At the NRA annual meeting, before Thursday nights show.
Jim Geraghty and Ginny Simone.
Cam Edwards.
About to go live.
Tom King, NYSRPA. Scott Bach, ANJRPC. Jim Wallace, GOAL.
Kagan ‘not sympathetic’ to gun rights
From Bloomberg.com, “Kagan Was ‘Not Sympathetic’ as Law Clerk to Gun-Rights Argument“:
“Elena Kagan said as a U.S. Supreme Court law clerk in 1987 that she was “not sympathetic” toward a man who contended that his constitutional rights were violated when he was convicted for carrying an unlicensed pistol. Kagan … made the comment to Justice Thurgood Marshall, urging him in a one-paragraph memo to vote against hearing the District of Columbia man’s appeal. The man’s “sole contention is that the District of Columbia’s firearms statutes violate his constitutional right to ‘keep and bear arms,’” Kagan wrote. “I’m not sympathetic.” …”
I figured that sooner or later something like this would turn up.
Guns in parks on agenda
A-7183C, Prohibits the possession of concealed firearms in any national park or national wildlife refuge system, is on the Tourism committee agenda for Monday, May 17.
Microstamping passes Assembly
Bills stuck in Codes
All these bad bills failed to make it out of Assembly Codes today:
- A-3477, Increases the types of firearms that are to be included in the firearm ballistic identification database.
- A-4431, Requires defendant’s full cooperation with any law enforcement officer or district attorney who is investigating or prosecuting unlawful gun trafficking.
- A-5272, Prohibits the attendance of children under eighteen years of age at gun shows or stores by classifying such attendance as unlawfully dealing with a child.
- A-5368, Makes it illegal to sell component parts of a pistol or firearm to any person who does not possess a valid pistol permit.
- A-5695, Enacts provisions relating to the trafficking of weapons and for the firearm, rifle and shotgun ballistic identification bank.
In the past 18-19 years I’ve been following gun legislation this I cannot recall ever seeing an antigun bill that was put on the Assembly Codes agenda fail to be moved out of Codes at that time.
Gun Owners for Carl
Carl Paladino followed through on creating his Gun Owners for Carl coalition. Tom will be overseeing it. See coverage of the announcement here and here.
Schuyler Co. opposes gun control bills
The Schuyler Co. Legislature unanimously passed a resolution in opposition to the gun control package the state legislature passes each year. Chenango, Delaware, Erie, Herkimer, Niagara, Ostego, Rensselaer, Seneca and St. Lawrence already passed similar resolutions and I believe one or more of those counties sent copies of their resolution to all other counties in the state.
Bill Clinton praises Bloomberg’s initiatives
Elena Kagan for SCOTUS
Media reports that Obama will pick Solicitor General Elena Kagan as his nomination for Supreme Court Justice. She’s from Manhattan which isn’t good. According to the Washington Post:
“… She is known to be circumspect with her personal views and has no public record on some of the hot-button social issues — such as abortion and gun control …”
GOP candidates on the ground and on the air
Rick Lazio, Steve Levy and Carl Paladino had a Q&A session at a GOP candidates forum in Canastota over the weekend. Paladino at least touched on guns:
“… “My philosophy is Conservative Republican,” he said, explaining how he is against abortion, gay marriage and gun control …”
Unfortunately, it appears Lazio has a majority of support to secure the GOP gubernatorial nomination. Starting today Paladino and Levy will begin airing ads looking to cut into that support prior to the upcoming GOP convention. According to the Buffalo News:
“… The radio ads feature Paladino speaking to his audience about cutting taxes, slashing spending and creating jobs. The TV spot, meanwhile, features an announcer asking Paladino’s signature question of whether “you’re mad as hell about the mess in Albany?” …”
It will be interesting to see if he mentions guns in any of them. I would be surprised if Levy brings it up. I knows he’s been asked about it and it’s clearly not a hot button issue for him.