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”
Daniel Drezner is a Professor of International Politics at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He is also a good satirist if his latest column in Foreign Policy is any example.
Prof. Drezner wondered how a United Nations communique regarding the Jewish Exodus from Egypt might read. Here is how he envisions the Russian response in the UN Security Council.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin delivered a blistering response, arguing that it was the radical Jewsish leaders who had escalated the situation by resorting to weapons of mass destruction and demanding that Moses be indicted by the International Criminal Court as a war criminal: “It was not the Phaaroh who imposed unspeakable sanctions against the Egyptian people. It was not the Phaaroh who slaughtered every first-born male child in Egypt — except the Jews — in a flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions. Surely, not a house in Egypt was spared from this , this plague. It was not the Phaaroh who resorted to trickery in the Red Sea, luring innocent Egyptian troops into the kill zone before massacring them. Both sides are equally guilty in the bloodshed, and until both sides renounce violence, a peaceful solution will be nothing but a mirage of the desert.”
Read the whole thing and laugh. And then begin to frown when you realize that these same clowns are trying to come up with an Arms Trade Treaty to regulate small arms and ammunition. To top it off, the Obama Administration has said they support this treaty unlike their predecessors who told the UN to pound sand as it violated our Second Amendment.
This week’s historical quote comes from relatively recent times. It is by Mickey Kaus who is a journalist and pundit writing for The Daily Caller. In 2010, he was also a Democratic candidate for the US Senate from California opposing Barbara Boxer (D-Ca).
“[I]f liberals interpreted the Second Amendment the way they interpreted the rest of the Bill of Rights, there would be law professors arguing that gun ownership is mandatory.”
Kaus, Mickey, qtd. in Kinsley, Michael. “Slicing Up The Second Amendment.” The Washington Post 8 Feb. 1990: A25. Print.
This quote is found on page 43 of Proclaiming Liberty which is available from Amazon.com for $12.95. The Kindle edition is now available for $3.95.
Some community activists in St. Louis are saying that the billboards advertising the NRA Annual Meeting are sending the “wrong message.” Rev. B. T. Rice is the head of the St. Louis branch of the NAACP and he objects to the billboards.
The leader of St. Louis’ NAACP is calling out the National Rifle Association, saying the group is delivering the wrong message at the wrong time as it prepares for its national convention in St. Louis next week. The Reverend B.T. Rice was discussing the county police shooting of fifteen year old Lavon Peete when he was asked about the NRA billboards that have flooded the city.
“The advertisement says we’ll have acres and acres of guns,” Rice observed. “A clear dichotomy between the NRA and those of us who deal with these sort of situations on a day to day basis.”
Rice and some other community leaders are calling for a gun violence (sic) summit in St. Louis. Rev. Rice would like to hold it concurrently with the NRA Annual Meeting.
Lavon Peete, mentioned above, was shot and killed by St. Louis County Police after he refused to drop a “sawed off rifle” he was point at them. While his family denies he was armed, others who were with him at the time confirm he was armed. As to what a “sawed off rifle” is, it is never specified in any of the stories.
Steven King, owner of Metro Shooting Supply in the St. Louis suburb of Bridgeton, says he thinks an anti-violence summit would be a good idea. That is, he says if “they look at the true causes of the violence and not the tools people are using to commit violence.”
As to whether the billboards are sending the wrong message, I most certainly don’t think they are sending the wrong message.
This has nothing to do with guns, money, or the law. It is just a cool website that was mentioned in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal. It produces a map of the forecasted winds across the continental United States on an hourly basis.
The website is hint.fm/wind/
A screen shot is shown below.
Thanks to Twitter, I found this unofficial, previously unscheduled event that is planned for the NRA Annual Meeting in St. Louis. It will feature some local politicians as well as possibly some out-of-town visitors. The flyer for the event is below.
Since the Tweet featuring this flyer linked to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (sic) website, I’m assuming that they are the organizers of this soiree. As Sebastian so accurately observed today on Twitter, they are professional agitators. I don’t think they should be confronted, heckled, or otherwise given more attention than they deserve.
That said, I’d love to get a picture of myself with Ladd Everitt or Josh Horwitz much as Mike Vanderboegh has one of himself with Paul Helmke at the Restore the Constitution Rally. It would make a great keepsake – and a great reminder of our opposition.
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