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NRA-ILA GRASSROOTS ALERT: Vol. 20, No. 48 12/13/2013
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Over the last several years, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) has been plagued by mismanagement, scandal and rogue operations, the most infamous of which has been the ill-fated and deadly “Fast and Furious” debacle. Despite these ongoing problems and the criticism and calls for reform they have generated, BATFE has continued its practice of questionable tactics and judgment.
In fact, over the course of the last week, numerous media outlets have reported on yet another dubious BATFE operation–this one lowering the bar to a new, disturbing level.
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In September, we reported on the Obama administration’s ill-conceived regulatory proposal to further complicate the already burdensome process of transferring an NFA firearm. To recap, the proposed rule would, among other things, expand the law enforcement certification (often referred to as the “CLEO sign-off”) to cover applications to transfer or make an NFA firearm pertaining to legal entities such as corporations and trusts. It would also extend the fingerprinting, photograph, and background check requirements that currently apply only in the case of individual applicants to all so-called “responsible parties” within the entity. Comments have noted the proposal’s definition of “responsible party” is so broad and vague that it conceivably could extend, for example, to infant beneficiaries of a trust.
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This week, Jersey City, N.J., Mayor Steven Fulop announced a plan that would needlessly inject politics into municipal public safety procurements by adding to the criteria used to evaluate bids a questionnaire asking vendors bidding on city firearm contracts about their positions on various forms of gun control. A flattering news report describes the approach as “novel” and credits Mayors Against Illegal Guns member Fulop and the gun control group Moms Demand Action with developing the policy. In reality, Jersey City’s questionnaire is just a retread of previous attempts to influence firearms manufacturers into supporting gun control with government purchasing power and will only serve to disadvantage the city’s law enforcement officers.
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Well, it’s the holiday season, and Americans are taking to the highways, rails, and airspace of our great land to reconnect with friends and loved ones. This ushers in another, less fortunate, and increasingly common tradition: tales of security screening excess regarding anything even remotely gun-like. Civil aviation is still relatively safe and functional in this country, and for that, we are grateful. But when the screening process goes wrong … boy does it go wrong.
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Oops. It may be too late for many Americans, but one self-styled media watchdog is finally catching up to a reality that others have understood for a long time: We cannot take our president at his word. Though the competition was fierce, what with all the gun control initiatives floating around this year, President Obama managed to clinch PolitiFact’s “Lie of the Year” dishonors with this whopper: “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.” The Affordable Care Act, informally known as Obamacare, is considered by many to define Barack Obama’s presidency. If he should know the facts about anything, this should be it.
Look, we have no position on Obamacare. We hope all Americans take good care of their health and have access to healthcare when they need it, however it makes the most sense to them.
We point this out only to say that bland reassurances by the president should not be taken at face value, especially when the mainstream media’s scrutiny of his claims tends to be either non-existent or too late to matter.
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Only when you have made the decision to support gun control groups for ideological reasons, even when gun control hasn’t reduced crime and potentially reduces the ability of good people to defend themselves, can you write an editorial like the one that came out of the Baltimore Sun earlier this week.
“Thanks to new restrictions passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Martin O’Malley this year, Maryland is now in the top tier of states when it comes to the strength of its gun laws.” This ranking, of course, is determined by an objective, level-headed source–cough, cough–”a new report from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Campaign.”
Give us a break.
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