Posted on 06/11/2015 4:34:11 AM PDT by HomerBohn
The blogosphere is sounding off about a pending new Obama policy that would impact not only the 2nd Amendment, but the 1st Amendment as well.
As incredible as it seems, individuals would be in violation by “merely posting information on the Internet about common firearms” which “could be interpreted as illegally sharing sensitive information with foreign nationals”
Applying issues related to “exporting” and “foreign nations” under an international treaty to individual on-line speech (under the guise of improperly sharing technical data about firearms) may seem like a stretch, but it is apparently what is happening, unless public opposition is voiced before this oh-so quiet regulation sets in towards the end of summer.
While it remains to be seen if such a policy would be enforceable, the mere redefinition of Internet activities – now under FCC regulation – is startling, suggesting that the “bark” about guns may be just as threatening to this anti-gun administration as the “bite” of ‘military-style weapons’ like the AR-15 that so frequently drives media coverage. According to the Washington Times:
(Watch video at link.)
The National Rifle Association (NRA) is furious about new regulations announced last week. The plan uses national security as an excuse to threaten gun advocates with prison time for sharing information about “military-style weapons. The problem is that almost every firearm is considered “military-style” by President Obama and the gun-control crowd.
These new restrictions involve commonly and legally available personal firearms.
Under the new proposal from the State Department, merely posting information on the Internet about common firearms could be interpreted as illegally sharing sensitive information with foreign nationals. So Mr. Obama’s plan is two-for-one in restricting constitutional rights: He would combine gun control with control over free speech.
And the penalty for violating this policy could be drastic if upheld:
The penalty? 20 years in prison plus a $1 million fine for each violation. Each time that any foreign national accesses the data is considered a separate violation.
Wow… I guess that’s pretty severe – enough to discourage even chance encounters with loose talk about one of the most sacred items that many Americans own.
The NRA is charging that the interpretation of language in the proposal would have the State Department treating online speech about firearms in the same way it treats actual firearms when it comes to the regulation of their “export.”
It’s happening again— President Obama is using his imperial pen and telephone to curb your rights and bypass Congress through executive action.
[…] the Obama State Department has been quietly moving ahead with a proposal that could censor online speech related to firearms. This latest regulatory assault, published in the June 3 issue of the Federal Register, is as much an affront to the First Amendment as it is to the Second. Your action is urgently needed to ensure that online blogs, videos, and web forums devoted to the technical aspects of firearms and ammunition do not become subject to prior review by State Department bureaucrats before they can be published.
The rationale is technical, but maybe that’s the point. The potential to enforce gun speech all about catching people on the technicalities, and is tied to the history of participation of in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). None of that will stop it from creating consequences for those it would go after:
With the new proposal published on June 3, the State Department claims to be “clarifying” the rules concerning “technical data” posted online or otherwise “released” into the “public domain.” To the contrary, however, the proposal would institute a massive new prior restraint on free speech. This is because all such releases would require the “authorization” of the government before they occurred. The cumbersome and time-consuming process of obtaining such authorizations, moreover, would make online communication about certain technical aspects of firearms and ammunition essentially impossible.
[…]
Gunsmiths, manufacturers, reloaders, and do-it-yourselfers could all find themselves muzzled under the rule and unable to distribute or obtain the information they rely on to conduct these activities. Prior restraints of the sort contemplated by this regulation are among the most disfavored regulations of speech under First Amendment case law.
The end run around the 2nd Amendment is nearly complete, giving Obama until the end of his administration to set in place legal hurdles that even a gun-toting, pro-2nd Amendment, NRA- and Tea Party-backed politician would be hard pressed to undo completely.
Yikes.
I guess a lot of youtube videos will have to disappear.
This mookabooken magic negro sure is crappola.
Constitutional scholar my ass.
This too will be thrown out by any real judiciary.
Like most any of the bullshit this ass clown has pushed.
Many years ago I owned a S/W 6” 357 handgun. It is long gone (my wife at the time was pregnant and was worried for the soon to be babies).
< humor >
Is it acceptable if I just sent my wishes with a “fickle finger” of fate salute??
< /humor >
I would post a picture of my firearms if they had not been lost in a tragic boating accident
Massive disobedience is the only answer.
RESIST!
With our Republican majority in Congress, how can he continue to eat, sleep and sh*t in the now disgraced White Hovel? After all, those Republicans we voted for are true Conservatives, aren’t they?
Third party, third party, third party......need a leader.
“could be interpreted as illegally sharing sensitive information with foreign nationals”
Since when is that a concern to this guy?
My firearms -- just a little to the right of that boat, I think:
However . . .
These are but a few of my guns.
Kind of like being a Texas Biker.
If violation of the 1st and 2nd Amendment is not enough to spark a violent counterrevolution against domestic dictatorship, then what the hell is? Passage of such a thing will be THE defining moment in our country’s history! Which path will we take?
Nothing left but videos of cats and stupid people fail videos...or videos of stupid cat fails.
Colion Noir will be a multiple felon. hickok45 is old enough he'll never see the outside of a cell again. gun runnerz, gone into hiding...
But others are right, Constitutional scholar my lily white backside. bammy knows there's no way he can play dick-tator king and get (and keep) such an obviously over-reaching reg on the books.
What a waste of time and resources. Or is this just bammy trying to provoke us into an incident as an excuse to impose marshal law? If he really is going to go down that path (and I honestly believe there is a non-zero chance that is his plan, as incredible as it sounds) then I expect things like this and even more blatant abuses of power and the Constitution to continue, even worsen. If that's his plan, he is going to keep poking at us until he gets the reaction he wants.
I wonder if that includes boating accidents . . .
So, this is a "put anyone you don't like away for life" kind of law. And, it's from the same people who don't like "three strikes" because it has racial disparity in its application.
Elections have consequences. The millions who voted for this bastard are to blame.
Boehner, mc connel and nearly all the pubbie “leadership”are not conservatives.
They all are go along get along cause we all b making big money scum.
When you go to sleep a free man and wake up as a criminal without doing anything...
That’s the definition of tyranny.
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