by 2in2out on Wed Apr 27, 2016 10:16 pm
I watched about half the dog and pony show last night, and I think Latz was trying to be even more tricky and conniving than most people expect him to be. He's not actually as smart as he presents himself, so maybe he's being coached by a former mayor with a lot of money.
I think he was fishing. He drew out the gun rights people, because he knew if he had an "informational" hearing on bills that won't be heard this session, they would be compelled to testify. By getting people to testify, he can measure the strength of resistance - and the means of resistance - toward bills like that if they ever did make it to a vote.
It was good and necessary that the pro-gun people were there. However, he wanted them there. That was part of the plan.
Professor Olson's answer to the question about background checks wasn't necessarily a mistake or miscalculation. Latz will use that next session, or any chance he can get. But, it's not the kind of weakness he can take advantage of. He'll try, but he'll fail. Professor Olson has earned the respect of friends and enemies alike, because he seems to treat them with respect. That's really what he was doing by appearing to concede something.
I really thought Mr. Rothman's comments went too far. He covered the statistics well, but let himself get pulled into questions about the statistics later on, and I think he said too much. Mr. Vick did a very good job, as usual, but he went long. Ms. Cade's testimony was good, and in a way it's too bad she wasn't able to speak first.
In the broad scheme of things, I think this was a good exercise for us. Latz thinks he's being clever by drawing out the opposition and tricking them into giving away their tactics. But, I don't think he got anything he can use. The media has something to talk about, and the drama between opposing positions will be good for them. Other than that, this was just a warmup for a future session when the gun banners are better prepared.
"...the liberties of the American people were dependent upon the ballot-box, the jury-box, and the cartridge-box; that without these no class of people could live and flourish in this country..." ---Frederick Douglass