that “Obama Spurns Gun Control.”  I don’t agree.  While his administration has not been pushing antigun legislation thus far, that isn’t the only way to advance the antigun agenda.  He can do it indirectly through his appointments and through the judiciary.  Some examples:

Attorney General Eric Holder

  • Holder: Gun control options ‘narrowed’ after high court ruling

    “… Holder said that he previously viewed the Second Amendment as a “collective right” to bear arms, not an individual right …”

  • Holder Revives Talk Of An Assault Weapons Ban

    “… Responding to a reporter’s question on weapons’ regulations, Holder said, “Well, as President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons. I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum.” Holder refused to speculate when legislation would move forward …”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

  • Ban by baby steps

    “… In 2012, the United Nation’s will push for the Arms Trade Treaty, which, among other things, will establish goals regarding the ownership and disposition of firearms on a global basis … The Arms Trade Treaty, along with attempts to reconstitute the so-called “assault weapons ban,” and efforts to ban lead-based ammunition are among the biggest challenges facing the shooting sports industry in the coming years, according to Steve Sanneti, president and CEO of the National Shooting Sports Foundation … Sanetti said he thinks it might pose the greatest danger if only because there are so many different permutations it could take, any of which could be disastrous to gun owners … “Essentially, the international community doesn’t understand why Americans respect and protect their Second Amendment rights because in most countries no such rights exist … “The current (Obama) administration has gone on record as saying it’s time for this country to rejoin the community of nations and get more in line with various international goals. So, definitely, gun control is moving to the forefront, though not in such an-in-your-face, confrontational manner that we’ve seen before in this country. Gun control advocates go in one direction, try and fail, and then go in another direction. That’s been the pattern.” …”

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor

  • Sonia Sotomayor on Gun Rights and Racial Preferences

    “… Equally troubling is Sotomayor’s record on the Second Amendment. This past January, the Second Circuit issued its opinion in Maloney v. Cuomo, which Sotomayor joined, ruling that the Second Amendment does not apply against state and local governments … the Supreme Court is almost certain to take up the question in the near future. What role might soon-to-be Justice Sotomayor play? As gun rights scholar and Independence Institute Research Director Dave Kopel told me via email, Sotomayor’s opinions “demonstrate a profound hostility to Second Amendment rights” …”

Chapman concludes his op-ed by saying:

“… In terms of actual policy, rather than his previous record, Obama is a long way from being anti-gun. This is not because he has fond memories of sitting in a deer stand as a lad in Hawaii or of talking shotguns with Dick Cheney. It’s because his mother didn’t raise a fool. Like some other Democrats, he may recall that in 1994, after banning “assault weapons,” they lost the House for the first time in 40 years … He is not about to pick a fight with centrist Democrats over gun control. Opponents of gun control should not rely on Obama’s innermost sentiments on the subject. He obviously doesn’t cherish the right to keep and bear arms. But for those who favor Second Amendment rights, here’s the nice thing about having such a canny politician in the White House: He doesn’t have to.”

No, he doesn’t have to pick a fight with fellow Democrats.  That is the problem with having such a canny politician in the White House.  He can, and has, advanced the antigun agenda through the backdoor.

Zuckerman mulling Senate bid

NY Times via Drudge, “Zuckerman Said to Mull Run for U.S. Senate“:

“… Mortimer B. Zuckerman, real estate tycoon and publisher of The Daily News, is considering a run for the Senate seat now held by Kirsten E. Gillibrand … Zuckerman is considering commissioning a poll to test the viability of a candidacy …  Zuckerman, 72, is known as a Democrat, , but if he runs, it would likely be as a Republican or independent, to avoid participating in a costly primary …”

I don’t know what his views on guns are. The Daily News is certainly not a gun friendly tabloid.

Ian Hunter – Gun Control

Frank Scaturro

Another Carolyn McCarthy opponent Frank Scaturro.

Peter Zinno

Carolyn McCarthy’s opponent Peter Zinno.