Posted on 01/23/2009 4:30:41 AM PST by marktwain
The Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show is the biggest meeting of gun, ammo and accessory companies in the world, open only to the trade (nearly 50,000 people). Miles and miles of aisles, it's exhausting (and astounding!).
Commerce was so robust Jan. 15 - 18 at SHOT this year there was little time to waste on a tiny concern like the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
That's SOP at SHOT, a discussion for another day. At SHOT the focus is to sell more product, open more accounts, introduce new designs, make marketing plans and party at night. Were you at the monster Glock bash? What a band... and the food!
The fact that the entire industry is based on a fragile 27-word line written on parchment two centuries ago is lost in the shuffle. And for the huge police and military segment, with their own acres of floor space at the Orlando show, it simply doesn't matter at all.
The gun-rights community sees this as hopelessly shortsighted of course, and the firearms industry sees it as business as usual. They're both right. Let me tell you where the two sides meet -- at HR 45, the proposed bill that requires you to pass a test to have gun rights. Complete details below. Will a reduction of gun rights affect the gun business? You betcha.
Most intriguing new piece of gear at the SHOT Show this year, in my opinion -- a bayonet for handguns. How did we overlook this essential extra for so many years?
Gunfighting rule #62: When you're out of ammo, it's better to swing a blade than an empty gun. It comes with a sheath, but how would you holster the thing? Fits any standard rail, attaches without tools, blade by Ka-Bar.
2. HR 45 -- Gun Rights Licensing Test 2. HR 45 -- Gun Rights Licensing Test
Illinois congressman Bobby Rush, from Obama's home state and with a voting record on gun ownership as bad as Obama's, introduced a bill on the first day of the 111th Congress that shows what we can expect. If we don't defeat this bill, and others expected to follow it, gun owners will lose guns and the industry will suffer harm beyond description.
Under HR 45, if you can't pass a complex test written by the U.S. Attorney General (described in detail below), pay the tax, give up fingerprints and a biometric-capable photo of yourself (that can be turned into a digital facial-recognition number and used as a de facto national ID), every gun you own will become contraband and subject to confiscation, while you stand trial before imprisonment. You'd think Bobby, a former black panther, would know better.
Your rights will have an expiration date, and if you screw up and miss it, you'll be in the same mess as people who can't pass the test. Can you say "unconstitutional"? Do you think these "gun bigots" care?
Now that the Supreme Court has made it clear in the Heller case that government can't ban guns, the Brady's have stopped saying they want to ban guns. So the virtually treasonous Bobby Rush bill doesn't ban guns, it bans gun owners, maybe by the millions. How many gun owners read poorly or don't test well? How many can't explain local, state and federal gun laws? They'd become prohibited possessors under HR 45. Are there any limits to what the AG can put on the test? The bill doesn't mention any -- it gives the AG a free hand to include anything.
Had enough? HR 45 has an innocent-looking line that says 'strike the second sentence of 18 USC 926(a)'. That's the line that says the federal government cannot make a central registry of gun owners.
The anti-rights people have to repeal that line, because Bobby's bill flat-out creates a central gun registry. Every gun owner must be registered to keep on possessing the guns they already own, and any transfer of any kind must be registered as well. The mark of the beast is upon us, to apply a metaphor.
See the bill for yourself (click "Bill Number" and enter "HR 45"): http://thomas.loc.gov
Read the gun-ban list the antis have already published: http://www.gunlaws.com/GunLawUpdate3.htm
Where can I get a current listing of whats pending?And will any other freepers pitch in?Also,can anyone suggest a way to print out the freerepublic logo with web address in a small part of the corner of a standard sheet of paper?Do we need Jim Robinson`s permission to do that?I`ve been an advocate for networking this site with others,that’s one thing the Barky-ites do well that we MUST copy if we`re to be effective.Any suggestions are welcome,people lets roll here,the clocks ticking,times wasting!
Imagine that?
The muzzle brake outlets would allow gas to be expelled if the front got blocked. I think the bullet would force out any plug. In any event, I think it's for use when your rifle is either out of ammo or you are otherwise unable to fire.
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