Guns – Page 511 – Shall Not Be Questioned

BATFE Reform Introduced

Sadly it does not also include “Prevent the BATFE from assisting criminals trafficking firearms,” but we’ll take it, regardless. In what should be of interest to your NFA folks:

Allow importation and transfer of new machineguns by firearm and ammunition manufacturers for use in developing or testing firearms and ammunition, and training customers. In particular, ammunition manufacturers fulfilling government contracts need to ensure that their ammunition works reliably. H.R. 1093 would also provide for the transfer and possession of new machineguns by professional film and theatrical organizations.

This is obviously not a repeal of Hughes, but it’s one chip. While this won’t directly affect ordinary Joes, it will indirectly affect them, because the organizations that this does affect will no longer be competing in the transferable market. In fact, many of them will likely dump their expensive transferable inventory and replace it with cheaper and newer inventory. In short, this will take some of the pressure off prices for pre-86 machineguns.

Obama Going Ahead Without NRA

He’s going to hold his gun summit without representation from NRA. It should be interesting to see what comes out of this. As USA Today notes:

Given its political and financial strength, the NRA is probably in a position to block any new gun legislation, especially in the Republican-run House.

White House Spokesman Jay Carney said the word “common sense” so often that I cam promise you whatever comes from this won’t be good. Fortunately, USA Today is probably right.

No Such Thing as an NRA Membership Giveaway

Our opponents always seem to have a hard time believing NRA actually has 4 million members. Well, Brady Board member Joan Peterson is no exception to that rule, and I was amused a few days ago when she suggested that it was all a lie, because a friend of hers got a free membership in the mail. I was even more amused when she updated with what she thinks is proof positive.

What she is seeing is not a membership card. A membership card has a member number on it. It has an expiration date on it (unless you’re a life member, in which case your card says so). What she is seeing is a membership offer, which will come upon sending in the payment. This would be like if Joan had taken a picture of one of those flimsy credit cards the credit card companies send you in the mail with the application, and was trying to prove they are just giving away unsolicited charge cards. But go try using that flimsy thing at a store and see what they do.

NRA uses a lot of techniques to entice people to join, and there certainly exist clubs who require NRA membership (mine is one of them, but the vast majority of gun clubs are not 100% clubs) to join. But they cannot, according to their bylaws, give away free memberships. From the bylaws:

The dues or minimum contributions of each class of membership shall be fixed by the Board of Directors. Except for those persons who are lifetime members elected prior to July 1, 1979, all members of all classes with addresses not within the domestic United States may be required to pay the additional postage costs necessary for Association mailings to their stated addresses. The imposition of such requirement and the amount of such costs shall be determined administratively from time to time.

There is no free class of membership that NRA offers, with the exception of honorary life member, of which they are only permitted to give away three of in any given calendar year. NRA has, in the past, had a program by which active duty members of the military could receive complimentary memberships, but because of the bylaw requirement, those memberships had to be sponsored by existing members. I sponsored two memberships of this kind myself, and had to pay the full price set by the board on behalf of these military men and women.

NRA has among the strictest membership criteria for any organization in DC. Much more strict, I would point out, than the Brady Campaign. How many of the members the Brady Campaign touts are dues paying members? Does Brady issue membership cards with member numbers? Sorry Joan, the numbers are real, and I would wager a rather large amount of money more real than the Brady membership numbers.

McCarthy Bill Introduced

Her press release is here. I’m going to assume her bill’s language will be similar to the Senate bill introduced by Schumer a few weeks ago. This bill is entirely unacceptable for the following reasons:

It threatens funding that help states put cops on the street. This is like a doctor prescribing amputation for a patient cut his leg and is bleeding.
It expands the class of prohibited persons to include people who have not been formally adjudicated as mentally ill.
It expands the class of prohibited person to include people who have drug arrests, but not convictions, within the past five years. It also expands it to anyone who failed a drug test.
It ends private transfers entirely.

This is classic gun control packaged in wrapper of “common sense.” It does not respect the Second Amendment, as it allows rights to be removed without due process, and it, through a sneaky back door, attempts to end private sales. We’ll fight this bill.

UPDATE: America’s lukewarm reaction to the current rash of gun control bills has Bloomberg in a tizzy. I hope Americans continue to disappoint the Mayor.

UPDATE: Maybe he needs to spend some more time tending to New York City’s business instead of everyone else’s.

Even the LA Times Couldn’t Ignore the Hypocrisy

The LA Times is hardly a hotbed of pro-gun radicalism, but even they couldn’t help but notice:

The bill,Â SB 610, says the good-cause determination would be deemed to be met for any California member of Congress, statewide elected official or member of the Legislature.

The surprising thing about this bill isn’t just that it has appeared in California, which tends to favor restrictive gun laws, but that its coauthors are all Democrats who in the past have voted to limit gun rights for ordinary citizens.

They go on to worry about the implications of panicked politicians spraying bullets into crowds. At least the LA Times is consistent — they think it’s dangerous for everyone to carry a gun, except for the police who have magical gun powers.

Open Carry in Florida on the Move

Passed out of committee. Robb notes that the level of disinformation being presented by opponents was disturbing. Politicians are usually only concerned with what’s going to help get them elected, and they’ve learned over the years that passing bills like this is a way to please one of the larger single-issue constituencies out there, with very little in the way of downside. NRA has been pushing this bill using the justification “to prevent license holders from being charged with the crime of violating the ‘Open Carry’ law because a concealed firearm accidentally or inadvertently became visible.” Given that OC gives some gun owners the willies, I think this is the right tactic in trying to push this through.

Sales Spike for February

John Richardson has even more evidence that all our opponents are accomplishing is selling more guns, as gun owners, wary of new restrictions, are buying up. I would note that magazine sales do not factor in to these figures, and I’d expect magazine sales would have seen an even greater spike.

AN-94 Envy

It would seem it’s developing in the US military. The AN-94 is certainly neat, but also just as certainly unproven. I’m rather skeptical that a mechanism as complex as the AN-94 can be made as reliable as a traditional weapon.

NRA Response to Obama

You can read it here.

Rebuffed?

The New York Times is reporting:

â€œWhy should I or the N.R.A. go sit down with a group of people that have spent a lifetime trying to destroy the Second Amendment in the United States?â€ saidÂ Wayne LaPierre, the longtime chief executive of theÂ National Rifle Association.

There really isn’t any reason to sit down with the Administration unless the conversation is “What are you going to do for us?” Maybe then gun owners can talk turkey with Obama. But until then, what is there to talk about? Any legislation coming forward can be blocked by Congress.

The only card Obama really has is that he could come out in favor of gun control and push it in a big way. This is actually more of a threat than I would like it to be, but it I wouldn’t view it as much of one. Congress is not likely to be in the mood, and with promises that Obama made to some Democrats, like John Tester, Bob Casey, or any number of Democrats in red states that are up in 2012, this could easily play against Obama.