The Right to a Level Playing Field

Kudos to Alan Gura for filing a lawsuit this week seeking to enforce our right to carry concealed. The liberal-leaning Washington Post sought to bury the story (running it in the Metro section on a Saturday - two full days after the suit was filed), but even so, this case is likely to garner great attention.

According to the article in today's Washington Post (click here for the story), the District must respond to the suit by August 26.

In that Post article, the District's Attorney General Peter Nickles is quoted saying, "The last place you want to conceal is in the District, with all of these federal buildings."

I'm not certain I understand what Nickles is trying to say. Is he paranoid about something having to do with federal buildings?

I guess my response is, "General Nickles, the last place I want to be prevented from concealing is near my home, in the District, with all my family. The inability to carry when I walk my family several blocks to a restaurant, park, or baseball game leaves me as a law-abiding citizen in a defenseless position."

Ramblings

Okay, it's Sunday, August 2nd and I'm thinking I need another pistol. I need a rifle, too, but that can wait a little. And so I'm shopping for a pistol, and the great thing is that no matter where I buy what I buy, I'm going to have to pay $125 more than anyone else who lives outside of the D of C. That makes me a little upset. It's not that I can't afford the extra $100; it's just that I have to. DC gun laws bite.

Anyone have any idea how to avoid the excessive transfer fee?

Obama Vs. Common Sense

Gun enthusiasts, we have an issue. In the situation of Prof. Gates vs. Cambridge Police, do we side with the police, or the average citizen when the citizen is arrested on his porch? As a citizen, I'd be appalled if I were arrested on the porch of my home. But we need to look at why the citizen was arrested on his porch.

By the police report, we see that although the police were originally investigating a report of a possible break-in (Gates' residence had been broken into recently while the Prof was away on "holiday"), Gates was arrested for his "loud and tumultuous behavior," NOT, as media and the President might lead you to believe, for being a black man in a nice neighborhood.

There's no need to belabor the point that Gates' responded to the police inquiry with no respect for the authorities, except to say when the police showed up to protect Gates and his belongings from potential harm, Prof. Gates was a jerk. Had I been a jerk to police, I'd expect them to do the same to me.

So how do we wind up with the President of the United States using a split infinitive to berate the actions of a police department? I guess President Obama fell into the same trap other pols do when they act on less than complete information. See this exchange from his Wednesday night news conference.

Here's the exchange:

Q Thank you, Mr. President. Recently Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested at his home in Cambridge. What does that incident say to you and what does it say about race relations in America?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I should say at the outset that "Skip" Gates is a friend, so I may be a little biased here. I don't know all the facts.

(Intervening attempts at humor)

THE PRESIDENT: Now, I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that, but I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge Police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there is a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That's just a fact.

-End of transcript-

So there we have it. The President admits he doesn't know the facts, but immediately finds guilt in the actions of police authorities. I know how most gun enthusiasts feel, "Stay off my property!" but in reality, here are some simple facts:

Prof. Gates has made his name, his career, his whole meaning in life based on racism.

Police are charged with investigating potential wrong-doing and protecting the public.

Prof. Gates demonstrated no respect for authorities (we can debate this later) and taunted them "stupidly" and walked outside his door.

Once outside his domicile, Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct (should have stayed in your house, dude).

Enough from me... what are your thoughts?

Confounded by 2 votes

In the Senate this afternoon, we needed 60 votes to attach patriot Sen. John Thune's national CCW standard to the Defense Authorization bill. We fell two short. Please use your phones, emails, letters, and presence at their public events to let the following senators know they were on the wrong side of this fundamental issue:

Akaka (D-HI)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Burris (D-IL)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Dodd (D-CT)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kaufman (D-DE)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lugar (R-IN) (RINO)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Reed (D-RI)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Specter (D-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)

UPDATE: CCW Vote Pending in US Senate

Patriot and all around great American, U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-SD) is pursuing his amendment to the Defense Authorization package to standardize concealed-carry regs all across our U.S. of A. The Senate vote is expected around noon on Wednesday, July 22nd.

For those who would say, "What is a concealed-carry amendment doing on a defense authorization bill?" Here's the rationale:

The liberal Dems, with their new-found strength in numbers, decided to attach so-called "Hate Crimes" legislation to the Defense Auth bill. In plain English, this means the Dems found it suitable to attach crap, liberal agenda stuff having nothing to do with how our military operates, to the military operations bill. Turnabout is fair play, right? More power to Sen. Thune.

CCW Common Sense

So the U.S. Senate today is set to vote to make your state's CCW valid in all states that respect a CCW. This is great news and even better is the popular thought it can pass. This is part of patriot Sen. John Thune's (R-SD) effort to bring some common sense to the patchwork of CCW laws currently on the books.

The Washington Post (liberal bastion) reports Dems are peeling off to support this common sense and right thing to do.

Click here to see Shailagh Murray's article. Funny she reports about the 400 mayors who've voiced opposition to Sen. Patriot Thune's amendment, but leaves silent the thousands of other mayors who probably think this is a pretty good idea.

50 DC Gun Registrations Refused

Small item posted on the MPDC Gun Registration information page...

"Since the Heller decision, about 50 applications to register handguns have been denied. This may have been for a variety of reasons unrelated to the safe handgun list, including that the individual was not eligible to register a handgun. MPD is reviewing these applications to evaluate whether the handgun might be eligible for registration under these new regulations, and will follow up with the applicants. In the meantime, individuals whose applications were rejected because the handgun was not eligible to be registered are also welcome to contact MPD’s Firearms Registration Section."

Read this, "Oops. If you were rejected because the color of your gun scared some of our council members, you might now be able to own your firearm legally... even if it is drab olive green."