Evidently, it being a “Living Constitution” means we are free to shun it like a trailer park Governor should it be so obnoxious as to, you know, stand in the way of its betters:
Pittsburgh City Council gave its first approval today to legislation requiring that anyone report a lost or stolen firearm report that within 24 hours or potentially face a $500 fine.The 6-1 vote, with two abstentions, sets up a final vote likely next week, which would send the legislation to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl for his signature or veto, and then potentially to the courts, where similar measures have been challenged.
“Who really cares about it being unconstitutional?” said Councilwoman Tonya Payne, a supporter. “This is what’s right to do, and if this means that we have to go out and have a court battle, then that’s fine … We have plenty of dead bodies coming up in our streets every single day, and that is unacceptable.”
— Whereas, ignoring the Constitution? Perfectly okay, should it net the desired ends.
I think the “right thing to do” in a case such as this would be to tar and feather Ms Payne and drag her through the streets wearing a scarlet A.
But I bet were I to try and do so, Ms Payne would fall back on her “rights” as a means of thwarting me.
Funny how that works, isn’t it…?
(h/t STACLU)
Comment by hoss on 11/25 @ 4:38 pm #
won’t ANYBODY think of the children?
Comment by mojo on 11/25 @ 4:38 pm #
I’m sure the drug dealers, gang-bangers and other assorted social vermin are quaking in their boots at the prospect of being fined for losing their lost/stolen and/or unregistered weapons.
Not.
Comment by rickinstl on 11/25 @ 4:44 pm #
Grandstanding assholes.
Do your job, run a city where the animals are in cages instead of on the corner. After that happens, everything else falls into place. Absent the caging, constitution, shmontstitution; it’s law of the jungle, and stupid fines like those proposed here just don’t signify.
Comment by N. O'Brain on 11/25 @ 4:45 pm #
A scarlet “A” for Asshole.
Comment by Roland THTG on 11/25 @ 4:50 pm #
If tar and feathers are “The Right Thing To Do”, then it should be ok.
If I catch her drift, nodeahmsane?
Comment by happyfeet on 11/25 @ 4:51 pm #
Mayor Luke needs to decide if Pittsburgh needs to be spending money on court battles right now.
Comment by happyfeet on 11/25 @ 4:58 pm #
Also I bet most people what get shot in Pittsburgh don’t get killed in the streets. Just a hunch. A lot of times I’ve noticed when people shoot you it’s cause you really pissed them off is why. Pittsburgh people should be more nicer and maybe they wouldn’t get shot so darn much.
Comment by Jeff G. on 11/25 @ 5:02 pm #
I was thinking A for Anarchy, but hey, it’s a big letter.
Comment by Vinny Vidivici on 11/25 @ 5:05 pm #
Much of our governing class seems not to know the difference between between lawmaking and leadership (or between spending money and governing). They issue capricious edicts and decrees and make demands upon taxpayers in ever-greater volume and velocity, but seem uninterested in enforcing laws on the books or the ones they create. Measurable results or unintended side-effects aren’t even an after-thought. All effect and ceremony with little impact, like children play-acting as adults.
‘Qualified to be in charge’ is not the same as ‘qualified to lead’. We’ve had the luxury these past many years of not having to know the difference — and we’re weaker for it.
Comment by B Moe on 11/25 @ 5:17 pm #
We have plenty of dead bodies coming up in our streets every single day, and that is unacceptable.
They need to either bury them deeper or pave the streets thicker, sounds to me like.
Comment by urthshu on 11/25 @ 5:23 pm #
I think we’re headed towards a Constitutional Convention. Not really soon, maybe, but there’s enough of these retards in power now that I’m certain the tide cannot be turned at this point.
Comment by JD on 11/25 @ 5:27 pm #
I am quite certain that this makes you some kind of racist, hater, homophobe, or anti-gun-ophobe.
Comment by JD on 11/25 @ 5:28 pm #
I think we’re headed towards a Constitutional Convention
I am cool with that. It will give us the opportunity to give Minnesota away should they allow AlfuckingFranken to steal a US Senate seat.
Comment by irongrampa on 11/25 @ 5:44 pm #
Funny about the constitution, I’ve never understood how a document written in black and white can be read in so many shades of grey.
Comment by guinsPen on 11/25 @ 5:46 pm #
tar and feather Ms Payne and drag her through the streets wearing a scarlet A.
What, no running her out of town on a rail?
You never let us have any fun anymore.
A for aiiir-head.
Comment by Curmudgeon on 11/25 @ 5:51 pm #
I think the “right thing to do†in a case such as this would be to tar and feather Ms Payne and drag her through the streets wearing a scarlet A.
But I bet were I to try and do so, Ms Payne would fall back on her “rights†as a means of thwarting me.
I have always wanted these “womyn of the Left” to get their karmic punishment.
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 11/25 @ 5:54 pm #
I wonder how many people in Pittsburgh and environs have sworn an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States against all its enemies, foreign and domestic?
Comment by The Sanity Inspector on 11/25 @ 5:55 pm #
Reminds me of a segment on some network news TV magazine a few years ago. They were doing a story about gun shows–unfavorable, of course. But the silliest thing was at the end, when they unveiled the kicker: the federal government does not keep dossiers on people who shop at gun shows. They made it sound like some big example of government incompetence.
Comment by wesley on 11/25 @ 6:06 pm #
test
Comment by MarkJ on 11/25 @ 6:15 pm #
Let’s put a face to Tonya Payne’s “sass”:
http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/district6/
I’d say she looks like a cast member from “Good Times,” but that would be unfair to the real cast members of “Good Times” who actually had talent and wit.
Comment by Mark Turner on 11/25 @ 6:19 pm #
I think these “progressives” need to find a new country if they don’t agree with an elected official’s obligation to uphold the Constitutional values upon which they were elected. They don’t see that they are the root of the problem, not the Constitution. If they don’t want to abide by it, they can leave and not come back. We won’t miss them.
Comment by The Sanity Inspector on 11/25 @ 6:31 pm #
Well said, Mark Turner. These people are a disease masquerading as its own cure.
Comment by meya on 11/25 @ 6:47 pm #
“I’d say she looks like a cast member from “Good Times,—
I liked the episode when the dad gets in trouble at work cuz his kid got mailed something from cuba.
Comment by wesley on 11/25 @ 6:57 pm #
What about the cats?
L
Comment by SteveG on 11/25 @ 6:58 pm #
Huh.
Why not just stop believing your kids when you know they are lying to you.
That is what this is about.
Firearm is found to have been used in a crime and guys says: “I don’t have it anymore… I lost it or it was stolen…yeah that’s it, stolen. Stolen by the guy who dropped it with my fingerprints all over it at the drive by”
Same lady probably complains about how many young black men are in jail.
Comment by happyfeet on 11/25 @ 7:05 pm #
I would think twice about registering a gun I was gonna maliciously shoot someone with to where they were dead I think.
Comment by dicentra on 11/25 @ 7:23 pm #
They need to either bury them deeper or pave the streets thicker, sounds to me like.
B Moe wins the thread!
Comment by Bob Reed on 11/25 @ 7:23 pm #
Oh no, no, no; no she dee-uhnt!
I think that Councilwoman Tonya Payne needs to be impeached or something…
The charge..? Criminal stupidity or felonious ignorance…
But that’s her opinion, man…
Comment by guinsPen on 11/25 @ 7:24 pm #
requiring domestic cats to be licensed and collared
Even stir-fryers?
Comment by wesley on 11/25 @ 7:33 pm #
Thus explaining the mental capabilities of numerous politicians.
Comment by SSG Ratso on 11/25 @ 7:50 pm #
I’m 100% behind the prevailing reaction to the statement regarding flouting the Constitution.
But…why would this provision be unconstitutional?
Comment by fmfnavydoc on 11/25 @ 11:41 pm #
I’m sure that all of the gang bangers/thug life wannabe’s will in Councilmember Payne’s district will be calling the police as soon as they lose their gats/heaters/pieces/rods/guns…
And what, pray tell, has she actively done to reduce the number of murders in Pittsburgh???
Comment by geoffb on 11/26 @ 12:21 am #
I expect that to be made inoperative sometime during the first 100 or so days of the new. improved, hopey changey, good times are coming here, real soon now, Obama/??? Administration®.
Comment by Mossberg500 on 11/26 @ 12:32 am #
Funny about the constitution, I’ve never understood how a document written in black and white can be read in so many shades of grey.
You’ve heard of constitutional law professors, no? That’s pretty much their job. I’ve wanted to hurt Jonathan Turly a couple of times.
Comment by Merovign on 11/26 @ 1:23 am #
You go on vacation.
Gangie breaks in and steals a gun.
Gangie kills another moron.
Gangie turns in gun in exchange for digital camera.
Police trace gun to you.
You get arrested, murderer and thief gets digital camera.
Idiot politicians are pretty obviously on the side of the criminals.
Comment by donald on 11/26 @ 5:09 am #
I wasn’t aware that they were stacking bodies in the streets in Pittsburgh. How has that eluded the press? Also, sounds like they need to get a Kennesaw gun bill passed quickly. Might slow that down a bit.
Comment by Puck on 11/26 @ 5:46 am #
If you live anywhere near Pittsburgh and have more than sixteen functioning brain cells in your skull, you are well aware that its city government is a very unfunny joke. The Boy Mayor spends most of his time busting uninvited into private golf games and demanding photo opportunities with Tiger Woods, going joyriding with his buddies in government-owned-and-tricked-out Humvees, and generally making an ass of himself. Last year, another councilwoman plead guilty after being caught red-handed, spending money designated for her district on fur coats and jewelry for herself and “grants” to her mom’s live-in boyfriend to conduct a “study” about health care for blacks in Pittsburgh (which turned out to be mostly plagiarized from other studies sprinkled with some of her sugar-daddy-in-law’s nonsensical diatribes). When this councilwoman was suspended without pay while awaiting trial, she actually had the nerve to bitch about her lack of income.
Meanwhile, the City bleeds young, smart, go-get-em type people. Downtown Pittsburgh is a disgrace — there is no decent nightlife, higher-end retail stores are shutting down due to lack of business, and it’s just dirty and crawling with dirty people. The casino project has been one City-spawned fiasco after another (“Hey, should we give a bazillion dollars to the guy who’s going to pay us back, or the other guy? Let’s go with the other guy – diversity rules!”). And the City is broke and has been for years.
And yet, the same damn assholes and their asshole friends, all from the same asshole party (you guess which one) keep getting elected. Thank goodness I live in the burbs, beyond their jurisdiction. Asses.
Comment by Carin on 11/26 @ 6:44 am #
I didn’t know Pittsburgh was turning into Detroit?
Comment by SDN on 11/26 @ 6:51 am #
Carin, pretty much any city controlled by Democrats will get there eventually.
Comment by Carin on 11/26 @ 7:03 am #
Sad, but true.
BUT, there are exceptions. New York, for example. And, THAT is what keeps the Dems dreams pumping along. All those Democrats living in New York. High taxes. Tons of social programs, but it’s STILL a great place to live. It should work everywhere, right?
Comment by Andrew the Noisy on 11/26 @ 7:06 am #
“Who cares if it’s constitutional or not?”
She’s only giving voice to what the proggs believe in their heart of hearts. Why should Law stand in the way of Goodness and Obviously Correct Policy?
There is no Constitution. There is only Righteousness.
Comment by MarkD on 11/26 @ 7:23 am #
If stupidity were punishable by a $500 fine, our economic woes would be ended.
That reminds me of the two unfortunates in my neighborhood who thought they could walk across the farmer’s field and break into an unoccupied house. Oops – it was occupied. Double oops – the guy who lives there is a cop.
They’ll be out in a few years, smarter no doubt. Perhaps they’ll relocate to Pittsburgh.
Comment by geoffb on 11/26 @ 7:26 am #
Nanny Bloomberg is working on fixing that.
Comment by dantealiegri on 11/26 @ 7:31 am #
And the *only* reason NYC works is that there are so many people there making money hand over foot, that they don’t care about the insane taxes. Most people forget, one that a lot of people that are very rich live in oh, Scarsdale, and two, how recently in history NYC was pretty shitty.
I wonder what all this investment nonsense will do to that.
Comment by Carin on 11/26 @ 7:42 am #
New York has benefits that other cities do not, and never will. People look at Detroit and wonder why the life is seeping out of it. Young people just don’t really want to live there. It’s not just about that three letter word “JOBS”, it’s about all that other stuff people like to do. Shops, art, restaurants, night life.
In Detroit, you need to really know where to go. There ARE interesting places, but the chance that a non-resident would find them on their own? Next to nill. You can’t just walk down the street and find … anything.
New York has “stuff” just about everywhere.
Comment by meya on 11/26 @ 7:43 am #
“Funny about the constitution, I’ve never understood how a document written in black and white can be read in so many shades of grey.”
Its almost like they did that on purpose. What could possibly be grey about prohibiting “unreasonable” searches? Black and white!
Comment by Brock on 11/26 @ 7:43 am #
Are there any legal consequences to openly flouting an oath of office? Shouldn’t there be? Perhaps a few good citizens in Pittsburgh ought to look into that.
Comment by Andrew the Noisy on 11/26 @ 7:54 am #
What could possibly be grey about prohibiting “unreasonable†searches? Black and white!
So because “unreasonable” requires further spelling out, it therefore follows that everything in the constitution is functionally meaningless until order is imposed upon it?
Ambiguity is an issue, not a license.
Are there any legal consequences to openly flouting an oath of office?
With elected officials, Brock, the consequence should be expulsion of office at the soonest election. But in the single-party kleptocracies that most of our major cities constitute, the machine stays in power by selling bullshit to the functionally illiterate and the politically bigoted. Arresting/suing her for failing to keep an oath sounds so medieval it would make the local TV anchors adopt their “silly” tone to report it. It wouldn’t wash.
Comment by Rob Crawford on 11/26 @ 8:18 am #
You should try living down river from it.
Comment by luagha on 11/26 @ 8:19 am #
If we are to follow the Alinsky/Acorn model, we need all the gun owners to, on a weekly basis, file a lost report for their most pathetic gun (I suggest a Jennings .22LR) . Then, the following week, call in and say, “I found it! It wasn’t stolen. It just fell behind the radiator. Thanks.”
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Comment by Pablo on 11/26 @ 8:22 am #
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
It isn’t very gray if you just read all the way to the end of the sentence, meya.
Comment by Stoj on 11/26 @ 9:42 am #
Not sure if it has been said, but I believe she is referring to the state constitution, which pre-empts municipalities from passing gun laws. Only the state legislature is authorized to do that.
I could be wrong.
Comment by stace on 11/26 @ 10:11 am #
luagha’s plan is excellent.
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