Moe Lane

So, basically it’s going on like this: Colorado State Senator Angela Giron is being threatened with a recall for her support of the rather draconian gun control laws that the (currently) Democratic-controlled Colorado state legislature just passed.  This was, of course, not received well by Democrats, and so Colorado Peak Politics did what all smart Right-populist groups do these days: they saturated the area with cameras and waited for Democratic shenanigans.

They may have gotten some. (more…)

Let’s look at the practical results of gun control, shall we?  Three states have recently signed into law some hefty gun control laws; what were the results?

• Colorado: Magpul is now making some magazines and sights outside of the state.  They’re also working on a new HQ.
• Connecticut: PTR Industries will be moving out of the state shortly.  It’s rumored that other companies will follow.
• Maryland: Beretta’s pretty much just waiting for Martin O’Malley to sign a new gun control law next month*.

…and that’s pretty much it.  Good-bye jobs, good-bye tax revenue, good-bye money circulation from the first two categories, and here’s the important point: there will be nothing to compensate for those losses.  As usual, the new rules will do nothing to curb mass shootings; also as usual, the people who are patting themselves on the backs about forcing gun manufacturers out of particular states are not the sort of people who create new revenue-producing ventures.  Put another way: they’re busy-bodies, not businessmen.  Many of them would be vaguely insulted to be mistaken for businessmen. (more…)

Oh, wow, man, total bummer:

A draft bill floating around the Capitol late this week suggests that a new ballot question on pot taxes should repeal recreational pot in the state constitution if voters don’t approve 15 percent excise taxes on retail pot and a new 15 percent marijuana sales tax. Those would be in addition to regular state and local sales taxes.

Bolding mine.  But, hey, that reminds me: if you can buy pot legally in Colorado, will that mean that companies can advertise it on Amazon.com?  As you can see here, Amazon already does third-party site advertising for booze; and, hey, the stuff is in fact legal in Colorado now.  Man, that’s going to give the US Postal Service fits…

Bless her heart.

You never, ever, want to be a Colorado Democratic politician and have the Denver Post write this about you:

As lead sponsor in House on gun legislation, Rep. Diana DeGette appears to not understand how they work

…Asked how a ban on magazines holding more than 15 rounds would be effective in reducing gun violence, [Rep Diana] DeGette [D] said:

“I will tell you these are ammunition, they’re bullets, so the people who have those now they’re going to shoot them, so if you ban them in the future, the number of these high capacity magazines is going to decrease dramatically over time because the bullets will have been shot and there won’t be any more available.”

What she didn’t appear to understand is that a magazine can be reloaded with more bullets.

Well, to be fair: I have in the past had the devil of the time myself with a situation where I was using up magazines, and then not being able to reload them.  Then again, that was while I was playing DOOM II.

Moe Lane

[UPDATE]: Oh dear God she doubled down on the stupidity.  And the Denver Post doubled down on the mockery.  Quit while you’re behind, madam (Via Twitchy).

[FURTHER UPDATE]  Annnnnd here’s the video.

*Alas, the joke does not quite work with BioShock Infinite.

By the way: all of this takes effect on July 1, 2013. Plan accordingly, Coloradans.

I’m calling Gov. Hickenlooper endangered for a reason: he just made a rather poor life choice. You see, the fellow bowed to pressure from East Coast liberals and signed into law today an effective firearms ban masquerading as a “high capacity magazine ban.” John Hickenlooper is apparently just self-aware enough to realize what problems this is going to cause him down the line: “[Hickenlooper] said his office later today will release a “signing statement” to try to explain how the bills, particularly one that limits ammunition rounds, should be interpreted.”

If you’re explaining, you’re losing.  And here’s why Hickenlooper is explaining:

(more…)

Somebody… foreign?

A senior official who made headlines last week for blocking the transfer of a convicted Saudi rapist was slain at his home last night.

Tom Clements, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Corrections was shot and killed at his Monument home when he opened the door Tuesday night at approximately 8:30 p.m., according to police

Authorities are reporting the gunman is on the loose.

A K-9 unit sent to the crime scene has not been able to turn up anything, leading some to consider the possibility that the murder was a professional hit.

(more…)

Which, by the way, they can actually do:” Colorado police chiefs and sheriffs have local control and prioritizing how laws are enforced is their prerogative.”  They’re elected officials, too; they can’t be fired, only voted out of office/recalled.  Anyway, here’s some Colorado sheriffs being explicit about things: I’ll add more if/when they come in.

• Weld County Sheriff John Cooke: “The sheriff told the [Greeley Tribune] that he and other county sheriffs “won’t bother enforcing” the laws because it won’t be possible to keep track of how gun owners are complying with the new requirements.”
• El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa: “Maketa said his office keeps records of every concealed carry permit holder in the county as required by law, but he would never share it. He said he would destroy the database if anyone tried to get their hands on it and would intervene if government agents started arresting county residents for exercising their constitutional rights.” El Paso County, by the way, is the most populous county in Colorado (yes, even larger than Denver County, which does not have an elected sheriff).

(more…)

See, this is problem with liberal-libertarian “alliances:” God help the latter if the former disagree with them on something. Like, you know, pot legalization:

Colorado’s medical-marijuana dispensaries can sell the stuff just fine — and would-be vendors of the recreational variety hope to do the same once rules are put in place this year.

But there is little that those businesses can legally do with their cash other than put it in a safe or bury it. No bank, credit union or financial-services company can knowingly accept business accounts with any trace of a marijuana connection. If they do, it’s a federal crime.

Note the emphasis on “legal:” illegally there’s a bunch of stuff that businesses can do, starting with money laundering.  I will avoid belaboring the point that it is somewhat surreal to ban a business operating legally under state law from essential and elementary business transactions, but I will make two points:

• If you are upset that the federal government is apparently capable and eager to interfere in a particular arena that should be strictly state business and arguably none of it its own, guess what: it does that everywhere else, too.
• The US Supreme Court case you should be cursing at this point is Wickard v. Filburn.  In more ways than one.  Still love that “The Commerce Clause lets us do anything we dang well please” strategy, o ye recreational marijuana users? – Because, again, it’s not just restricted to pot policy.

(more…)

Not before time, honestly.

Amid flagging support from his own party, the Democratic sponsor of a bill banning concealed weapons on college campuses spiked his own bill Friday night on the floor of the Colorado Senate.

Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, asked that HB 1226, a bill to ban concealed weapons on campus, be postponed until May 10, two days after the end of the session. The move effectively killed the bill.

Moral of the story: never tell a rape survivor who testifies that she got raped because she was banned from concealed carry that she doesn’t actually need concealed carry. Well, that’s the first moral of the story; the second moral is, don’t put Democrats in charge of state legislatures until they finally purge all those freaking Sixties liberals (and their descendants) from leadership positions.

Via

Let me repeat that good news: Measure to ban concealed-carry guns on CO college campuses dies before vote: dpo.st/15CeSGA#coleg

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) March 8, 2013

I keep getting sent this link, God knows why:

A United Nations-based drug agency urged the United States government on Tuesday to challenge the legalization of marijuana for recreational use in Colorado and Washington, saying the state laws violate international drug treaties.

The International Narcotics Control Board made its appeal in an annual drug report. It called on Washington, D.C., to act to “ensure full compliance with the international drug control treaties on its entire territory.”

I mean, I’m sure that I don’t know why people might suggest that this would have ever been a topic of more than academic (undergrad) interest to me, ya, you betcha. (more…)

Remember: only liberal women/minorities get to be treated like human beings.

Quick background here: essentially, Colorado Democrats have decided to respond to recent criminal mass murders by legislating bans on high-capacity magazines, banning concealed carry, taxing legitimate gun purchases, and requiring background checks before private transferal of firearms.  And, oh, yes, Colorado Democrats also want to make gun manufacturers liable for crimes committed with those guns, but that’s scheduled for later… what’s that?  How would any of this stop a crazy lunatic from mass murder?  Oh, that’s easy: it won’t.  But it will make a bunch of legislators with Ds after their names to feel a little less scared at night, which is apparently more important.

Anyway, I will give Democratic state Senator Evie Hudak this much: she at least had sufficient lingering human empathy to not want to make too much eye contact when she uncomfortably denigrated the testimony and feelings of a rape survivor who DARED insist that concealed carry might have stopped her rape.

I’m not giving Hudak very much slack at all, mind you: that was pretty filthy stuff that the state senator said. But, you know: the old white men who run the Colorado Democratic party have spoken, and it’s the job of women like Senator Hudak to hold down the fort.  Or shoulders. (more…)

I’m pretty sure that Magpul is not bluffing, here:

Colorado’s largest and most profitable manufacturer of high-capacity ammunition magazines has vowed to leave the state if lawmakers pass a measure banning the devices — a move officials with the company say could cost hundreds of jobs and upward of $85 million in potential spending this year.

Magpul’s threat has Democratic lawmakers scrambling to strike a balance that remains true to their goal of limiting the number of rounds a magazine can hold without frightening off businesses.

…and I don’t think that there’s an actual balance to be struck, either. The loss of Magpul’s hundreds of jobs (and $85 million’s worth of business per year) won’t cripple Colorado, but neither does Magpul need to stick around and operate in a state run by provincial yahoos who can’t comprehend that not everybody is as scared of guns as is the average Democratic legislator.  Particularly since more than one state is actively offering to help Magpul with the relocation*: “As the debate unfolds, states have made overtures to Magpul, including offering to pay their moving costs. The company won’t name the states, but Wyoming and Texas have expressed interest in netting the $85 million the company projects it will spend in Colorado next year in payments to suppliers, subcontractors and service providers.” (more…)