Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Toomey, Manchin, And The Politics Of "Doing Something"
I, for one, do not understand just what the hell that Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) thought he'd gain by entering backroom discussions on gun control with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV). Gun control legislation was dying in the Senate because red-state Democrats up for re-election in 2014 were mortally afraid of it. Toomey's move gives them more than a bit of cover.
I'll be in client meetings when Toomey and Manchin have their press conference at 11 am this morning. However, Sebastian and Bitter have been doing a great job of reporting on Toomey's efforts. I suggest going there to read some more background and to keep up with the latest details.
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Thanks for the shout out! I'm going to try and see if I can find coverage of it online, but I'm not sure I will find the full presser. Of course, part of the issue is that even if I did, I wouldn't trust the real language until they released the bill. As I read last night, it's going to be offered as an amendment, so there's a good chance we mere mortal voters may not get to see it until it has already passed. Isn't that just lovely?
ReplyDeleteI already have my concerns. They mention gun shows. All non-private transactions at gun shows already have checks in place. Does that mean new onerous regulations on gun shows to regulate any private sales that happen on site? IIRC, Bloomberg's past gun show language made it a crime for the gun show promoter if people arranged any kind of sale on premises--even if the sale ended up taking place off site later in the week. If that didn't scare promoters out of the business, it certainly would make gun shows so onerous and expensive that they'll lose their impact as an organizing source for the gun culture.
They also mention internet sales. Since the vast majority of those sales are going dealer to dealer before the purchaser ever touches the gun, there's already a check in place there, too. Does that mean any new regulation is in what we post online in regards to guns we might be open to selling? I mean would my old post about raffling off 1911s end up covered? We're doing another gun raffle later this year, and I planned to let readers know about it, but I don't know if that could be construed as an internet sale of guns. Anyone who wins will have to arrange shipping from an FFL to their FFL and undergo the background checks, but who knows what will come out of this?
We already saw from Schumer's language that we cannot trust them for one minute to limit themselves to whatever they say in their talking points. Since Manchin is merely Schumer's representative in trying to find a GOP co-sponsor, I think it's perfectly reasonable to doubt anything proposed from this alliance that Toomey had no business seeking out.
And Toomy is the mouthpiece for McCain I'll bet my shirt.
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