Why You Should Never Carry In A State That Does Not Allow It

I know that it might be tempting, when crossing a state where you do not have a concealed carry permit, to just figure, "Its a hassle to unload and store it in a way that conforms to the Firearms Owners Protection Act. What are the chances that the police will search my car?"  At least in Maryland -- shockingly high.  Truth & Commonsense reports on a Florida man who was driving through Maryland.  From the January 12, 2014 Tampa Tribune:

He did not have a gun with him, and it was a good thing.  One of the automated license plate readers in Maryland grabbed his Florida plate, matched it up with Floridas concealed weapon permit files, and then the excitement started:

Finally the patrol cars emergency lights come on, and its almost a relief. Whatever was going on, theyd be able to get it over with now. The officer — from the Transportation Authority Police, as it turns out, Marylands version of the New York-New Jersey Port Authority — strolls up, does the license and registration bit, and returns to his car.

According to Kally and John (but not MTAP, which, pending investigation, could not comment), what happened next went like this:

Ten minutes later hes back, and he wants John out of the Expedition. Retreating to the space between the SUV and the unmarked car, the officer orders John to hook his thumbs behind his back and spread his feet. “You own a gun,” the officer says. “Where is it?”

“At home in my safe,” John answers.

“Dont move,” says the officer.

Now hes at the passengers window. “Your husband owns a gun,” he says. “Where is it?”

First Kally says, “I dont know.” Retelling it later she says, “And thats all I should have said.” Instead, attempting to be helpful, she added, “Maybe in the glove [box]. Maybe in the console. Im scared of it. I dont want to have anything to do with it. I might shoot right through my foot.”

The officer came back to John. “Youre a liar. Youre lying to me. Your family says you have it. Where is the gun? Tell me where it is and we can resolve this right now.”

And yes, the police state of Maryland thoroughly searched the car, separated John and his wife for 90 minutes of interrogation -- and then wrote them a speeding ticket. (They say that they werent speeding, because they were being following by a police car, and knew it.)  Maryland, being a liberal controlled state, is fascist.  I cant imagine ever driving through it.  And I sure would not do it with a gun on me.  I do not think I would even do so if the gun were possessed in accordance with the Firearms Owners Protection Act.  It sounds like Maryland police might just load the gun so that they would have a reason to arrest you and confiscate the gun.

It sure will be nice when Maryland joins the United States, and the Bill of Rights starts to mean something to them besides gay marriage. 

Read More..

This Is Becoming So Boringly Common Obamacare Cheerleader Disappointed That She Cant Afford Coverage Under It

This from the January 2, 2014 CBS Seattle:

One Oregon mother says that she is unable to afford health insurance for her and her 18-month-old son because it’s too expensive.

Kate Holly, 33, tells KOIN-TV that she originally championed President Barack Obama’s signature health care law because she thought it would help people in her situation.

“I’ve been a cheerleader for the Affordable Care Act since I heard about it and I assumed that it was designed for people in my situation,” Holly, a freelance yoga instructor, told KOIN. “I was planning on using the Affordable Care Act and I had done the online calculator in advance to make sure I was going to be able to afford it.”

Holly’s husband works for a non-profit organization that pays for his health care, but the couple is unable to afford to have her and their son covered under his plan. And she’s been told their combined income is too much to qualify for a subsidized health care plan under Cover Oregon.

This is what you get for ignoring adult warnings that there is no free lunch.  The Hollys must make reasonably good money, because two adults in Idaho still get a substantial subsidy at $62,000 per year.  I would expect with a child in  Oregon, the number would be quite a bit higher.

There are people with very low incomes who have a strong claim on our sympathies for their inability to afford health insurance (especially now that the Unaffordable Care Act has made it even more expensive than it used to be).  But this does not seem to be one of them.

I do wonder how much of the unaffordability problem is related to consumer purchasing habits.  I look at the cost of smart phone data plans, and how many young people seem to think that having a plain old cell phone is just not possible -- and I wonder how much of the "we need governmental help for health insurance even though we are in the high end of the five figure annual house income range" is really, "We like nice things, and think that stuff we really dont care that much about should be subsidized."  I worked with someone some years ago who insisted that the government needed to provide health insurance because it was too expensive -- but he drove a nearly new Audi A8.  These arent cheap.

UPDATE: A reader points out that the story missed something rather important: if you have access to group health insurance through a spouse, you are not eligible for the exchanges.  The complaint is that the insurance through her husbands employer was too expensive.  Well, yes, but the Unaffordable Care Act was not supposed to solve that problem, and actually made it worse, by mandating various coverages that were not there before.

Read More..