Two turncoat Republican Senators sink national reciprocity

Et tu, Brutus? We lost the vote for national reciprocity by two stinking votes, 58 yes and 39 no, but the unkindest cut of all is that two Republican Senators joined the libtards in voting no.

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday turned aside the latest effort by gun advocates to expand the rights of gun owners, narrowly voting down a provision that would have allowed gun owners with valid permits from one state to carry concealed weapons in other states.

A group comprising mostly Republicans, along with some influential Democrats, had tried to attach the gun amendment to the annual military authorization bill, a must-pass piece of legislation. But the provision got only 58 votes, two short of the 60 needed under Senate rules.

Two Republicans, Senators Richard G. Lugar of Indiana and George V. Voinovich of Ohio, joined with 35 Democrats and 2 independents to reject the amendment, which was bitterly opposed by a number of big-city mayors, including Michael R. Bloomberg of New York.

With friends like Dick Lugar and George Voinovich, we don't need no stinkin' enemies. A pox on both their houses. And as King James would say, it really sucketh big time that we got 58 votes but still lost. That's what happens when the deck's stacked against you with the libtards in power. You gotta have a supermajority, not just a majority to stop them from screwing you.

And guess which very prominent Democrat big shot in the Senate voted for the measure?

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, who is up for re-election in 2010, also supported the measure.

You know you've got a lame excuse for being in power when even the Majority Leader of the frickin' Democrats in the Senate votes with the Republicans and conservative Blue Dog Democrats. Just shows you Harry "The War Is Lost!" Reid knows there's enough gun owners in Nevada to ride him out of town on a rail if he voted against their right to keep and bear arms.

Oh well, another day, another battle. We will win in the end because we're on the right side.

National reciprocity for right-to-carry vote tomorrow

I love it when the leftwingnuts get their panties all up in a wad. And they're just about to have a lay-down-and-have-a-hissy-fit breakdown. Also known as a conniption fit. The NRA-ILA says the Thune-Vitter Amendment is coming to a vote tomorrow and the brown stuff's in the fan.

The U.S. Senate will vote at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow -- Wednesday, July 22 -- on an amendment to protect your right to self-defense. The anti-gunners are now doing everything that they can to defeat this amendment and the vote by your Senator is likely to determine the outcome. So it is critical for you to call and e-mail your Senator now and urge her to support and vote for the Thune-Vitter Amendment.

The Senate is now considering an amendment by Senators John Thune (R-SD) and David Vitter (R-LA) that will provide interstate recognition of Right-to-Carry licenses and permits. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" -- and other anti-gun leaders and organizations -- are running ads and spreading lies to scare your Senators into opposing this important self-defense reciprocity reform.

The flap has gotten serious enough that even the Washington Post has taken notice. My, my!

Senate Democrats are scrambling to defeat a Republican-backed provision that would allow gun owners to carry their weapons across state lines, overriding the stricter laws of many jurisdictions and giving preference to states with looser standards.

Critics, including police organizations, big-city mayors and gun-victims groups, decried the legislation as creating "a new national lowest common denominator" for ownership of firearms. But twice this year, Republicans have succeeded in rolling back restrictions on guns with substantial backing from moderate Democrats, many newly elected from Western states with strong Second Amendment traditions.

For a minority party with little influence on Capitol Hill, the gun votes represent a rare opportunity to divide a filibuster-proof Senate Democratic majority. In May, the GOP lured 27 Senate Democrats to support looser rules on firearms in national parks; the measure passed the House and was signed by President Obama as part of an unrelated credit-card bill.

In February, 22 Senate Democrats joined Republicans to stall the District's quest for House voting rights by demanding that the legislation also ease D.C. gun restrictions.

The latest measure, offered by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), has far greater reach. Offered Monday as an amendment to the defense authorization bill, it would allow people to carry concealed firearms across state lines, provided they "have a valid permit or if, under their state of residence . . . are entitled to do so."

And there's good reason for the Democrats to smell defeat on this issue. Even Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry "The War Is Lost!" Reid, supposedly leader of the fight against this dastardly plot by the Republicans, is (gasp!) expected to vote for the Thune-Vitter amendment.

... Reid voted for both pro-gun measures earlier this year and is viewed as a likely "yes" on Thune's amendment, although he has not declared a position. A vote on the amendment could come Wednesday, said Jim Manley, Reid's spokesman.

Thune described his amendment as a crime-prevention tool. "Since criminals are unable to tell who is and who is not carrying a firearm just by looking at a potential victim, they are less likely to commit crimes when they fear that they may come in direct contact with an individual who is armed," he said in the statement.

What a concept! Armed, lawful citizens causing armed criminals to think twice about crime. What will they think of next? How about taking the 2nd Amendment seriously, at long last.

I wholeheartedly agree with the NRA-ILA, if you haven't contacted your Senator, do it now!

Please be sure to contact both of your U.S. Senators today, and urge them to cosponsor and support the Thune-Vitter interstate right to carry reciprocity amendment. E-mail and call them immediately!

To find contact information for your U.S. Senators, please click here, or call (202) 224-3121.

A victory for gun rights -- from the Obama administration!

I'll take a victory for gun rights regardless of where it comes from, even from President Obama. The unlikely victory in this case is the right of lawfully licensed concealed-carry gun owners to be lawfully armed in our national parks. There's more danger than bears out there, and the parks rule was set up in the waning days of the Bush administration, only to be suspended in the early days of the Obama administration. Now it seems like that gun right will be restored by Obama as he compromises with his own party members in Congress to get some votes he needs for one of his totalitarian state plans. Credit-card users will take a hit but gun owners will get something good as a trade-off. Win some, lose some. But it is a win.

WASHINGTON — Advocates of gun rights are poised to win a Congressional victory that eluded them under a Republican president.

To the frustration and discouragement of many Democrats, House and Senate lawmakers and aides say it now appears likely that President Obama will this week sign into law a provision allowing visitors to national parks and refuges to carry loaded and concealed weapons.

The White House is lukewarm at best on the gun provision, which was added to a popular measure imposing new rules on credit card companies. But the Democrats who now control both Congress and the White House appear ready to allow it to survive rather than derail a consumer-friendly credit card measure that Mr. Obama is eager to sign as Congress heads off for a Memorial Day recess.

“Timing is everything in politics,” said Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma and the champion of the gun proposal.

A majority of Democrats in the House and Senate still typically come down on the side of gun control. But the fact that they have been outmaneuvered by Republicans on gun issues is rooted in the fact that recently swollen Democratic ranks include senators and House members who represent Western states and more rural areas where gun ownership is popular and deemed sacrosanct.

When those Democrats team up with Republicans, they constitute a clear majority in the House and Senate.

“It is a shame,” said Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California. “But you have to come to a realization around here that at this point in time, the N.R.A. gets the votes,” she said referring to the National Rifle Association.

There's some delicious irony here. Democrats in 2008, led by Rahm Emanuel, now Obama's chief of staff, recruited some conservative candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in order to win some elections last fall. But now those blue-dog Democrats are voting their conscience vs. typical libtard anti-gun views and the result is a victory for gun rights. Don't you just love it when an underhanded political move turns around and bites the devious politicker in the behind?

National Parks To Allow Right-To-Carry

Just received this notice from NRA-ILA:

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), through the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has announced the final amended version of its changes to rules on carrying of firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges. DOI's move will restore the rights of law-abiding gun owners who wish to transport and carry firearms for lawful purposes on most DOI lands, and will make federal law consistent with the state law in which these public lands are located. NRA led the effort to amend the existing policy regarding the carrying and transportation of firearms on these federal lands.

About time, but how long will it take the incoming Obama administration and whoever he picks for Interior Secretary to overturn this rules change? Not long, I'm betting. Enjoy your freedom while you can, gun owners and concealed-carry-permit holders. You are now free to move about armed in parks.