Posted on 02/19/2011 11:05:56 AM PST by AlmaKing
Friday, February 18, 2011
Fairfax, Va. – The U.S. House has voted for an amendment to H.R. 1 offered by Reps. Denny Rehberg and Dan Boren that prohibits the use of federal funds for a new and unauthorized multiple sales reporting scheme proposed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). The measure passed the chamber (277-149) with broad bipartisan support.
“The reluctance of the Calderon and Obama administrations to face reality and pursue real solutions is costing the lives of law enforcement and civilians on both sides of the border,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director for the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action. “NRA has always and will continue to support any law enforcement initiative that targets criminals. Any proposal that only burdens law-aiding gun owners and retailers – as this proposal does – is a non-starter with the NRA. To put it very simply, if someone is breaking the law, go after them full bore. If they aren't, leave them alone.”
The BATFE is demanding the authority to require all of the 8,500 firearm dealers in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to report all sales of two or more semiautomatic rifles within five consecutive business days, if the rifles are larger than .22 caliber and use detachable magazines. Yet, under existing law, the bureau has full access to every record of every firearm transaction by every licensed dealer, whether during a bona fide criminal investigation or simply to enforce compliance with record keeping requirements. This reporting scheme would create a registry of owners of many of today’s most popular rifles – firearms owned by millions of Americans for self-defense, hunting and other lawful purposes.
“On behalf of the tens of millions of law-abiding gun owners in America, I would like to thank Reps. Rehberg and Boren for their leadership on this important issue,” concluded Cox. “Every congressman who voted for this measure seeks real solutions to this tragic and violent problem that continues to escalate. In these trying times, limited resources should not be squandered on programs that will do nothing to address the heinous crimes occurring along our border.”
Ok, so I'm in favor of what the House is doing here, but I have a real problem with what I see is a growing insistence that law enforcement is somehow non-civilian. And now we see it's coming from even the NRA.
'costing the lives of law enforcement and civilians'
Law enforcement is composed of full-time, paid, armed, uniformed government agents whose task is to enforce the will of government. They SPECIFICALLY are the "standing army" that the Founders were concerned about. In the debates on the constitution we have
A free republic will never keep a standing army to execute its laws. It must depend upon the support of its citizens. But when a government is to receive its support from the aid of the citizens, it must be so constructed as to have the confidence, respect, and affection of the people. Men who, upon the call of the magistrate, offer themselves to execute the laws, are influenced to do it either by affection to the government, or from fear; where a standing army is at hand to punish offenders, every man is actuated by the latter principle, and therefore, when the magistrate casts, will obey: but, where this is not the case, the government must rest for its support upon the confidence and respect which the people have for their government and laws.
You are exactly right! When courts and SCOTUS refuse to hear our complaints, we are no longer a nation of laws but of men, in this case Dictator Obama. One of the great dangers is that we lose respect for all government.
“Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants.” Wm Penn
SCOTUS says it intends to reconsider a lawsuit that addresses this problem (WND.com). Maybe they are getting worried about civil war.
Remember the good old days when budgets were measured in scant billions and Congress didn’t need to pass a law that said you couldn’t do unauthorized things?
Did you post this as chat? I would have posted it as frontpage news.
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