Moonhowlings

CBS Washington:

WASHINGTON, D.C. (CBS Washington) — A gun company advertisement that warns of impending gun control compares President Obama to Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.

The USAAmmo ad shows side-by-side pictures of Obama with Hitler, Stalin and other dictators who committed atrocities across the world. The ad, which is also accompanied by a video, warns that gun control is imminent and foreshadows that the U.S. could face millions in casualties if they are not allowed to defend themselves.

USAAmmo states that “tyranny is knocking down the doors of American cities daily” and that Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder and other gun control advocates “are secretly conspiring American Citizens of the right to bear arms.”

Trace Williams, director of operations for USAAmmo, defended the ad that was emailed Monday. He told CBS Washington that “Obama and his various czars are infringing on the rights of Americans to own guns.”

As a gun (or 2) owner, I simply find this ad over the top and unacceptable.  Furthermore, it is a lie.  I don’t recall seeing, hearing or thinking that the president is going to round up everyone’s guns.

The fact that ammo and guns sales have soared since the ad went out on Monday doesn’t really flatter its customers.  the video linked in the blockquote is extreme bad taste.  Why must people push others off a cliff to get them to buy ammo.  How about competitive prices, low shipping costs and reliable fast service as the hook rather than exploiting others and using fear of genocide as an advertising tool? 

Ads like this hurt the 2nd amendment cause.  USA Ammo should try to educate folks rather than stir up hotheads.

The President of the United States should not be with posted with that rogues gallery.  It is insulting to America and sends a bad message to the rest of the world.

From the Miami Herald:

Good for Jan Brewer!

According to Huffington Post:

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has vetoed a bill to require President Barack Obama and other presidential candidates to prove their U.S. citizenship before their names can appear on the state’s ballot.

The bill vetoed by Brewer on Monday would have made Arizona the first state to pass such a requirement. According to My Fox Phoenix, the governor said the measure “is a bridge too far.”

The Arizona proposal would require political parties and presidential candidates to hand in affidavits stating a candidate’s citizenship and age and to provide the candidate’s birth certificate and a sworn statement saying where the candidate has lived for 14 years.

If candidates don’t have a copy of their birth certificates, they could meet the requirement by providing baptismal or circumcision certificates, hospital birth records and other documents.

 

“I never imagined being presented with a bill that could require candidates for president of the greatest and most powerful nation on earth to submit their ‘early baptismal or circumcision certificates’,” said Brewer in light of vetoing the bill, according to My Fox Phoenix. “This measure creates significant new problems while failing to do anything constructive for Arizona.”

Jan Brewer did the right thing.  AZ seems hell-bent on proving itself the most bass-akward  state inu the union.  Jan Brewer did a great deal to help its legislature from reaching dubious honor.  If the birther people only knew how badly the rest of the country is laughing at them.  What do they hope to accomplish?

Brewer also vetoed a bill that would have allowed guns on campus along right of ways.  She had this to say:

The bill didn’t define public right of way and also could have been interpreted to apply to K-12 schools in addition to universities and community colleges, Brewer said in her veto letter.

“Bills impacting our Second Amendment rights have to be crystal clear so that gun owners don’t become lawbreakers by accident,” she said.

It a pleasure to be able to compliment Governor Jan Brewer for doing the right thing.

Several months ago Moonhowlings featured a post on Colin Goddard, a film maker who survived the Va Tech Massacre.  His documentary, Living for 32, has received nationally acclaimed accolades and has been shown at Sundance Film Festival.  It was nominated for an Oscar.  Goddard has traveled all over the United States talking with groups about sensible gun restrictions. 

Tomorrow, April 16, marks the 4th anniversary date of that horrible day at Virginia Tech, when 32 students and faculty lost their lives because of a lone, crazed gunman.  It marks the day that Colin Goddard was shot 4 times as he sat in his French class.  This past week, HBO featured the documentary, Gun fight which includes footage from Colin Goddard’s documentary.  Gun Fight examines the many sides of the right to bear arms as well as its restrictions. 

According to the Washington Post:

After Goddard became outspoken about gun control, he was enlisted as the subject of a 40-minute documentary called “Living for 32,” about the 32 victims of Cho’s rampage. But at the time of the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, accomplished documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple already was focusing on the issue of guns in America. Goddard is now at the center of that 90-minute film, “Gun Fight,” which premieres Wednesday night on HBO, three days before the fourth anniversary of the Tech shootings.

Gun Fight fight is available on-demand as of Thursday. 

Living for 32 as a stand alone film is not yet available for individual purchase.   Living for 32 can be seen April 19 in at UVA in Charlottesville at Newcombe Hall at 7 pm.  The event requires an rsvp.

Goddard continues to fight for sensible gun regulations.  He travels the nation with his film, Living for 32.  He joined the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and coordinates efforts with that organization.  He did return to Tech to get his degree.   Follow Colin as he recounts his survival of a massacre, goes to gun shows to illustrate how laxgun  laws are, and lives still with a bullet in him.  And the debate rages on.  There are no simple answers, regardless of our opinions or what we think we know.

As VA Tech continues to heal from the worst massacre in US history, they got dealt another blow, this time by the US Department of Education.  According to the Washington Post:

The federal government said Tuesday that it plans to issue the maximum possible fine against Virginia Tech — $55,000 — for violations of a campus safety law in connection with the 2007 shooting rampage that left more than 30 students and teachers dead.

A federal official wrote in a letter to Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger that the penalty for failing to provide timely warnings about the threat to the campus on the day of the massacre should be greater.

Read more…

So what’s all the hoopla about?  Parties were being planned at people’s favorite bars that began at midnight, just so gun enthusiasts could swagger in packing heat.  Hopefully, the proprietors didn’t count on anyone spending that much money on booze.  Toting and drinking are verboten. 

Jeff Shapiro of the Richmond Times Dispatch attempts to make sense of the new laws:

Regardless of new laws, the owner of the establishment still rules supreme about whether he or she wants fire arms in their restaurant. Of course, banning guns would require posting a sign, since the gun would now be concealed and no longer visible to the owner.

I have never liked guns around booze. Every year boozing good old boys get to drinking and shooting and someone gets hurt. A few years in the Northern Neck taught me that but I seriously doubt if you have to go that far to see an example.

Everyone thinks they are a responsible gun owner.  Just ask them. Meanwhile, I am the mother of a professional bartender. And yes, I am worried. Especially tonight.

The Supreme Court has ruled to uphold gun rights in all 50 states. Justice Scalia wrote the majority opinion and the 2nd was upheld in the 14th Amendment. Isn’t that one that so many people want tweaked? Not so fast….

I am sure our readers will know more about this ruling than I. Here is your thread….

Was anyone at the 2nd Amendment Rally on the Mall on April 19, 2010? I need someone to explain to me why I should be comfortable with speech like this. I had no idea this nonsense had gone on. What I hear is very threatening speech.

Actually, I have never heard President Obama discuss gun control. Where is this hype coming from? Again, and I have said it before, talk and rhetoric like this pushes moderates, centrists, liberals and all sorts of people into a zone the gun folks probably don’t want to deal with.

I don’t know anything about these speakers but they sound like thugs to me. I don’t want thugs having guns. I suggest the gun folks chose more responsible speakers if you want to convince the rest of us gun owners without a cause to support you. Surely there is a logical explanation.

Sorry everyone. The Devil made me do it. I could not help myself. It is easier to beg forgiveness than to not do it. My son already rose up in protest. I told him it was a joke, a spoof. He isn’t laughing.

Buying a gun is taking longer and longer these days, here in the Old Dominion.  What’s the hold up?  It seems that gun sales are up in Virginia.  However, there are fewer state and federal employees to do that background checks.  According to the Richmond Times Dispatch:

The Virginia State Police, the agency that administers the checks, acknowledges that there has been an increase in processing time.

Officials say it is tied to increased demand for firearms at the same time that budget and funding constraints have reduced the number of staffers available to handle the transactions.

Spokeswoman Corinne Geller said that since May 2009, the agency has lost 11 people from its 28-person staff at the Virginia Firearms Transaction Center, including two federally funded full-time workers who used to attend gun shows and conduct the computerized checks on-site.

She said the delays during peak periods can take four to six hours, with a few that require research into out-of-state records taking overnight.

So how many of the people who are grousing and grumbling were also those same people who advocated for smaller government and to cut back state spending? 

Apparently some people find the state of the state unacceptable:

“This is not acceptable,” said Philip Van Cleave, president of the pro-gun nonprofit group, Virginia Citizens Defense League.

Van Cleave had more to say:

Van Cleave said the delays are costing dealers money and keeping firearms out of the hands of people who need them.

“It is a safety issue,” Van Cleave said. “A person experiencing a death threat and who is denied a lawful gun purchase overnight would be left helpless at the hands of an assailant.”

He said he has received reports of dealers at gun shows losing up to half their business because purchasers’ background checks have not been completed by the time the show closes.

“We cannot afford to have our dealers weakened by artificially sagging sales and purchasers unreasonably inconvenienced,” he added.

Everyone seems to think their issue is more important than someone else’s. We need more cops, more library staff, more teachers, more magistrates, judges, clerical workers in the Bureau of Vital Statistics, more DMV employees. Too many people are hollering less government but are not willing to make the sacrifices needed. Cutting spending involves us all. Government waste is never in the area of our favorite thing to do. It is always in someone else’s camp.

I would prefer to pay more taxes and have restrooms and shorter lines. Throw in a sunset clause to 2 to get us over the hurdle. When those screaming less taxes and less government wake up to the realization that goods and services cost money and that government employees aren’t the ugly step children of private industry, then perhaps we can stop looking like an underpaid third world nation.

Meanwhile, the gun buyers will just have to suck it up and wait in line longer like everyone else is having to do. I hope they will be right out there leading the charge to raise taxes to pay for the goods and services we need to operate as a state. Should I be holding my breath?

It looks like Virginians will have to stick with buying only one hand gun a month in the Old Dominion. 

The Senate Courts of Justice Committee killed House Bill 49 which would have lifted the 16 year old restriction on the number of handguns a person can buy.  The purpose of the law that was enacted in 1993 was to prevent gun running.  Crooks bought guns by the case in Virginia and resold them in the North East where gun pruchase was more restricted.  Tracing the guns used  felonies were traced back to Virginia in greater number than any other state.  Governor Douglas Wilder was a strong supporter of the one hand gun a month legislation.

Many moderates feel comfortable with things the way they are.  Others will not be happy with the fact that this bill got stalled in committee.  Our neighbors to the north, however, are probably very glad that we wont be back to being the gun running state.