You don’t say . . . New public database reveals striking differences in how guns are regulated from state to state – “Because of inaction on the part of the federal government, it is up to each individual state to develop its own policies to reduce gun violence. To evaluate the effectiveness of these laws, researchers and policymakers need a way to track differences in state firearm legislation over an extended time period. Previously, there was no such resource. We have just released a new public database that tracks a wide range of firearm laws across all 50 states for the past 27 years. For the first time, long-term trends in the enactment of gun safety laws can be compared between states. We found striking disparities between states in both the number of firearm laws and the rate of adoption of these laws over time.” There’s an app for that…it’s called national reciprocity.

Nothing’s easy in Illinois . . . Can an Illinois Medical Cannabis Patient Legally Purchase or Own a Gun? – “Just FYI, Illinois state law does not in any way ban medical cannabis cardholders from owning a firearm. In fact, the recently adopted SB10 (now known as Public Act 099-0519) specifically clarified that products purchased at licensed dispensaries are “lawful products” to make it expressly clear to the Illinois State Police that issuing a FOID card doesn’t conflict with the state’s medical cannabis law. Although the laws and regulations of Illinois allow a medical cannabis patient to obtain a FOID card, in reality, the Illinois State Police will not approve a gun purchase by any medical cannabis patient due to a federal law forbidding users of a controlled substance from owning a gun.”

As we were saying . . . Plan for high-end gun range in Willowbrook denied amid opposition – “A controversial shooting range will not be coming to the southwest suburbs after the Willowbrook Village Board voted Monday against the ambitious plan to build a high-end gun club there. Officials had to move Monday’s village board meeting to a bigger space inside a hotel in Burr Ridge to accommodate all the people who wanted to speak out against the proposal. There, residents fought City Hall- and won.”

Meanwhile, in a solvent state with less corrupt government . . . Gun rights rally puts concealed weapons rules in crosshairs – “Hundreds of gun rights supporters took their cause to the state Capitol on Monday, pushing for an agenda that includes looser rules for carrying concealed weapons. A ‘Make the Second Amendment Great Again’ rally in the Rotunda brought together state lawmakers, sheriffs and gun rights enthusiasts for what has become an annual event.”

Back in gun control hell, however . . . California Lawmakers Aim to Strengthen Gun Ban in Schools – “California lawmakers have passed a bill to revoke superintendents’ ability to let people carry guns in a school zone. The California Assembly passed AB424 43-23 Monday, sending the measure to the state Senate. The Legislature initially let superintendents give people permission to carry guns on campus to ensure domestic violence survivors could protect themselves, Assemblyman Kevin McCarty said. But the Sacramento Democrat says the provision has been “exploited” by school districts to allow cafeteria aids, teachers and yard duty assistants to carry firearms in schools.”

Playing the long game . . . Gun-rights advocate says change comes from incremental lawsuits – “Michael R. Moran, an attorney who is representing Newbern along with attorney Derek A. DeBrosse, who filed the suit, said legal challenges like this will go on for decades as part of the fallout of the 2008 Heller case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that the Second Amendment guarantees people the right to possess firearms whether or not they serve in a militia. ‘It’s incremental,’ Moran said. ‘That’s how these rights are asserted.” Among Second Amendment attorneys at the time of the Heller ruling, he said, ‘We joked that there’d be 50 years of litigation.’”

Thank goodness he was a highly trained law enforcement officer . . . Man’s gun goes off while shopping at Clinton Walmart – “According to an incident report from the Clinton Police Department, on May 18 Brian Ball told authorities he had just made his purchase at the Clinton Walmart and was walking past the restrooms when he heard a loud bang. Ball then realized his gun had gone off. He told responding officers that the bullet blew a hole through his shorts and grazed off the inside of his foot, but he wasn’t severely injured. According to Chief Deputy Mark Lucas, Ball is an employee of the jail. Ball explained to officers that the firearm wasn’t holstered and was loose in his right shorts pocket when it went off, according to the report.”

Is your favorite writer on this list? . . . Bloomberg’s Everytown Creates ‘Authors Council’ to Push Anti-Gun Propaganda – “As if the country’s media weren’t already sufficiently co-opted by anti-gun advocates, this week, Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety announced an effort to pervert an additional facet of American entertainment. The billionaire bank-rolled interest group has developed the Everytown Authors Council. According to Bloomberg’s astroturf campaign, ‘The Council is designed to harness the power of the literary community to amplify the gun safety movement.’”

Then again, on our side of the ledger . . . Stephen Hunter Explains His Novels, Movies, Gangsters, And Guns – “Hunter shares on his childhood obsession with guns, and how he creates stories on subjects that are often politicized. ‘I’m not on a soapbox, however on another level…on a cultural level if it were, I want it understood that I believe in the gun. I believe in the second amendment.’”

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45 COMMENTS

  1. I don’t worry about reciprocity any longer. The Constitution doesn’t stop and start at state borders.
    They also need to cut the crap already as far a marijuana goes. Alcohol is WAY more dangerous, just ask Mary Jo Kopechne.
    This is NOT freedom…..

    • But you’re safer. Trust them, you are.

      Every time I hear the control-freak argument, be it about guns, drugs, booze, prostitution or basically anything else, I just think “I don’t particularly care about your vision of safety. Life isn’t safe and no amount of rules will make it safe. Damn safety, I want to be free and I want you to be free too. If being free scares you then man (or woman or dragonkin or whatever) the fuck up.”

  3. Among Second Amendment attorneys at the time of the Heller ruling, he said, ‘We joked that there’d be knew that we would be laughing all the way to the bank for 50 years of litigation.’”

  4. So, we should treat that gun law map scoring kind of like a golf game, lower is better.

  5. Who knew Willowbrook was so anti-gun retarded. There is literally NOTHING there. Planning a bar was not a good bidness decision though…hey get high and lie( like everyone who lies on a 4473). The Illinois way?

    • I’m vaguely surprised my ex-fiancee isn’t on that list.

      Either she’s grown up a lot, or she hasn’t made it like she wanted to.

    • I’m an English teacher and an obsessive reader and I don’t like the only two I’ve ever read, Jong and Picoult. No loss.

    • Was about to post that.

      Don’t see Melville, Dumas, Twain, etc. on the list. Just folks I haven’t heard of.

        • Yeah, I only really read scifi outside of high adventure like Moby Dick and Shogun and didn’t recognize a single name.

          Our camp definitely has the better authors.

          The very notion of Asher on a gun-control author list is laughably absurd. His Owner Series alone is more than enough evidence. No need to delve into Cormac’s spatter-verse.

          Now, that Charlie Stross fella I’m not so sure about.

      • I’ve been a librarian for 15 years and I’ve only seen maybe 6 of those names on the shelves.
        Another one of those “it’s a list so they must be important/influential/qualified to tell me how to live my life” lists that’s full of nobodys as if anybody is ever important/influential/qualified enough to tell me how to live my life.

    • Since Everytown uses numbers of visits to legitimize their website and agenda, I decided to include the name of these no-name authors here. No need to feed the hoplophobes ego.

      Everytown Author Council members include:

      Tony Abbott : Diana Abu Jaber : Sarah Albee : William Alexander :Elana K. Arnold : Lee Bacon : Julianna Baggott :
      Hannah Rodgers Barnaby : Kelly Barnhill : Sean Beaudoin : Samantha Berger : Miranda Beverly-Whittemore : Chris Bohjalian : Heather Bouwman : Jennifer Finney Boylan : Amy Brill : Kim Brown Seely : Martha Brockenbrough : Alison Buckholtz : Jen Calonita : Janet Carey : Caroline Carlson : Soman Chainani : Justina Chen : Deborah Copaken : Kathryn Craft : Mike Curato : Tara Dairman : Sarah Darer : Kimberly Derting : Christa Desir : Sarah Dessen : Margaret Dilloway : Erin Dionne : Jason Carter Eaton : Elizabeth Eulberg : Abby Fabiaschi : Tim Federle :
      Gayle Forman : Janet Fox : Michael Frank : Stephanie Gangi : Liz Garton Scanlon : Lisa Genova : David MacInnis Gill : Jennifer Gilmore : Dean Gloster : Tessa Gratton : Lev Grossman : Laurie Halse Anderson : Jimin Han : Cathi Hanauer : Corey Ann Haydu : Christopher Healy : Julie Hedlund : Alice Hoffman : K.A. Holt : Mark Holtzen : Justina Ireland : A.J. Jacobs : Brenda Janowitz : Maureen Johnson : Varian Johnson : Erica Jong : Cynthia Kaplan :
      Amber Keyser : K.S. King : Julie Klam : Jesse Klausmeier : Jo Knowles : Kirby Larson : Emmy Laybourne : Caroline Leavitt : Stacey Lee : Cynthia Leititch Smith : Alexander London : David Lubar : Meredith Maran : John Bemelmans Marciano : Wednesday Martin : Katherine Marsh : Joyce Maynard : Sarah McCoy : Terra Elan McVoy : Jilian Medoff : Brad Meltzer : Kate Messner : Kate Chell Milford : Aimee Molloy : Annabel Monaghan : Anne Nesbet : Judith Newman : Sara Nickerson : Lin Oliver : Susan Orlean : Micol Ostow : Lisa Papademetriou : Natalie C. Parker : Jodi Picoult : Amy Poeppel : Amy Reed : Jenn Reese : Brendan Reichs : Kathy Reichs : Sarah Robbins : Roxana Robinson : Geoff Rodkey : Olugbemisola Rhuday Perkovich : Laura Ruby : Jeanne Ryan : Jo Salas : Dianne Salerni : Susie Orman Schnall : Heidi Schulz : John Searles : Rori Shay : Courtney Sheinmel : Laurel Snyder :
      Jenny Staff Johnson : Nancy Turner Steveson : Sarah-Jane Stratford : Lisa Schroeder : J. Courtney Sullivan :
      Natalia Sylvester : Jaime Temairik : Laurie Thompson : Kim Turrisi : Anne Ursu : Audrey Glassman Vernick :
      Wendy Wahman : Lee Wind : Meg Wolitzer : Kat Yeh

      • Call me whatever name you want for saying this BUT, the majority of names on this list are female. I find that very telling…

      • Wish I’d seen your comment before I gave them a click from the link someone posted above.

      • I was sad about Brad Meltzer being on that list. He had the show Decoded on the History Channel.

    • I recognized three authors. Erica Jong and Deborah Copaken don’t surprise. Copaken’s book “Shutterbabe” is an interesting read about a female war photographer. And you learn she is a pretty f**ked up individual. I am said to say that I am very disappointed with Brad Meltzer.

    • I joined their group so that I could leave the following message.
      “Instead of the things you cite above why not do something about the gangs in this country. Most of the “children” you want to protect are in fact gang members.
      Most if not all other gun owners are responsible citizens who you target. Be realistic and realize that more laws won’t prevent criminals and gang members from doing illegal things. The only ones that follow the rules are the people you target.
      Stop lying and come out and say your group and others like you consider “real change” to mean confiscation.”

  7. Ya know, I just had the strangest thought reading the Bloomturd piece.
    All POTG should sign up for their newsletters, emails (to never-viewed secondary email addresses (thank you hotmail)), etc.
    This would cost them a lot of $$ and man hours.
    Think about how much of an impact on their bottom line we might have if we all did that.
    Of course they could spew the fact that their #’s are growing… but then, why doesn’t anybody show up at their rallies?

    Sometimes deviant behavior makes me smile.

    • Signing up for an electronic newsletter or email costs them nil

      It does, however, help them bleat about how “we have 150 million members across the United States!”

      • As a former business owner, I can assure you that email campaigns do, in fact, cost money. There are even businesses based solely around electronic communication with clients/customers/etc: Constant Contact, Mail Shrimp, et al.

    • Yeah … No.

      The electronic version has a differential cost of zero to send, and I’m not about to give them a physical address.

  8. The first segment is about a group tracking the implementation of gun laws? There is so much fail in that… It implies that gun laws are the end goal and not just the means to their utopian dream. Oh yeah I forgot that this is 2017 and the marxists can be that bold and their followers really are dumb enough to miss that slip in liberal illogic.
    Government run schools teaching kids how to feel and not reason. You know because reason and critical thought are such outdated concepts in this our brave new world.

  9. “We found striking disparities between states in both the number of firearm laws and the rate of adoption of these laws over time.”
    More like ‘striking disparities between these five states and all the others…’ or ‘striking disparities between notorious crime centers and all other urban areas…’ or ‘areas with historical Democrat-hegemony and all other areas’

  10. Ah, isn’t wonderful when your neighbors can tell you what you can and can’t do with your property? There is nothing worse than a neighbor that hates how you and your other neighbors live and attempts to get the city out there to constantly harass you and the other neighbors.

  11. Any ‘database’ that puts Maryland in the same category as PA for gun laws is bogus.

  12. “…the bullet blew a hole through his shorts…”

    If a gun “went off” in my pocket, there would be *two* holes in my shorts, because I would very likely relieve myself with sudden and violent force.

    • I’m trying to figure out how a gun, in the front pocket of my shorts (cargo shorts?) could just “go off” and hit only the inside of my foot.
      The only way I can imagine that working is if I have my hand in the pocket scratching my nuts. The twisting of the shorts and my hand in the pocket moving around is the only way I can see the gun just “going off” (actually, it didn’t just “go off,” I pressed the trigger while scratching) and hitting the inside of my foot.
      Anyone else wonder about that?

      • Not much really to wonder about. “Ball explained to officers that the firearm wasn’t holstered and was loose in his right shorts pocket when it went off….” Coins, keys, pack of chewing gum, crack pipe…all it takes is for something else in his pocket to get wedged against the trigger while he was walking.

        The only thing that surprises me about this guy is how he’s managed to stay alive as long as he has. Guy’s another good candidate for the IGOTD / Darwin award.

  13. I always laugh at this chart and how they ding us in PA.
    – Shall Issue, with some sheriffs issuing on the spot, 5 year LTCF is $20
    – No fingerprinting or training requirements
    – Open carry has been legal for decades
    – State preemption
    – No gun rationing
    – No guns signs don’t carry the force of law
    – Second highest number of CCW permits issues of all the states
    – No waiting periods or permits to purchase
    – Hell, it’s not illegal to open carry an AR in a bar while you’re drinking

    • Agreed, I resent seeing PA lumped in with anti-gun states like Illinois and MD. Even the article identifies PA as a ‘stand your ground’ state. Which makes me question the veracity of the article. Especially since it implies that lax gun laws equals more gun related crime, while ignoring the fact that cities and states with the toughest gun laws contribute the most to the perception of high rates of “gun violence.”

  14. Here are some quotes from this piece of worthless propaganda:

    “Our database includes 133 different measures intended to reduce gun violence…”

    “States are increasingly enacting laws that allow people to shoot other people as a first resort in public, instead of retreating when threatened.”

    “Because of inaction on the part of the federal government, it is up to each individual state to develop its own policies to reduce gun violence.”

    Here’s a little propaganda of my own: Stop bashing the NRA and thank your lucky stars they are here preserving the 2A. It would be no more than “a mere scrap of paper” without them.

  15. I would like to see a map showing homicides per state next to the map of the lax gun laws… you know… to clearly potentially clearly illustrate that perhaps gun laws are not that problem, but that human beings lack of respect for human life is….

      • I live in Phoenix; the problem (along with the normal problems of trying to cram too many people together in too small a space) is a large illegal alien population, along with the area being a drug pipeline from Mexico.
        Then there are the “normal” crazies who can’t seem to keep themselves under control, like Jake Harris, who are just traveling through and being stupid.

  16. If anyone wants to read a really good SiFi I highly recommend Bob Blink. His first book is called “The Corrector”.
    It’s a really interesting take on a form of Time travel. There are lots of Firearms and the author appears to be pretty knowledgeable about them. His books were hard to put down. They are available for Kindle.

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