Tuesday, December 18, 2012

He Also Knows How To Roll Over And To Say Please

After the horror in Newtown, Connecticut, Scott Walker felt that need to have a buffer between him and the NRA.

So cue in Charlie Sykes, who wrote a fabrication he called "When Scott Walker Stood Up To The NRA." Sykes tried to show what a compassionate man Walker is by refusing to sign a concealed carry gun law that didn't include the requirements of training and getting a permit:
On June 3, 2011, Walker made his decision:

Gov. Scott Walker, who had been silent on the specifics of a bill he would support, issued a statement that formalized his position: "If a concealed carry bill reaches my desk, it should include a permit and training provisions."

The final version of the bill included both provisions.

While the NRA accepted Walker's decision somewhat meekly, some of its allies were more critical:

"I'm definitely disappointed that the governor doesn't take a principled and practical position on this," said Nik Clark, chairman and president of Wisconsin Carry Inc.

"I'm disappointed the governor doesn't look at other states that don't require training or permits and see that they don't have any problems and recognize that there's no reason to have required permits and training here," he said.

But the bottom-line was that Walker defied the NRA's hard line... and politically survived and prospered.
While there is the Sykes/Walker fairy tale, there is also reality.

The "training requirement" was a bad joke.

It could be met by watching a video. For all we know, the state is accepting someone watching four hours of cartoons with Elmer Fudd in them and calling their requirement satisfied.

Even the foreign news media caught on to lapse of judgement, as well as getting a picture of Walker signing the bill with the NRA's chief lobbyist there to give him a big wet smooch campaign donation hearty thank you:
One is to complete a firearms safety course conducted by a certified firearms instructor. Because the law doesn't specify what constitutes a safety course, someone could sit through an online training course - including one that wasn't designed for concealed carry purposes.

For example, a Maryland agency helped put together a 30-minute online video that discusses firearm use, safety rules, and cleaning and maintenance. The free video was created about 10 years ago after the state passed a law mandating that people take a safety class before buying a firearm, said Greg Shipley, a spokesman for the Maryland State Police who appeared in an early version of the video.

He said he'd be surprised if anyone in Wisconsin used the video to satisfy the concealed carry training requirement.

The video's "intent was for individuals in Maryland," he said. "There was no expectation that anyone outside Maryland would be using this to certify themselves."

However, in a chat room for gun enthusiasts, several people shared a link to the Maryland video and said it would satisfy Wisconsin's requirement.
But it doesn't end there. Because with Walker, there is always more. Or in this case, there is less.

Not only did Walker sign off on a law that mocked the thought that training was important, eight days after it went into effect, Walker and cohorts even took that insufficient requirement away, finding it too burdensome:
Lawmakers on Tuesday defended against critics who opposed a legislative panel's decision to remove certain training requirements from recently passed legislation allowing licensed holders to carry concealed weapons.

Act 35, which took effect Nov. 1, included a four-hour training requirement for a concealed carry permit, a rule implemented by Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen and the state's Department of Justice.

The Joint Administrative Rules Panel voted Monday to remove the rule, along with a requirement that program instructors complete eight hours of training before leading concealed carry courses.
This isn't exactly what I would call standing up to the NRA. It seems more like rolling over and then sitting up and saying please for a weasel treat in the form of a campaign contribution.

But to be fair, Sykes does have a wee grain of salt of truth in his story. There was a time when Walker did stand up to the NRA:



But it was only to give a campaign speech and ask for money.

And the gentle reader should not be surprised by any of this.  Does this really look like a man who understands the first thing about gun safety?


2 comments:

  1. Bullseye, as per usual.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi there - love your sight. I am no fan of Walker in any way.(Can't stand him actually) My question for you is what is he doing wrong in the bottom photo? Finger off trigger, muzzle down range, responding to audience by keeping weapon pointed down range?

    ReplyDelete