A Few Quick Thoughts On The Election

We won more than we lost yesterday and for that I’m thankful.

The US Senate will return to Republican hands. As it stands now, they have a seven seat pickup with two more probable wins in Louisiana and Alaska. Virginia is still amazingly close with about a 12,000 vote margin as of dawn. I’d say the Supreme Court is protected so long as the Lindsey Grahams and John McCains don’t go all wobbly on us.

I’m very happy to say that North Carolina went for Tillis. While he is an establishment Republican and wasn’t the most exciting candidate, we did get a lot of good pro-gun reforms passed while he was Speaker of the NC House.

It looks like Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) will pull through barely as will Gov. Dannel Malloy (C-CT). Both look to win within the margin of fraud. Given that Colorado has mail-in voting, I wouldn’t be surprised to find a number of votes for Hickenlooper coming from those ineligible to vote such as aliens and felons.

Billionaires proved that you can buy elections in Washington State. The I-594 initiative won 59.7% of the vote. Looking at maps of the vote last night, it appeared to be Puget Sound versus the rest of the state (Spokane excepted). The best thing you can say about this win is that it was an initiative and not a constitutional amendment. As Miko Tempski explained to me, an initiative can’t be altered by the Washington State legislature for two years and then all bets are off. So, for the next two years, don’t loan or hand your firearm to anyone if you live in Washington State.

More later as work does call and I haven’t had enough coffee.

Will Gecko Lures Be Banned At Geico Bassmaster Classic?

I read a press release this morning on The Outdoor Wire that said GEICO Insurance was going to be the title sponsor of the Bassmaster Classic.

Bass anglers use a number of interesting lures including soft plastic lizards and geckos.

That raises the question – given that the gecko is the advertising symbol of GEICO Insurance, will it be a banned lure at the GEICO Bassmaster Classic? After all, they have banned other lures in the past.

“More Weed. Less War”

And in the running for the most inane political ad of the year is this one from the American Future Fund. It popped up on me as I was playing one of those silly (but oh so addictive) Facebook games.

Supposedly these ads are paid for by “the evil Koch Brothers”. According to NPR – hardly an unbiased source – they funded these ads to siphon off votes from Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) in her race with Speaker Thom Tillis (R-Mecklenburg).

Given how Hagan constantly appealed to low information voters and made the US Senate race seem more like a school board election, I’d say it is just desserts.

Remember hipsters, “Get High, Get Haugh” has a better vibe than “Get High, Get Hagan”.

Vote Tomorrow As If Your Gun Rights Depend Upon It

Because they do.

Many things the Republicans do don’t thrill me. However, both Heller and McDonald were 5-4 votes. Justices Scalia and Kennedy are both 78 years old. The only justice that is older is Justice Ginsberg at 81. All three could live years more or all three could die in the next two years giving President Obama up to three appointments to the Supreme Court. A Republican majority in the US Senate is the only fire wall we have to prevent three anti-gun justices.

Almost as important are the appointments to the District and Appeals Court level. These are lifetime appointments and we have seen how many of these judges have struggled to find any justification they can to deny Second Amendment rights.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation and their #Gunvote campaign have got it right in the video below. The Senate is the key.

I-594: The Claim And The Reality

Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility is the pro-gun control group funded by billionaires that is pushing I-594 in Washington State. This initiative, if passed, would mandate background checks for all sales and transfers.

One of their ads claims that you can buy guns at gun shows and off the Internet with “no questions asked”. The ad shows someone typing in the URL for Gunbroker.com. I have purchased a couple of firearms off of Gunbroker.com myself over the years. They were either shipped to my local dealer where I had to fill out a Form 4473 and be checked or they were shipped to me directly because it was a firearm considered a curio or relic. I have a C&R FFL.

You can see this ad below:

Steve Urvan, CEO of Gunbroker.com, took exception to this ad impugning the reputation of his company. In the release below, he points out the reality.

Recently a Washington state gun control lobbying group called The Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility published an advertisement and YouTube video that included a scene in which GunBroker.com was typed into a browser. The video includes the words “NO QUESTIONS ASKED” and states that criminals who fail background checks can go online and buy guns.

This ad is both misleading the public and impugning the reputation of GunBroker.com by depicting our company’s name being typed into a search engine with the direct suggestion that we would enable an illegal transfer of a firearm. This is false and certainly libelous.

As we clearly state on our website, all transactions on GunBroker.com are made in full compliance with all federal state, and local laws, using licensed federal firearms dealers as transfer agents. Federal law requires those dealers to run a background check on the buyer. There is a strict compliance system in place and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms audits dealers for compliance.

The Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility obviously did no research when creating this ad. Every listing on the GunBroker.com site states, in red letters for emphasis:

“Firearms may only be shipped to a licensed dealer (FFL Holder)”.

The Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility needs to act responsibly themselves. We demand that they take down their erroneous ads and videos and apologize to GunBroker.com and the voters of Washington State for this irresponsible misrepresentation in the pursuit of their political agenda.

Regarding background checks and specifically I-594, I urge all www.GunBroker.com members to take the time to get out and vote on Tuesday November 4 and defeat anti-gun bills like I-594 and anti-gun legislators. Below are some links you may find useful:

https://www.voteno594.com/
http://www.nssf.org/gunvote/
http://www.nraila.org/
Sincerely,

Steve Urvan,
CEO, GunBroker.com

GRNC Recommendations

Early voting ended Saturday in North Carolina. Despite having fewer days allocated to early voting, 17.4% of all registered voters have already voted. This is an increase 1.9% over the 2010 midterm election. More importantly, over 100,000 more registered Democrats have voted early than did in 2010. This is attributed to get out the efforts of the Democrats.

While both sides increased their turnout and both sides are touting it as a good sign for their candidates, gun rights supporters who haven’t voted need to get to the polls on Tuesday. I don’t think I need to reiterate what is at stake.

As a help for when you go to the polls, I’m publishing Grass Roots North Carolina’s recommendations for the US Senate and House and the North Carolina Senate and House.

While I can’t speak for other areas of the state, NC Representatives Ramsey, Moffitt, and Presnell have been extensively targeted by out-of-state money flowing into PACs. All three are good on guns and all have been recommended by GRNC. Rep. Michele Presnell (R-Haywood-Madison-Yancey) went so far as to ask my friend Tim who owns a local surplus store what she could do to help gun owners. He suggested uniform signage for stores like the Texas 30.06 requirement and she was quite interested in it.

GRNC-PVF CANDIDATE RECOMMENDATIONS
 

District #/Name
US SENATE NC HOUSE (cont’d) NC SENATE
TILLIS 059: HARDISTER 001: COOK

061: FAIRCLOTH 002: SANDERSON
US HOUSE 062: BLUST 004: SCOTT
001: RICH 063: ROSS 006: BROWN
002: ELLMERS 065: JONES 007: PATE
003: JONES 067: BURR 008: RABON
004: WRIGHT 068: HORN 010: JACKSON
005: FOXX 069: ARP 011: NEWTON
006: WALKER 070: HURLEY 012: RABIN
007: ROUZER 071: MCCANN 013: WHITE
008: HUDSON 073: ZACHARY 015: FULGHUM
009: PITTENGER 074: CONRAD 016: MITCHELL
010: MCHENRY 075: LAMBETH 017: FULGHUM
011: MEADOWS 076: FORD 018: BAREFOOT
012: COAKLEY 077: WARREN 019: MEREDITH
013: HOLDING 078: MCNEILL 023: LOPEZ-CARTER

079: HOWARD 024: GUNN
NC HOUSE 081: BROWN 026: BERGER
001: STEINBURG 082: PITTMAN 027: WADE
002: YARBOROUGH 083: JOHNSON 029: TILLMAN
003: SPECIALE 084: TURNER 030: RANDLEMAN
004: DIXON 085: DOBSON 031: KRAWIEC
005: PIERCE 086: BLACKWELL 033: BINGHAM
006: LAWSON 087: STARNES 034: BROCK
008: MARTIN 088: BRYAN 035: TUCKER
009: BROWN 089: SETZER 036: HARTSELL
010: BELL 090: STEVENS 038: RIVETTE
011: MARTIN 091: HOLLOWAY 039: RUCHO
013: MCCELRAFT 092: JETER 041: TARTE
014: CLEVELAND 093: JORDAN 042: WELLS
015: SHEPARD 094: ELMORE 043: HARRINGTON
016: MILLIS 096: ADAMS 044: CURTISS
017: ILER 097: SAINE 045: SOUCEK
019: DAVIS 098: BRADFORD 046: DANIEL
022: SMITH 103: BRAWLEY 047: HISE
025: COLLINS 104: CABLE 048: APODACA
026: DAUGHTRY 105: SCHAFFER 049: CRAWFORD
028: LANGDON 106: LOWE 050: DAVIS
033: WHITLOCK 107: ALEXANDER
036: DOLLAR 108: TORBETT
040: AVILA 109: BUMGARDNER
041: MURRY 110: HASTINGS
044: BUTTON 111: MOORE
045: SZOKA 112: HAGER
046: JONES 113: WHITMIRE
050: CHANEY 115: RAMSEY
051: STONE 116: MOFFITT
052: BOLES 118: PRESNELL
053: LEWIS 119: CLAMPITT
055: BRODY 120: WEST
056: CARTER

Shakeup In Connecticut Race For Governor

Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-CT) is probably none too happy over Independent candidate Joe Visconti dropping out of the race for governor and endorsing Republican challenger Tom Foley. A recent Quinnipiac University poll had Foley and Malloy tied with Visconti pulling in 7 percent. However, if Visconti was out of the race, the Republican Foley moved into the lead.

Foley described Visconti’s move and endorsement as a surprise.

“I wasn’t expecting to hear from him, but I’m glad I did,” Foley said at the sports bar. “I think an endorsement – bringing everybody together behind my candidacy [for] voting Gov. Malloy out of office for the record he has – is very important to me. [Visconti has] made a commitment to get a message to all his supporters to vote for me. He’s already out on the Internet and social media, telling his supporters to vote for me.

The Malloy campaign characterized the withdrawal and endorsement as further proof that Foley will double down on his promise to repeal the draconian post-Newtown laws. These laws were pushed and signed by Malloy.

“Tom Foley just doubled down on his plans to repeal Connecticut’s strict smart gun law that has made our neighborhoods, our schools and our streets safer,” Malloy spokesman Mark Bergman said. “Make no mistake, Tom Foley is in the pocket of the right wing extreme gun lobby, and today’s announcement is further proof.”

Foley had received the endorsement of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League.

David Codrea has written extensively on this race. He noted that many Connecticut gun rights activists wondered about Visconti’s commitment to the Second Amendment and wonder if his being in the race wasn’t just an effort to torpedo Tom Foley.

While it comes late in the campaign and with his name remaining on the ballot, Visconti’s move may, just maybe, be enough to put Foley over the top. As it is, Mike Bloomberg has invested $1.7 million in getting Malloy re-elected. Malloy is right up there with John Hickenlooper on the list of Democratic governors I’d like to see defeated on Tuesday.

H/T David Codrea

An Unintended Allegory

An allegory is defined as a symbolical narrative. I saw the ad below this morning and was struck by how accurately it portrays the response of the left to anything they don’t want to hear. The kid who states the obvious to the tour guide must be shut up.

While the ad people at Mars, Inc. probably didn’t intend for this left-right Twix ad to be seen as anything other than an ad for their candy, it is the perfect allegory for how the left reacts. What they don’t want to hear, they call “hate speech” or “offensive speech” which must be regulated or drowned out.

We in the gun rights community have seen this on a regular basis. A pro-gun ad is banned at the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, Comcast and Google have banned ads for firearms and ammunition. The FDIC and Department of Justice’s attempt to equate gun and ammo retailers with porn as seen in Operation Choke Point in nothing more than an extension of the left’s moves against speech.