The Brady Campaign, sensing that they are about as influential in American Politics as I am in Iranian pop music has decided to show us their wish list of 17 Common Sense Recommendations for Change. Here’s what they are, with my commentary on what the Brady’s actual agenda is
1) Close the "Gun Show" Loophole: Extend Brady Background Checks to All Gun Purchases
The intention is to make sure that all guns have a government paper trail. Coupled with item #16, this will lead to a de-facto gun registry. Besides, where in the Constitution does the Federal government get the authority to keep a list of private transactions? Is there a "but it's a gun!" exception to the 4th Amendment that I missed?
2) Close the Terror Gap: Prohibit Gun Sales to Suspected Terrorists
This allows the Attorney General to unilaterally designate anyone he wants a “terrorist” and take away his fundamental rights. Given the close cooperation between loons like the Southern Poverty Law Center and police “fusion” centers, how long do you think it will take for members of the “Tea Party” to get officially designated terrorists on the super-secret terror watch list? You know, the list you can’t get off of and can’t challenge in any court?
3) Stop the Sale of Large Capacity Ammunition Magazines (aka Big Bullet-Blasting Boxes)
First, who’s the idiot who came up with the alliterative name? Fire him immediately before he makes you guys at Brady look any stupider than you already look. The standard AR-15 magazine is 30 rounds. This is what they really want to take away from you.
4) Restore Justice to Gun Violence Victims: Repeal the Gun Industry Legal Protection Act
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act was designed to prevent deep pocketed anti-gun bigots from suing manufacturers out of business with bogus lawsuits blaming the manufacturer of guns for the crimes committed by criminals. This is like suing Ford because someone ran your child over with an Explorer.
5) Repeal Tiahrt Restrictions on Disclosure of Crime Gun Data
The Tiahrt Amendment bans the disclosure of firearms trace data outside of actual government agents conducting bona fide police investigations. The Bradys want to go on a fishing expedition through the trace data based upon the lie that a gun that gets traced is a “crime gun.” Let’s imagine that I got murdered here by a psycho with a knife. The cops would probably seize my guns and trace them. Then they would end up on the list of “crime guns” based upon the fact that they were traced, even though there was absolutely no connection to the crime! Does the guy who sold me the pistol need a bunch of idiot anti-gun bigots complaining that he sold a “crime gun?”
6) Require Licensing of Gun Owners and Registration of Gun Purchases
I’m glad that they finally admitted that they want to register all guns and license all owners. They know that it’s a lot easier to take your guns away if they know that you have that gun. Plus it's a great way to make owning a gun more expensive, keeping the poor from owning them.
7) Strengthen ATF Authority to Regulate Gun Dealers and Crack Down on Corrupt Dealers
In their little world, the fact that the ATF can wander in and demand an accounting of all guns and their disposition is not enough “authority.” Apparently taking away a person’s livelihood and tossing him in jail if the crime is bad enough, isn’t enough “authority.”
8) Require Gun Owners to Report Lost or Stolen Guns
Because being the victim of a crime and not telling anyone should be a crime, I guess. Some police officers don’t want to actually have to solve a crime. They don’t want to have to prove that someone is illegally trafficking in firearms. They’d rather convict a guy on a minor, technical violation of failing to report a stolen gun than do the work necessary to take the guy down for some hard federal time.
9) Improve the National Violent Death Reporting System Data, and restore firearms research funding for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
I have no idea what their beef is with the data, but the research funding is needed so that the pet left wing, anti-gun researchers in the CDC can fake up some biased studies that pretend that gun ownership is a public health menace. I say that if all the Bradys want is biased and faked studies, they should pay for the studies themselves. The Joyce Foundation is still paying VPC for Google searches; maybe some efficiencies and synergies can be worked out.
10) Restrict Large-Volume Gun Sales
Because it’s bad enough that they can’t stop you from buying ONE gun, now you want to buy TWO? In one month?
11) Require Licensed Dealers to Adopt Safeguards to Prevent Gun Thefts
Because, you know, people who have merchandise worth $300-800 a pop just leave the door unlocked and the guns packed in handy sacks for the thieves. What they are really after is license to make being a gun dealer as expensive as possible. They will mandate bank vaults, with all guns locked in them over night. Then gun dealers will have to laboriously carry each of the guns out to the display case each morning, then back to the vault at night. It’d be cheaper and more efficient to lock up the thieves.
12) Require Licensed Dealers to Perform Background Checks on Employees
What kind of background check? You can’t perform a NICS check on anyone who isn’t buying a gun, and you have to fill out the Form 4473 when you do the check, even if the sale doesn’t go through. We also know what the Bradys think about their own background check. They think it isn’t intrusive enough. They won’t be satisfied without a deep background check costing a lot of money. It’s just another way to increase costs on the dealers
13) Prohibit The Transfer of Gun Inventory Without Background Checks After a Dealer's License Has Been Revoked
Once a FFL gets pulled, the person holding all the guns has to sell them. Without the FFL, he can’t use the NICS system. If he still has all the guns, then the only reason that the FFL was pulled was for paperwork problems, not actual crime. Maybe the solution is to simplify the paperwork and make it clear that people can’t get prosecuted and their licenses pulled for minor items.
14) Prohibit Gun Possession by People Convicted of Violent Misdemeanors
The Bradys want “violent” misdemeanants prohibited because they don’t want to have to go to the trouble of actually convicting a person of a felony before they take away his Constitutional rights. A misdemeanor is, by definition, a minor crime. If you want to punish someone as a felon, convict them of a felony.
15) Prohibit Gun Possession by Persons Convicted of Violent Acts as Juveniles
This is the same situation as #14 above. If he’s a felon, treat him that way. If he’s been convicted of a misdemeanor, leave him alone. If the Judge has sealed the record, leave it sealed.
16) Repeal the 24-hour Brady Record Destruction Requirement
Because if they don’t get an actual registry, keeping good records of all the legal gun purchases will do just as well. The 24 hour rule was mandated by Congress specifically to prevent it being used as a de-facto gun registry.
17) Support new technologies to help law enforcement more effectively trace crime guns and supporting development of safety features to childproof guns
“Microstamping,” “ballistic fingerprinting,” and “Smart” guns. All bogus, vaporware technologies that will only serve to raise the price of guns, making it that much more difficult for poorer citizens to own guns for self defense.
There you have it, Brady’s sick bigoted anti-gun agenda, all in one place. Make sure to tell your friends.
re: #4, "suing Ford..."
ReplyDeleteHappens that way all the time. It's big business, 'cause Ford has deeeeep pockets and is a worthy target for a lawsuit, unlike the poor schlep who fell asleep behind the wheel and rolled his whip.
Hang on a second with #16. If the Brady check documentation is supposed to be destroyed within 24hours -- how is it that they're able to "trace" guns back to the point of sale now?
ReplyDeleteYeah, if you believe that everyone destroys their records, I have some radioactive farmland on the planet Barrayar to sell you.
ReplyDeleteForm 4473. The way the system is supposed to work is if the cops have a gun they call the manufacturer and ask them who they sold the gun with that serial number. Then they call that person, business, or broker, and ask who they sold it to. Everyone who sells the gun until they get to the end buyer, has to have an FFL and has to keep a recore in their "bound book."
ReplyDelete@Bluesun: really? What's the climate plat look like? Does it get enough rainfall?
ReplyDeleteAnd remember: this is their idea of compromise.
ReplyDeleteThese are all "nonsense". They can keep making wish lists all that they want. Meanwhile we are getting real change implemented all across the country.
ReplyDelete@RuffRidr: Yep. They are railing for everything up to and including registration and licensing, and what we are getting is Constitutional Carry and Stand Your Ground. Taste the fail.
ReplyDeleteWow, this has every Brady wish list item except mental health evaluations as a condition for licensing.
ReplyDelete@Auritech: Yep. But it certainly undermines their pretense that they are moderate and "common sense." I guess that as long as they don't ban all guns everywhere, they're not anti-gun.
ReplyDelete