Friday, December 18, 2009

Imported asshattery.

Indianapolis has imported a new "public safety director" from, of all places, New York.

"This can't be good," said I to myself.

Sure enough, as she was lining the cat's litter box this morning, Roomie read:
"My own personal perspective is we have way too many guns on the street and way too many people that own guns," Straub said, adding there is no clear national policy dealing with guns.

"The policy has to start at the federal level and then work its way down to the states and to the local level. Until we control the flow of guns between states . . . you have a problem."
Where I used to live, we had a little phrase that went like this: "Yew ain't from 'round here, are yew?" but I have no idea how to say that with a Hoosier accent. Yes, Mr. Straub, you are in for a rude awakening. For instance, did you know we can carry loaded guns in bars here?

Thank Vishnu for preemption. Frank Straub can whine and stamp his little foot all he wants, but it won't do him much good here in Indiana.

Even worse, Greg Ballard took a break from his & the Missus' near-constant taxpayer-funded globetrotting vacations business trips to hire this thimble-headed gherkin. Way to go, mayor; way to piss away whatever goodwill you may have gained pressing flesh with the gun-owning public at the last Indy 1500 gun show. Bad politician! No vote!

21 comments:

Unknown said...

We don't have a clear national policy on guns? That's news to me.

"...shall not be infringed" is about as clear and concise a policy as one can put on parchment.

John Peddie (Toronto) said...

So Tam...

Please make it your mission in 2010 to:

1) Reincanate Charlton Heston

2) Elect him Mayor

And after he's cleaned up down there, could we, pretty please, borrow him for a long-term gig as Mayor for Life 'round here?

We need fixin'.

I promise we'll return him in good working order, whereupon he could be rented out to other big cities that really, really need fixin' too.

But we get first dibs, 'kay?

Anonymous said...

"Bad Politiciian! No Vote!"

By all means, Tam, VOTE! Just not for that two-faced twit. Vote for somone, no matter how fringe (even it is yourself), that is running AGAINST him. And talk your choice up here. It's your soapbox. Use it in defense of Liberty.

Anonymous said...

Tam, you might point out to the good gentleman that BATFE records indicate that the voters have been buying some five million firearms per year since 1993--until the recent two years of near-doubling of this rate. Key word: "Voters".

Note that while President Obama has been referred to as "Gun Salesman of the Year" for 2009, the Administration has recognized Midway Shooter's Supply as one of the top five businesses in the country in terms of customer satisfaction.

Art

OA said...

"My own personal perspective..."

Who does this jackass think he is, a wise latina woman? Who told these people their "personal perspective" trumps the law?

Anonymous said...

Take that quote and replace "gun" with "Jew" or "Black" or damn near anything else and see how offensive it sounds.

What an ass.

Jim

Anonymous said...

"The policy has to start at the federal level and then work its way down to the states and to the local level."

If the gun control lobby was smart, and that's a big "if," they would take a "bottom-up" approach instead, and work with homeowners associations to prohibit private gun ownership in H.O.A. communities.

H.O.A.s have the power of small governments, but are shielded as corporations. Therefore, they do not have to respect a homeowner's constitutional rights. The homeowner waived those rights when he voluntarily signed a contract and agreed to join the H.O.A.

If a homeowner then fails to comply with the new "gun free neighborhood" policy, it is very easy for an HOA to foreclose on his home, without oversight by the courts. This is known as "non-judicial foreclosure," which has become a cottage industry among HOA lawyers. According to one former-HOA lawyer, "The bar even offers workshops on the process." And at least one HOA law firm even blatantly advertises that they proactively and aggressively use foreclosure as a collections tool. We'll see how serious all that talk about "from my cold dead hands" is when a gun owner's spouse and children are faced with the prospect of being forced out of their home.

Because conservatives and libertarians have praised HOAs as the result of free-market private-contracts (see here, here, here,and here), they could not effectively challenge such a gun-ban on legal or constitutional grounds; at least not without appearing to be hypocrites.

Of course, it would be smarter to start in an HOA where the homeowners are receptive to becoming a privatized gun-free neighborhood, so there is no challenge. Once the precedent is set, then work with sympathetic HOA lawyers and property managers to impose such a change where the actual homeowners are not so enthusiastic about the idea. It can be done.

With nearly all new housing being built in HOA communities, the "problem" of civilians being allowed to own guns will eventually take care of itself, without the need to change any federal, state, or local laws. It would be a long-term process, but it can work.

Roberta X said...

Time we made coporations, as creations of the State, answerable to the limits on their powers imposed by the various constitutions of the gummits that created 'em. 2A, for example, or Indiana's even stronger statement of same.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous,

One of the more hilarious things progressive groups fail to understand is the very basic instinct to protect one's property. It's right up there with protecting one's children.

They can't kick out the colored folks, they can't kick out the immigrants, and they can't kick out the folks who pray funny, I'd love to see the attempted large scale eviction of gun owners. It would be very interesting to watch.

perlhaqr said...

"My own personal perspective is we have way too many Jews on the street and way too many people that do business with Jews," Straub said, adding there is no clear national policy dealing with Jews.

"The policy has to start at the federal level and then work its way down to the states and to the local level. Until we control the flow of Jews between states . . . you have a problem."


Damn, Reflectoscope, that is bloody offensive.

But between this and the threatening people with huge fines for daring to take traffic tickets to court, Indy is getting kinda creepy fascist.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure what's so hilarious. Places like California, New York, and Chicago have very restrictive gun laws, in spite of the "very basic instinct to protect" one's property and children. A large fraction of the population, perhaps a majority (depending on which figures you believe) don't own guns. Surely you must be aware that there is a large segment of the population that believes that gun control is the proper means to protect one's children.

Race restrictive covenants are still around, just not enforced (because it's illegal to do so).

HOAs can (and do) discriminate against children. See here and item #4 here.

Because there is no law prohibiting HOAs -- which are corporations -- from banning firearms within their communities, an HOA member's right to possess a gun at home is no more protected than an employee's right to possess a gun at work.

See here, here, and here, for the conflict between gun-rights and property-rights.

Anonymous said...

Roberta X,

Did you ever see The Onion's point-counterpoint feature nine years ago, arguing "The Future Will Be A Totalitarian Government Dystopia" vs. "The Future Will Be A Privatized Corporate Dystopia"?

I think we're heading toward the worst of both worlds.

theirritablearchitect said...

Yup.

Her "opinions" are about to become policy, if not law.

We are mounting that revolutionary horse, right now. I wonder who's actually noticing.

Joanna said...

Take that quote and replace "gun" with "Jew" or "Black" or damn near anything else and see how offensive it sounds.

I find it offensive that people keep making that comparison. Go hang out with a minority religious group in Malaysia for a while, see if you think we've still got it so bad.

Anonymous said...

And places like Commiefornia, Shitcago and DC are loosing their ass in court over it.

It's not even news worthy anymore.

But I see you are just out trolling. Sorry for feeding the troll Tam.

Pathfinder said...

"Straub said, adding there is no clear national policy dealing with guns."

Yeah, there is dip-wad Straub - it's called the Second Amendment as affirmed by the Heller decision in the SCOTUS.

Tam, sorry for your gain from NYC

Anonymous said...

"And there is no clear national policy dealing with guns."

Strange, I thought the Constitution and the various amendments would be considered "national policy."

Where do public agencies find these people?

Kristophr said...

Anon:

HOA yard nazis are all little cowards.

They tend to immediately stop victimizing a person who starts open carrying while doing yard work.

And over half the residents in a given HOA have firearms. Someone that stupid might find their home getting foreclosed on for failing to meet the HOA's new minimum firearms in the home requirement.



Just sayin.

Fudgie Ghost said...

Oh lawdy, and he's from right near me---up in White Plains (my county seat).

I love this :"By keeping our young men and women, particularly persons of color, out of the criminal justice system, we will make a mark nationally, and we will distinguish Indianapolis nationally as a leader in crime prevention and juvenile justice," he said."

I thought people sort of put themselves into "the criminal justice system", by, you know, committing crimes. . .

On the bright side, at least we got him out of Westchester. . . We also got rid of the anti-gun county supervisor in a total upset, so maybe, just maybe things will improve around here. . .but sorry about you getting our refuse. . . can't have everything! Where would you put it!? Ha!

rickn8or said...

Tam--
I've got a feeling that Straub is going to discover (and bleat) that "Indianapolis has been been rocked by waves of gun violence" that you've just been too busy to notice.

WV: wiloger-- n00b's attempt to communicate "roger wilco".

Jacob said...

Actually, you can carry in bars throughout NYS.