She’s Right You Know

This is something that I thought that I’d ever write but Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is correct. To be more precise, she is correct on one thing. That is that any ban on bump stocks is the business of Congress and not a regulatory agency.

In an op-ed published Wednesday in the Washington Post, she wrote:

Automatic weapons produced before 1986 are highly regulated, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives tracks them. Despite this, the agency has consistently stated that bump stocks could not be regulated under the current law. That was because they do not fit the legal definition of an automatic weapon under the National Firearms Act.

Automatic weapons are defined by their ability to fire a continuous number of rounds by holding down the trigger. Bump stocks and other accessories have made this definition largely obsolete, creating a loophole that circumvents Congress’s intent to bar civilians from achieving automatic rates of fire. That’s because the recoil of the stock “bumps” the finger against the trigger, allowing the weapon to achieve automatic fire. Because of this technicality, bump stocks have not run afoul of the law.

ATF initially concluded that it could not ban these devices through regulation in 2008. And after the 2012 shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., ATF further explained in a 2013 letter to Congress that it could not take unilateral action because “stocks of this type are not subject to the provisions of federal firearms statutes.” In addition, internal ATF documents made public through Freedom of Information Act requests by Giffords Law Center and Democracy Forward show that the agency had reiterated its lack of authority to ban bump stocks unilaterally and that it had approved similar devices as recently as April 2017 — under the Trump administration.

In March 2018, the Justice Department did an about-face, claiming that bump stocks do, in fact, fall under the legal definition of a machine gun and therefore can be banned through regulations. The administration’s position hinges on a dubious analysis claiming that bumping the trigger is not the same as pulling it.

Feinstein goes on to say that banning bump stocks by executive fiat opens it to legal challenge and that the Final Rule provides a roadmap for the "gun lobby" to do just that. This is not to say that Feinstein is pro-bump stock. Far from it. She wants them banned along with "trigger cranks" but says it should be done by Congress. Part of her rationale is that if it is done by Congress a future President can't change his or her mind about bump stocks and ditch the ban. The other part of her rationale is the feeling that President Trump and the BATFE with the ban are intruding upon a Congressional prerogative.

The bump stock ban is already being challenged in District Court in Guedes et al v. BATFE et al. Gun Owners of America have also been promising a lawsuit which as of this afternoon still hasn't been filed.

Grassley Statement On Kavanaugh's Accuser (Updated)

Sen. Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released a statement today regarding Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and her allegations of an attack by Judge Brett Kavanaugh while they were teenagers. The statement below does a good job at being respectful to Ford, calling out Dianne Feinstein and the Democrats, and nailing those in the media who leaked Ford's name. Grassley has always championed whistle blowers and he brings that credibility to this statement.

WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley issued the following statement regarding the nomination of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

“Anyone who comes forward as Dr. Ford has deserves to be heard, so I will continue working on a way to hear her out in an appropriate, precedented and respectful manner.

“The standard procedure for updates to any nominee’s background investigation file is to conduct separate follow-up calls with relevant parties. In this case, that would entail phone calls with at least Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford. Consistent with that practice, I asked Senator Feinstein’s office yesterday to join me in scheduling these follow-ups. Thus far, they have refused. But as a necessary step in evaluating these claims, I’ll continue working to set them up.

“Unfortunately, committee Republicans have only known this person's identity from news reports for less than 24 hours and known about her allegations for less than a week. Senator Feinstein, on the other hand, has had this information for many weeks and deprived her colleagues of the information necessary to do our jobs. The Minority withheld even the anonymous allegations for six weeks, only to later decide that they were serious enough to investigate on the eve of the committee vote, after the vetting process had been completed.

“It’s deeply disturbing that the existence of these allegations were leaked in a way that seemed to preclude Dr. Ford’s confidentiality.

“Over my nearly four decades in the Senate I have worked diligently to protect whistleblowers and get to the bottom of any issue. Dr. Ford’s attorney could have approached my office, while keeping her client confidential and anonymous, so that these allegations could be thoroughly investigated. Nevertheless, we are working diligently to get to the bottom of these claims.”

UPDATE: A special meeting is scheduled for Monday and both Ford and Kavanaugh will appear.

Judiciary Committee to Hear from Kavanaugh, Ford in Public Hearing

WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today announced that the Committee will hold a public hearing with Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.

“As I said earlier, anyone who comes forward as Dr. Ford has done deserves to be heard. My staff has reached out to Dr. Ford to hear her account, and they held a follow-up call with Judge Kavanaugh this afternoon. Unfortunately, committee Democrats have refused to join us in this effort. However, to provide ample transparency, we will hold a public hearing Monday to give these recent allegations a full airing,” Grassley said.

Below is the official notice for Monday’s hearing.

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE HEARING CONTINUATION

The Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing on the nomination of the Honorable Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States will continue Monday, September 24, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building. By order of the Chairman.

A New Word For The Political Lexicon - Feinsteined

Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for Pres. George W. Bush, has come up with a new word for the political lexicon. It is Feinsteined. This is when an anonymous letter from an anonymous source with an unknown allegation is supposedly sent to the FBI in an effort to derail the nomination of a judicial candidate. In this case, the nominee is Judge Brett Kavanaugh and the allegations may or may not be something non-sexual he did at a party with a girl when he and she were 17 years old.

First came getting “Borked.” Now there is getting “Feinsteined.” A secret source. An unknown allegation (from high school) and an FBI referral. This isn’t advice and consent. It’s attack and burn. https://t.co/YKWlox1klo

— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 14, 2018

In the interest of full disclosure, I may or may not have gotten drunk at a New Year's Eve party when I was 17 and may or may not have kissed a girl at the stroke of midnight who was another guy's girlfriend and may or may not have gotten in trouble with my mom for coming home drunk from a party.

"Stabbing with a Bullet"

Oh, Di, you are so unbelievably stupid.

"A handgun [wound] is simply a stabbing with a bullet. It goes in like a nail." With the high-velocity rounds of the AR-15, "it’s as if you shot somebody with a Coke can." https://t.co/xkyw3pEtjn #BanAssaultWeapons

— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) February 26, 2018

Chris Baker at Lucky Gunner Labs has done yeoman's work testing all manner of handgun self-defense ammo. Everything from .380 ACP to .45 ACP in pistol cartridges as well as both .38 Special and .357 Magnum in revolver cartridges were tested in ballistic gelatin. I don't consider a .380 ACP expanding to half an inch to be "like a nail".

As a reminder, No Lawyers - Only Guns and Money blog is an affiliate of LuckyGunner.com. Any commissions earned are donated to Second Amendment organizations to protect our rights.



H/T The Captain's Journal

BOHICA: Feinstein's AWB of 2017 Introduced

Democrats live by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's aphorism "don't let a crisis go to waste" and they are wasting little time in using the church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Today, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced her new and updated Assault Weapons Ban of 2017. It goes well beyond her original bill from 1994. Not content to apply it just to rifles and carbines, it will also apply to semi-automatic pistols that include a threaded barrel. It would also mandate "safe storage" of existing firearms that would be covered under the bill that had been grandfathered. Finally, the bill will limit mag capacity to 10 rounds.

You can read the entire 125 pages of the bill here. While it goes into great detail, Appendix A is rather meaningless as it lists the firearms that are exempted such as the single shot Ruger Number 1.

According to her press release, she is joined in sponsoring the bill by:

Joining Senator Feinstein on the bill are Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.).

 There are no surprises on that list. Even Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) who represents the relatively gun friendly state of Pennsylvania threw in with the gun prohibitionists a long time ago. I'm sure he rationalizes it by noting that Pennsylvania doesn't allow semi-autos for deer hunting.

NRA Opposes Both Feinstein's S.1916 And Curbelo's HR 3999

The NRA announced yesterday that it opposed both Sen. Dianne Feinstein's S.1916 and Rep. Carlos Curbelo's HR 3999. These bills would ban any part that could increase the rate of fire of a semi-automatic fire.

The opposition was announced via an interview with the Washington Free Beacon's Stephen Gutowski.

"We are opposed to the Feinstein and Curbelo legislation," Jennifer Baker, a spokesperson for the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, told the Washington Free Beacon.

The text for Sen. Feinstein's S.1916 can be found here while the text of  Rep. Curbelo's HR 3999 can be found here. The Trojan Horse in both bills is this language.

any part, combination of parts, component, device, attachment, or accessory that is designed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a semi- automatic rifle but not convert the semiautomatic rifle into a machinegun.

As I noted in earlier blog posts on the issue, this could be anything from a replacement trigger reset spring to a Geissele trigger to a lightweight AR bolt carrier to a heavier AR buffer. In other words, the BATFE Technology Division could use this to ban anything and everything related to a semi-automatic rifle short of the gritty mil-spec trigger.

Feinstein's S.1916 - Automatic Gunfire Prevention Act

This past Wednesday, October 4th, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced S.1916 - Automatic Gunfire Prevention Act - in response to the Las Vegas mass casualty event. As of today, the bill has 38 co-sponsors. All the co-sponsors are Democrats with the exception of Bernie Sanders who is still listed as an Independent.

The operative part of the bill reads:

(v)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), on and after the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, it shall be unlawful for any person to import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, a trigger crank, a bump-fire device, or any part, combination of parts, component, device, attachment, or accessory that is designed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a semi- automatic rifle but not convert the semiautomatic rifle into a machinegun.

The prohibition would not apply to any agency or department of the United States or to those of any state or local government. The full text of the bill is here.

As I've said many a time when it comes to legislation, the devil is in the details. More importantly, it will be in how the courts and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives choose to interpret any part, etc. that is designed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a semi-auto rifle.

I foresee that items like the Franklin Armory binary trigger systems would be banned under this bill even though not explicitly named. Where I think it will get dicey is with springs and drop-in triggers. Will a stronger trigger return spring or a lighter hammer spring be considered items that function to accelerate the rate of fire? Would anything that makes for a smoother and/or lighter trigger pull fall under the rubric of this bill?

Indeed, would using a rubber band from an office supply store (or that your mail is banded with by the USPS) be prohibited by this bill? SayUncle has a number of examples of bump firing without using any of the explicitly banned items.

I attended the local gun show yesterday. In my 3 hours there, I saw only one person with a Slide-Fire stock. I don't know if he had just bought it or had it with him to sell.

Bump fire stocks are novelty items in my opinion. I don't have a need for one nor do I intend to buy one. That said, I think this bill needs to be killed. No bill introduced within days of a serious tragedy is meant to address the problems behind the tragedy. They are strictly to make political hay. This bill in particular is meant to stick it to the gun culture. The all encompassing weasel words after trigger crank and bump-fire device are so open for interpretation that you won't know what is legal and what is not. That is just not good legislation.


H/T Tiffany Johnson for the link to the bill's text.

Judge Gorsuch On Heller

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and ardent gun prohibitionist, got her chance to question Judge Neil Gorsuch on the Heller decision. She tried to corner him on it. She lost.

As Judge Gorsuch says in his testimony below, Heller is the law of the land.




I do have to disagree with Judge Gorsuch on one thing. I don't think Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson is a very fine judge nor do I think Judge Wilkinson respects the Supreme Court's ruling in the Heller decision. Wilkinson is a member of the Virginia gentry, who I suspect, thinks that the problem with the Second Amendment is that it allows the riff-raff to own guns. That riff-raff is you and me, the non-prep school, non-Yalie, non-son of a banker sorts who actually have the temerity to believe that the Second Amendment means what it says.

Sneak Attack By Dems Fails

If it hadn't been for an alert from the National Shooting Sports Foundation this afternoon, I would not have known that the Democrats were planning to bring up gun control amendments to H.R.3762 - Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015. That bill would repeal parts of ObamaCare so it was near and dear to the Republicans' heart.

The two major anti-gun amendments were brought up by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV). Feinstein's amendment would have made anyone listed on the FBI's secret Terrorist Screening Database a prohibited person for NICS checks. The Manchin amendment was a repeat of 2013's Manchin-Toomey universal background check bill.

Both amendments needed 60 votes to pass. Fortunately, neither even got a majority.

Feinstein's amendment failed 45 Aye to 54 Nay. Meanwhile, Manchin-Toomey failed by a vote of 47 Aye to 50 Nay as reported live on the Senate's livestream. It seems that an additional vote was added to the Aye column in the final reprot.

As NSSF General Counsel Larry Keane pointed out on Twitter, Manchin-Toomey got 7 fewer votes in 2015 than in 2013. (Actually, 6 but still...)

Both of these votes were cynical efforts on the part of Democrats to play off on yesterday's terrorist attack in San Bernadino, California. I think we can come to expect to see this come up with every major vote or after any mass shooting that doesn't involve JJ, Pookie, Ice Dog, or Ray-Ray.

The roll call vote on Feinstein's amendment breaks down like this:

YEAs ---45
Baldwin (D-WI) Bennet (D-CO) Blumenthal (D-CT) Booker (D-NJ) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Coons (D-DE) Donnelly (D-IN) Durbin (D-IL) Feinstein (D-CA) Franken (D-MN)	Gillibrand (D-NY) Heinrich (D-NM) Hirono (D-HI) Kaine (D-VA) King (I-ME) Kirk (R-IL) Klobuchar (D-MN) Leahy (D-VT) Manchin (D-WV) Markey (D-MA) McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Merkley (D-OR) Mikulski (D-MD) Murphy (D-CT)	Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Peters (D-MI) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Sanders (I-VT) Schatz (D-HI) Schumer (D-NY) Shaheen (D-NH) Stabenow (D-MI) Tester (D-MT) Udall (D-NM) Warren (D-MA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---54
Alexander (R-TN) Ayotte (R-NH) Barrasso (R-WY) Blunt (R-MO) Boozman (R-AR) Burr (R-NC) Capito (R-WV) Cassidy (R-LA) Coats (R-IN) Cochran (R-MS) Collins (R-ME) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Cotton (R-AR) Crapo (R-ID) Cruz (R-TX) Daines (R-MT) Enzi (R-WY)	Ernst (R-IA) Fischer (R-NE) Flake (R-AZ) Gardner (R-CO) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Hatch (R-UT) Heitkamp (D-ND) Heller (R-NV) Hoeven (R-ND) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Johnson (R-WI) Lankford (R-OK) Lee (R-UT) McCain (R-AZ) McConnell (R-KY) Moran (R-KS)	Murkowski (R-AK) Paul (R-KY) Perdue (R-GA) Portman (R-OH) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Rounds (R-SD) Rubio (R-FL) Sasse (R-NE) Scott (R-SC) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Sullivan (R-AK) Thune (R-SD) Tillis (R-NC) Toomey (R-PA) Vitter (R-LA) Wicker (R-MS)

Not Voting - 1

Warner (D-VA)

And the roll call vote on this year's Manchin-Toomey universal background check amendment is as follows:

YEAs ---48
Baldwin (D-WI) Bennet (D-CO) Blumenthal (D-CT) Booker (D-NJ) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Collins (R-ME) Coons (D-DE) Donnelly (D-IN) Durbin (D-IL) Feinstein (D-CA) Franken (D-MN)	Gillibrand (D-NY) Heinrich (D-NM) Hirono (D-HI) Kaine (D-VA) King (I-ME) Kirk (R-IL) Klobuchar (D-MN) Leahy (D-VT) Manchin (D-WV) Markey (D-MA) McCain (R-AZ) McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Merkley (D-OR) Mikulski (D-MD) Murphy (D-CT)	Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Peters (D-MI) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Sanders (I-VT) Schatz (D-HI) Schumer (D-NY) Shaheen (D-NH) Stabenow (D-MI) Tester (D-MT) Toomey (R-PA) Udall (D-NM) Warren (D-MA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---50
Alexander (R-TN) Ayotte (R-NH) Barrasso (R-WY) Blunt (R-MO) Boozman (R-AR) Burr (R-NC) Capito (R-WV) Cassidy (R-LA) Coats (R-IN) Cochran (R-MS) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Cotton (R-AR) Crapo (R-ID) Cruz (R-TX) Daines (R-MT) Enzi (R-WY)	Ernst (R-IA) Fischer (R-NE) Flake (R-AZ) Gardner (R-CO) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Hatch (R-UT) Heitkamp (D-ND) Heller (R-NV) Hoeven (R-ND) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Lankford (R-OK) Lee (R-UT) McConnell (R-KY) Moran (R-KS) Murkowski (R-AK)	Paul (R-KY) Perdue (R-GA) Portman (R-OH) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Rounds (R-SD) Rubio (R-FL) Sasse (R-NE) Scott (R-SC) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Sullivan (R-AK) Thune (R-SD) Tillis (R-NC) Vitter (R-LA) Wicker (R-MS)

Not Voting - 2
Johnson (R-WI)	Warner (D-VA)

Just like in 2013 the only Republicans voted for Manchin-Toomey were Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and, of course, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). (Corrected to add Collins who I missed when I first scanned the list)

Self-Defense Advice From Senator Feinstein

It appears that Sen. Dianne Feinstein has trained at the Joe Biden School of Tactical Shooting and Self Defense. She was a guest of Chris Wallace on FoxNews Sunday. He asked her whether in light of the lockdown in Watertown, Massachusetts with the bombing suspect still on the loose, would people have liked to have guns. Watch her answer below.





I guess we should be happy she didn't suggest the person go out on their porch and fire the shotgun in the air. Given the scenes of the police going door to door, bursting into houses, forcing people out, etc., that might have been a death wish.


H/T Dave Kopel

Heh - Feinstein's AWB Amendment Fails

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) got the vote she demanded on her Assault Weapons Ban of 2013.

And as expected, she lost. Big time!

The vote was 40 aye, 60 nay.

I'm a bit surprised that Bob Casey (D-PA) voted FOR the bill. I'm sure that will go over well with all the gun owners and deer hunters in Pennsylvania.

The only thing this vote did was allow some red-state Democrats to claim they voted against gun control. I noted that Kay Hagan and Mary Landrieu who both voted for Manchin-Toomey voted Nay on this.

UPDATE: Below is the roll call vote by position. It tells me two things. First, that there are 40 hard core gun prohibitionists in the Senate. Second, Senate seats that were winnable in 2010 and 2012 by Republicans went to anti-gun Democrats due to weak, ineffectual, or stupid Republican nominees. I'm talking about Wisconsin, Virginia, Delaware, and especially Missouri.

YEAs ---40
Baldwin (D-WI) Blumenthal (D-CT) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Coons (D-DE) Cowan (D-MA) Durbin (D-IL) Feinstein (D-CA) Franken (D-MN) Gillibrand (D-NY)	Harkin (D-IA) Hirono (D-HI) Kaine (D-VA) Kirk (R-IL) Klobuchar (D-MN) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Merkley (D-OR) Mikulski (D-MD) Murphy (D-CT) Murray (D-WA)	Nelson (D-FL) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Sanders (I-VT) Schatz (D-HI) Schumer (D-NY) Shaheen (D-NH) Stabenow (D-MI) Warren (D-MA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---60
Alexander (R-TN) Ayotte (R-NH) Barrasso (R-WY) Baucus (D-MT) Begich (D-AK) Bennet (D-CO) Blunt (R-MO) Boozman (R-AR) Burr (R-NC) Chambliss (R-GA) Coats (R-IN) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Collins (R-ME) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID) Cruz (R-TX) Donnelly (D-IN) Enzi (R-WY)	Fischer (R-NE) Flake (R-AZ) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Hagan (D-NC) Hatch (R-UT) Heinrich (D-NM) Heitkamp (D-ND) Heller (R-NV) Hoeven (R-ND) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Johnson (D-SD) Johnson (R-WI) King (I-ME) Landrieu (D-LA) Lee (R-UT) Manchin (D-WV) McCain (R-AZ)	McConnell (R-KY) Moran (R-KS) Murkowski (R-AK) Paul (R-KY) Portman (R-OH) Pryor (D-AR) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Rubio (R-FL) Scott (R-SC) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Tester (D-MT) Thune (R-SD) Toomey (R-PA) Udall (D-CO) Udall (D-NM) Vitter (R-LA) Warner (D-VA) Wicker (R-MS)

"Jumped-Up Refugee From A Zoning Board"

The title of this post comes from a description of Sen. Dianne Feinsten (D-CA) made by Tam in a post back in February. I loved it then and I especially love it now that DiFi is all butt hurt over the eloquent thrashing she took from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday.

Ted Cruz asked DiFi whether she thought Congress could likewise limit the right of the people under the 1st and 4th Amendments as she is seeking to do with her Assault Weapons Ban of 2012. As you can see in the video below, DiFi gets all huffy about it. Three male Democrats also have to jump in because it seems that they are worried that a woman can't make a strong enough argument or so it would seem.





After the committee business meeting, DiFi had to run to CNN's Wolf Blitzer to wrap the mantle of victimhood across her shoulders. She said, "Well, I just felt patronized. I felt he was somewhat arrogant about it." CNN is still playing the clip below of DiFi whining about her treatment as I saw just this morning on TV in a local McDonalds.





Did DiFin really say she put her fingers in the wounds of George Moscone and Harvey Milk? Hmnm. I wonder when DiFi will get around to telling people that fellow Supervisor Dan White didn't use an AR or an AK or even an FN-FAL to murder them. No, Dan White used a S&W Model 10 in .38 Special - a plain old everyday revolver then used by police forces around the country.

20 years in the Senate and 9 years as the accidental mayor of San Francisco still doesn't make one a expert on Constitutional matters. Nor does it seem to engender any real respect for it either. She is, and will always remain, what Tam described her as - a meddling harpy and a jumped-up refugee from a zoning board.

S.150- Assault Weapons Ban of 2013

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced S.150 - the Assault Weapons (sic) Ban of 2013 - to much hoopla yesterday. She may have even pulled a David Gregory when she used 10 firearms prohibited by the District of Columbia in her presentation. While the bill as it stands may not even get enough Democrat votes to pass the Senate, I have the feeling that it will be used as a negotiating tool.

S.150 has 17 original co-sponsors and has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sen Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] - 1/24/2013
Sen Boxer, Barbara [D-CA] - 1/24/2013
Sen Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD] - 1/24/2013
Sen Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE] - 1/24/2013
Sen Durbin, Richard [D-IL] - 1/24/2013
Sen Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] - 1/24/2013
Sen Lautenberg, Frank R. [D-NJ] - 1/24/2013
Sen Levin, Carl [D-MI] - 1/24/2013
Sen Menendez, Robert [D-NJ] - 1/24/2013
Sen Mikulski, Barbara A. [D-MD] - 1/24/2013
Sen Murphy, Christopher S. [D-CT] - 1/24/2013
Sen Reed, Jack [D-RI] - 1/24/2013
Sen Rockefeller, John D., IV [D-WV] - 1/24/2013
Sen Schatz, Brian [D-HI] - 1/24/2013
Sen Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY] - 1/24/2013
Sen Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] - 1/24/2013
Sen Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI] - 1/24/2013

While there are no Republican co-sponsors to this bill, the Washington Post reported today that Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) is working with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) on other gun control measures.

The full text of S.150 is not yet up on the Library of Congress' Thomas server. However, a full text copy have been loaded on Scribd and can be found here. Appendix A lists a large number of single-shot, double-barreled, pump, bolt-action, and some semi-automatic rifles and shotguns that would be expressly exempted from the provision of S.150.

To be frank, Appendix A reads as if some staffer sat down with old copies of Gun Digest and started copying names. For example, it exempts the Ithaca Model 87 pump shotgun but makes no mention of the Model 37. The Model 37 was renamed the Model 87 for a brief period of time and then reverted back to the original name of Model 37.

A summary of the provisions of S.150 can be found here. While grandfathered firearms were not put under the National Firearms Act as previously speculated, it still contains onerous provisions. It contains a safe storage requirement for grandfathered firearms and forbids the sale or transfer of grandfathered magazines. Grandfathered firearms would be allowed to be sold but must go through a FFL and a NICS check.

If you haven't written to your congressman or senator, start now. Even if you live in California or one of the states of her fellow-traveler co-sponsors, write anyway. Don't let anyone say they didn't get letters, emails, and faxes in opposition.

As Leon Trotsky, one of the fathers of the Communist Revolution, said to his Menshevik opponents, and it could just as readily be applied to Feinstein, her bill, and its backers, "You are pitiful, isolated individuals! You are bankrupts. Your role is played out. Go where you belong from now on—into the dustbin of history!"

Feinstein's Other List

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is all about lists. In addition to her list of firearms with ugly (to her) cosmetics, she has thoughtfully provided a list of those people and organizations who don't support your constitutional rights. One might go so far as to refer to it as an "enemies list".

In addition to the usual politicians and gun control groups, Feinstein lists a number of religious, medical, education, and other non-profits supporting her Assault Weapons (sic) Ban of 2013. I would say it provides a convenient list of the groups who won't be getting my charitable donations.

I would add one caveat. Many of the groups listed are national umbrella organizations whose endorsement is for themselves only and not for their member organizations. For example, Catholic Charities USA is listed as an endorser of Feinstein's bill. As I give substantial donations to my diocesan Catholic Social Services and have been a member of its board of directors in the past, I sought clarification on this endorsement from the executive director of the diocesan organization. He informed me that this endorsement only covers Catholic Charities USA and not the many diocesan Catholic Charities or Catholic Social Services who are constituent members. I'm sure that this may be the same for a number of the other organizations listed.

Below is the complete list of those people and organizations who have lent their name in support of Feinstein's bill.

Law Enforcement

International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators
International Association of Chiefs of Police
Major Cities Chiefs Association
Police Executive Research Forum
Police Foundation
Women in Federal Law Enforcement
Chaska (Minn.) Police Chief Scott Knight, former chairman of the Firearms Committee, International Association of Chiefs of Police
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck
San Diego Police Chief Bill Lansdowne

Localities

U.S. Conference of Mayors
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Ventura County Board of Supervisors
Oakland Unified School District Superintendent Anthony Smith
Boston City Council

California mayors

Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox
Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan
Petaluma Mayor David Glass
Pleasant Hill Mayor Michael Harris
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson
San Diego Mayor Bob Filner
San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed
Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido
Santa Cruz Mayor Hilary Bryant
Saratoga Mayor Jill Hunter
Tiburon Mayor Emmett O’Donnell

California cities

Calabasas, Calif.
Lemon Grove, Calif.
Los Angeles
Stockton, Calif.
Ventura, Calif.
West Hollywood, Calif.

Gun safety (sic)

Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Mayors Against Illegal Guns
Violence Policy Center
Washington CeaseFire

Education and child welfare

20 Children
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Federation of Teachers
Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Child Welfare League of America
Children’s Defense Fund
Every Child Matters
Moms Rising
National Association of Social Workers
National PTA
National Education Association
San Diego Unified School District

Religious

African Methodist Episcopal Church
Alliance of Baptists
American Baptist Churches of the South
American Baptist Home Mission Societies
American Friends Service Committee
Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America
Camp Brotherhood
Catholic Charities USA
Catholic Health Association
Catholic Health Initiatives
Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good
Catholics United
Church of the Brethren
Church Women United, Inc.
Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Disciples Home Missions, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Dominican Sisters of Peace
FaithsAgainstGunViolence.org
Franciscan Action Network
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Health Ministries Association
Heeding God’s Call
Hindu American Foundation
Interfaith Alliance of Idaho
Islamic Society of North America
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Jewish Reconstructionist Movement
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Mennonite Central Committee, Washington Office
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Council of Churches
National Episcopal Health Ministries
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Pax Christi USA
PICO Network Lifelines to Healing
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness
Progressive National Baptist Convention
Rabbinical Assembly
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
San Francisco Interfaith Council
Sikh Council on Religion and Education, USA
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
Sojourners
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
United Church of Christ
United Methodist Church
United Methodist Women
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Washington National Cathedral
Women of Reform Judaism

Health care

American Academy of Pediatrics
American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American College of Surgeons
American Public Health Association
Doctors for America
National Association of School Nurses

Other

Alliance for Business Leadership
American Bar Association
Black American Political Association of California
Grandmothers for Peace International
National Parks Conservation Association
Sierra Club
TASH
Washington Office on Latin America

I Like The Cut Of His Jib

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is the junior senator from Texas and the former Solicitor General of Texas. He was responsible for organizing the amicus brief from 31 states in support of Heller in DC v. Heller.

Today he fired back at Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her Assault Weapons (sic) Ban of 2013.

Washington politicians shouldn’t be taking advantage of recent tragedy to try to push an aggressive gun control agenda. Real assault weapons—machine guns—are already functionally illegal, and they have been since 1934. This proposal would have done nothing to prevent the terrible murders in Newtown, but it would limit the constitutional liberties of law-abiding citizens. And gun control doesn’t work – the empirical data overwhelmingly demonstrate that strict gun-control laws consistently produce more crime and more murders.

The Second Amendment exists to ensure that law-abiding Americans can protect their homes and families, and I look forward to helping lead the fight to defeat this bill and to protect our constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

I'm glad we have such a strong Second Amendment advocate in the Senate.

Sample Letter Opposing Senate Gun Control Bills

One of the problems in keeping up the pressure weekly on Senators and Representatives is coming up with new ways to say "no more gun control". Below is a letter that I sent today to both of my senators. I took the approach that magazine restrictions and bans on AR-15s are anti-woman and anti-family which it is. How many Senators want to be seen as being anti-woman and anti-family?

Both the Complementary Spouse and I have North Carolina Concealed Handgun Permits. I used that in the intro to illustrate that we were the "good guys". If you have a CCW, say so. If not, leave that part out.

I sent my letters by fax to both their Washington office and one of their in-state offices. I used fax rather than the mail or email for a couple of reasons. First, due to the anthrax scare after 9-11, it takes regular mail a week at least to be delivered to an office. Second, a fax is instantaneous. Finally, I think a signed fax, since it takes a little more effort, gets more attention than an email.

The letter below can be cut and pasted into your own word processing program. I have put parantheses around the areas which can be filled in or left out. If you are a woman, I'd make sure to say so.

Senator (fill in blank)
US Senate
By fax


Dear Senator (fill in blank),

I am a responsible gun owner. (I have a North Carolina Concealed Handgun Permit which means that I’ve received training, been fingerprinted, and have had a complete background check. I’m one of the good folks out there.

This week Sen. Frank Lautenberg has introduced his bill to ban magazines with greater than 10 round capacity and Sen. Dianne Feinstein has or will introduce her bill to effectively outlaw semi-automatic firearms with ugly features.>

I vehemently oppose both of these bills.

Home invasions with multiple invaders have been rising nationwide. Placing a limitation on magazine size puts my family at risk. While someone using a firearm for offensive purposes has plenty of time to change magazines, that is not true of self-defense situations especially in the case of multiple invaders.

The AR-15 is an ideal firearm for home defense. (As a woman,) I find it is lightweight, easy to operate, and has low recoil. The .223/5.56x45 round that most use has been shown in numerous studies to be the least likely bullet to pass through a house wall and injure someone outside of it. The round falls apart when it hits the dry wall or gypsum.

I view both of these bills as anti-family and anti-woman. Passage of either or both will put more families, more women, and more children at risk from criminals, thugs, and rapists.

I urge you to oppose both of these bills. As President Obama recently said, “If it saves the live of only one child, it is worth it.” He’s right but he just had the wrong context in mind.

Sincerely,

(Your name and address)

Here are a couple of links where you can find the names and addresses of your state's US Senators. First, by state, from the US Senate's webpage. Click on the senator's name to be linked to their home page. From there you can find their fax numbers. Second, the NRA-ILA has a "write your reps" address locator. It can be found here. Either way, write them, call them, AND fax them. Moreover, do it like voting in Chicago - early and often.

Remember, She Is More Important Than You Peons

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has placed a hold on the two Senate versions of national right-to-carry reciprocity, S. 2188 and S. 2213.  While she reportedly no longer holds a California concealed carry permit, at one time she held the only such permit issued in San Francisco. While there have been others who have obtained carry permits for San Francisco, you can usually count the number of permits outstanding on the fingers of your hand with a finger or two left over.

From the Huffington Post article on her move:

In putting a hold on both bills, the "National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2012," and the "Respecting States' Rights and Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2012," Feinstein is denying them the easiest avenue of passage: unanimous consent.

The hold does not eliminate the possibility of passing the bills through regular order, with 60-vote requirements to start and end debate. But it's unclear whether enough support actually exists in the Senate. Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), for instance, has said he would oppose the first bill, which cleared the House of Representatives in November with 43 Democrats supporting it and only seven Republicans voting against it.

Her move was quickly applauded by Mark Glaze, executive directors of Mayor Bloomberg's Illegal Mayors, who said, "We hear regularly that senators of both parties are getting tired of being ordered around by the gun lobby, and forced reciprocity is exhibit a."

I think these senators ought to remember that the "gun lobby" is you and me. Currently, Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN) is in the process of learning this as he now trails Richard Mourdock according to some polls.

The full letter is embedded below:

Feinstein - hold - Concealed Carry Reciprocity Legislation