Support Your Local Libertarian: Buy a Bumper Sticker
J.J. Johnson at Sierra Times - A Real American for President in 2004? - [smith2004]
Gun Owners of America - Activism - Ask your congress critter to co-sign Ron Paul's letter to Bush expressing his dismay at the president's support for renewing the homeland security weapons ban. [scopeny]
Jennifer Fishbein at The New York Sun - Tickets Fly as City Snuffs Out Smoking - Bloomberg has started enforcing his nazi smoking ban.
Many establishments that have complied with the ban say they have suffered a nose-dive in sales.
"That horrible smoking ban?" asked Sean Byrne, owner of Swift Hybernian Lounge in the East Village. "I'm a non-smoker but it's killing business. This is a time when we're supposed to be rebuilding the city; I think we're putting another dagger in the wounds."
Paula Francis at KLAS TV, Las Vegas - Small Town, Big Guns - Virgin, Utah has joined Kennessaw, Georgia, in requiring households to own a weapon. [kaba]
Mayor Jay Lee introduced the law three years ago. It's modeled after a law in the town of Kennessaw, Georgia. Lee says he wants to protect the rights of his citizens to keep their families and property safe. Lee says "there's a big push out there to take away our right to keep and bear arms."
According to Lee, a local law is just another layer of protection. He says it will keep any federal or state agency from coming in and taking away their weapons -- without a fight.
Michael Marks at KeepAndBearArms.com - Descent into Madness: 48 Hours in the California Legislative System - a report on the Kalifornicators process on banning .50 caliber target rifles. [kaba]
The small handful of supporters for AB50 included the usual suspects; the Violence Policy Center, which survives by scaring unwitting citizens into making donations, as well as their ill-disguised offshoot, the Trauma Foundation. There was a representative of the Brady organization, a member of the Million Mom March and a handful of others. Their entire presentation lasted a few short minutes. This came as no great surprise -- armed with no facts and only a handful of tall tales, even hardcore fanatics can only tap dance for so long.
In contrast, the line of opponents to AB50 filled the front table, ran down the length of the room and out into the hall. They ranged from industry representatives to shooting enthusiasts to military memorabilia collectors. Mr. Bill Ritchie, owner of EDM Arms, spoke passionately as the only rifle manufacturer left in the state of California. He explained that he could be forced to relocate if the bill became law. He spoke of the employees who would lose jobs, of the tens of thousands of tax dollars the state would lose, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of dollars annually funneled to California machine shops, case manufacturers and other suppliers who rely on EDM's business. But those were facts that went to the economy; those facts meant jobs and revenue. The Democrats on the Public Safety Committee made it all too clear that financial issues were not their concern. They were on a political agenda.
Ritchie was followed by Ronnie Barrett, President of Barrett Firearms, Inc., who elaborated on the critical role that the civilian firearm industry plays in developing technologies that are vital to the military. He demonstrated with clear evidence that several of the characterizations regarding the fifty-caliber rifle were based on exotic military-grade ammunition that has never been available to civilian marksman. By this point, Committee Chairman Mark Leno was beginning to sweat. The overwhelming evidence against the bill was threatening to erode the party-line support that everyone expected. While many politicians don't mind selling out, few prefer to look like imbeciles on public television. As the hearing rolled on and on, core supporters of the bill were increasingly looking like the next rendition of the Three Stooges.
Previous Posts:
Welcome Back, Wolf!
Sheet Head
Slow Down, You Move Too Fast, Gotta Make the Morning Last
Get Your Gulliver out of Your Sharry
The IRS Took Your Pony
Next Time, I'm Voting Libertarian
Cesium Chloride: An Inexpensive Cure for Cancer?
Limited Circumstances, Color Code of Readiness
Color Code of Readiness
The Oregon Child "Protection" Mafia Marches On