Author: Kevin

Guns for Me, But Not for Thee?

According to this NY Post article, it looks like NYC is “tightening” the already python-like permitting system, and (Horrors!) reviewing the permits of celebrities and officials.

ARMED AND FAMOUS

A bevy of the Big Apple’s biggest stars are packing heat, according to the latest data from the NYPD’s list of gun-license holders.

Among the more than 3,600 privileged New Yorkers allowed to hit the street with a loaded weapon are tough-guy actors Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel, shock-jocks Howard Stern and Don Imus, developer Donald Trump, record honcho Tommy Mottola and Channel 5 TV anchor John Roland.

Also on the list are ex-Seagrams CEO Edgar M. Bronfman, defense lawyer Barry Slotnick, state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Daily News co-publisher Fred Drasner, Manhattan Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder, Arkansas Lt. Gov. Winthrop P. Rockefeller (whose famous family is based in the city) and Assistant state Attorney General Steven Pagones, who was smeared in the Tawana Brawley fiasco 15 years ago.

Ex-top cop Howard Safir and publishing czar and author Michael Korda also have gun licenses, but they’re not allowed to strap on their weapons.

I would infer that they have not applied for carry permits then. Not that they were denied same.

Their “premise” permit allows them to keep a gun in their homes and demands that when they travel with their weapons, the guns must be unloaded and locked in a safety box, with the ammunition kept separate.

Councilman James Davis, slain two weeks ago by political rival Othniel Askew, who bought his gun in North Carolina, was the only member of the City Council to have a gun license, according to the NYPD data.

I bet that’s going to change shortly!

Bruno is the only state pol to have one. But plenty of judges have them.

More than a dozen jurists, including prominent Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Richard Lowe and Brooklyn Judges Yvonne Lewis and Lila Gold, are allowed to tuck a loaded gun into their belts or bags, according to the NYPD permit list.

Still, some celebs have had their licenses yanked as the NYPD conducts a massive review of the 39,000 gun permits of all kinds following a rule-bending scandal six months ago that marred the License Division. The cops are checking to see if owners have kept their licenses up to date or if an arrest or other incident now disqualifies them.

As The Post first reported, ex-NYPD license head Bernard Petrofsky was accused by police brass of rubber-stamping permits for Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry in exchange for concert tickets and backstage passes.

The result has been a crackdown on all types of licenses, including the “carry” permits held by many ex-cops and other law-enforcement officers and the “special” permits for security guards and others who need a gun for their work.

A number of notables are among those who have had their licenses yanked or were denied a renewed license, which comes up for review every three years.

William F. Buckley, Chazz Palminteri, Paul Sorvino, Joan Rivers and Steven Seagal all were turned down when they applied to have their permits renewed by the NYPD since 2002.

The NYPD won’t say why they denied Seagal a renewal, but he got cops’ attention during the Peter Gotti trial when he bragged about packing heat in the city, even though he had only a premise license – not a carry permit.

Police wouldn’t say why Rivers was denied, other than there was an “incident” on her record. In December, the comedienne got into a spat and allegedly assaulted a rental-car clerk, although she was never formally charged.

The NYPD review of all gun permits has resulted in cops yanking the licenses of 6,069 gun owners in the first six months of the year, a big increase over the 4,666 they pulled in all of 2002.

The 3,600 carry licenses are down from 4,500 at the end of 2001, according to the NYPD.

“We’re canceling boxes and boxes of gun licenses,” said Capt. Roy T. Richter, commanding officer of the department’s License Division. “We’ve found a number of deficiencies in the folders.”

Meanwhile, it’s getting tougher to get a new license.

Cops have issued 1,282 new licenses through June 30 this year, down from 1,562 they approved during the same six-month period last year, and the rate of approval has dropped to 70 percent this year from 75 percent in 2002.

Don’t you feel safer already? Knowing that Joan Rivers doesn’t have a gun will help me sleep better at night.

(UPDATE) Kim du Toit comments: “The power to ‘license’ means the power to deny.”

Amen.

And if it requires a permit IT’S NOT A RIGHT!

On the Brighter Side,

This campaign year is going to be quite entertaining:

Day by Day

First Rule of Reloading: DON’T RELOAD WHEN YOU’RE TIRED OR DISTRACTED!

Here it is about 10:30 and I’m finishing up after reloading 100 rounds of 7BR, 50 rounds of .357 and 150 rounds of .45ACP, and what do I do? Dump about 500 grains of Unique out of the powder measure into the nearly full bottle of 2400! (Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!) Hey! They’re the same shape and size, right?

So I dumped half the bottle of 2400 in the back yard and torched it. I’ll check tomorrow to make sure I got all of the Unique out of the 2400, or I’ll just have to burn the whole thing and get a new bottle of 2400.

At $19.99 it’s a cheaper lesson than loading .357 Magnum 180 grain silhouette loads with mixed powder. (kaBOOM!)

Last Post for a Bit: The Friday Five

1. What time do you wake up on weekday mornings?

Depends on work. Recently 5:45

2. Do you sleep in on the weekends? How late?

Depends on whether I’m going shooting or not. Tomorrow I’m getting up at 5:00 so I can pick someone up and be at the range by 7:15. Sunday I’ll probably sleep in until 10:00 or so.

3. Aside from waking up, what is the first thing you do in the morning?

Answer the call of nature.

4. How long does it take to get ready for your day?

About 45 minutes, usually.

5. When possible, what is your favorite place to go for breakfast?

My kitchen.

More gun-grabbing going on in Australia, according to this report

Firearms fixed in Government’s sights

By David Rood
July 29 2003

Historic firearms could be destroyed as a result of the $118 million national handgun buyback scheme, collectors warned yesterday.

Under the scheme, which starts in Victoria on Friday, all pre-1900 percussion and post-percussion handguns must be registered and owners must have category one collectors’ licences.

The president of the Historic Arms Collecting Council of Australasia, Gordon Morgan, said the council supported controls on concealable weapons, but putting antique firearms in the same category would “crush our heritage”.

“We don’t shoot these guns. We’re custodians of our heritage,” he said. “The collections in private hands are far greater than any museum in this country.”

Mr Morgan said the firearms, worth up to $250,000 for pistols used by 19th-century bushrangers, were not a threat to the community.

He said owners would rather hand in their guns than go through the registration process, being photographed and fingerprinted.

They must now also install security doors and safes in the rooms where the arms are kept.

An alternative to the new legislation, Mr Gordon said, would be to allow bona fide members of collecting societies to purchase, show and exchange the weapons.

But a spokesman for state Police Minister Andre Haermeyer said that while there were many responsible gun owners and collectors, the measures agreed to by federal, state and territory governments ensured that handguns were used only for legitimate purposes.

“What we can’t get away from here is that these are guns,” the spokesman said. “The object of the national handgun buyback is to ensure that handguns don’t make their way onto the streets.”

Gun Control Australia president John Crook said the new storage requirements would be considered onerous by some, but they were needed because antique firearms could still cause harm if stolen and used.

“The public has every reason to want as strict a control as possible over every gun,” Mr Crook said. The Federal Government expects to collect 65,000 weapons in the buyback and amnesty scheme.

(All emphasis mine.)

So now the Aussies are worried about black-powder handguns? And all they have to do to get rid of them is make it obnoxiously difficult and expensive to keep them.

May I suggest something to American gun owners? How about purchasing one of these:

That’s an Uberti replica of the 1858 Remington revolver in stainless steel. Yes, it’s a cap-and-ball front-stuffer (currently not BATF defined as a “firearm,” and can be purchased without a background check direct and shipped UPS to your door) but the cylinder at the bottom of the picture? That’s a conversion cylinder. It allows the gun to fire .45 Long Colt cartridges. They come as a pair, currently on sale through 12/31/03 from Midway USA for $510.00. Perfectly legal. There are a lot of other conversions available, for example, the excellent Ruger Old Army:

Also in stainless, but a bit pricier at $789.99 (currently out of stock, though.)

Just a thought.

UPDATE:

I knew somebody had to be fighting to “close” this “loophole.”

Apparently Chris Muir Sees The Family Resemblance, Too.

Separated at birth?

NO BLOG FOR YOU!

Really busy today, and I’m going shooting this weekend with someone who’s just getting back into it, so I’ll be loading ammo tonight (and probably tomorrow). No new posts for a bit. Sorry.