I would not normally bother with this, but today at a gun show, I heard a firearms dealer adamately insist that S. 2099 is a current threat.  Urban legends on the Internet are often almost impossible to kill.  Here is my two cents worth.  Die, Monster!  Die!  

Snopes, the Urban Legends Section of About.com, and the NRA-ILA all confirm that a 2009 version of S. 2099 does not exist as of this date.

A 2009 bill, HR 45, would register owners of handguns and semi-autos with magazine wells and apparently would ban anyone under 18 from touching a firearm under all but life or death, self-defense circumstances.  (See my posts on HR 45 under the Category: “Registration.”)  HR 45 is very bad bill that bears watching, even though it is probably not going anywhere.  Keep an eye on it!

Trust, but verify!  We all make mistakes, but let’s correct the ones that we discover and try not to spread unfounded rumors.

Def Mech

The bill also requires the fingerprinting of a customer prior to an ammunition purchase.  Of course, you can get a license to become a “handgun ammunition vendor.”  In the quaint words of the law, this bill “creates a new crime.”

Like the rest of California’s gun laws, this bill will do nothing to prevent crime.  (See my posts under the Category: “Gun Law Failures.”)  AB 962, if enacted, will make it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to obtain ammunition for hunting, target shooting, and self-protection.  This harassment, in my opinion, is designed to tighten the web of constricting laws around honest gun owners, with the final goal of eliminating private ownership of handguns in California.

“Understand!”  (to borrow a frequent expression from “The Chosen One”)  England is the model for American gun “controllers.”  The British Olympic Pistol Team must go to Switzerland to practice, because they are not allowed by the Nanny State to discharge their stinking pistols on their native soil!  (See my posts under the Category: “Foreign Gun Laws.”)

It is too late to “resist the beginning” of gun control in the United States, but we must crush every attempt to infringe our natural right to self-defense against crime, tyranny and genocide.  We must incrementally roll back ill-conceived laws that give the advantage of being armed to thugs, rapists, spree killers, and hypcritical elitists who hide behind bodyguards.

Def Mech

Def Mech

A quick wrap up of ongoing and recent events:

HR 45 is still a threat to gun owners’ rights.  This bill registers owners of handguns and semi-autos with magazine wells, registers all future sales, appears to ban all possession of any firearm by a person under 18 (no exceptions), and may allow BATFE personnel to come into your home to inspect your gun storage arrangements.  (See my posts under the Category: “Registration.”)

S. 843 is a new threat on an old theme.  This bill is designed to “close the gun show loophole,” which in my opinion doesn’t really exist.  In any case this bill could very well “regulate” gun shows out of existence.  I don’t see how a promoter could meet the requirements of this bill without registering every single person who enters the show.  (See my posts under the Category: “Registration.”)

The OAS CIFTA Treaty remains a threat to gun owners in conjuction with AG Holder’s misinformation regarding the number of U.S.-made guns going to Mexico and supposedly “fueling” the endemic violence in that country.  (See my post, “OAS Treaty threatens Second Amendment,” under the Category: Foreign Gun Laws.”)  (See also, “Left overstates US gun impact on Mexican Violence,” under the Category, “Media Bias.”)

Homeland Security Chief Napolitano’s report linking gun rights advocates and other “right wing extremists” to possible terrorism dovetails with HR 2159, which is a retread of a bill introduced last year that allows the Attorney General to designate you to be a terrorist on the basis of hearsay information.  Once you have been so designated you can not legally own a firearm or board an airplane.  You may not have the right to confront your accuser and getting off the list in the case of a mistake may be very difficult.   

Governor Bill Ritter vetoed HB 1180, a Colorado bill that would have allowed concealed carry permit holders to use their permits to buy a gun without going through an additional background check.  Montana, Wyoming, and Utah are using this system without having a flood of blood in the streets.  (See my posts on HB 1180 under the Category: “Colorado State Issues.”)

On the positive side, the U.S. House and Senate just passed an amendment to a credit card bill that will support the Bush Administration ruling allowing concealed carry permit holders to defend themselves and others in national parks in states that recognize their permits.  We’ll see how this shakes out in Colorado.  Left-wing, Mainstream Media bias shock jocks are working overtime on this one.  Even Fox News aired a misleading, simplified version of the legislation.

Don’t get complacent, because we won this battle.  The above listed bills. the Obama record on guns, and his anti-gun appointments to key positions portend a hard road ahead for the Second Amendment, once the Democrats finish socializing the rest of American Society.

Look for a high profile shooting spree in the near future to boost the Left’s argument for more gun control.  (See my posts under the Category: “Conspiracy Theories.”)

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, “  Thomas Jefferson.

“Nothing in politics happens by chance,” (paraphrase) FDR.

Def Mech

Def Mech

The problem with registration is that it is often a necessary prelude to gun confiscation.  In 1938, the Nazis used Weimar Republic gun registration records to disarm Jews. ( See Dr. Stephen Halbrook’s scholarly article, here.) 

In England, Australia, New York, and California, registration records have been used to punish law-abiding gun owners by the “legal” theft of their firearms.  (See my posts under the Category: “Registration.”

In 1975, Charles Morgan, Director of the Washington, D. C. Office of the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Crime, “I have not one doubt, even if I am in agreement with the National Rifle Association, that that kind of record keeping procedure (gun registration) is the first step to eventual confiscation under one administration or another.”  Now comes anti-gun Senator Lautenberg to offer up American gun owners as sacrifices on the altar of Left-wing Socialism.  It’s a short step from registration of gun show sales to a ban on all private sales of firearms.

Please tell all your friends who own guns to oppose this dangerous bill and contact your senators and representatives and ask them to oppose it.  We must politely advise the Democrats in Congress that gun registration is as unacceptable to 80,000,000 American gun owners as the outright banning of certain classes of firearms.  We must make the Democratic Leadership understand that their dramatic congressional losses of 1994 will be repeated in 2010, if they further infringe America’s birthright of freedom recognized by the Second Amendment.

The Constitution may not protect us.  See here  Dr. Eugene Volokh’s opinions regarding the probable constitutionality of waiting periods,  taxes, fees, registration and licensing with regard to guns.  It is up to us to exercise our right to free speech and beat back this serious national challenge to our right to armed self-defense against, crime, tyranny and genocide.

“Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them…  The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those who they oppress.”  (Fredrick Douglass, famous abolitionist, author, speaker, U.S. Marshal, son of a slave.)

We must first warn the Democrats and then make them pay a terrible political price for every infraction, no matter how small, of our natural, fundamental  right to firearms’ ownership.

Def Mech

As I read CIFTA, the U.S. Government would be pressured to outlaw ammunition reloading without a license.  A license could be required for the manufacture of grips, slings, sights, bipods, and recoil pads, which could be classified as “related materials,” which may be attached to a gun.

Under CIFTA, I believe the government, under the guise of “ensuring security” of affected items “in transit,” could set up highway inspection checkpoints and require permits for any movement of guns, ammunition or components, and grips, slings, sights, bipods and recoil pads.  Gun registration would be a real possibility with regard to the convention objective of “ensuring security.”

A good discussion of CIFTA can be found here.  There are news reports that the NRA “participated” in the OAS discussions of CIFTA.  The NRA denies participation in development of the treaty, but probably had some influence on U.S. negotiators.

Please contact your U.S. Senators and urge them to vigorously oppose ratification of this treaty.  With Justice Ginsberg and other Liberals talking about the desirability of having international laws and norms affect American policy, we don’t need this sort of foreign influence in our domestic discussions of our natural rights to armed self-defense against crime, tyranny, and genocide.

Def Mech

The murders of police officers in California and Pennsylvania and the New York immigration center killings have provided a bloody backdrop for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s call for gun registration.  The Second Amendment Foundation issued an alert on her April 7th pronouncement.

The Democrats just happen to have a bill in Congress that registers semi-automatics (”assault weapons”), handguns, and the people who own them.  HR 45 is the dream bill for the Brady Campaign, the Violence Policy Center, and all the other organizations that call for the disarmament/dis-empowerment of the American People.  (See my post: “House Bill 45, the anti-gun rights campaign begins in earnest,” 01-19-09, under the Category: “Culture War.”

If you haven’t read The Shadow Party by Horowitz and Poe and you own a gun or love the Constitution and freedom, you are like a blind cow being led down the chute at a slaughterhouse.  The above posts contain links to relevant web pages that I believe assemble the puzzle regarding the rush to Socialism by the Obama Administration.

Contact your senators, representative, Ms. Pelosi, and Mr. Reid and politely let them know your feelings about gun registration.  They are nervous about the political consequences of gun bans.  They need to be as nervous about registration, which is a necessary first step to the confiscation of privately held firearms in America.  (If you don’t believe it, check out what happened in England, Australia, New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, and California.)

If you don’t belong to and support  pro-individual rights organizations like the NRA and the Firearms Coalition of Colorado, get on board, now!  This may be your last chance to make a difference!  (See my Category: “Order of Battle.”)

This is not a drill!  This is the real thing.  Either respond now, or get ready to register and eventually give up your guns, or become a criminal subject to fines and imprisonment.  These people are serious!

Def Mech

Vice President-Biden-Proudly admitted that he helped create the first semi-automatic firearms ban.

Secretary of State-Clinton-Her husband’s administration passed the first national semi-automatic firearms ban in the early 1990’s.

Attorney General Holder-former lieutenant of Janet Reno of the Ruby Ridge, Waco, Elian Gonzalez, and Oklahoma City Bombing controversies.  Holder recently called for a renewal of the Clinton semi-auto ban.

Chief of Staff-Emanuel-Worked on the Brady Bill and supported an amicus brief  in the Heller Case to the effect that the Second Amendment does not recognize an individual right. 

Secretary of Education-Duncan-Anti-gun Superintendent of Chicago’s Public School System.  “This is a public health epidemic.  We are struggling to find the cure…we know the cure…getting rid of guns.”  (Chicago Tribune, Oct 14th, 2008, reported in NRA’s America’s First Freedom, April 2009, Page 34.)

Health and Human Services-Sebelius-Anti-gun Governor of Kansas, who vetoed concealed carry legislation on two occasions.

Drug Czar-Kerlikowske-Seattle Chief of Police, who supported ending private sales at gun shows and banning semi-automatic firearms.

Back door attacks on the Second Amendment:

It has been confirmed by numerous sources that the Obama Department of Defense directive that mandated the mutilation of all surplus military brass (fired cartridge cases) was real!  As mentioned in my post, “Reports of military brass destruction could be bad news for reloaders and shooters,” this act would have driven some ammunition suppliers out of business and driven up the cost of all ammunition.  It would also have burdened taxpayers, because of expenses associated with the “demilitarization” of the cartridges and the reduced value of the mutilated brass on the American market.  (See the post under the Category: “Ammunition.”) 

UPDATE: Following a well done expression of displeasure from Senators from Montana, an Obama DOD supervisor has fallen on his sword (taken the blame) for this blunder.  The policy has been rescinded.  We will probably never know if this was a trial balloon floated by the administration to make sure that we were awake, or if it was the brainchild of a mid-level bureaucrat out to get brownie points.

A Fort Campbell, Kentucky soldier has reported that he has been ordered to give the U.S. Army information on all his privately owned firearms and concealed carry permits.  See my last post, “Soldier reports Army wants to register his private firearms.”  (Category: “Culture War.”)  Is this an isolated incident or a symptom of a larger problem?

Front Door Attack: 

Former Black Panther Bobby Rush, (D) Illinois, has introduced HR 45.  This is a draconian bill that registers owners of handguns and semi-autos and effectively  kills hunting and the shooting sports by denying possession of any firearm to persons under the age of 18.  This bill may allow the BATFE to inspect your private home to be sure that your guns are “safely” stored.  This bill has reportedly picked up a co-sponsor.  

While conventional wisdom says that HR 45 is too extreme to go anywhere, it could be the starting point that leads to additional infringements of our Second Amendment rights.  In any case, we have to keep a close eye on this beast and try to smother it, before it gets out of hand.  (See my posts on HR 45 under the Category: “Registration.”)

Latest Back Door Attack: 

The Washington Times reported in an editorial on 03-17-09 that the Obama Administration is trying to kill the federal firearms program that allows specially trained pilots of commercial aircraft to carry handguns on flights.  This program, which is designed to allow pilots to mount a last ditch defense of their planes in the event of a hijacking, has had “administrative” problems with less than one percent of the pilots involved.

Now, the Obama Administration has apparently slowed the approval process under the program and diverted two million dollars from the training budget to the employment of more “supervisory staff.”  This is all the more incomprehensible, because, as the article reports, around 70% of commercial pilots have a military background, and hence some familiarity with firearms.

If you own a gun and voted for Obama/Biden, do something not dangerously painful to your body, take at least one class on logical thinking and problem solving, and vow never to make that mistake again.  For everyone who loves freedom and supports the rights of American Citizens to armed self-defense against crime, tyranny, and genocide, contact your elected representatives and let them know that you are “bitter,” “clingy,” and, as the NRA so aptly recommends, that you “Vote Freedom First!”

Def Mech

In an alert from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, a U.S. Army infantry soldier reported that he has been required to list by “make, model, caliber, and serial number” all the firearms that he possesses.  This individual indicated that he lives “off post” (not on the military reservation.)  He was also ordered to list the location of the firearms and to provide information on any concealed carry permits in his possession.  (Read through the comments to the documents.)

If this information provided by the soldier is correct, it would appear to be a gross violation of his rights as an American Citizen.  While the military establishment can certainly regulate firearms by service members on military reservations, it seems invasive and unconstitutional for them to pry into soldiers’ private ownership of firearms.

The service member reported that he never takes his guns onto Fort Campbell.  He questions the purpose of this order.  I would ask, is this a prelude to the banning and/or confiscation of firearms privately owned by military personnel?

Steve Schreiner of the Firearms Coalition of Colorado said in a telephone interview that he has been involved in fighting previous infringements of this kind.  Although not an attorney, he cautioned military members about taking firearms onto military reservations, where they are indeed subject to government registration.

I would strongly recommend that any service member seek immediate, competent legal counsel, if confronted with the situation faced by the soldier at Fort Campbell.  The NRA has a legal department that would most certainly be interested in learning of other incidents.  Is this an isolated occurrence, or a symptom of a larger problem?  If the Obama Military Establishment intends to regulate or ban the private possession of arms by soldiers, what can we expect from them regarding the civilian population and the Second Amendment?

Def Mech

First of all, an “Assault Weapon” is a select-fire military gun that can fire more than one bullet with one pull of the trigger.  The guns that Clinton “banned” and Obama wants to ban are not “Assault Weapons,” they are semi-automatic or self-loading firearms that fire one round with one pull of the trigger.

To get some idea of what Obama’s ban might look like, we can review a summary of  Democrat Representative McCarthy’s bill of last year, HR 1022.  Her bill contained the following anti-individual rights provisions.  (This list is not inclusive.)

2008 Semi-auto Ban Bill HR 1022                

• Bill is not clearly written
• Allows Attorney General to ban any semiauto ever used by police or military
• Presumes that gun used by military or police is not suitable for civilian “sporting purpose,” even if gun is used in sporting event-Orwellian language-really scary!
• Bans any semi-auto with a magazine well
• Bans by name: AR-15, Mini 14, Uzi, M-1 Carbine, Galil, Mac 10, AK, SKS, AR-10 and others
• Bans transfers by persons of magazines of over ten rounds with semi-automatic firearms (Bans magazine transfers?)
• Grandfathers guns currently owned, but registers all future transfers of semi-autos (Sets up confiscation)
• Bans importation of magazines of over ten rounds
• Bans semi-autos with pistol grips, threaded barrels, folding stocks, bayonet lugs, and barrel shrouds
• Definition of “grip” may be used to include any semi-auto firearm in the ban
• Ban includes semi-auto shotguns with magazine wells and “Street Sweepers”
• Bans semi-auto .22s with magazine wells
• Exempts .22s with tubular magazines of over ten rounds
• Annual report by Attorney General to Congress on use of semi-autos in crime (Sets stage for further restriction)
• Dealer or manufacturer must certify to Attorney General within 60 days that any high capacity magazine sold was made before the date of the ban

Remember that registration is a necessary precursor to confiscation.  Semi-automatic firearms were confiscated in New York  after the owners were “promised” that the registration lists would never be used to take away their guns.

“Conservative” pundit Charles Krauthammer said of the Clinton semi-auto ban, “The claim of the advocates that banning these 19 types of ‘assault weapons’ will reduce the crime rate is laughable…  Passing a law like the assault weapons ban is a symbolic…move…  Its only real justification is not crime, but to desensitize the public to the regulation of weapons in preparation for their ultimate confiscation.  De-escalation begins with a change in mentality.  And that change in mentality starts with the symbolic yielding of certain types of weapons.”  (Charles Krauthammer, syndicated Columnist, The Washington Post, 1996.)

Please contact your gun owning friends and neighbors and anyone you know that loves freedom.  Ask them to call, E-mail and write their elected federal representatives and senators in opposition to this deceptive scheme.

If you are a hunter, shotgunner, small bore target shooter,  or a collector of antique firearms, don’t think that you are immune from the gun-grabbing tendencies of this administration.  The Socialists pushing this dangerous agenda are using England as a model.  (See my posts on England under the Category: “Foreign Gun Laws,” on this site.)

If you have visited this blog in the past you already know that the British Olympic Pistol Team is forced to train in Switzerland, because their guns are banned in their home country.  That is the end game envisioned by the enemies of our individual right to armed self-defense against crime, tyranny, and genocide.

“Ask not for whom the bell tolls…”  Get politically active or lose your birthright of freedom forever.

Def Mech