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North Carolina Will Not Appeal Bateman Ruling

May 8, 2012 by

The state of North Carolina will not be appealing their loss in Bateman v. Perdue which found the emergency powers ban on off-premises firearms and ammunition to be unconstitutional. In speaking with Alan Gottlieb at the NRA Annual Meeting, I got the impression that it would be OK with the Second Amendment Foundation if North Carolina did appeal. The rationale is that a win in the 4th Circuit would help to expand Second Amendment rights beyond just the state borders of NC. As it is, while Bateman is a welcome win and will be cited in future cases involving the Second Amendment, it does not carry the same weight as if the ruling came from the Court of Appeals.

The Second Amendment Foundation released the following statement regarding North Carolina’s decision not to appeal the ruling.

BELLEVUE, WA – North Carolina’s failure to appeal a federal judge’s ruling that struck down the state’s emergency power to ban firearms and ammunition outside the home during a declared emergency adds one more Second Amendment victory to the court record being established by the Second Amendment Foundation.

“When the anti-gun lobby claims that courts have not struck down any laws on Second Amendment grounds,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, “they deliberately ignore the fact that the District of Columbia’s handgun ban was overturned. Likewise, Chicago’s ban was stricken by McDonald v. City of Chicago, as was the city’s ban on gun ranges. Maryland’s draconian regulations on concealed carry were struck down, and so was the Massachusetts ban on firearms ownership by legal alien residents. Part of Omaha’s registration law was overturned, and now North Carolina’s emergency powers gun ban has fallen.

“All but one of those cases,” he added, “were filed by SAF, and in the Heller case against Washington, D.C.s ban, SAF filed an important amicus brief.”

Gottlieb said North Carolina’s decision not to appeal their loss, “frees the foundation to file more legal actions against cities and states that still have laws on the books that violate our constitutional rights.” There are now at least six federal court victories to SAF’s credit, knocking down laws that infringed on Second Amendment rights, and Gottlieb is confident more are coming.

“The North Carolina case should send a message to other states and municipalities with similar emergency powers laws that violate civil rights that they should remove those restrictions immediately,” he stated.

“I want to thank our plaintiffs, our legal team, our staff and in particular, our members and donors who have made all of these victories possible,” Gottlieb said. “Three of these victories, including Bateman v. Purdue in North Carolina, affirm that the Second Amendment doesn’t stop at your front door, like the gun prohibition lobby claims.

“Winning firearms freedom one lawsuit at a time is a long, slow and expensive process, but SAF is committed to it,” he concluded.

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CCRKBA Weighs In On 60-Hour Shutdown Of Gun Sales In Pennsylvania

May 8, 2012 by

If you are a regular reader of Sebastian and Bitter at Shall Not Be Questioned you already know that the Pennsylvania State Police are shutting down their Pennsylvania Instant Check System (PICS) for upgrades to their computer system. As a result, there can be no firearms transactions from the evening of May 19th through the morning of May 22nd.

I think Alan Gottlieb of the CCRKBA is one the mark when he says that a) there are alternatives to shutting down the whole system and b) the PA State Police need to get out of this business and leave it to the FBI with NICS.

BELLEVUE, WA – A complete shutdown of the Pennsylvania Instant Check System by the state police for a period of 60 hours later this month for a system upgrade is “inexcusable,” the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

“Closing down the background check system, and thus suspending all firearms transactions and concealed carry license processing simply allows the Pennsylvania State Police to obstruct the gun rights of law-abiding citizens,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan M. Gottlieb. “We are not reassured by a promise from the agency that it will expedite this computer system update in order to restore service as soon as possible. Access to the computers for background checks should not be suspended at all.

“Surely,” he continued, “the State Police can find alternate means of processing firearms transactions and permit applications while the upgrade is in progress.”

The system is scheduled for update from 10 p.m. Saturday, May 19 to 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 22. Gottlieb said this highlights a problem with such systems when there is no backup. Authorities can literally suspend the Second Amendment by turning off a switch or pulling a plug, he observed, and use whatever excuse they want.

“We live in an age when computer upgrades should be accomplished considerably faster,” Gottlieb said. “Locking down such a vital system that is important to so many Pennsylvania residents for 60 hours is not an ‘inconvenience,’ it’s an outrage.”

Keystone State gun owners will hold their 7th annual Second Amendment Liberty rally tomorrow, May 8 on the main steps in the capitol rotunda. This would be a grand opportunity for firearms owners to contact their state legislators, and the governor’s office, to express their dissatisfaction over the PICS problem, he suggested.

“Since the last time this happened in 2007, Pennsylvania gun owners have been pushing for an end to the PICS system,” Gottlieb noted. “It is time to put the State Police out of the background check business, and turn over this important job to the NICS system operated by the FBI. They do their upgrades faster, and they deal with the entire country.”

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Jeff Cooper On The Surprise Break

May 8, 2012 by 2 Comments

I stumbled across this clip of Col. Jeff Cooper explaining the trigger break to students at Gunsite. It’s worth viewing a few times to help increase your trigger control.

This, by the way, is the same Jeff Cooper who is accused by the hoplophobes at CSGV of being a racist and a misogynist. I don’t have to wonder what he would think of these gun prohibitionists but I do wonder what might happen if they had the balls to make those accusations to his face.

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Quote Of The Day

May 8, 2012 by 1 Comment

The Serious Gun Blog had a not so serious look at the choices gun owners face in this presidential election.

When all is said and done, and more will be said than done, a President will be elected. Either Mr. Obama, who hates guns unless they are used against bad guys like free citizens or Mitt Romney, who as a passionate supporter of the NRA cites as his favorite gun the Ruger 11 mm Glock by Smith & Bushmaster will be elected.

What does it mean for gun owners? Buy more guns now.

And ammo. They forgot ammo!

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23 Skidoo

May 7, 2012 by 2 Comments

23 Skidoo was a slang expression from the Roaring ’20s. It could just as easily be applied to the latest NSSF-adjusted NICS figures for April 2012 which represent the 23rd straight month in which they have increased when compared to the previous year.

The April 2012 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 931,658 is an increase of 10.5 percent over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 843,484 in April 2011. For comparison, the unadjusted April 2012 NICS figure of 1,416,074 reflects a 5.7 percent increase from the unadjusted NICS figure of 1,339,673 in April 2011.

To see the year over year data graphically for the last 12 months, go here. You can also see how April 2012 compares to the previous 12 years by going here.

It should be remembered that NICS checks are used in some states such as Kentucky, Iowa, and Michigan for CCW background checks on new and existing permit holders. Nonetheless, while NICS checks are not a direct correlation to firearm sales, they certainly do illustrate the growth trend in those sales because of their use for purchases background checks at the point-of-purchase.

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Extra Tourists This Summer In Philly

May 7, 2012 by 3 Comments

If the scuttlebutt is correct on CleanUpATF.org, the City of Philadelphia will be getting some extra visitors this summer from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. It seems that the ATF will be surging 20-30 agents into Philly for 120 days in an effort to tamp down violent crime. They could also be doing similar surges in Detroit, St. Louis, and Oakland.  VCA or Violent Crime Agency is a snide reference to the ATF and how they formerly called themselves the DOJ’s “violent crime agency”. The post by “FUBAR” is below.

The latest with the “mobile” Violent Crime Agency:

Here in Philly, we’re getting “surge” detail of 20-30 agents for 120days — June 4 through October 1 or so.

Mayor Nutter went to AG Holder and told him that Obama needs to win PA to get re-elected. The only way Obama can win PA is to get out the vote out in Philly and the only way he’ll get it is if something is done with the rampant everyday violence here. Holder called in the FBI and the VCA and basically, the FBI ignored Holder. VCA jumped all over it since it fits in with B Todd’s vision.

Agents from around the country have already received notification of the detail. An “advance” team of bosses and Intel people are in town already, identifying home invasion rings and Hobbs Act robbers so that when the detail agents get here, there will be targets for them.

Dare I note, if these targets already exist, why hasn’t anything been done yet? Why are we waiting? Well, I think that’s due to the fact that the USAO declines everything left and right, EVEN FBI cases. And who runs the violent crime section here in the Philly USAO? Kathy Stark — Tony Tropea’s old friend [more on him later].

Besides bringing in agents from out of town [let’s see, travel, per diem, hotel—what will that cost?] — and let’s not wonder, for now, what will happen to their cases Back Home — the Philly groups all have to give up a couple of agents for this surge.

The group made out of the out-of-towners will be run by PIO Steve Bartholemew. It’s the second time in his brief tenure as Philly PIO that he’s been made an Acting RAC. A little background on Steve — he worked Philly HIDTA with Tony Tropea under Sam Rabadi. The three of them got transferred to Trenton when one of their cases got screwed up. Tropea cried like a little bitch when he got transferred — tough Philly boy that he is. He’s gotten to spend his whole career in his home town and has a sense of entitlement that he deserves to get promoted without transferring. But I digress — Tony cried that he couldn’t do cases in Trenton [only 30 miles north of Philly] because he HAD NO LOCAL CONTACTS. He got back to Philly within weeks. Steve stayed in Trenton; Rabadi made it back to Philly as ASAC when Stankiewicz literally got caught trying to pull down his pants on Intel GS Jill Tucker during the Coatesville Serial Arson case [the same case which made national headlines].

Steve went on and passed the -14 AC. The Trenton RAC slot opened when Rabadi went to Philly, so Steve thought the job was for his taking. However, Mat Horace gave it to Kent Montford. Steve got upset and wanted an explanation from Horace, who told him he didn’t have the breadth of experience [I paraphrase — I don’t think Horace knows the meaning of breadth except maybe the lisping plural of bread?] So, Rabadi and Tropea, who had Philly SAC Mark “Cadillac” Potter’s ear, got Steve transferred into Philly as the **new** PIO [even though Philly hadn’t had the need for a PIO for two years] in exchange for our Philly based FIC [we now have an FIC who works 70 miles away in Reading].

Almost immediately upon his arrival in Philly, Steve was made acting GS of Tropea’s group, the band of merry thugs, while Tropea was anointed acting ASAC, replacing Russ May. This being the same Tropea who has worked his whole career in one city doing only HIDTA cases.. This, in the same city in which we have two GS’s with HQ experience, both of which has actually passed the GS-15 AC. Steve then got to work as a GS for almost a year. He went “back” to PIO back in January, but five months later, he’s given another group to run.

As for the local agents tasked for this surge, they will work in an “expanded” Tropea “super” group. This detail will work 0900 to 1700 [and I know exactly who will get those easy hours since Tropea’s group is known for “owning the late afternoon” –whereas the NYPD Street Crime Unit “owns the night”] and noon to 2200 or so. I don’t know who responds to those shootings after 2200 which seem to be the plurality here.

From a separate source, I hear that a surge is also planned for Detroit [Madea should get a kick out of that], St Louis and Oakland. How much money are we going to spend on details when it could be used to actually hire agents?

Yes, the new mobile Violent Crime Agency. It’s just that arson and explosives aren’t considered violent any more.

The Special Agent in Charge of the Philadephia Field Division is Sheree Mixell. In her former job, she was the Chief of the Office of Public Affairs where she served as ATF’s national spokesperson. This would seem to me the ideal place to run such a surge if you wanted to get the most media attention possible and to have someone experienced in dealing with the press. As to doing it for political purposes to help Mayor Nutter and President Obama, that does disturb me. Moreover, having these teams run by a Public Information Officer just doesn’t pass the smell test.

While the webmaster of CleanUpATF has since redacted some of the information with respect to the cities involved, I happened to see it before he did that. Nonetheless, it is not hard to figure out that it is Philadelphia.

(A quick translation of some of the acronyms above – RAC is the Resident Agent in Charge, GS is a Group Supervisor, HIDTA is high intensity drug trafficking area and PIO is Public Information Officer.)

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Only In New Jersey

May 7, 2012 by

I don’t mean to beat up on New Jersey. Really I don’t but this is just another case of New Jersey gun laws being a trap for the unwary.

Well-known gun rights attorney Evan Nappen has a post on his website entitled, “Why is the NJ State Police Allowing Prohibited Persons to Get Guns?” The post deals with a quirk in New Jersey law which states that if you didn’t receive your firearms back after a domestic violence allegation – that is an allegation and not a conviction – you have forfeited your gun rights forever in the state of New Jersey. According to Evan, the law has been on the books since 2004 but the New Jersey State Police still haven’t updated their forms for gun purchase permits. Moreover, the penalty for purchasing or possessing a firearm in such cases is five years in prison.

Have the NJ State Police failed to fix the forms to keep folks in the dark so that they don’t fight to get their guns returned? If people knew about this law many would NOT simply agree to have their seized guns sold to a dealer, transferred to a third party, or forfeited to the State. The prosecutors and the courts would have to do lot more hearings for gun returns. (Note: prosecutors and the judges are under no legal obligation tell the unsuspecting former gun owners that their gun rights will be lost by making such a deal with the State.)

No other state has such a law. However, it is the law in NJ. I do not support this law and I believe it should be repealed. Until it is repealed, many gun owners are failing to insist upon the return of their seized guns and prohibited persons are unknowingly acquiring guns. Maybe that is the plan all along.

The very thought of losing an enumerated right over an allegation is repugnant to me. I’m in the middle of a novel based in the USSR at the time of Stalin and this reeks of that era where a mere allegation was enough to send one to the gulag.

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News From The Second Front

May 7, 2012 by 3 Comments

Knife Rights calls themselves the Second Front in the fight for the Second Amendment and they are correct. They scored a big win in the state of Georgia recently concerning preemption. Unlike in the firearms world where state preemption is the norm rather than the exception, it is just the opposite when it comes to knives. Such was the case of Georgia which is home to the Blade Show.

From Knife Rights:

With encouragement from your phone calls, emails and letters, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has signed the single most important bill for knife owners and the knife industry to pass this year. With his signature, Knife Rights’ drafted SB432 establishes knife law preemption in Georgia, effectively repealing draconian restrictions on knife ownership, sales and manufacturing in cities like Atlanta, home of BLADE Show, the world’s largest knife show.

For years the BLADE Show has literally been operating on the “knife’s edge”of the law because even though it takes place in Cobb County, where there are very few restrictions on knives, right across the street in the city of Atlanta, where many BLADE Show attendees go to eat, sleep and recreate, there are onerous laws against knives and knife owners.

These local ordinances banned the possession of all sorts of knives readily available and often carried at the BLADE Show including a prohibition against carry of any automatic or any knife with a blade longer than three-inches “readily available for use.” An attendee or exhibitor could easily have run afoul of these ordinances and faced fines and jail time. The potential existed to create terrible publicity that could have jeopardized the knife world’s most important annual show! With the signing of Knife Rights drafted Knife Law Preemption bill, those threats are now eliminated.

Our thanks to the members and supporters of Knife Rights who made their support known to the legislature and governor and to the bill sponsors, Georgia Senator Bill Heath and Georgia Representative David Knight. Also, a special thank you to Governor Nathan Deal for signing this important legislation.

Having said all that, one word of caution! Please note that this new Knife Preemption Law does not go into effect until July 1, 2012, so BLADE Show attendees should remain cautious this year as the old laws remain in effect until July 1st.

Congratulations are in order for Doug Ritter, Todd Rathner, and all who worked so hard to bring preemption to Georgia.

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Going Old School

May 6, 2012 by 2 Comments

We were out cruising around this afternoon hitting up thrift stores after our Cinco de Mayo lunch and found this at one of the area Goodwill stores for $25.

It is a Nikon Nikkormat EL-W 35mm single lens reflex. I had always wanted a Nikon SLR in my younger days but ended up going the Canon route because it was a bit cheaper. While I have now have a Canon A-1, a Canon F-1 (Lake Placid Olympics),  and a Canon EOS 7n among my assorted cameras, this is my first Nikon of any sort.

Other than the brassing on the camera body, it is in good shape. The shutter seems to work fine, all the controls work, and it just needs a new battery to see if the metering works. Fortunately the battery is a standard alkaline 6 volt camera battery and not one of the old mercury batteries.

While digital has captured the photo world, there is still something about using film that appeals to me.

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Electoral Math

May 4, 2012 by 5 Comments

The Wall Street Journal ran a story today examining what they characterize as the math challenge for Mitt Romney. As we know from our US Civics class – or should know – the actual popular vote for president is relatively irrelevant. What is relevant is how many electoral votes a candidate gets in the Electoral College. The magic number is 270 which equals one-half the number of Congressmen and Senators (with three allotted to the District of Columbia) plus one.

Looking at the starting points for Obama and Romney you get Obama with a base of about 230 electoral votes and Romney with a base of 190 electoral votes. For Obama, this translates into the West Coast, New York, and the Northeast. Meanwhile, Romney can count on Texas, most of the Rockies, the Deep South, and the Plains states.

If Romney carried all the states that George W. Bush won in 2004, he would get 292 electoral votes and have a respectable victory. However, there are nine states that Bush carried that went for Obama in 2008. These swing states are Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado, and Nevada. Romney must get the five largest of these states plus one more if he is to win.

Spot Mr. Romney the five biggest swing states the Democrat won four years ago—Florida, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina and Indiana—and the Republican still wouldn’t be guaranteed the White House. To win, he would need to also carry at least one other state that went to Mr. Obama four years ago.

That makes Mr. Romney’s path to the White House narrow and perilous, while Mr. Obama has multiple routes to victory, including several that don’t require him to win either Florida or Ohio, the most important battlegrounds of past elections.

Frankly, as a gun owner, American, and taxpayer, the mere thought of a second Obama presidency scares the hell out of me.

I can’t say I’m thrilled with Mitt Romney and he definitely wasn’t my first choice of the Republican candidates and non-candidates. I found his speech at the NRA Annual Meeting’s Leadership Forum to be workmanlike and not exactly inspiring. I think the reaction of those in attendance was similar. Nonetheless, I did vote for Romney last week in the early voting for the North Carolina primary and will be voting for him in November.

Why?

In a word, judges. The two big Second Amendment cases, Heller and McDonald, were decided in our favor with 5-4 majorities. If only one of the five were to retire or die and we had a President Obama appointing another Sotomayor or Kagan, our Second Amendment rights could be effectively lost for years to come.

While I, like Sebastian, was disappointed to see Romney put Robert Bork on his justice advisory team, I think that most judges that a President Romney would appoint would be friendlier to the Second Amendment than any judge (or justice) appointed by Obama. I also like that Romney put Alan Gura on his legal advisory team.

I know there are many in the gun rights community who say “a pox on both their houses” and that they plan to sit this one out. I can understand that if you live in California or Texas or Tennessee or Massachusetts or any of the other states that are not in play. However, if you live in a battleground state or one of the states like Pennsylvania or Michigan that could come into play depending on the state of the economy, it is my opinion that you don’t have a choice if you want to protect your gun rights. Any vote not for Romney, whether it is a non-vote or a vote for a third party candidate, is just one less vote that Obama needs to get in order to win that state’s electoral votes.

Six months is a long time and a lot can happen in the meantime. We in the gun rights community cannot relax even for a moment until we hear Chief Justice John Roberts turn to the President-elect on January 20, 2012 and say, “I, Willard Mitt Romney, do solemnly swear…” And then it is our job to keep his feet to the fire on gun rights.