Alphecca

The Weekly Check on the Bias

I know, you're shocked, SHOCKED that I've finally made Alphecca an MT powered blog. It will take me awhile to get things to look the way I want around here but somethings should never change including my Monday Report. And just as the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont helped in the Revolutionary War, so Alphecca now undergoes a sort of revolution. Actually, an evolution. So in honor of that:

Anyway, time to check out the bias exhibited by such places as the Yahoo Gun Debate Page and Keep and Bear Arms.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is taking one step forward and one step back as reported by the Chicago Tribune last Friday. Here's a quote:

Blagojevich said he would now make passage of an assault-weapons ban a condition for his signature on other legislation pending in Springfield that would reduce the minimum age for obtaining a gun owner's permit without parental consent to 18 from 21. Federal law prohibits handgun purchases by those under 21, but the age reduction would allow more young people to buy rifles and shotguns.

"Passing and enacting both bills would protect the safety of the people of this state and extend the rights of law-abiding hunters and sportsmen," Blagojevich said. "That's an appropriate balance for Illinois."

But the governor's need to strike a political and policy-oriented balance on guns stood in stark contrast to the statements made last weekend by his aides. They said the governor planned to unconditionally sign the age-reduction measure if it reached his desk.

Blagojevich is trying to have it both ways by appealing to the gun grabbers --such as Chicago Mayor Daley who will never be happy until every single gun is removed from the state (except for his, of course) and yet trying to placate the more conservative voters in other parts of the state.

So I wonder what (or how many) guns will be included in the state version of the phony "assault weapons ban" that is being proposed. And naturally, since most modern firearms pretty much function the same -- one round fired for each pull of the trigger -- that pretty much means such legislation will have to be either based on "cosmetics" such as the national bill, or it means that almost all semi-automatics will be banned.

Regarding the lowering of the age to purchase long guns, Chicago Democrat Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan huffs:

"You've got to be 21 to make a wager on a riverboat ... but why would people support a bill that gambles on young people's lives?" said Madigan. "I'm concerned that there are 18-year-olds that are going to school and--conceivably without their parent's knowledge--could get a FOID Card and purchase a gun and bring that to school."

I would ask her whether sending 18-year-olds in the armed forces to overseas war zones is gambling with their lives? If they're old enough to serve our country then they're old enough to own a rifle. (Or, in my opinion, drink, too.)

I have to say that while the Chicago Tribune is usually very biased in their reporting of gun and gun control stories, this one was reasonably balanced by presenting opinions on both sides of the issues. By the way, one of the other "controversial issues" being opposed by the Governor is allowing retired police officers to conceal-carry handguns. I discussed this last week and notice that I use quotes because personally, if I were a cop, I'd be outraged that opponents don't think I should be able to.

John R. Lott, Jr. has an op-ed in yesterday's Chicago Sun-Times about all of these issues swirling around Illinois. Read the whole thing but here's a quote:

Blagojevich's initial threats to veto any concealed carry bill for police changed this week to threatening a veto if military police veterans are allowed to carry guns. It is hard to take this new concern seriously. Besides the obvious safety record these military police have demonstrated with guns, probably no more than a thousand military veterans will even qualify to carry a concealed handgun, and it is safe to assume that only a fraction of those would bother to apply. Illinois has 1 million veterans, but only about 100,000 served for at least 10 years [one of the requirements for the permit] and fewer than 1 percent of soldiers would have served as military police for that whole period.

Exactly what Blagojevich is worried about seems a bit of a mystery, and his position on guns is changing daily. His flip-flops are not just limited to allowing police to carry guns. Over the last week, Blagojevich first supported lowering the age at which gun permits can be obtained, down to 18. Then -- when gun control advocates got angry -- he said he will support the bill only if a large number of semi-automatic handguns, rifles and shotguns were also banned. Of course, this is nothing new. As a congressman from Chicago, he had one of the most consistent gun control records in congress, but he ran for governor distributing camouflage-colored ''Hunters for Blagojevich'' bumper stickers and promising that he would be sensitive to their views on guns.

Let me be the first to offer up Blagojevich as a possible running-mate for John Kerry.

A hysterical op-ed by a pair of liberal Democratic lawmakers in NYC appeared in the NY Daily News. I discussed it last week so won't go into it much here. They are trying to get a "gun industry code of conduct" bill passed. Here's a quote:

For the past year, the future of gun control hung in the balance as Congress debated a bill that would have immunized the gun industry against civil suits. On March 3, the U.S. Senate, thanks in large part to brilliant procedural maneuvering by pro-gun-control senators, defeated this irresponsible bill, but the National Rifle Association is sure to revive the proposal next year.

During this window of opportunity, legislators in states like New York must act quickly to clarify standards of liability for the gun industry. We are sponsors in the New York State Senate and the City Council of bills that would establish a code of responsible conduct for gun companies.

Under our proposal, a firearm merchant would be liable for damages if his unsafe marketing practices led to a shooting.

You know... Trial lawyers could make almost anything seem like an "unsafe marketing practice." Just putting an ad in a magazine or having a booth at a gun show could quickly bloom into a suit from such a vague definition.

The Supreme Court will decide whether a foreign conviction disqualifies an American from purchasing a firearm. Here's a quote from Reuters:

The case concerned an appeal by Gary Small, who had been convicted in Japan in 1994 for violating that nation's customs and firearms possession laws. Each offense was punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.

In 1998, he bought a handgun from a Pennsylvania gun store. In filling out the form, he answered "no" when asked if he ever had been convicted in any court of a crime for which he could have been imprisoned for more than a year, even if he got a shorter sentence.

I certainly sympathize with the fact that Americans travelling abroad can easily fall afoul of various laws. But a responsible person ought to learn of local laws -- especially regarding firearms -- before breaking them. And I have to say that if the Supreme Court rules that infractions committed in other countries do NOT count in answering such legal forms as the Background Form used when purchasing a firearm, that leaves open the doors to a host of problems with immigrants coming here and obtaining guns. I'm thinking mid-East now... Anyway, I have no real comment beyond that.

As we are seeing in Illinois, other liberal states are attempting to enact their own bans of "assault weapons" as we near the expiration of the federal ban. Maryland has been wrestling with this for a while now and here's some (rare) good news from the Baltimore Sun:

A Senate committee killed a proposal to ban assault weapons Friday, ending all possibility that the General Assembly will put a gun control bill into effect in Maryland before the federal ban expires in September.

The 6-5 vote against the bill in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee came as no surprise because Sen. John A. Giannetti Jr., who represented the swing vote on the panel, announced his intent to vote against the proposal weeks ago.

The Prince George's Democrat delivered on his promise Friday, joining the committee's three Republicans and two conservative Democrats in opposing the bill sponsored by Sen. Robert J. Garagiola.

I do expect Democrats (including, of course, Kerry) to turn the federal "assault weapons ban" bill into a huge campaign issue this fall.

Ohio is an important state in the coming election and the loss of jobs is a major issue there. But there is one category of employment that's going up: Certified firearms instructors! Since the passage this year of a bill allowing concealed carry permits, residents have been lining up for them. From the Toledo Blade:

It was not among Gov. Bob Taft's arsenal of bills for job creation, but Ohio's new concealed-carry law has led to a boom for firearm trainers.

Existing trainers are booked for months, and new instructors are earning certification so they can help. Steve Thompson, a National Rifle Association-certified instructor and owner of ADCO Firearms at 6616 Monroe, Sylvania, said he is booked six months ahead for training. Prior to the passage of concealed-carry, he had one or two sessions a month.

If you listen to the critics of such laws, I suppose that means Ohio will shortly become the wild mid-West. Heh!

So what's the spin from local papers around Ohio? Here's a story from the Chillicothe Gazette:

Robert Cenci, a 36-year-old real estate investor, completed firearms training several weeks ago through the Pickaway-Ross Adult Education Center and will hopefully be permitted to carry his 9 mm semi-automatic handgun once the law goes into effect.

"It's about personal protection," he said. "The police can only respond to a crime after the fact. They can't prevent things from happening to you, and I want to know I can prevent something from happening to me or my family right then -- not after the fact."

And the article quotes other residents applying for their permits as well. Once again we see that small, local papers are far more factual and unbiased than the national ones.

Meanwhile, the Ohio News Network intones that cops now have to learn how to deal with people who might be carrying guns. Here's a quote:

On Thursday, Ohioans will be allowed to apply for permits to carry hidden guns.

Permit holders who are stopped by police are required to tell the officer that they have a permit and that they're carrying a gun.

Sergeant Kelly Hamilton of the Columbus Police Training Academy says the new law gives them more reason to believe that the people they approach are armed.

Frankly, I would think that cops shouldn't be worrying that citizens who have passed the requirements to obtain these permits are in fact carrying. They should, as presumably they always have, worry about the criminals who already carry -- without a permit.

This must be Mid-West day at Alphecca. From the Courier Press in Indiana comes a story of home defense:

A 75-year-old man shot and killed a homeless man who broke into his house early Saturday, police said.

Kevin Richardson was fatally shot after he broke into the home of George Finch about 3 a.m. Saturday, police said.

Finch's daughter, Debbie Skaggs, said her father was sleeping in a recliner in a front room when he heard someone breaking a back window and entering. Skaggs said her father got his gun, a semi-automatic pistol, and told the intruder to leave. She said the man kept coming toward her father, who shot him.

Of course, the gun-ban crowd would have you believe that while the mutant kept approaching the homeowner -- they should simply have dialed 9-1-1 and sat around waiting for cops to show up. Or maybe the coroner.

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Here's what some bloggers are discussing:

Say Uncle gives the Violence Policy Center another whack.

Kevin at The Smallest Minority has been mixing it up with Tim Lambert. Here's the latest.

Bitter Bitch is looking for a pro-gun website designer.

Geek With a .45 reports (via others) on recent pro-2A converts.

The Backroad Blog brings us the story of local residents trying to close a range.

The Fuz has advice for Uncle Sam regarding the AR15.

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Anyway, I guess this wraps up this edition. Thanks for stopping by!

Posted by Jeff Soyer at April 5, 2004 12:57 PM