If Donald Trump and Marc Anthony Can Pack Heat in NYC, Why Can't Everybody Else?

The NY Daily News ("the eyes, the ears, the honest voice of New York!" - and about the last newspaper still running Moose Miller) has a great fake trend story that is worth noting despite its lack of supporting data:

Lifestyles of the rich and packin': High-profile celebrities seeking gun permits on the rise

J.Lo and her 2-year-old twins can rest easy at night: Daddy is packing heat.

Singer Marc Anthony is one of dozens of celebs, millionaires and high-profile athletes authorized to carry a concealed weapon in the city, records show.

And the number of A-listers who have guns is growing….

Mets third-baseman David Wright has a permit to keep a gun in his city penthouse. Martha Stewart's daughter, radio host Alexis Stewart, also has a permit.

Other big names licensed to carry a gun include actor Robert De Niro, shock jock Howard Stern and supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis. Billionaire Donald Trump and his son, Donald Jr.; celebrity lawyer David Breitbart, and artificial-heart inventor Robert Jarvik can also carry steel, police records reveal.

In a classic of the phony trend-story genre, the News does note:

While experts say the number of celebs allowed to carry guns is on the rise, the number of overall permits issued in the city this year is down from last year. There were 2,145 carry permits issued last year compared with 2,093 this year - a dip of about 2.4%.

Oh, those experts, are they ever wrong? Don't you know that the glitter people don't follow trends - they buck them! Whether there is in fact an increase in pistol-packin' celebs (and whether the Donald fils or Alexis Stewart count as celebs), what's interesting is the relative ease with which the well-known and well-connected - even reportedly muy caliente-tempered singer Marc Anthony - get permits denied mere mortals. The NYPD screens folks and doles out the right to carry very selectively. Any sort of right shouldn't be subject to such official caprice. And if the police is making decisions, they should take note of Glenn Instanpundit Reynolds' ironic insight that celebs are "Not a threat to public safety like ordinary Americans getting gun permits . . . because if there's one thing that celebrities are, it's responsible."

Read why post-Civil War gun control in the South was "The Klan's Favorite Law."

And read how openly racist concern over "low-browed foreigners" (i.e., Italians) spurred passage of New York City's first gun-permitting law in the early 1900s.

Finally, read about "Gun Control's Twisted Outcome" and why restricting the number of guns in circulation doesn't stop crime.

Comments

[John]

I wonder if being the daughter of a felon would prevent an ordinary person from getting a permit in NYC. If so, how did Alexis get hers?

[R C Dean]

This should be next up on the 2A lawsuit list: No other right guaranteed in the BOR is subject to official whim like the right to carry. Which is actually explicitly, in so many letters, right there in the freaking text of the Constitution.

[Episiarch]

Welcome to New York State (and City). Permits are granted/denied on a judge level, by county and town. If the judge likes you, you get an unrestricted (i.e. carry) permit. If not, fuck you.

This is NYS law, and any challenge will have to address that.

[me]

I have my NY state conceal/carry permit from when I lived there. It took 6 months to get it and I had to be taken in the police station and finger printed.

[R C Dean]

This is NYS law, and any challenge will have to address that.

No prob, dude. McDonald incorporates the 2A against the States.

[Tulpa]

In most of upstate it's actually not hard to get a permit (though it does take a long time). Buffalo and Rochester are exceptions, though not as bad as NYC. It's one of the few instances where the rules NYC wants to live by are not foisted on the rest of the state (unlike NYC-style welfare and tax laws which have been crushing the upstate NY economy for decades).

[Tim from Binghamton]

Umm, Buffalo is hard to get a carry permit in but Rochester is very easy. Are you a felon? No? Are you mentally ill? No? Here's your concealed carry permit. It's literally that easy in Monroe County.

http://www.nyfirearms.com/foru.....#post28356

That's a map of NYS that shows the relative ease of getting a concealed carry permit based on where you live.

[Jeffersonian]

Equal protection?

[Pablo]

Yeah I've often thought this (and the similar situation in California) should be the next round of lawsuits in the gun rights fight. It shouldn't be too hard to demonstrate that whether one can exercise their right to bear arms in such jurisdictions depends on one's celebrity and wealth. No way that could withstand an equal protection analysis and since it's a fundamental right, the standard of review would be a lot tougher than that "rational basis" BS that someone made up at some point.

[Michael Ejercito]

No way that could withstand an equal protection analysis and since it's a fundamental right, the standard of review would be a lot tougher than that "rational basis" BS that someone made up at some point.

I doubt there would even be a rational basis.

Imagine if a state were to offer same-sex marriage, but only if the proposed partners can demonstrate a need to a government official, and, as a result, whether or not a license is granted to marry someone of the same sex depends on one's celebrity and wealth. I doubt even NOM would find a rational basis for that .

[Liberal Douchebag]

But... but... it's okay for them to pack guns. No one else should be allowed to carry, though, because everyone else is a racist teabagger and they don't deserve to be able to protect themselves.

[P Brooks]

But, but- paparazzi!!!

What if somebody tries to take an upskirt pic of Donald Trump, jr?

Pointless aside: I'm not that wild about Jesse James' stuff, but he's freaking Michaelangelo compared to those fucking butchers at Orange County.

[John]

I don't get the whole chopper craze. You can't ride the damn things. They are uncomfortable and don't handle worth shit. Why buy one? The only reason to own one is to look at it and talk about it. As a committed rider, I just can't abide by that. It is just posing.

[AlmightyJB]

"Why buy one?"

Because they help get you laid. What more reason do you need?

[John]

True enough. I guess that is one of the good things about being married. You can actually buy useful shit rather than dumb shit that impresses dumb woman.

[fresnodan]

Most studies show that accurate data is no more useful than numbers you make up...

[Michael Ejercito]

People who opposed Mormon polygamy wanted polygamy banned for everyone , not just Mormons.

People who opposed homosexual same-sex marriage want same-sex marriage banned for everyone , not just homosexuals.

And yet, people who enforce laws against concealed carry do not enforce it against everyone. A few privileged persons get to carry weapons concealed.

Anti-gun is much more hypocritical than anti-bigamy or anti-SSM. When will the MSM call this out?

[AlmightyJB]

Jesse James the the Donald together. So who's the bigger douchbag? It's a difficult choice but I'll have to go with Jesse since I'm in love with Sandra Bullock. Donald is quite repulsive though.

[-]

AlmightyJB|9.28.10 @ 1:07PM|#
"I'm in love with Sandra Bullock."

They have drugs for that, you know.

[mec]

"Donald is quite repulsive though"
You just nailed it. He really needs a weapon because people might be prone to attack him for being so ugly.

[P Brooks]

So who's the bigger douchbag?

Tie goes to the one with the most tattoos.

[LeBron]

Tats aren't cool now? Day-um!

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

The unfortunate truth is that although this is a hot button for me and some other gun nuts - er, "firearms enthusiasts" - the majority of people couldn't give less of a shit about this particular issue. Other than those in the minority who are in favor of a total ban, of course.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

P.S. - Virginia is shall issue and it's not so terribly difficult to get. I and most of my friends have concealed carry permits. No permit needed to carry openly, as long as you are not disqualified from possessing a handgun.

Yet another reason why I no longer live up in the northeast.

[SFC B]

Arizona rocked for the same reason. Open carry and CC permits weren't a big deal. Just needed to be eligible and take a safety class.

[Tim from Binghamton]

The Northeast isn't all New York and New Jersey you know....

Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Maine are all "shall issue" states. Vermont lets any non-felon carry openly or concealed without a permit. Connecticut is "may issue" in the legal sense but "shall issue" in the practical sense.

Really, NY, MA and NJ give the rest of the Northeast a bad name....

[mec]

Same thing in Chicago and California. Celebs and polls, and contributors to office-holding thugs are given favorable treatment- either through the issuing process or, where not exists, by being made "law enforcement officers" so they can carry for self protection and/or to assert their privileged status.

[Randy Cote]

the reason they can carry is because the certian barrier called money they can buy anyone they want, where is mayor blumberg durning this he is up there butts thats where. no one cares about the middle class and below so just get a gun and do it anyway protect your family and screw the big guys going to jail is better then watching your family get raped and murdered in front of your face

[ILL Hunter]

Unlike getting married and driving cars, keeping and bearing guns is a RIGHT, not a priviledge. All that should be required is a majority (18 if you want to vote)and the will. All else is bulshit from scared politicians and power brokers who understand the ramifications of an armed and angry populace. The second amendment is the ONLY thing standing between us and tyranny, pogroms and genocides. Read history and think critically. Some are sheep and will be prey to the wolves. Some are sheepdogs who look like the sheep but fight like wolves. You don't have to carry a gun, don't stop me from carrying one or your chances of misfortune grow dramatically.

[proseshooter]

Why? In NYC only those with wealth and political influence have any god given rights.

[peter]

Because Mr. Sullivan and Tamminy Hall said we're not allowed to, only his thugs (politicians and their supporters) are allowed to, sorta like the 3rd Reich in Germany.

[peter]

The union thugs, specifically the police unions in NY State are afraid that CCW for LAW ABIDING citizens will greatly reduce crime, therefore reducing THEIR jobs. Follow the $$, that's what drives these things.

[peter]

Have you seen some of the new recruits in the NYPD ? Looks like they've been a little lacking in the background check area. "Affirmative Racism" only hires the best and most qualified, not.

[JimK]

I didn't realize libertarians were such crybabies. No wonder there hasn't been a libertarian form of government anywhere on the face of the earth in recorded human history.

[Albuquerque Attorney]

In my opinion they should not be allowed to carry weapons especially when they can afford security personnel that already can carry weapons.

[Albuquerque Attorney]

In my opinion they should not be allowed to carry weapons especially when they can afford security personnel that already can carry weapons.
It is just another example of how rich people are considered to be above the law; they always get away with stuff like this.

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[Ronald]

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