BATFE to Submit new Regs on Stolen and Missing Guns

Gun Watch ^ | 21 November, 2013 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) is expected to release a draft rule dealing with stolen firearms.  The rule is under review by the White House, which has 90 days before it is required to release it to the public for comment.

No one knows what the rule will do or what purpose it would serve, other than to make already burdened gun dealers subject to more bureaucratic snares and tripwires.  Since this process started in 1992 in the Clinton era, the number of gun dealers has plunged from 248,000 in 1993 to a bit less than 51,000 in 2012, a decline of nearly 80%.   

The smaller the dealer, the more burdensome the bureaucratic record keeping becomes, and this concentrates the dealers into smaller numbers of larger businesses, which make further regulation and harassment easier and easier.   It was the stated purpose of the Clinton administration to reduce the numbers of smaller Federal Firearm licensees.

The crime rate, as measured by the homicide rate, climbed dramatically after the Gun Control Act of 1968 was implemented, then dropped as most states implemented concealed carry.  There is no objective reason to believe that the licensing of retail gun dealers has any significant effect on crime.

If we were to act rationally, we would simply scrap the entire attempt to reduce crime by monitoring the retail sale of firearms through licensing.   GCA 1968 has always been designed as part of the "slippery slope" to enact a universal gun registry, which is in effect, slow motion gun confiscation, as recently seen in California. 

The whole citizen disarmament movement has never been about crime control, and its objectives have become an increasingly hidden agenda as its policies have been shown to be ineffective and unpopular.

As David Codrea notes, you cannot have a rational debate with those who continually lie about both the facts and their objectives.

©2013 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

[marktwain]

More regulation with no rational reason except to chip away at our rights.

[Mr. K]

Must be in response to all those tragic boatring accidents that have been happening lately

[bunkerhill7]

“Don`t Play Around With Guns,”

My mother always told me-

“You might shoot yourself or get shot...”

[USNBandit]

Sure, is their a category for illegal exportation......by agents of the government?

[Jewbacca]

They’ve attempted to change the laws on Title II weapons by some sort of regulatory B.S. to make it where companies or trust can no longer own them.

My lawyer couldn’t make heads or tails of it, other than to note they were trying to pass a law without Congress.

[3Fingas]

I guess that they are tying to deal with the “I lost all my firearms in a boating accident” defense. The BATFE should be disbanded and its one legitimate function, the “E” part, should be transferred to the FBI.

[Yo-Yo]

Since this process started in 1992 in the Clinton era, the number of gun dealers has plunged from 248,000 in 1993 to a bit less than 51,000 in 2012, a decline of nearly 80%.

BZZZZZZT. Wrong, but thanks for playing.

The large drop in FFL licenses occured because the ATF changed their regulations and required that FFL holders have an actual, for profit business going, either out of their homes or a brick-and-mortar store front. Up until that time, anybody could get an FFL and then be able to purchase through the mail, and that irked the power that be.

Now all you can get as a non-business is a C&R FFL.

[hadaclueonce]

BATF have to have big vehicles to tote their tables so that can get photo ops of all the evil firearms that they are grabbing.

Most are legal and returned a few weeks later.

The most dangerous place in America is between a legal firearm and the MSM Camera.

[aimhigh]

I remember reading an article about a BATF sting store they set up. They closed it after losing scores of guns themselves. Then there was fast and furious.

[hadaclueonce]

It was Budget time when they rolled into Waco.

It was a firearm issue that Reno turned into a child abuse case.

Problem was that the Child Abuse case was a state case, not federal.

They burned down a Church.

It was not your Church, so Americans did not care.

One did, they could not get a needle in his arm fast enough.

[Scrambler Bob]

“tragic boating accidents”

And Algore thinks global warming makes the sea rise.

[marktwain]

You are just repeating what I said, and claiming that I am wrong.

Yes, the ATF changed the rules.

Yes, it made it much harder to be a dealer.

Yes, it occurred during the Clinton administration.

So, show me what I got wrong.

[Axenolith]

And in the Clinton era, there was much made about the “Kitchen table gun dealers”. That was the impetus to change it politically and you know the administration gave the nod for that action.

[elcid1970]

If it becomes a crime to fail to report a missing or stolen firearm (in which case the make, model, serial # are now registered), then such a law can IMO easily be stretched to require reporting transfer of a firearm through gifting, inheritance, or.....private sale.

Comments, you legal eagles out there?

[Yo-Yo]

Not you personally, Mr. Twain, unless you wrote the original article. I have a nasty habit of "talking back" to the original article by replying to post #1, which replies to you.

The original article said the number of gun dealers plunged from 248,000 to 51,000.

No, the number of Federal Firearm Licenses issued fell from 248,000 to 51,000. The number of legitimate gun stores has also fallen, but not by nearly that much. Most of those lost FFLs were individuals who could no longer meet the burden of proving that they were a legitimate business. That was not mentioned in the article.

[marktwain]

You had to be a dealer to have an FFL, so an FFL and a dealer was one and the same. The Clinton era regulations increased the fees required for an FFL by 10X, as I recall, and added a number of other bureaucratic impediments. These included fingerprinting, burdensome changes in the 4473 form, and other impedimentia. The dropoff of dealers was sharp, and it continued at a reduced rate over the next 15 years. The article mentioned that it was specifically aimed at small dealers.

You are claiming that small dealers are not legitimate with the phrase “legitimate gun stores”, but that is certainly within the eye of the beholder.

There were many larger dealers who did not like the competition of small dealers and tried to claim that they were illegitimate in order to clamp down on competition.

[Yo-Yo]

No sir, I am claiming that individuals had FFLs that hadn't made a sale in years, had no store front, and used their FFL only for their own personal use. It was that class of "dealer" that was eliminated (not by legislation but by regulation) in the Clintoon era.

The large distributorships like Davidson's and Talo have had their toll on the small mom & pop gun store, but that is another matter. There is no way the large distributorships killed off 2/3 of FFL holders in 1 year.

Quote from the article: Ten Ignorant Lies about Guns in the US

The bulk of these dealers were folks who came to be referred to disparagingly as “kitchen table” dealers; people who got their FFL mainly to get wholesale pricing for their own purchases. These dealers probably only sold a dozen or so weapons a year, mostly to friends, family and co-workers. If you look at the graph below, however, you will see that just as the Brady bill passed the number of dealers dropped precipitously:

So what caused the drop in the number of dealers? Would you believe it came from the same folks who are now agitating for more background checks? It was the Brady Campaign who started the push to, well, I’ll let them explain:

Federal laws and regulations in the early 1990s instituted real reform in the licensing requirements for retail firearms dealers, making it much tougher for individuals to obtain licenses and ensuring that those who were licensed were in fact bona fide businesses.

[marktwain]

I think we are talking past each other, and mostly saying the same thing.

However, there is a difference between your statement:

“I am claiming that individuals had FFLs that hadn't made a sale in years, had no store front, and used their FFL only for their own personal use.”

and the quote that you give:

“These dealers probably only sold a dozen or so weapons a year, mostly to friends, family and co-workers.”

No doubt there were some people with FFLs who used them only for their personal use, but I fail to see any problem with that.

The GCA of 1968 puts gun enthusiasts in a bind. If you buy and sell a few firearms a year, you might be considered as operating a business, and charged with dealing without an FFL. But, if you attempt to get an FFL, you have to meet requirements that become onerous for small dealers.

I do not see any evidence that the whole FFL structure has reduced crime at an measurable level. In fact, it has created a whole new class of criminals where they did not exist before.

I think we should do away with the entire structure.

Unfortunately, people build their lives around existing structures, make long term commitments, and invest money based on what currently exists.

Every time you change the structure, you cause disruption and there are costs to many innocent individuals.

This is one of the major reasons the Obama economy is so bad. There is little reason to Obama’s “program” other than to grow government and reward his supporters.

No one can predict what stupidity will be foisted on us next, so people put off making decisions about business, and refrain from making investments.

But, I digress.

[Yo-Yo]

I agree with everything you said. I feel that the “friends and family quote” supports my assertion, but that is open to debate.

Otherwise, we are in full agreement.

[gundog]

Ding, ding, ding...