Screw 'em. If it sucks so bad to be an American and have to live under a majority rule in a democracy when it's simply not your majority that's in power right now, then take your fucking toys and Go. The. Fuck. Away.
Benen seems very good at taking things that are small scale and making them sound like they are big. I am curious as to how big of support the OK militia legislation is getting. Benen usually just links to his other articles, so what is happening in OK?
The exemption from federal firearms laws may be unrelated. 15 other states, IIRC, have either passed similar laws or are considering it. There is also ongoing litigation to see if guns not made for sale in other states are interstate commerce. If they aren't then Congress would have to find some other avenue for federal gun laws. From what I have read, these laws have never been for the purpose of any kind of violent uprising in any of the other states.
From the Newstimes article:
Rep. Paul Roan, a former state trooper and one of 14 Democrats who opposed the bill, expressed concern that accessories like silencers and converter switches used to fully automate machine guns would be legalized under the bill.
Interesting. The Oklahoma state police must not require that their troopers be familiar with things like laws. If he were familiar, he would already know that silencers, or suppressors, are already legal in Oklahoma and that full auto "converter switches" are not legal under state law. FWIW, the notion that silencers are dangerous and harmful seems to only be found in movies. I can't find a single instance where one was used in a crime in the last 60 years. They are legal in most states and in many European countries (where they are almost completely unregulated).
Joseph Thai, a constitutional law professor at the University of Oklahoma, said the "firearms freedom" laws wouldn't withstand a constitutional challenge.
"If Oklahoma can exempt local firearms manufacturing and sales from federal law, then it can also exempt local hotels and restaurants from federal anti-discrimination laws," Thai said. "The state can do neither."
ORLY? The difference is that there is a ton of caselaw that says restaurants and hotels are interstate commerce. I don't know about Oklahoma law professors, but the rest of us occasionally take trips to other states...hence the interstate. There haven't been many challenges to gun laws on interstate commerce grounds. One challenge, Lopez, overturned the Gun Free School Zone act on...drumroll please...interstate commerce grounds. As a con law prof, he should be familiar with that case. It is still good law, IIRC.
I think that starting your own militia to fight the feds is a shitty idea. I don't have a problem with states pushing against the feds and forcing them to abide by the Constitution. This is hardly anything new. States have done it with speed limits and medical marijuana, with varying levels of success.
Steve, I always regret posting on gun control issues, and this time didn't mean to. The main issue that provoked this post was the second issue--and one that you ignored--and that is the unbelievable abortion law passed by our state house, vetoed by our moderate Democrat Governor, and then over-ridden by the rabid right wing congress. It includes forcing women seeking an abortion to undergo an invasive vaginal probe, and listen to a doctor describe the fetus in detail.
Sorry about my snark this morning. I am struggling through my long and crazy teaching day. But when you muse about Benen making stuff up about Oklahoma and the militia, look at how radical they are in stuff they pass. No exceptions for rape or incest, and absolutely no respect for women.
Down here in Oklahoma, we are actually living with the "closing of the conservative mind" up front and personally. We are run by outright idiots and the people running for the Republican side for governor include a current Representative who likes to urge on the Tea Party crazies, and another who actually likes the militia idea.
I apologize, as my intent was not to come off as combative. I didn't address the abortion issue because I didn't really know much about what was being proposed. My gut feeling was to agree with Benen's point on that issue.
I just thought his reporting on the gun law changes was somewhat sloppy and indicative of why journalists are held in such low esteem.
Again, I was probably overly snarky and have been trying to adjust to a new job and a new schedule.
No worries. I just think that Oklahoma's GOP is far worse than you guys in Michigan can even imagine. This abortion bill is horrendous, truly horrendous, and the fact that we have a Republican candidate for Governor endorsing that militia idea is just depressing. The Closing of the Conservaitve mind is all around me.
5 comments:
This goes right along with your post.
Screw 'em. If it sucks so bad to be an American and have to live under a majority rule in a democracy when it's simply not your majority that's in power right now, then take your fucking toys and Go. The. Fuck. Away.
Benen seems very good at taking things that are small scale and making them sound like they are big. I am curious as to how big of support the OK militia legislation is getting. Benen usually just links to his other articles, so what is happening in OK?
The exemption from federal firearms laws may be unrelated. 15 other states, IIRC, have either passed similar laws or are considering it. There is also ongoing litigation to see if guns not made for sale in other states are interstate commerce. If they aren't then Congress would have to find some other avenue for federal gun laws. From what I have read, these laws have never been for the purpose of any kind of violent uprising in any of the other states.
From the Newstimes article:
Rep. Paul Roan, a former state trooper and one of 14 Democrats who opposed the bill, expressed concern that accessories like silencers and converter switches used to fully automate machine guns would be legalized under the bill.
Interesting. The Oklahoma state police must not require that their troopers be familiar with things like laws. If he were familiar, he would already know that silencers, or suppressors, are already legal in Oklahoma and that full auto "converter switches" are not legal under state law. FWIW, the notion that silencers are dangerous and harmful seems to only be found in movies. I can't find a single instance where one was used in a crime in the last 60 years. They are legal in most states and in many European countries (where they are almost completely unregulated).
Joseph Thai, a constitutional law professor at the University of Oklahoma, said the "firearms freedom" laws wouldn't withstand a constitutional challenge.
"If Oklahoma can exempt local firearms manufacturing and sales from federal law, then it can also exempt local hotels and restaurants from federal anti-discrimination laws," Thai said. "The state can do neither."
ORLY? The difference is that there is a ton of caselaw that says restaurants and hotels are interstate commerce. I don't know about Oklahoma law professors, but the rest of us occasionally take trips to other states...hence the interstate. There haven't been many challenges to gun laws on interstate commerce grounds. One challenge, Lopez, overturned the Gun Free School Zone act on...drumroll please...interstate commerce grounds. As a con law prof, he should be familiar with that case. It is still good law, IIRC.
I think that starting your own militia to fight the feds is a shitty idea. I don't have a problem with states pushing against the feds and forcing them to abide by the Constitution. This is hardly anything new. States have done it with speed limits and medical marijuana, with varying levels of success.
Steve, I always regret posting on gun control issues, and this time didn't mean to. The main issue that provoked this post was the second issue--and one that you ignored--and that is the unbelievable abortion law passed by our state house, vetoed by our moderate Democrat Governor, and then over-ridden by the rabid right wing congress. It includes forcing women seeking an abortion to undergo an invasive vaginal probe, and listen to a doctor describe the fetus in detail.
Sorry about my snark this morning. I am struggling through my long and crazy teaching day. But when you muse about Benen making stuff up about Oklahoma and the militia, look at how radical they are in stuff they pass. No exceptions for rape or incest, and absolutely no respect for women.
Down here in Oklahoma, we are actually living with the "closing of the conservative mind" up front and personally. We are run by outright idiots and the people running for the Republican side for governor include a current Representative who likes to urge on the Tea Party crazies, and another who actually likes the militia idea.
I apologize, as my intent was not to come off as combative. I didn't address the abortion issue because I didn't really know much about what was being proposed. My gut feeling was to agree with Benen's point on that issue.
I just thought his reporting on the gun law changes was somewhat sloppy and indicative of why journalists are held in such low esteem.
Again, I was probably overly snarky and have been trying to adjust to a new job and a new schedule.
No worries. I just think that Oklahoma's GOP is far worse than you guys in Michigan can even imagine. This abortion bill is horrendous, truly horrendous, and the fact that we have a Republican candidate for Governor endorsing that militia idea is just depressing. The Closing of the Conservaitve mind is all around me.
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