My brother-in-law Scott saw this sign when he boarded the MetroLink on his way to work this morning. He is a regular rider and says this is the first time he’s ever seen the sign. As he said on Facebook, “Coincidence??”. I think we all know the answer to that.
Rep. Ed Schieffer’s bill, HB 1483, would get rid of signs like this…permanently.
The FBI has taken most of a year to fill one of the openings in their Ten Most Wanted List. The openings came about due to the capture of mobster James “Whitey” Bulger and the death of Osama bin Laden. The ninth spot was just filled by Eric Justin Toth, a former private elementary school teacher from the District of Columbia, who is wanted on child porn charges.
NPR’s Audie Cornish interviewed the Kevin Perkins, director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, about what it takes to make the Ten Most Wanted List.
Perkins says that there are two critical factors that must be present for a person to be placed on the list. First, they must be “a present threat to society.” Second, it must be someone who, with the public’s help, “we think we can capture in a relatively short period of time.”
I think I can suggest a candidate for that tenth spot. This person has been implicated in an operation that involved the running of guns to narco-terrorists in Mexico. This has resulted in the death of an estimated 300 Mexican nationals and two Federal law enforcement officers.
This person is often seen in the vicinity of 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20530-0001.
Teams of investigators are actively seeking more information on his activities.
Here is a recent picture of this person.
Soon after the Santorum announcement that he was suspending his campaign for President yesterday, I happened to be listening to Rush Limbaugh on the radio. I’m not usually in a location where I can listen to Rush and this was rather rare for me.
Rush commented that with Santorum out of the race Romney could now start tacking towards the center. He said to listen to Romney’s speeches starting now to see these indications. Rush’s comment made a lot of sense and I checked Romney’s campaign schedule for major appearances in the next few days. His next major appearance will be at – you guessed it – the NRA Annual Meeting and its “Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum“.
I will be attending the Leadership Forum and will be looking for signs of this. I definitely plan to report on it for the blog. The old political scientist in me is actually chomping at the bit over it even though these events usually bore me to tears.
Little or no blogging for the rest of the day as we are about to hit the road for St. Louis.
If there is any special gun you want me to check out or booth to visit, just let me know in the comments. I do have an interview scheduled with Paul Barrett who is the author of Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun. If you think of any questions you want asked, just let me know.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has now weighed in on the Trayvon Martin cases and says reparations are due. Excuse me? Reparations? You have to wonder how an organization such as the UN was allowed to fall so low over the years.
Although local, state and federal inquiries have been underway for weeks, Pillay called for “an immediate investigation” into the shooting.
“Justice must be done for the victim,” she told a media briefing in Hastings, on the southern end of the Caribbean island [of Barbados]. “It’s not just this individual case, it calls into question the delivery of justice in all situations like this.”
“In this particular case it was the family itself, their distress that became known to the general public – once again people pressure that has drawn attention to this case. It shouldn’t be so,” Pillay continued. “The law should operate equally in respect of all violations. So, like every other situation such as this, we will be urging an investigation, and prosecution and trial – and of course reparation for the victims concerned.”
Pillay, a South African jurist, was appointed U.N. rights chief in 2008 and is based in Geneva, at the home of the U.N. Human Rights Council. She is a former judge at the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
According to her official bio she has masters and doctorate degrees from Harvard University in human rights and international law. I’m sure Harvard is very proud of her but one does have to wonder just exactly what she learned in Cambridge.
Aaron at the Weapon-Blog has released his monthly updates of contests in which you can win free guns.
Just looking down the list, I see some custom 1911s, a SIG, a Glock 19, a Kahr PM-9, a couple of ARs, and the brand new Ruger 10/22 Take Down.
If you take advantage of any of these contests, please leave a note thanking Aaron for this service he provides.
That has to be one of the best lines in the latest James O’Keefe “gotcha” video. In the video below, an actor goes into Eric Holder’s voting precinct and is offered his ballot with no ID. Bear in mind that the actor is white and Attorney General Eric Holder is African-American.
I love seeing Holder being hoisted on his own petard.
Concealed carry on the St. Louis light rail system, MetroLink, is not only prohibited but a felony. Moreover, as noted in the comments in my post on concealed carry at the NRA Annual Meeting, carry on buses is specifically prohibited.
Things may be changing on this. Missouri Rep. Ed Schieffer (D-Troy) has introduced a bill, HB 1483, which would forbid any local government from prohibiting concealed carry on trains or public buses. The relevant section of his bill states:
3. No political subdivision of this state shall prohibit a person with a valid concealed carry endorsement from carrying a concealed firearm onto a train or public bus.
The bill has bi-partisan support with three Democrat co-sponsors and four Republican co-sponsors. Of greater interest is that two of the Democrats, Rep. Tommie Pierson and Rep. Eileen McGeoghegan, represent districts in St. Louis County.
According to a story in today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis Metro officials contend that crime is not a problem on their buses and trains. They report spending $10 million a year on security and have contracts with the St. Louis PD, the St. Louis County PD, and the St. Clair County (IL) Sheriff’s Department. The article notes that the transit authority earned TSA’s “Gold Standard” for their commitment to rider safety.
Public hearings were held on the bill on April 3rd. Again, from the Post-Dispatch story:
Steve Marx, who owns Marx Hardware in Old North St. Louis, testified in favor of the bill at last week’s hearing. Marx said he would like to ride public transportation from his home to work but he worries about his safety. He rarely goes anywhere without his gun since he was assaulted on the street near his home two years ago, he said.
“If I choose to wait for public transit on the street, I’m vulnerable — very vulnerable,” he said. “This is why I feel so strongly about this issue.”…
Marx said he thinks more people will use public transportation — particularly with rising fuel costs — if the bill passes. “My whole point is that mass transit needs to be opened up to more people — more ridership,” he said.
Of course, like any newspaper piece nowadays, they included comments on the proposed bill from those suffering from PsH.
Rep. Mike Colona, D-St. Louis, disagrees. “Parents with kids who ride the trains aren’t going to let them if they know people are packing on the trains,” he said.
MetroLink rider Amy Lee of St. Charles said she doesn’t agree with the idea of allowing transit passengers to carry concealed guns.
“That would scare me,” she said. “I don’t know that I would ride the Metro.”
Nancy Kinney of St. Louis, a regular MetroLink and bus rider, said she would be less inclined to ride if she knew other riders could be carrying handguns. “I mean it’s different if they’re a security guard or a police officer,” she said. “But John Doe? No.”
The bill has not been calendared yet but the House General Laws Committee could take it up in their meeting today. Similar bills have passed in Texas, Georgia, and Indiana.
The Environmental Protection Agency has again turned down a petition to ban lead based ammunition. The petition came from the Center for Biological Diversity and a number of other “green” groups including the nonsensical Project Gutpile.
I cannot find an official letter or release from the EPA but have to rely on a release from the Center for Biological Diversity. It appears that they will sue again in Federal court which is what they did the first time they were sent packing by the EPA.
WASHINGTON— The Environmental Protection Agency today rejected a request for federal regulation of toxic lead in hunting ammunition, again abdicating its responsibility to protect the environment from toxic substances. Earlier this year, 150 organizations in 38 states petitioned the EPA for federal rules requiring use of nontoxic bullets and shot for hunting and shooting sports to protect public health and prevent the lead poisoning of millions of birds, including bald eagles and endangered condors.
“It’s shameful that the EPA refuses to save wildlife from senseless lead poisoning,” said Jeff Miller of the Center for Biological Diversity. “The poisoning of bald eagles and other wildlife is a national tragedy the EPA can easily put an end to, since there are plenty of safe, available alternatives to lead ammo.”
In 2010 the EPA refused to review a petition by conservation and hunting groups asking for a ban on lead bullets, shotgun pellets and fishing tackle under the Toxic Substances Control Act, the federal law that regulates toxic substances. So last month, more than 100 groups, representing conservationists, birders, hunters, zoologists, scientists, American Indians, wildlife rehabilitators and veterinarians, submitted a new petition seeking federal rules requiring use of nontoxic bullets and shot for hunting and shooting sports. The EPA today responded in a letter to the petitioners that it will not review an “identical petition” and repeated the false (sic) claim that it cannot regulate lead ammunition.
The Toxic Substances Control Act allows the agency to regulate any chemical substance for a particular use; the lead used in shot and bullets is defined as a toxic “chemical substance” under the Act.
The EPA claims lead bullets and shot fall under an exception that exempts regulation of items subject to an Internal Revenue Service section 4181 excise tax imposed on sales of shotgun shells and bullet cartridges; yet the IRS itself has ruled that section 4181 “does not apply to sales of separate parts of ammunition such as cartridge cases, primers, bullets, and powder.” Furthermore, a House report on the legislative history and intent of the Act states it “does not exclude from regulation under the bill chemical components of ammunition which could be hazardous because of their chemical properties.”
“We look forward to putting this issue before a court, since the law is very clear that EPA has the responsibility to protect wildlife and people from toxic lead exposure,” said Miller. “The EPA never evaluated the merits of regulating toxic lead ammo, nor has a court ruled on its authority to act under the federal toxics law — well, that will soon change.”
On the website for the Center for Biologicial Diversity, they are asking people to sign a letter “to stop the NRA’s lead poisoning legislation.” Of course it is the “evil NRA” who wants to kill the California condors, blah, blah, blah. If I remember correctly, the impetus behind the Sportsman’s Heritage Act of 2012 is actually the NSSF. However, the “evil NSSF” doesn’t have quite the same ring to their lefty followers as does “evil NRA”.
UPDATE: The National Shooting Sports Foundation has posted a release on the EPA’s denial of yet another petition from CBD and Project Gutpile. The denial letter from the EPA can be found here.
NEWTOWN, Conn. — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday denied yet another frivolous petition by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) — an established anti-hunting group — calling for a ban on the traditional ammunition (containing lead-core components) for hunting and shooting.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry, applauds the EPA’s latest decision and called upon Congress to immediately pass the Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Sports Protection Act (S.838/H.R.1558). In the House of Representatives, the bill is also included in the Sportsmen’s Heritage Act of 2012 (H.R. 4089), an important piece of legislation that combines three other legislative priorities for sportsmen. The bill (S.838/H.R.1558) amends the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to clarify that the Congress has excluded traditional ammunition from regulation by the EPA. The legislation is supported by more than 35 national conservation and sportsmen’s groups. The bill is even supported by the Fraternal Order of Police because a ban on traditional ammunition would apply to law enforcement and the U.S. military.
NSSF opposed the petition, which was filed by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and other like-minded groups. This was the second attempt by the CBD to ban traditional ammunition since it first petitioned the EPA in August of 2010. In rejecting the CBD’s latest petition the EPA agreed with NSSF, telling the CBD that it did not have jurisdiction under TSCA to regulate ammunition. The CBD’s petition purported to narrow the scope of the ban sought, but the EPA concluded that this change was a “distinction without a substantive difference.” The EPA went on to say the new petition “contains no new information.”
The CBD’s serial petitions erroneously claim that the use of traditional ammunition by hunters poses a danger to human health and wildlife, in particular raptor populations such as bald eagles. The truth is that wildlife populations, including raptor and bald eagle populations, are soaring. The myth of a human health risk has been thoroughly debunked by a 2008 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that found the health of hunters consuming game harvested with traditional ammunition was not at risk.
The excise taxes raised from hunters’ purchases of the very ammunition the CBD tries to demonize is a primary source of wildlife conservation in the United States. Restricting or banning traditional ammunition absent sound science will hurt wildlife conservation. “Hunters have done more for wildlife than the CBD ever will,” said NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane. “These relentless and unfounded attacks against traditional ammunition by agenda-driven groups like the CBD are exactly why Congress must take immediate action and pass the Sportsmen’s Heritage Act of 2012.”
Keane is referencing the federal excise tax that manufacturers pay on the sale of the ammunition (11 percent), which is dedicated to the Wildlife Restoration Trust Fund administered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Fox2 Now St. Louis reports that it will be a busy weekend in downtown St. Louis over the weekend.
It’s going to be a busy week downtown. The National Rifle Association Convention starts Wednesday. The Blues also host playoff games Thursday and Saturday. And the Cards home opener is Friday against the Cubs.
In the report by Charles Jaco (who you may remember from CNN), the Mayor’s Office claims that the biggest security concern will be the NRA members and their guns.
I have a very simple suggestion for Jeff Rainford, the Chief of Staff to Mayor Francis Slay, and that is to allow NRA members to conceal carry in America’s Center and the Edward Jones Dome. If people are allowed to carry, most won’t have to leave their firearms in their cars. Mayor Slay, if you haven’t guessed it by now, is a member of Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors.
If you find Mr. Rainford’s suggestion that we who are bringing millions of dollars to his fair city offensive – and I do – then you can send him a polite little note. It is actually very simple. Go here and use Mr. Rainford’s handy email tool to send him a message directly.
UPDATE: I received a response from Mr. Rainford which I am printing below in its entirety. It paints a little different tune than that shown on the TV interview.
It will make you feel better to know that not only did I not say NRA members posed the greatest security risk, I did not say NRA members posed any security risk.
I did say the following:
1. We would hope that if NRA members leave their guns in their cars, they secure them.
2. We expect traffic will be tight.
3. We are taking steps to require parking lot operators to have attendants in place to be the eyes and ears for the police.
Hope this helps.
Thanks,
Jeff
KVTI Fox News 2 does seem to be trying to create more controversy than any other media outlet about the NRA Annual Meeting as evidenced by a later report which I posted a few minutes ago.
If you read my post on the planned demonstration outside the NRA Annual Meeting by certain attention seeking St. Louis politicians and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (sic), you know it is scheduled for Saturday at 1pm. This time in the afternoon was chosen, I presume, to make the news cycle for the 5pm local news broadcasts.
As I said in the title, timing matters.
Whoever scheduled this event forgot about another major event happening in downtown St. Louis at the same time. The 2011 World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals will receive their Championship Rings in a special ceremony at Busch Stadium prior to the 1:05pm game. They will wearing special gold trimmed uniforms to commemorate their World Championship. Not only is this the middle game of their first homestand of the season but they are playing the Chicago Cubs. This is a baseball rivalry on par with that of the Yankees and Red Sox in the American League.
Every fan attending the game with a paid ticket is getting a replica Championship Ring courtesy of St. Louis-based stock brokerage Edward Jones.
Now where do you think the local media is going to be – outside America’s Center with a bunch of protesters or inside Busch Stadium with the home town heroes? Even if they do cover the protest, it will be bumped off lead story status.
CSGV might be excused for not knowing about this event but what does it say about local politicians such as Rep. Jamilah Nasheed, Rep. Tishaura Jones, and Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed? Do they really think they will get more media attention – good, solid vote getting attention – by dissing the hometown team in favor of solidarity with the anti-gunners? Even Al Sharpton decided it was better not to be in Sanford, FL over the Easter Weekend despite his earlier promise to “occupy Sanford.”
H/T “Dirk Diggler”
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