Category: Guns

Dave Kopel has a look at the subject, and doesn’t think GOA is nuts on this one. The question for gun rights groups is whether they want to insert themselves into a contentious political debate over something that’s only tangentially related to their single issue. I think it can go either way, so while I’m normally not very complimentary of GOA’s political acumen, I don’t think they are wrong for raising concerns about what effect a massive government health care bill is going to have on our Second Amendment rights, even if the implications are only theoretical at this point. Plus, we’ve already seen our opponents willing to make arguments along those lines.

Some details are outlined here on her site, which contains some idea of what’s in this MAIG backed bill. I don’t have language of the bill yet, and exactly how bad this will be will depend on that exact language, but here is at least an idea:

• Makes it illegal to traffick or assist in the trafficking of a firearm, making it unlawful to deliver or receive two or more firearms where the individual knows or has reason to believe that the firearms are being, or will be, used in a felony. [Isn’t this already against the law?]
• Second, the legislation establishes stiff penalties that are a much-needed deterrent to gun trafficking.  Under this bill, traffickers could face up to twenty years in prison and be fined a significant sum of money.  It also provides greater penalties for kingpins who organize gun trafficking rings, subjecting them to an additional sentence of potentially five consecutive years in prison.  Penalties could increase depending on the number of guns trafficked. [What’s the definition of gun trafficker for the purposes of this bill?]
• The bill also treats individuals engaged in a conspiracy to traffic guns the same as those who actually traffick a gun. [Again, what’s trafficking guns?]
• Third, the Attorney General of the United States and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are empowered to impose heightened restrictions, levy tough financial penalties, and suspend or revoke the license of any corrupt gun dealer.  Corrupt gun dealers will be subject to a license suspension of up to six months and a fine of up to $2,500 per violation.  This is the first time that the levying of civil penalties will be widely available as a deterrent for corrupt gun dealers. [This is part of NRA backed ATF reform, but who gets to decide the penalty? How are they so empowered? The devil will be in the details with this. Right now all ATF has is license revocation and criminal charges. There is no civil penalty structure for minor violations.]
• The Attorney General is given the authority to identify and impose special restrictions on high-risk gun dealers, which could include dealers who have been unable to trace guns as required by federal law or who report significant or frequent inventory losses or thefts, among other criteria. [How broad is this authority, and what does it encompass? Again, the devil will be in the details.]
• To prevent these high-risk dealers from supplying guns to traffickers, federal law enforcement would be able to impose conditions on them such as increased inspections, inventory checks and reconciliation, training dealers and employees in how to avoid illegal sales, and requiring that the dealer not complete firearm sales until the national instant background check system informs the dealer that they may proceed with the sale. [How do we define corrupt gun dealers? That’s loaded language. Will this bill make it legally impossible to run a gun business in an urban area? If that’s the case, this is a defacto gun ban for the poor and urban. That’s NOT acceptable.]
• To address this problem, the bill would authorize the Director of ATF to hire more personnel necessary to increase the average inspection rate of gun dealers to three years. [I don’t have a problem with every three years, but what regulations will they be prescribing with this new bill?]
• Finally, the legislation upholds the Constitution and protects the rights of law-abiding gun owners.  Specifically, the bill provides a defense for an individual seller who obtains a background check on the person to whom he or she is selling prior to the sale. [Specific defense? It’s currently a defense that the seller had no way of knowing they were selling to a prohibited person, are we imposing strict liability now on a sale that ends up being used in a felony? That’s a backdoor ban on private transfers and is not acceptable.]

My take on this legislation? Bloomberg knows that in short order we’ll be moving in to dismantle New York City’s gun control laws through the courts. He may be able to keep some restrictions, but for the most part, if someone wants to be able to own or carry a gun in New York City, there’s not much the city is going to be able to do to stop or frustrate them. Given that, it’s quite likely Bloomberg is going to appeal to the “conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms” language in Heller in order to try to make operating a gun store in an urban area so legally risky and subject to extreme regulation, that no one can make a living doing it. The Second Amendment can’t effectively mean anything if it doesn’t mean there’s also a right to manufacture, distribute and ultimately sell firearms, even if there are is some legal regulations and qualifications that the government may constitutionally apply to the process. Bloomberg wants to effectively destroy that right in urban areas through regulation of commercial sale.

The US Customs and Border patrol seized bullets headed for Mexico, along with some primers. Not loaded ammunition, actual bullets. Looks like Sierra Game Kings to me. I’ve said, restricting ammo is pointless, because it’s not hard to make your own, and it’s certainly no harder to smuggle components, or even ammunition, than it is to smuggle drugs.

The Firearms Blog has some coverage of the gun laws in Hungary. Looks like they mostly shoot air guns there, because that’s basically all that’s legal. There’s some kind of rubber ball gun that’s apparently relatively unrestricted that looks like it would do some damage if shot at someone. But everything looks pretty restricted otherwise. Sharp contrast from Neighboring Czech Republic, which is relatively unrestricted by European standard. Even Austria’s gun laws aren’t too bad in comparison.

Joe Huffman reports that the Bradys’ allies aren’t going a great job of hiding their overall goals. This is one reason MAIG scares the crap out of me. They don’t carry any of this baggage of the Ghost of Gun Control Past. They are a post-Heller group in both their strategy and their thinking. While I think they have accepted prohibition is off the table, they are still determined to destroy the shooting culture in this country by a death of a thousand cuts. And I think they can still do it too.

Look at this article from the Jewish Exponent:

Much of CeaseFirePA’s efforts are focused on curbing “straw sales” to felons and enacting more stringent requirements for reporting lost or stolen handguns. The campaign seeks to gather enough leaders to force the legislature to move on this issue.

As part of its push, CeaseFirePA has also partnered with mayors from upwards of 150 towns, and police chiefs and law enforcement officers from more than 100 communities across the state.

Emphasis mine. I wonder who those mayors are? Mayors like Mayor Mitchell Mogilski of Wind Gap, PA, who are standing behind MAIG’s talking points. Hopefully we’ll soon see more grass roots attention on these mayors, because they really do break the back of our legislative strategy. It’s pretty clear they are working with the gun control groups here in Pennsylvania, as we’ve extensively documented. There’s no doubt what Mayors Against Illegal Guns is at this point, we just have to make sure the mayors know who they stand with, and more importantly, who they stand against.

They are looking to boost funding for BATF, it looks like, and have them inspect FFLs at least once a year. There’s no way we’re going to agree to increase ATFs funding without passing ATF reform first. Let me say, these guys are very good. They know what issues to push.