Monday, April 12, 2010

Gun Nut Roundup April 2010

6 Million Americans Licensed to Carry Guns

A recent report from PMSNBC says that some 6 million American citizens now are permitted to carry weapons in public. Surprisingly, the report correctly points out that while the number of concealed weapons carriers has grown from fewer than 1 million in the 1980's to a record 6 million today (and while the number of states issuing such licenses has risen from 9 to 37), violent crime rates have plummeted. This lesson of the right-to-carry revolution is so glaringly obvious that even the mainstream media can't gloss over it anymore.

Mexican Drug Gangs Attack Army with Armored Vehicles and Grenade Launchers: Damn That Gun Show Loophole!

A recent LA Times article reports that Mexican drug cartels recently hit the Mexican army in several cities. The Times wrote: "In coordinated attacks, gunmen in armored cars and equipped with grenade launchers fought army troops this week and attempted to trap some of them in two military bases by cutting off access and blocking highways, a new tactic by Mexico's organized criminals.

"In taking such aggressive action, the traffickers have shown that they are not reluctant to challenge the army head-on and that they possess good intelligence on where the army is, how it moves and when it operates. [...]

"The army said it confiscated armored cars, grenade launchers, about 100 military-grade grenades, explosive devices and about 13,000 rounds of ammunition."


The increasing action by well-armed drug gangs is putting the lie to anti-gunner's assertions that such gangs get many of their arms from the American civilian market. When they can get commie machine-guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and armored vehicles (that means armoured, Jim), why buy American semi-autos?

Iowa Legislature Passes "Shall-Issue" Legislation

Iowa, which currently allows local sheriffs to arbitrarily deny weapons carry permits, may soon become a "shall-issue" state. On March 29 the state House of Representatives passed Senate File 2379, which had previously passed the state Senate. It now awaits the signature of Governor Debt Culver.

According to the National Rifle Association (which supported it), the bill "would require sheriffs to issue a permit to carry weapons to all applicants, unless they are subject to certain specific disqualifiers." It would also:
  • Increase the term of a permit from one year to five years
  • Ensure that denials, suspensions, and revocations of permits would be subject to both administrative and judicial review
  • Grant recognition to all valid out-of-state permits
Critics, such as Iowa Gun Owners, contend that the bill contains too many compromises and provides cover for otherwise anti-gun politicians to appear friendly to the Second Amendment before the November elections.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's a thought. The governor is waiting for something to "happen" during the Des Moines or DC April 19 march. Maybe he's expecting something?

Ben said...

Maybe he'll use that day for the signing ceremony. Or maybe he'll veto it. I'm betting he signs it though. Who knows?

Jerry said...

May have to look into getting mine back. (Dang move out of state) With my schedule the 5 year deal beats having to renew every year. Plus it makes it nice they can't just turn you down. Here's hoping he signs it.

strandediniowa said...

"Governor Debt Culver" - can I use that? I've been calling him Gov. Chester, because that is his first name - really.

He's so delusional, he thinks he'll get re-elected. Four campaign managers in less than a year and he's positive he'll win. Brilliant.

He might not sign it, but let it pass by not vetoing it. He has until the end of the month.

The bill raises the permit age to 21, and you have to re-certify to renew your permit. Currently, you pass a class once and you were good for life. If you had a permit before the class requirement, good for you. Not any more.

Hmmm, compromise.

Ben said...

I didn't come up with that name, stranded. Check out DebtCulver.com Since the people running that site (the Iowa Progress Project) obviously want to bash Culver, I'm sure they won't mind everyone calling him that. So, go ahead.