In the course of reading this subtly bitter (and thus subtly entertaining) story (via Instapundit) about the effective collapse of the anti-gun movement on the grassroots level, I came across this passage: “In November the Republican House approved a measure that would require states to respect concealed carry permits issued by other, less restrictive states; it now awaits action in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where its fate is uncertain.” This refers to HR 822, which passed in the House with bipartisan support and is now awaiting action from Judiciary in the Senate. As people reading this probably know, reciprocal respect of other states’ right-to-carry laws is a hot topic: it recently came to the forefront when a Tennessee woman got arrested for trying to check in her firearm at the 9/11 Ground Zero site. I should also note in passing that Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s (INDEPENDENT) attempt to smear said woman by claiming she was also in possession of cocaine backfired: the woman didn’t have any. But she’s still facing several years of jail time – no, really – for a ‘crime’ that more enlightened portions of the United States of America decriminalized some time ago*.
But that’s a different post – although conservative/Republican groups should take note that New York City is not a safe tourism/convention destination for their members under Mayor Bloomberg – the real question is what the Senate plans to do about restoring civil liberties. Particularly all those Senators from Shall-Issue states (i.e., states where firearm possession is a right to be exercised, and not a privilege to be granted).
- Senator Amy Klobuchar (D) is from Minnesota, which is a Shall-Issue state. Is Senator Klobuchar really comfortable with putting nursing students in jail for owning guns and taking them to NYC? Does that mean that she will continue to let gun-grabbers keep this bill in the Judiciary Committee?
- Senator Herb Kohl (D) is from Wisconsin, which has just become a Shall-Issue state; and, judging from the number of applications for CCW, it was a popular decision. Is Senator Kohl really comfortable with repressing civil liberties by not voting to move the Senate bill out of committee? And does he really want to make this an election year issue for the Democratic candidate that will be running for his seat?
- Senator Jim Webb (D) is from Virginia, which is a Shall-Issue state. Is he really going to retire from the Senate without having the courage to face this issue? Note that this question can also be asked of Senators Kent Conrad (D) of North Dakota, Jeff Bingaman (D) of New Mexico, and Ben Nelson (D) of Nebraska.
- Senator Bill Nelson (D) is from Florida, which is a Shall-Issue state. Is he putting pressure on Kohl and Klobuchar to repair this assault on the Bill of Rights? If he isn’t, why isn’t he?
- Senator Debbie Stabenow (D) is from Michigan, which is a Shall-Issue state. What is she doing to redress this outrage? Does she even care?
- Senator Claire McCaskill (D) is from Missouri, which is a Shall-Issue state. Does she agree with the policies of that state on gun liberty? Or does she just want to duck the subject?
- Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D) may be from New York, which is obviously not a Shall-Issue state – but she’s from the upstate portion of it, which has a somewhat different take on the subject than does NYC. Is she putting pressure on fellow New Yorker Chuck Schumer to get this bill out of Judiciary and on the floor? If not, can we safely assume that New York City has two Senators and New York State has none?
- Senator Sherrod Brown (D) is from Ohio, which is a Shall-Issue state; and I believe that you’re getting the point by now.
- Senator Bob Casey (D) is from Pennsylvania, which is a Shall-Issue state.
- Senator Maria Cantwell (D) is from Washington, which is a Shall-Issue state.
- Senator Joe Manchin (D) is from West Virginia, which is a Shall-Issue state… and let’s drill down on this last one. Does any of this… bother… Manchin?
Yup. There are fourteen Democratic-held Senate seats from states that have Shall-Issue laws on firearms ownership. That is enough to win a cloture vote, even assuming that a certain Senator from Massachusetts continues to oppose HR 822 (the Ladies from Maine are a good deal more reliable on this subject); which would then put this issue on the President’s desk, all nice and stinking. Which is why none of the Democrats above want to talk about the issue; and why we should not allow them to get away with staying silent…
Moe Lane (crosspost)
*Reading those above articles…wow, New York politicians really don’t like tourists very much, do they? I mean, here we have a woman about to go to jail for years because NYC thinks that it can dictate Constitutional law, and Peter Vallone is going around calling the woman names and laughing at her. And he’s one of the people who wants to let her go.
Sherrod Brown(shirt) doesn’t give a rip. All he cares about is getting as many people under the government boot as possible.
Ah, yes. Sherrod. The most liberal senator in the U.S. I knew his name was on the list. Thanks for making all these names public Moe.
To all Senators of the U.S. 112th Congress:
I am writing this email to encourage you to support passage of a companion bill to H.R.822, National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011, in the Senate. There are clear and undeniable U.S. Constitutional provisions that support this measure. Recent Supreme Court decisions have affirmed individual rights under Amendment II of the U.S. Constitution. In addition, this bill is required for the Federal Government to fulfill its constitutional obligation, on this matter, under Section 5, Amendment XIV.
In the House of Representatives there are currently 433 voting members. On the vote for H.R. 822 there were 272 Aye votes (63%) and 154 No votes (36%). However there are 192 Democratic votes, but only 43 (22%) of them voted Aye while 147 (77%) voted No. Of the 241 Republican votes, 229 (95%) of them voted Aye while only 7 (3%) voted No. I thought that in the U.S.A. we elect candidates that will respect the US Constitution and their Oath of Office, and represent their constituents rather than a political party. I urge all Senators to fulfill their obligations under the oath of office they took under Article VI of the U.S. Constitution as regards Amendment II of the U.S. Constitution and support a H.R. 822 companion bill rather than vote along party lines as they do in governments with “strong party discipline”.
Finally, here are 3 questions, which voters may consider in future elections:
1. Why did 95% of the Republican Representatives but only 22% of the Democratic Representatives support H.R. 822?
2. Given the clear and undeniable U.S. Constitutional provisions and the Supreme Court decisions on this matter; we need to understand why did 36% of our elected Representatives not support H.R. 822?
3. Did our Senators support a companion bill to H.R. 822, National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011?
Sincerely,
Senator Webb’s second official act, after pissing Bush-43 at the welcome party for new members of Congress, was to try and get his personal sidearm past Federal Security at his Senatorial office. His aide took the fall for him, but don’t believe Webb is going to be packing heat on the floor of the Senate and voting No.
And, then there is Harry Reid. Remember 2010? He met with the NRA president at a shooting range in Las Vegas to take the spotlight off of Sarah Palin in his home town of Searchlight. I can pretty much guarantee that, despite heavy support from both the casinos and their unions, he wouldn’t have been reelected if he hadn’t had a top rating from the NRA. And, if anyone could force the bill out of committee, he probably could, as majority leader.
Nevadans are serious about their guns. This is, after all, the state where you can rent a full range of fully automatic weapons. Even when they don’t have CCW permits, discussions often turn to what guns you have, where you shoot, etc.
But, then again, Reid isn’t up for reelection for another 5 years.
Good catch Moe. Personally, I’m against having to have any permits to own or carry a rifle or handgun. As far as I’m concerned, the Second Amendment IS my permit.
There is a special irony with Senator Webb. He has a Virginia concealed carry permit and carries regularly. One of his staffers got into trouble for attempting to enter the Capitol building with one of Senator Webb’s bags. Unknown to the staffer, the bag contained one of Senator Webb’s pistols. The whole matter was quietly resolved even though it did make the local news. One article on this is:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/03/27/us-usa-crime-webb-idUSN2745039420070327
Don’t forget Dick Lugar R-IN. One of my Senators who never met a gun restriction he didn’t like.
He’s not called, “Obamas favorite Republican” for no reason.
Senator Coats R-IN isn’t much better.
And then there is Republican U.S. Senator Dick Lugar from Indiana, who voted against the bill when it came up several years ago. Our state already honors every other state with a CCW license so it would do nothing to harm our state, and allow our citizens to carry in states that do not honor our licenses because our training requirements are non-existent.
Yet, Lugar voted directly against the best interests of the people who have sent him to D.C. apparently far too many times.
Don’t forget:
Patty Murray (D-WA) (She’s hopeless, but WA is RTC.)
Tom Udall (D-NM) (NM is RTC.)
Mark Udall (D-CO) (CO is RTC.)
Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Mark Begich (D-AK) (AK is Constitutional Carry AND RTC.)
Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders (D-VT & I-VT repectively, VT is the original Constitutional Carry state.)
Basically, any Democrat that is NOT from the following states is from a RTC state or constitutional carry state:
California
Delaware
Hawaii
Illinois
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Jersey
New York
with special mention for:
Alabama (Technically may issue but effectively RTC.)
Connecticut (Technically may issue but effectively RTC.)
Rhode Island (Technically RTC but effectively may issue?)
Other than those states, it’s RTC or Constitutional carry.
I’m still SOL living in Illinois, now truly established as the most backward, dysfunctional State in the Union.
It took several stages, but Kirsten Gillibrand did a complete 180 on the RKBA after getting appointed Senator. I think you “can [now] safely assume that New York City has two Senators and New York State has none”.
Harry Reid, or rather the Senate Committee on the Judiciary where the bill is has been stuck since 11/17/11 is where the focus should be. It’s headed by F rated Patrick Leahy and has the two most notorious anti-gun Democrats in the Senate, Schumer and DiFi, plus more that as I remember are bad or worse on the RKBA.
On the other hand Tom Coburn, the only Senator beside presumably Rand Paul who actually cares about gun issues (not just the RKBA, e.g. the poor quality of the Army’s M4 carbine with normal issue ammo) is on the committee. If it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t have legal concealed carry in National Parks (which includes the George Washington Parkway in Northern Virginia, the major north-south highway in the middle of the Beltway where the Park Service has baffed more than a few otherwise legal innocents).
Don’t forget two other Dem Senators from a shall-issue state: Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both from Oregon.