Politics

The Inter-American Arms Treaty (CIFTA)

/ hsoi

I’ve been passing on covering things like “the Mexican Gun Canard” and the 20/20 “guns on campus” abomination because other blogs have covered them mighty well. I have nothing to add.

But discussion of the Inter-American Arms Treaty (also known as CIFTA) has ugly implications. You need to contact your Senators and ensure this doesn’t happen.

Sebastian has good coverage. The NRA’s statement.

Gun laws and Texas schools

/ hsoi

A useful article about gun laws as they pertain to schools in Texas. (h/t to KR Training).

One question.

Texasl Penal Code Section 46.03(a)(1) says that you cannot carry concealed on a school bus. But I wonder. Is that school bus period? Or school bus performing school-related activities? The intent of the law seems to pertain to school-related activities, but the letter of the law seems to read school bus period. The reason I wonder is I know the City of Austin (and may well other places in Texas too) uses school buses to shuttle people around for large city events. These events have no weapons restrictions to/from/at the event, people with CHL’s can carry and go about their business as usual, and if the bus was a city bus there’d be no issue. But merely due to logistics of handling the event (needing lots of mass transportation vehicles), school buses get used.

IMHO, this is a place where the law needs some clarification. I would assert that when a school bus is used for a non-school-related function that it’s not truly a school bus, merely a bus that’s painted yellow.

But IANAL. Still, I’m going to write my Texas congresscritters.

Tea Party Update

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

When I originally mentioned the Austin Tea Party, their website listed 2 times: a midday one and an evening one. Checking the Tea Party website, I now see it only talking about the evening event. So I emailed to ask what happened to the midday event.

It seems it is a separate (but obviously related) event, the Don’t Mess With Texas Tea Party.

The evening event is the National Tea Party.

Let’s surrender!

/ hsoi

I really do not like Ann Coulter. But this article I mostly agree with. I don’t like all of her cheapshots and bashing (but it’s not being diplomatic that makes her money), but her underlying argument is spot on.

EFF: On warrantless wiretapping, Obama worse than Bush

/ hsoi

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Obama’s handling of warrantless wiretapping is worse than Bush.

For all you people that wanted “hope and change”, I guess you didn’t realize that change can also include “getting worse”.

Again, the gulf between Candidate Obama and President Obama is striking. As a candidate, Obama ran promising a new era of government transparency and accountability, an end to the Bush DOJ’s radical theories of executive power, and reform of the PATRIOT Act. But, this week, Obama’s own Department Of Justice has argued that, under the PATRIOT Act, the government shall be entirely unaccountable for surveilling Americans in violation of its own laws.

So all you Obama supporters out there. Please explain to me how this is good. How this is better.