"Open-Carry" gun nuts VIDEO + Jim Webb WAS For Closing The Gun Show Loophole

By GottaLaff

A victory for gun control advocates today:

(CNN)– House Democratic leaders have killed a bill that would have given Washington, DC a voting representative in Congress because the measure included a provision that would have wiped out the District's strict gun laws.

Taxation with representation on the condition of lax gun laws? Not so much.

A close friend of TPC had a victory of his own. Our own Cliff Schecter (who founded this blog and happens to be my mentor), together with families of those massacred at Virginia Tech, played a roll in discouraging the D.C. powers from passing the bill.

Background on the shooting:

The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting that took place on Monday, April 16, 2007 on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. In two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart, the perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people and wounded many others^[1] before committing suicide. The massacre is the deadliest peacetime shooting incident by a single gunman in United States history, on or off a school campus.^[2] [...]

It sparked intense debate about gun violence, gun laws, gaps in the U.S. system for treating mental health issues, the perpetrator's state of mind, the responsibility of college administrations,^[5] privacy laws, journalism ethics, and other issues. [...] The massacre prompted the state of Virginia to close legal loopholes that had previously allowed Cho, an individual adjudicated as mentally unsound, to purchase handguns without detection by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). It also led to passage of the first major federal gun control measure in more than 13 years.

Now for the inevitable Big H: However...

Jim Webb was "outed", if you will, by these very same Virginia Tech families. He made a promise to them that he has broken; at least that's sure how they are feeling. And he's not exactly denying it.

Webb told the family members he was for closing the gun show loophole. He has yet to do that after 10 months.

The 3rd anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre just passed.

The 11th anniversary of Columbine is also upon us.

Here is Webb's strong private statement to the Virginia Tech Families:

A group that includes victims of the Virginia Tech massacre and their families said Monday that Sen. Jim Webb (D-Virginia) met privately with them and gave his commitment to support a federal law requiring that buyers at gun shows undergo background checks before purchasing firearms.

Compare that to his much weaker public statement:

Will Jenkins, a spokesman for Webb, has sent the following statement. It does not directly address whether Webb supports closing the gun-show loophole: "Senator Webb is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. He also believes that appropriate laws and procedures should be kept in place to ensure that guns should be kept out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. He will continue to work with his colleagues in the Senate toward both ends," Jenkins wrote. [...]

Kevin Hall, a spokesman for Warner, has responded as well. Like Jenkins, he did not directly address the gun show issue. "Senator Warner has a record of supporting Second Amendment rights and he will weigh any future proposals that come before the full Senate. He also will continue to work for full funding to make sure the National Instant Criminal Background Check System is complete and up-to-date - improvements that were mandated by Congress following the 2007 Virginia Tech tragedy," he wrote in a statement.

As a result, ads have been launched in several states, taking aim (no pun) at Jim Webb and Mark Warner. Here is one:




Credit goes to Cliff Schecter, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV), and a big hat tip to Virginians for Public Safety and Mayors Against Illegal Guns, for their efforts.

Cliff and CSGV produced this video. It made a difference:




Thank you, Cliff and Virginia Tech relatives for your push to get a bad law dumped. You showed Congress what it could look like if some very unstable people with extreme views were allowed to carry assault weapons openly in the streets.

Here is the website gun show loophole petition and a press release. Please go sign, I did.

Quickie: Obama Says He Supports D.C. Voting Rights

By GottaLaff

Today's Quickie:

President Barack Obama on Friday spoke for the first time in support of D.C. voting rights.

Wait, what? He's for voting rights? For people? Why, I bet that even includes gay people! The very idea...

That was today's Quickie. Was it good for you?

Organizers Take Steps to Keep Tea Party Rally Clean

By GottaLaff

If the Tea Tantrumers are trying to avoid images like these, these and these, fine and dandy. Personally, I have my doubts about how effective their "steps" will be (Roll Call is subscription only, so the excerpt below is all that was available to us).

From the Department of Too Little Too Late:

Thousands of people are expected to travel to Washington, D.C., next week to attend the April 15 rally against the policies of the Obama administration, and organizers are implementing new steps to ensure the crowd remains civil and its message is not diluted by personal attacks.

Maybe they should have thought of implementing New Rules when it was a New "Movement". Just think of all the spitting, shouting slurs and threats to Congress members they have been prevented.

I guess the blowback is finally catching up to them. Kudos to us for keeping up the pressure, shame on them for their despicable displays, and here's to a genuine effort to rein in the vile hostility.

Source: All DC police, fire radios down

By GottaLaff

Not sure what this is about, but it's creeping me out:

Special to TPC: Infiltrating the Tea Baggers' Big Event

By GottaLaff

CORRECTION: I misunderstood my source. She was on a one-to-one call with someone, NOT the conference call.

There was some question about the reference to the Heritage Foundation's involvement, and this explains it. They were not mentioned, from what I've learned, on the conference call. They were mentioned as advisers on the private call that I refer to below.

Original post:

Earlier today, I posted this:

Ooo, watch out D.C., the Tea Tantrumers are a-comin' for ya!

(Click on image to enlarge)

I have more details since I posted that earlier today... from a concerned source who infiltrated by signing up for the Big March:

My source registered and then received the following e-mail (in part):

All,

Please try and make this call tonight for our project "Take the Town Halls to Washington", which launches this Tuesday.

Please do not post this call in information anywhere publicly -- on a blog for instance. Also, please do not share the call in number without touching base with me. The trolls on the Left on Twitter and elsewhere are actively trying to infiltrate this call.

But oops, guess what? My source got on the call, the very call that was all about what the Tea Tantrumers are planning.

According to what she learned on the call, they are being "advised" by the Heritage Foundation:

Heritage has since continued to have a significant influence in U.S. public policy making, and is widely considered to be one of the most influential research organizations in the United States, especially during the Republican administration of President George W. Bush.^[2]

One of the most influential, biggest conservative think tanks is "advising" them. How grassrootsy of them.

And here's what happened next:

A woman on the call told her that "we" are to fly into DC, where "we" will have "war rooms" out in Chantilly. From there "we" will go into DC, call on Congress, meet with Congress members, with a list of questions "supplied" by the Heritage Foundation (remember, they are the ones who are "advising").

There will be groups of 4 or 5 going to see each elected official, and the meetings will be video taped. The video tapes will then be used to "inform" people, get the truth out, and stop health care reform from going through before Congress goes on break.

Yes, that's right, they will be using those videos to "get the truth out". And by truth, they mean their version of events, I'm sure. Maybe it's the same kind of truth James O'Keefe wanted to get out. If so, it will be the edited truth.

But what if Congress doesn't allow video taping?" Good question.

The woman told her that they would then announce that Congress would only agree to "off the record" meetings and would reveal which congressmen were unwilling to be recorded.

If only the Tea Tantrumers would consider applying for positions at CSPAN. Congress has no objection to CSPAN cameras. They're very orderly and respectful.

And they don't wear funny hats.

The woman also said "the people at the Heritage Foundation have read the entire bill. We want comments on the record from Senators, as this will affect Medicare & Medicaid."

At that point my source made an excuse to get off phone, because, as she told me, she could not hold her tongue any longer had she stayed on. Her head was exploding, as yours probably are now. She was feeling very uneasy about all of this.

And so she asked that I expose their plan. Nothing like a little fresh air and sunshine to disinfect.

Mr. (and Ms.) Tea Party goes to Washington

By GottaLaff

Ooo, watch out D.C., the Tea Tantrumers are a-comin' for ya!

(Click on image to enlarge)

Don't these people have better things to do than wear funny hats, carry misspelled signs, and schlep to D.C.?

Alaska Rep. Don Young on way to DC: Returning to “monkeyland”

By GottaLaff

The Mudflats has a quote from Alaska's Republican representative Don Young as he was on his way back to Washington D.C. And what a quote it is!

This was what a Mudflatter overheard at the airport, and I'm surprised it's not getting more attention:

I flew into Seattle yesterday with Mr. Young. Waiting in line to board he remarked to someone beside him that he was returning to “monkeyland”… I almost lost control when I heard this, but decided to not create a “situation.”

Um... is that what the insiders are calling it these days? Really?


More here.

Court refuses to stop DC's gay marriage law

By GottaLaff

I love good news, and this is very good news:

The Supreme Court has refused to stop the District of Columbia's gay marriage law. [...]

The city has said Wednesday probably will be the first day same-sex couples can apply for marriage licenses.

Best wishes to all the future newlyweds!

Now about that Prop 8 out here in California...

H/t: Gr8RDH

D.C. Council Votes to Recognize Other States' Gay Marriages

By GottaLaff

My home state of denial, California, has a lot of catching up to do:

The D.C. Council voted today to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, on the same day that Vermont became the fourth state to legalize same-sex unions.

Domestic partnerships are already legal in the nation's capital. But today's vote, billed as an important milestone in gay rights, explicitly recognizes relocated gay married couples as married.

The initial vote was 12-0. The unanimous vote sets the stage for future debate on legalizing same-sex marriage in the District and a clash with Congress, which approves the city's laws under Home Rule. The council is expected to take a final vote on the legislation next month.[...]

Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large), who is also gay, predicted it was only a matter of time before the council also takes up a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in the District. "It's no secret that I have been working on legislation that would take us further," he said. "This is the march toward human rights and equality. This is not the march toward special rights. This is the equality march and that march is coming here."

This just made my teeth-gnashing day a whole lot better.

H/t: Babzter