Vermont Governor Scott hears calls of betrayal and thanks as he signs gun bills
Courtesy Bob LoCicero/VTDigger

Scott hears calls of betrayal and thanks as he signs gun bills

It takes a lot to get Vermonters riled up . . .

Gov. Phil Scott hadn’t even reached the podium set up on the Statehouse steps Wednesday before hearing past supporters greet him with shouts of “traitor” and former opponents cheering “thank you.”

The two camps were split with one on the left, the other on the right, and the Republican governor standing square in the middle looking out at them as he marked the signing of three bills making historic changes to gun laws in Vermont.

As detractors jeered, the governor said he realized the political consequences of his signature. “Many who voted for me are disappointed and angry. I understand I may lose support over my decision to sign these bills today, but those are consequences I’m prepared to live with,” he said.

Dick’s Sporting Goods: Up A Creek Without A Paddle

Don’t you just hate when that happens? . . .

Poor Managerial Execution

DKS CEO Edward Stack’s decision to become the corporate face of gun control would be the first item on the list (like are you kidding me it’s an outdoorsman store). In one fell swoop, Stack effectively alienated a large portion of the store’s clientele base.

DKS stopped firearms sales to anyone under 21 at any of its 845 Dick’s and Field and Stream stores, stopped selling assault-style weapons at Field and Stream as well as Dick’s stores. Now the only guns you can buy at Dick’s are shotguns and rifles.

I don’t understand why management would assume a political position, although a step toward stricter gun control may be the ethical or moral high ground, management should conceptualize that a sizable portion of shoppers are gun enthusiasts, resulting in both decreased sales and potential customer loss over this very personal issue.

Democrats praise Trump nominee for 9th Circuit

This is how you know you’re doing it wrong . . .

Reversing the usual script, Democrats praised one of President Trump’s federal appeals court nominees Wednesday while Republicans brought the tough questions for Mark Jeremy Bennett over his defense of gun control laws and free speech rights.

Mr. Bennett, a former Hawaii attorney general now nominated to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, had backed a limited interpretation of Second Amendment rights that was overturned by the Supreme Court.

No guns allowed? No national anthem from me, singer tells Reno baseball team

Alishia Wolcott is fed up and she’s not taking it any more . . .

The 2016 graduate told the Reno Aces — a minor league baseball team — that she would not sing the “Star-Spangled Banner” because of the stadium’s no firearms policy and new metal-detector screening process.

“I WILL NOT sing our National Anthem at a place that seeks to strip me of my second amendment rights!!!” she said on Twitter on Tuesday. Linked to her tweet was a lengthy message about her misgivings over the policy.

Wolcott, who described herself as a longtime Aces fan and an “avid baseball lover,” said at first she welcomed the invitation to sing at Greater Nevada Field in Reno.

Then, as she and her husband were arriving on Saturday to see the Aces play the Grizzlies, they saw security checks at the entrances that included metal-detector hand wands.

When new liberal gun owners attack

Guns are for people of every political stripe. But so are the four rules of gun safety . . .

The Las Cruces Sun News reports that a woman was charged with aggravated assault after shooting out her own car window after things got hot with another motorist. UK tabloid The Mirror spotted that she was fresh to gun ownership and had argued about it online with friends.

61 COMMENTS

  1. Are you sure you want to use that image of that statue that way? It’s Cain in despair after killing his brother Able. Cain was the bad guy.

    Nice upgrade with the Leupold ads. I don’t mind those at all. And it looks more like a gun site, not a porn site.

  2. Man, all this ‘winning’ just has my head spinning. I could have swore that a GOP president nominating yet another anti-2nd judge to the 9th circuit would be a bad thing!

    • “I could have swore that a GOP president minating yet another anti-2nd judge to the 9th circuit would be a bad thing!”

      Chill out.

      He has a *bunch* more pics to make in the 9th.

      I suspect it is strategy. So far, he has been filling vacancies at a rate much higher than Obama did at this point.

      I think he is tossing a bone to the Leftists, so they can’t claim he only nominates right-leaning judges.

      We will need that ammunition if he has a SCOTUS vacancy to fill…

      • -Trump does something Anti-2A.
        -“Relax guys, it’s strategy.”
        -Trump does something else Anti-2A.
        -“Chill out guys, its strategy.”
        -Trump does another Anti-2A thing.
        -“You gotta love this guy’s strategy!”
        -Trump does another thing that hurts gun owners.
        -“3 dimensional chess!”
        -Trump refuses to support the 2A again.
        -“9 dimensional chess!”

        … What f*cking dimension of chess are we on now, Geoff? I lost track.

        • Over at Calguns there is a thread about it in which someone says that it is in fact a 4D chess move. Basically the Democrats have been blocking hundreds of lower-court nominees by Trump. By extending them an olive branch of a judge they like, in order to appoint said judge, they have to clear the backlog (i.e. appoint all those other picks). If so, what happens is a bunch of other likely conservative judges get appointed and one liberal judge gets appointed to the 9th Circuit, which is already super liberal.

        • Court nominees also have to make it thru Senate Judiciary and be approved. Trump can with draw nomination at any time.

        • Victor said: “People just aren’t willing to call Trump out on what he is and hold his feet to the fire.”

          What color is the sky in the world you live in? Do you not watch the news, ever?

      • He is also against the Citizens United decision (that was TAGS 1st amendment issue). I think that is probably a bigger issue that Trump wants to work on. One issue that scares me about Cruz, he loves the idea of money in politics, BIG money.

        • You can’t keep money of any size out of politics. Make more rules ro keep money kut, tbe winner is whoever works the rules best.

          Which takes money. Have you seen what lawyers charge?

      • “…so they can’t claim he only nominates right-leaning judges.”

        And? As there would never be ANY reciprocal treatment from the left, I see no problem at all with jamming the courts whilst you are in office. We are well past the point of compromise and being amiable with traitors, the treasonous, and tyrants.

        • Agreed. “Compromise” just means we get fucked again. Pack the courts, go nuclear to get er done. You think the dems WON’T do that when they get the chance? They already have!

          Bipartisan just means it’s a shitty deal for Americans and a good deal for politicians. I’d rather furlough congress for 8 years. Bastards think we need them? Not hardly!

          Meanwhile I’ll keep cheering for a small meteor to take out the Swamp.

    • Democrat or Republican, write you senators to complain about this guy. When looking at his record, I was looking for reasons to give two Republican senators to oppose him. I used anti-2A, anti-1A, not, to quote Trump, “very much in the mold of Justice Scalia.”

      As he is a Republican appointee, I’m sure there is something you could say to a Democrat senator to oppose the guy from the left. “This guy has done x, y, and z.” A truthful statement. “Democrats don’t support such.” A truthful statement. “I don’t think I can vote for a Senator who would support such a nominee.” A truthful statement.

  3. Given the general lack of mental and emotional stability demonstrated by most (but not quite all) members of the “politica sinistram”, I’d say it would be better off for society if they stuck with nerf guns.

  4. Washington, Jefferson or Adams might suggest that a free society might relieve the good governor’s burden of “living” with his betrayal.

  5. We need to go on offense, this twiddling our thumbs and trying to make end runs around gun control laws by changing gun designs will not win the day, they will keep banning and we will keep trying to find work arounds….no one is forced to write only 5 chapters of a book because they have chapter limits, no one is limited in what kind of books they can write….

    Here is a plan…contact police unions…tell them that if they want to keep their guns, they better start supporting our gun Rights, because we can vote to give them 5 shot snubbies…and we would have a lot of support from anti gunners to do it.

    Contact Conservative groups on college campuses, and get them to start 2nd Amendment sit ins, and do the Stephen Crowder stunts where they sit down and engage in debates about gun control….encourage them to do it wether the Universities give them permission..the left wingers did it that way….just have them plunk down in the common areas and hold free form informational sessions about guns and gun Rights…

    Start coming up with ideas on how to punish these politicians….let them know they will be voted out of office…and then vote them out of office…call their offices, tie up their lines….

    Start committees of correspondence on gun talking points and ideas…..

    Most of all…..vote in November for republicans at the federal level..the only backstop we have is the Supreme Court and the lower Federal Courts…..that is how the left is doing it, we have to keep the house and the Senate so Trump can appoint 2nd Amendment justices…..any vote for a democrat is a vote to end your gun Rights.

    • “we have to keep the house and the Senate so Trump can appoint 2nd Amendment justices”

      We only need to keep the Senate, but as the nomination of Judge Bennett shows, we can’t count on Trump to appoint “2nd Amendment” judges.

      “any vote for a democrat is a vote to end your gun Rights.” – Except when the Republican is just as bad or worse.

  6. I was at the county Republicans party meeting. The chairman tried to claim someone who disagrees with you 20% of the time isn’t a traitor. The problem with that claim is that Scott disagrees with the core principle of American government, that governments are created by men and obtain their power from consent of the governed and have a Constitution that explicitly lays out which powers the governed have consented to, 100% of the time. Scott believes not in a government owned by the people, but a government that owns the people.

    I am going to make Nelson my first Democrat vote if Scott wins the primary: Better an old Democrat that can be kicked out in 2024 if he isn’t dead by then instead of Scott hoarding the seat for decades. Worse, Senator Scott would vote on party leadership and party direction, he would be WORSE than Nelson.

      • Disregard thought you were talking about Phil Scott not Rick Scott.

        Though any TTAG readers in Vermont should give him a look.

    • I’m moving in that direction with Senator Cornyn here in Texas. I’m definitely voting for the other guy in the primary for 2020.

    • Beat me to it. I’ve been steadily voting against Nelson, but Florida needs to send Rick “I plead the 5th” Scott packing, after recovering the many hundreds of thousands of tax payer dollars he misappropriated to settle a lawsuit out of court over his and his administration’s violations of Sunshine Law. Tar and feathers would be appropriate for that traitor.

  7. The governor is okay with signing unconstitutional bills if all he is losing is votes. He can’t collect extra lives as he can collect votes, but that isn’t an issue.

  8. Phil Scott earned every boo and heckle he received! He caved on weed, guns and soon tax increases. Once he made it clear he wanted gun control the progs flooded the statehouse with all kinds of progressive bills, the man gave into a toddlers temper tantrum and screwed our state.

  9. I don’t agree with what Governor Scott did, but at least he had the guts to face the people he betrayed instead of being a closed-door chickenshit for the signing.

    • Only he did it surrounded by armed guards so he was protected from the wrath of the people he betrayed.

      He’s a coward.

    • The governor forsake his oath of office and trampled on the rights of untold numbers of people but it was ok because he wasn’t a chickenshit????????

  10. While I will NEVER vote for a Democrat, I am done voting for Republicans. We get the same results. At least with the Democrats they tell you to your face what they are going to do to strip you of your rights.

    I want to tell Gov. Scott (of Vermont and Florida) Gunnery Sergeant Hartman’s quote from Full Metal Jacket if I ever met them…. “I bet you’re the kind of guy that would f#*k a person in the ass and not even have the goddamn common courtesy to give him a reach-around. I’ll be watching you.”

  11. Are the Scott governor’s related? I’ve only been around the gun thing for some 7 years…and heard many times how great Vermont & Floriduh were. And how bad Illinois was. Sorry but never boast of your “freedom”.

  12. Dick’s is not an “outdoorsman store.” It’s a place for pampered thots to buy yoga pants and undersized pastel sneakers.

  13. Actually the 9th circuit judge is a pretty solid move. If the Democrats want him in the already mega liberal 9th (and he’s not that liberal), then they gotta confirm all the other guys to the bench with him. Give up one to a lost cause to install others where it matters? Sounds good to me.

      • Well, the fire will burn out faster (assuming it doesn’t spread) since it will consume all the available fuel more rapidly. The sooner the fire is out the sooner you can rebuild.

        • “…assuming it doesn’t spread…” Too late for that. We all know the 9th and it’s lower courts are full-tilt, bat-shit crazy.

    • I know they are putting multiple people in a single hearing, but are they holding a single vote on multiple people?

  14. “Many who voted for me are disappointed and angry. I understand I may lose support over my decision to sign these bills today, but those are consequences I’m prepared to live with,” he said.

    They shouldn’t be consequences the people of Vermont have to live with. The majority already chose the viewpoint. It’s like a plant gets elected and then flips. If he wanted to espouse those viewpoints then he should have done so on the campaign instead of lying to everyone’s faces, and then saying… “Oh, I’ve had a change of heart, I’m sorry you elected me. Sorry guys. I have to sign this bill.”

  15. What it does not do is take away your guns! – Gov Phil Scott

    Dude. You took away the mags. You took away the guns of everyone below age 21. You took away the bump stocks, you even made them illegal without any monetary compensation. You took away the trigger cranks. You took away the privacy between sales. You passed the equivalent of a GVRO, so a mere accusation can get a person’s guns seized by the state with zero court order at all. But yeah sure! It didn’t take your guns away! Leftists will be pounding that drum while they put every regulation ever conceived under the sun on firearms. When the only thing that is “legal” is a single shot breakover 22 short, that only a person aged 45 and above can own, they will still say: What it does not do is take away your guns!

    “I believe these measures will make a difference, and I firmly believe each and every one of them is consistent with both the United States and the Vermont constitutions,” Scott

    In other words, because I had the power to take them, I took them. I have opinions, you elected me, my opinions suddenly changed, and now my opinion will be forced on you. I was not elected to preserve freedom, I was elected to force opinions on you.

    “This discussion is not and cannot be just about guns. Our nation is struggling through a mental health crisis that threatens our future and affects our young people in disproportionate and heartbreaking ways,” Scott said.

    ???? I’m confused, was this a mental healthcare package or a gun control package?

    “This is huge,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, the group funded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “Vermonters have proven that a state with a centuries-old culture of gun ownership can also pass lifesaving gun laws.”

    Yeah. If it saves one life we should do it. But only if it’s gun related of course. If it’s something leftists like to use, then their freedom should take priority. Guns? no.

  16. Pa. says there not getting feed back on anti gun laws heres a suggestion.
    send e mails . permission to copy and paste I am not origional writer of the sample letter add your own comments too . THANK YOU.

    to
    [email protected],[email protected],[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],[email protected], [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected], [email protected],[email protected],PSchemel@pahousego

    subject bills pending

    Dear Representative

    It has come to my attention that you seek to support legislation that applies onerous firearm and ammunition restrictions onto law abiding Pennsylvania citizens.

    Please be aware that I strongly object to changes in current Pennsylvania firearms laws that are proposed by SB 17, SB 18, SB 383, SB 501, HB 175, HB 671, HB 832, HB 870, HB 1233, HB 1400, HB 1872, HB 2060, HB 2097, HB 2109, HB 2149, HB 2150, and HB 2216.

    Most egregiously, many of these proposed laws are in clear contradiction to, and in violation of, Article 1, Section 20 of the Pennsylvania Constitution.

    Although some Representatives and Senators may not like or appreciate certain sections of our state constitution, they took an oath when assuming office to defend the whole constitution. And, I have every reasonable expectation that all State Representatives and Senators who take the oath of office, will honor it faithfully.

    Respectfully,

  17. I was at the Reno Aces game as well. I was not sure of the security protocol since it was my first time there. Even though I have a CCW, I did not attempt to take a firearm in to the stadium. While in line, I asked the supervisor about legal CCW use at the stadium. He mentioned that YOU CAN carry at the stadium! You simply have to enter the stadium by the bridge.

  18. Benedict Scott is done,here is what his replacement this fall had to say of Flip Flop’s betrayal of his oath.Vermont and Federal Constitutions.

    A Note From Keith
    Keith Stern for Governor

    I will state forcefully and absolutely right here that if the governor illegally signs the unconstitutional S55 bill that as governor I will order my administration to not enforce it. The oath that I will have taken binds me to protect and defend the Constitution. I am sick and tired of elected officials cherry picking where the Constitution is their guide. When the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill landed on his desk then president George W. Bush said as he was signing it I don’t believe it’s constitutional but I’ll let the Supreme Court decide. Wrong answer W. I am not looking to start an administration on an antagonistic situation but if that is the case so be it. The Constitution trumps being liked and being popular. If the legislators want to be able to work with me then they will have to repeal S55.
    Keith

    Keith Stern for Vermont Governor

    Bye Bye Benedict !!!!

  19. Pennsylvania is facing an outright ATTACK on the 2ND Amendment , MANY Republicans have joined Democrats in Fast Tracking 20 plus new anti gun bills , from gun and magazines BANS + Confiscation to No Due Process — ” Take First Orders

    They MUST Hear From Us …….. N.R.A. is nowhere to be seen so far !!!!!!

    PRO – GUN Rally …. Harrisburg Capitol Steps , Tomorrow Sat, April 14 @ 2 pm.

    Bills and lawmakers contact info ;
    https://blog.princelaw.com/2018/04/12/pennsylvania-firearm-rights-in-the-crosshairs-the-rights-that-stand-to-be-infringed/

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