Month: November 2010

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No More Franken’ed Elections

November 5, 2010 by

Representative Bob “Who are You” Etheridge (D-NC) was defeated for re-election by nurse Renee Ellmers by about 2,100 votes. She was the only Republican candidate to defeat any of the “at-risk” Democratic congressmen in North Carolina despite not having resources poured into her race by the Republican National Congressional Committee. Under North Carolina law, Etheridge is not entitled to an automatic recount if the margin is greater than one percent. Suddenly yesterday, more votes were found for Etheridge and he is calling for a recount.

Here is what Renee herself is saying about this:

Dear Supporters,

Election night, after the ten counties in my district had reported their votes, I led Bob Etheridge by 2,100 votes. (That number is crucial because under North Carolina law Congressman Etheridge is not entitled to an ‘automatic recount’ if he trails by more than 1% – or 1,888 votes.)

Then, yesterday afternoon – unexpectedly – the vote totals changed. The State Board of Elections reported my lead had dropped to 1,600 votes. Two hours later Bob Etheridge announced he intended to call for a recount.

As a result, last night my campaign began hiring attorneys – eleven attorneys in all. One in each county to monitor each recount and an attorney to work with the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Right now, our best estimate of the minimum cost we face is $50,000. But, of course, my campaign spent every penny we had before the election.

Yesterday, we appealed to the National Republican Congressional Committee for support, asking if they could contribute to help pay the costs of this recount. Their answer, unfortunately, was, No – that we would have to raise the money to pay for the recount ourselves.

I was afraid that would be their answer. Months ago, I went to Washington and asked the National Republican Congressional Committee and many conservative leaders to help my campaign. Many conservative groups – like the Susan B. Anthony List, Concerned Women of America, Freedom Works, and Sarah Palin’s Sarah PAC all helped, but the NRCC declined. Later, they did support other campaigns in North Carolina – which, unfortunately, lost – but we never received their support. In fact, their spokesman told the press “that the campaign wasn’t ready for prime time” – which actually made it even harder for us to raise money. So, I am doubtful we will get support from the NRCC to help with the expense of the recount.

Right now, I lead Bob Etheridge by 1,600 votes. That lead should hold up. But we can’t take anything for granted. We must leave no stone unturned to insure a fair recount. We cannot allow the kind of mishap that happened in Minnesota – when Al Franken was elected – to repeat itself in North Carolina.

This morning my campaign manager set up a special fund – Renee Ellmers for Congress Recount Fund – to pay for the recount. I never dreamed I’d be asking you for another donation two days after the election – but I need to raise $50,000 ‘yesterday.’ The maximum you may give is $2,400. Each contribution – whatever the amount, whether it’s $25, $250, or $500 – is crucial and will be deeply appreciated. Could you send a donation and mail it today? Or, better still, click here, to give on my website.

I apologize for asking for another gift so soon – but I am sure you understand.

As ever, thank you and best wishes.

Renee Ellmers

Lest we forget, back in 2008, Senator Norm Coleman finished election day in Minnesota with a small lead of about 700 votes over comedian Al Franken. The Democrats and Franken called for a recount and day by day Coleman’s lead was whittled away as more ballots with Franken’s name on it were “found”. Eventually Franken was declared the winner and was sworn into the Senate in July 2009.

I don’t want to see that happen in North Carolina and I don’t trust the State Board of Elections which is dominated by partisan hacks to do the right thing without a lot of prodding. And the best thing to prod these hacks is a good attorney. Or a pack of good attorneys.

What about Ellmers on gun rights? Well, Ellmers was finally endorsed by the NRA towards the end of her campaign. She is rated AQ by the NRA-PVF and 3 stars by GRNC. Etheridge was rated D by the NRA and 0 stars by GRNC. For someone from eastern North Carolina he has been particularly unfriendly to gun rights and the Second Amendment. In addition to her ratings, Ellmers is a North Carolina licensed Concealed Handgun Permit holder.

Here is the link to donate to Ellmers Recount Fund:

http://www.reneeforcongress.com/landing-pages/help-our-recount-effort

And if you need any extra persuasion, just watch the video again. I just sent her a good donation as the only place I want to see Etheridge again is on YouTube.

UPDATE: From Renee Ellmers:

Dear Supporter,

The Board of Elections in each county in the district are now counting 3,000 ‘provisional ballots.’ And, next Friday, each County Board (there are 10) will hold a ‘canvas’ to confirm the initial vote totals.

The good news is many of these ‘provisional’ ballots are in counties I won – like Johnston County which I carried 64% to 34%.

The bad news is today our attorneys informed my campaign that by next Friday, we face $70,000 in legal bills. And, after Friday, we face another $150,000 in costs for the recount.

Before I say another word, I want to thank everyone who has responded to my appeal for help. People from across the nation have contributed and their gifts have allowed us to quickly put the team we need in place to insure a fair vote recount. I also want to thank – from the heart – Sarah Palin, who joined in asking people to help, Rush Limbaugh, who discussed our recount today on his program, and every blogger who’s posted an article asking people give to help me.

Many people have expressed their disappointment that the National Republican Congressional Committee refused to help. Well, as President Reagan used to say, Sometimes you have to make a politician feel the heat to see the light. Whether it is due to Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh or all the bloggers helping us, the NRCC has seen the light. They have wired my Recount Fund $5,000 and committed to help us raise money. I am grateful for their help and, from here, we take one step at a time.

Right now, I have two deadlines staring me in the face:

1) I must be ready to pay our lawyers $70,000 for their work through next Friday.

2) And, after Friday, I have to be ready to pay another $150,000 – a total of $230,000.

So, as you can see, we’re a long way from meeting our goals, and, if you can, please send a contribution to the Renee Ellmers for Congress Recount Fund.

Right now, I have two deadlines staring me in the face.

When you think about it, here’s the bottom line: Congressman Etheridge has already announced he will call for a runoff. And if he returns to Washington it will be one more vote in Congress for Nancy Pelosi.

If you can contribute please give today.

Thank you and best wishes,

Renee Ellmers

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An update in the Kachalsky case

November 4, 2010 by 1 Comment

It has been a long time since we’ve had news in this case. Kachalsky et al v. Cacace et al was the second post-McDonald case filed by Alan Gura. It challenges New York State’s pistol permit requirement to show “proper cause”.

An endorsed letter was filed last week by Anthony Tomari, Assistant Attorney General, on behalf of the State of New York. District Court Judge Cathy Seibel requires a letter indicating what motions the parties intend to file before they are filed. This letter requested the court’s permission to exceed the 25 page limit for the legal memorandum in support of their motion to dismiss. They are requesting up to 50 pages in order to support their position. Alan Gura had advised them he would be OK with 35 pages. Nonetheless, Judge Seibel granted permission to go up to 50 pages and added that the plaintiffs could also file a brief of that size if they thought it necessary. This motion is scheduled to filed with the court this Friday, November 5th.

Mr. Tomari, in his request, said he didn’t think he could adequately cover the substantial issues of both jurisdiction and the constitutional question presented otherwise. Tomari noted:

The impact of Heller/McDonald is just beginning to work its way through the federal and state judiciary and there are numerous on-going cases across the country raising Second Amendment challenges to state handgun statutes. Collectively, these cases will define the scope of rights conferred (sic) by the Second Amendment. Moreover, given the interests at stake, it is a certainty that there will be appeals, and a reasonable prospect that these issues will again be presented to the Supreme Court.

This letter also gives an indication of the grounds on which the State of New York plans to argue for a dismissal of this case. They will center on jurisdictional issues including:

  • Plaintiff’s constitutional claims are not ripe
  • Plaintiffs lack standing to pursue the claims set forth in the complaint
  • Jurisdictional abstention is appropriate under Younger v Harris
  • Jurisdictional abstention is appropriate pursuant to the Pullman and Burford doctrines
  • Subject matter jurisdiction does not exist pursuant to the Rooker-Feldman doctrine.

Younger abstention is the argument that the State of Maryland is pursuing in its move to dismiss the challenge to Maryland’s concealed carry requirement of “apprehended fear” in Woollard v Sheridan. More on the other abstention doctrines mentioned can be found here.

In the State’s earlier letter announcing motions, they only mentioned ripeness and the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. I can only infer from the latest letter that Mr. Tomari has been studying the arguments presented by the defendants in other Second Amendment cases. If so, I do give him credit for not trying to reinvent the wheel – not that it will carry the day in the end.

I will have updates next week after I have had time to digest the anticipated motions to be filed on Friday.

UPDATE:  The State of New York has not filed their 50-page motion to dismiss yet. However, Alan Gura has filed an amended complaint which names new plaintiffs who have been denied pistol carry permits in Westchester County as well as additional defendants. I will have a separate post on this after I have had a chance to read it.

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What the GOP Takeover of the NC General Assembly Could Mean for Gun Rights

November 3, 2010 by

The Republicans will now control both houses of the North Carolina General Assembly for the first time since 1898. That’s correct – 112 years. 1898 was the year that the fusion of Populists and Republicans lost control of the General Assembly which they had held for the preceding four years. The tactic that the Democrats used to overcome the Republicans was an appeal to white supremacy.

The “white supremacy campaign” was exactly that. The Democrats repeatedly stated that only white men were fit to hold political office. They often accused the fusionists, especially the Republicans, of supporting “negro domination” in the state. Indeed, there were a large number of African American officeholders, some of whom had been elected and many more who were appointed to office. The Democrats referred to themselves as the “white man’s party” and appealed to white North Carolinians to restore them to power.

As a result of this shameful legacy, the Democrats have maintained control of at least one house of the General Assembly ever since. That is, until last night.

Sean at An NC Gun Blog has developed a list of laws that need to go. While most of these laws are firearm or weapon specific, some are not. He brings an outsider’s keen eye to some of the more egregious laws on the books. For example, in North Carolina to purchase a cross-bow you need a a purchase permit from the local sheriff. This is the same permit that NC requires for the purchase of a handgun. Sean’s list should be required reading in the Republican caucus of both houses of the General Assembly.

At the top of my list would be a modification of the gun ban during states of emergency, the castle doctrine, and guns in state parks. I would also add that the Wildlife Resources Commission needs to change its regulation which prevents the carrying of anything other than a .22 pistol as a sidearm on state-recognized gamelands outside of hunting season even if one has a Concealed Handgun Permit. Since all the National Forests in North Carolina are also gamelands, I am forbidden to carry a centerfire handgun, permit or no permit, outside of hunting season. Congress recognized that crime happens in National Parks. The General Assembly and the WRC needs to recognize that it can happen in National Forests as well.

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GRNC vs NRA – And the Winner Is….

November 3, 2010 by 1 Comment

Neither.

In the two races where Grass Roots North Carolina and the NRA sparred over endorsements, they each won one race.

In the 11th Congressional District, Heath Shuler won 54% of the vote or about a 20,000 vote margin. Until I have the complete precinct by precinct results, I can only speculate his win came because he took the Democrat (and hippie) stronghold of Asheville big while holding his own in the rest of the district.

Both candidates in this race were rated A by the NRA so gun rights won’t suffer though I might not say the same for civil rights given Shuler’s votes on union card check and the DISCLOSE Act. I will also say the race was vicious with the negative ads starting almost immediately after Labor Day.

The other race where GRNC worked to defeat a candidate with the NRA’s endorsement was between NC House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman (D-Davidson Co) and the Republican challenger Rayne Brown. GRNC targeted Holliman for his refusal to push for a vote on a Castle Doctrine bill that had already passed the State Senate. It was held in the Judiciary I committee by the chair Deborah Ross (D-Wake).

Rayne Brown won almost 58% of the vote in her successful effort to unseat Holliman. Brown had been ranked 4 stars in the GRNC’s 0 to 4 star ranking system. Her victory knocked off the number two Democrat in the General Assembly.

In general, this was a good election for gun owners in North Carolina. Control of the North Carolina General Assembly appears to have completely switched hands from Democrat to Republican. If the close races hold up, it will be the first time in over a century that the GOP has controlled both houses of the General Assembly. I anticipate that this time the Castle Doctrine will be enacted as will changes to the NC law enacting a ban on off-premises possession and carry of firearms during declared states of emergency.

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The Polls Are Open – Go VOTE

November 2, 2010 by

The polls have already opened in both the Eastern and Central time zones by now. If you did not vote by either absentee ballot or early voting, then go vote!

One comment I heard on voting the other day struck me as needing a response. The person said they only voted in Presidential elections as they were the important elections. All elections are important and all elected people will have some impact on your life. In my county we elect some mostly administrative positions including the Register of Deeds and the Tax Collector. How those people administer their office will have as much impact on you as many decisions made in Congress or the state house or the White House.

I am passionate about voting. I registered to vote back in the days before we had the Motor Voter laws or the people from ACORN going door to door registering people to vote even if their name was Mickey Mouse.

On my 18th birthday, I marched myself down to the Guilford County Courthouse and registered to vote. I haven’t missed an election, primary, or even a run-off primary in the 35 years since then. I don’t expect everybody to be as passionate about it. But this is a general election and it has the potential to be one of the most significant in my lifetime.

We can’t take our country back nor assure our civil rights unless we vote. I can’t stress that enough. The work that Alan Gura and the Second Amendment Foundation are doing in the courts is mightily important. However, I think they would agree that their job would be easier and our rights more secure if we had sympathetic legislators passing good laws and that won’t come unless you and I vote. I did my part two weeks ago in North Carolina’s early voting so now it is up to you.

GO VOTE

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Barrett Shows New Sniper Rifle at the AUSA Show

November 2, 2010 by

Barrett Firearms released a new sniper rifle chambered in .338 Lapua at the Association of the United States Army show in Washington, DC this past week.

The Multi-Role Adaptive Design (MRAD) sniper rifle is a bolt-action rifle with a 10-round magazine. The stock which can be folded has an adjustable cheek piece along with a one-button variable length of pull. The barrel is modular and can be swapped out for cleaning or a caliber change.  It is intended as a medium range sniper rifle to fill the gap between the 7.62×51 round and the .50 BMG round.

H/T Kitup Blog

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GRNC vs NRA

November 1, 2010 by 2 Comments

I received the email below from the NRA-ILA on Saturday. It was sent to NRA members living in western North Carolina. They are reacting to Grass Roots North Carolina’s radio ads and mailers attacking Congressman Heath Shuler (D-NC-11) in his re-election efforts.

Shooting Straight About Congressman Heath Shuler

Dear John Richardson:

A group purporting to support the Second Amendment is either grossly misinformed or deliberately attempting to mislead voters in North Carolina’s eleventh congressional district about the record of Congressman Heath Shuler.

In their communication, they claim that Congressman Heath Shuler “brokered House passage of the misnamed DISCLOSE Act – legislation that would require gun ‘orgs’ . . . to REPORT MEMBERSHIP LISTS to the federal government . . .” In fact, Congressman Shuler filed an amendment (http://tinyurl.com/382njjf) to H.R. 5175 with the House Rules Committee to exempt all 501(C)(4) non-profit organizations that fund election activities with individual contributions from the adverse effects of this legislation. While that is not the amendment eventually adopted by the House, it was Congressman Shuler’s effort to change this legislation. It is important that you know the real story about this legislation and not be misled by others who seem to have their own agenda.

Congressman Heath Shuler tried to protect the First Amendment rights of all gun rights organizations. He has consistently voted to protect our Second Amendment rights and he has earned our endorsement and support.

On November 2, Vote Freedom First -Vote Heath Shuler for Congress!

NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION INSTITUTE FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION

GRNC responded to this email with one of their own to their members and supporters. As I am a member of both organizations, I got both emails.

GRNC-PVF Alert 10-31-10:

NRA’s Shot in the Dark for Shuler

In defending their endorsement for HEATH SHULER, NRA lashes out at a
“group purporting to support the Second Amendment” claiming that the
unnamed organization is “either grossly misinformed or deliberately
attempting to mislead voters in North Carolina’s eleventh
congressional district about the record of Congressman Heath Shuler.”
Oh really?

They further state that “Congressman Heath Shuler tried to protect
the First Amendment rights of all gun rights organizations,” and that
Shuler “has consistently voted to protect our Second Amendment rights
and he has earned our endorsement and support.” Is that a fact? Well,
let’s see…

DISCLOSE ACT, THE FACTS

Where do we start? After finishing scratching our heads over how much
of a champion of the First Amendment (not to mention the Second
Amendment on which he has a GRNC 0% voting record) — according to the
NRA — Shuler is, the question occurs of why the NRA waited to remove
their opposition to the DISCLOSE Act until their champion Shuler
introduced an amendment with an exemption so narrow that the only
Second Amendment organization that was exempted was THEM. Of course
according to their latest communication, they are the only true
defenders of the Second Amendment and everyone else simply “purports”
to support the Second Amendment.

So, why does a congressman with a ZERO percent voting record on the
Second Amendment suddenly get a favorable rating from NRA after
cutting a deal to allow them to be the only 2A organization who is
allowed to speak without having to turn over their donor list to the
government during an election cycle?

So, what would the DISCLOSE Act do to 2A groups not fortunate enough
to have an anti-gun politician willing to go to bat for them?

Organizations such as GRNC, Gun Owners of America and CCRKBA will be
effectively banned from engaging in political debate. The demand would
be on such organizations to enumerate their donors any time they issue
any kind of campaign advocacy ad.

Along with that it also does the following:

* Bans political speech by government contractors and TARP recipients
but not unions with collective bargaining agreements with the
government or unions who receive dues from government payroll
deductions.

* Imposes legally unsound limitations on coordinated communications
between federal candidates and organizations – possibly subjecting
candidates to investigations and fines for activity they don’t know
took place.

* Creates highly complex reporting requirements – unlikely to impact
unions – that would have high compliance costs and disproportionate
effects on small businesses.

* Places more stringent “stand by your ad” requirements on
organizations than candidates by forcing organization heads and top
funders to appear in ads, stating their organizations’ names up to
five times.

* Deliberately and recklessly seeks to affect the 2010 elections by
taking effect in 30 days without waiting for the FEC to issue
instructions and rules so people can follow the law and avoid criminal
and civil punishment.

GRNC and the NRA have clashed for years on the best way to advance gun rights in North Carolina. The best comparison I can give between the two organizations is that GRNC is the Tea Party movement and the NRA is the Republican establishment (even though I know that the R doesn’t stand for Republican). The former uses guerrilla tactics to wage the battle for gun rights while the latter believes in the set-piece battle. The NRA believes compromise is often needed in order to advance the cause of gun rights while GRNC finds compromise anathema. GRNC and its leadership can sometimes be intemperate in their actions while often the NRA on the state level has been temperate to the point of ineffectiveness.

A couple of weekends ago on Tom Gresham’s GunTalk radio show, Tom had Chris Cox on the show to ask him about the NRA taking all the credit for the McDonald decision (among other things). Tom didn’t think much of it and I have previously called it tacky. Cox was  both very dismissive as well as defensive about it.

Chris Cox argued that the NRA was “the tip of the spear” in the battle for Second Amendment rights. He went on to say that the criticism of the NRA only helps the opponents of the Second Amendment. Cox thought the Brady Campaign and their allies will use any conflict between the NRA and other gun rights organizations as a means to hurt our Second Amendment rights. If this is truly what Chris Cox thinks, then why did he allow the organization which he heads, the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, to send out an email attacking another gun rights organization? Doesn’t this contradict what he just said should not be done?

You can listen for yourself here and here. It is towards the end of Part A and it begins again in Part B.

UPDATE:  For another perspective on the NRA-ILA’s actions, you should read the comments of Sebastian at the Snow Flakes in Hell blog. He may have a better perspective of the thinking of the insider’s in the NRA than I do.

As my comments on his blog makes clear, I feel the NRA comes across like a bully in this situation. By doing so, they serve to publicize and legitimize Grass Roots North Carolina. The stronger organization shouldn’t need to respond to a provocation by the smaller state organization. However, as Sebastian alludes to in his comment back to me, the GRNC attacks on Shuler may be cutting much closer to the bone than either the NRA or Shuler is comfortable with and the NRA felt they had to respond.

I wonder if similar emails have gone out in Davidson County to NRA members regarding NC House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman who is also a NRA endorsed candidate and GRNC target. Holliman, for those not familiar with NC politics, did nothing to prevent an anti-gun committee chair from bottling up a bill on the Castle Doctrine in committee.