Saturday, April 13, 2013

Operation Reciprocity

Debate may have begun on the Senate's firearm regulatory bill, but the GOP still has plenty of ways to kill the bill.  The next challenge:  poison pill amendments like concealed carry reciprocity.

“Concealed carry reciprocity” would require all states to recognize out-of-state permits for concealed handguns, essentially eliminating tough state gun standards and establishing a low federal floor of regulation. State laws that deny permits to people who have been convicted of certain violent misdemeanors or require gun safety training could be ignored, as states with tighter gun regulations would have to accept permit holders from states with looser standards — even if those permit holders would have been prevented from carrying guns in the state where they are traveling. 
Federal law only prohibits felons and a few other categories of people from possessing guns, leading many states to enact more restrictions. “If Wyoming has a concealed carry law, somebody could come from Wyoming to the big cities of New York or New Haven or Bridgeport and carry a concealed weapon, which is so against our way of life and the needs here in New York,” Schumer warned earlier this week. 
Gun safety advocates also argue that the provision undermines the GOP’s commitment to state sovereignty by stripping states “of their ability to decide who can — and more importantly, who can’t — legally carry a hidden, loaded gun inside their borders.” The NRA contends that “Congress should recognize that the right to self-defense does not end at state lines” and allow “an individual who has met the requirements for a carry permit” in one state, to carry the weapon in all states. State laws governing where concealed firearms may be carried would still “apply within each state’s borders,” the group says
But in a letter to Congress during the 2009 debate on a concealed carry reciprocity amendment offered by Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Mayors Against Illegal Guns warned that the effort could empower illegal gun traffickers by allowing them to purchase guns in one state and then drive them across state lines with impunity — so long as they hold an out-of-state permit. Law enforcement would be required to honor concealed carry permits from all 50 states but without properly verifying their authenticity. A letter from the Major Chiefs Association to Congress in 2009 expressed concern that the measure could endanger law enforcement and public safety.


Not to mention the fact that this would mean Democrats would be the one "killing" the bill.  There's a lot left to go for the bill, and so many ways for it to die...

Ashley, Alison, And The Turtle, Part 7

The Progress Kentucky implosion story continues to be completely awesome, and by "completely awesome" I mean the more information I find out, the more it looks like this couldn't have been a better operation to assure McConnell's re-election than if McConnell was behind all of it.  Today we've got more goodies from Page One Kentucky on the state Democratic party official who gave up Shawn Reilly and Curtis Morrison:  meet Jacob Conway.

Something tells me you’ll want to read this backgrounder on Jacob Conway, the guy who fingered Progress Kentucky SuperPAC folks Shawn Reilly and Curtis Morrison for responsibility of recording Mitch McConnell’s secret strategy session (Part 1 & Part 2). It’s only fitting that Conway’s history get a quick examination.

It’s a disjointed tale involving bench warrants, an Attorney General appointing a Special Prosecutor and claims of mental illness from Conway’s own attorney. Along with a little something involving a prominent gay Republican leader in Washington, D.C. and a well-known Republican-turned-Democrat in Frankfort.

It get weird, and involves a side job with the Log Cabin Republicans (Jacob wasn't always a Democrat, you see), a fake political claim of being a teacher,  $3,000 turning up mysteriously missing from a safe, and Conway's own attorney basically agreeing that the guy is nuts.  Read the whole thing.



Did I mention Conway (left) and Reilly (white tux) know each other pretty well?   No?

This entire story is starting to smell like month-old halibut, folks.  There's a lot more to this than just a recording of a meeting passed to David Corn.  The why, the how, the players, all of it?  This is a symphony of crazy, and we've just gotten to the opening stanzas.

StupidiNews, Weekend Edition!