One of RKBA's main points is that the steretypical position of Democrat politicians to be against the rights of individuals to take up the best means of preserving their rights when those rights are threatened hurts their cause. I believe this to be true.
There are a lot of attacks on the NRA for not being more bipartisan (even though they do support any pro-gun politician regardless of party and support incumbents over challengers with equal rating). Now this is going to show why this happens in the microcosm of Pennsylvania state law.
Today's diary brought to you by Elmar, care of the RKBA account here on DKos. The only thing changed in the diary is this little blurb explaining what's been changed.
RKBA is a DKos group of second amendment supporters who also have progressive and liberal values. We don't think that being a liberal means one has to be anti-gun. Some of us are extreme in our second amendment views (no licensing, no restrictions on small arms) and some of us are more moderate (licensing, restrictions on small arms.) Moderate or extreme, we hold one common belief: more gun control equals lost elections. We don't want a repeat of 1994. We are an inclusive group: if you see the Second Amendment as safeguarding our right to keep and bear arms individually, then come join us in our conversation. If you are against the right to keep and bear arms, come join our conversation. We look forward to seeing you, as long as you engage in a civil discussion. RKBA stands for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
Castle Doctrine has a few days left in our state legislative season, this is the furtherest we've gotten the issue in decades and its stalled on a comittee that doesn't want it to go to the Gov. Currently in Pa one can be sued civily for using a firearm legally to defend one's self. This bill would give civil immunity to lawful defensive use of firearms. People have lost their house or retirement saving for the simple act of defending the lives of their family.
Civil trials only require a majority to award settlements and it is very easy to manipulate a jury with the image of a person in a wheechair or a crying mother in the court without the horror and helplessness one feels when one's home is under assault.
Full text of the bill here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/...
This is why the NRA donates more to R's than D's
**Representatives listed below are against HB 40:
- Hide quoted text -
Dwight-Evans--devans@hacd.net-D
Jake-Wheatley-Jr.-jwheatley@pahouse.net-D
John-Myers--jmyers@pahouse.net-D
William F.-Keller--wkeller@pahouse.net-D
Todd A.-Eachus--teachus@pahouse.net-D
William F.-Adolph- Jr.-wadolph@pahousegop.com-R
Louise Williams-Bishop--lwbishop@pahouse.net-D
Tim-Briggs--tbriggs@pahouse.net -D
Ronald I.-Buxton--rbuxton@pahouse.net-D
Mark B.-Cohen- mcohen@pahouse.netD
Paul-Costa--pcosta@pahouse.net-D
Angel-Cruz--acruz@pahouse.net-D
Lawrence-Curry--lcurry@pahouse.net-D
Eugene-DePasquale--edepasqu@pahouse.net-D
Robert C.-Donatucci--rdonatuc@pahouse.net-D
Dan B.-Frankel--dfrankel@pahouse.net-D
Robert L.-Freeman--rfreeman@pahouse.net-D
John T.-Galloway--jgallowa@pahouse.net-D
Michael-Gerber--repgerber@pahouse.net-D
Tim-Hennessey- thenness@pahousegop.comR
Kenyatta Johnson-kjohnson@pahouse.net -D
Babette-Josephs--bjosephs@pahouse.net-D
Thaddeus-Kirkland--tkirklan@pahouse.net-D
David K.-Levdansky--dlevdans@pahouse.net-D
Vanessa-Lowery-Brown--vbrown@pahouse.net -D
Jennifer L.-Mann--jmann@pahouse.net-D
Anthony J.-Melio--amelio@pahouse.net-D
Phyliss-Mundy--pmundy@pahouse.net-D
Michael H.-O'Brien--mobrien@pahouse.net-D
Frank L.-Oliver- foliver@pahouse.netD
Cherelle L.-Parker--cparker@pahouse.net-D
Eddie Day-Pashinski--epashins@pahouse.net-D
Tony J-Payton-Jr.-tpayton@pahouse.net-D
Joseph-Preston- Jr.-jpreston@pahouse.net-D
James R.-Roebuck- Jr.-jroebuck@pahouse.net-D
Steve-Samuelson--ssamuels@pahouse.net-D
Dante-Santoni- Jr.-dsantoni@pahouse.net-D
P. Michael-Sturla--msturla@pahouse.net-D
John J.-Taylor--jtaylor@pahousegop.com-R
Rick-Taylor- rtaylor@pahouse.netD
W. Curtis-Thomas--cthomas@pahouse.net-D
Jewell-Williams--jwilliam@pahouse.net-D
Rosita C.-Youngblood--ryoungbl@pahouse.net-D
John T.-Yudichak--jyudicha@pahouse.net-D
Greg S.-Vitali- gvitali@pahouse.netD
Kathy M.-Manderino- kmanderi@pahouse.netD
Paul Drucker pdrucker@pahouse.net D
Ronald G.-Waters- rwaters@pahouse.netD