Libertarian ping! Click here to get added or here to be removed or post a message here!
Posted on 01/03/2012 11:07:12 AM PST by bamahead
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is in charge of determining whether a gun model is legal, but the agency won’t say much about its criteria.
Despite overseeing an industry that includes machine guns and other deadly weapons, ATF regulations for the manufacture of weapons are often unclear, leading to reliance on a secretive system by which firearms manufacturers can submit proposed weapons for testing and find out one at a time whether they comply with the law, critics say.
The ATF recommends that manufacturers voluntarily submit weapons for case-by-case determination. But those judgments are private and, it turns out, sometimes contradictory. Critics say nearly identical prototypes can be approved for one manufacturer but denied for another.
-SNIP--
Robert E. Sanders, an ATF official for 24 years who is now a North Carolina lawyer specializing in firearms matters, said letter rulings are often “definitely contradictory and inconsistent,” but are necessary because the regulations being applied are ill-defined.
“It is hard to tell what ATF wants you to do without submitting your product and asking for a letter ruling,” he said. “You can’t tell what the agency has said in the past to others, because those letter rulings are generally secret. How could somebody know how to comply with the law?”
--SNIP--
Mr. Sanders said that submitting a weapon for testing is a “costly and lengthy process” that would not be necessary if the ATF wrote detailed regulations. For example, he said, there are no written regulations on how to modify a machine gun made before a ban went into effect in 1986.
He noted that ATF once issued a letter ruling saying a 14-inch shoestring was a machine gun because it could be used to convert a semi-automatic rifle into an automatic weapon. The letter was later rescinded.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Their criteria are;
Any weapon in the hands of a citizen that they feel they cannot out gun...capacity, caliber, etc...is illegal.
Stolen ;)
People have been bankrupted after getting an approval letter and then manufacturing, only to be told the gun is illegal and all must be destroyed at manufacturers’ expense. End the BATFE.
“Mr. Sanders said that submitting a weapon for testing is a “costly and lengthy process” that would not be necessary if the ATF wrote detailed regulations. For example, he said, there are no written regulations on how to modify a machine gun made before a ban went into effect in 1986”
Well the obvious immediate solution is to just READ THE LAW and follow it, then we don’t need the ATF. “regulations” are LAWS and therefore must only be written and passed by congress. Anything the BATFE does with regulations is UNCONSTITUTIONAL!
It’s time for the pro gun movement to go for the jugular and demand the defunding of the BATFE. We need to go on the offensive. Go after the unconstitutionality of all federal gun laws and their enforcement mechanisms.
One common trait I’ve noticed in ATF and IRS agents is the unwillingness to say anything definitive. They tell you to read the statute (which is purposefully vague) and refuse to give answers to direct finite questions.
I want a Glock .380 but that is only sold to law enforcement. They sell every other Glock model. I find that one strange. I don’t see the rationale as the they have sub compact Glocks in .40 caliber. They also ban certain Glock holsters.
Mr. Sanders said that submitting a weapon for testing is a “costly and lengthy process”
...To the manufacturer...
Need we say anything more???
One of the greatest examples of silly rules is the Rossi Ranch Hand. They’ve met all the requirements to have it classified as a pistol, but it looks a lot like a sawed-off, lever action rifle to me.
Everyone else in the USA can buy a Ruger Mini-14 tactical 5.56mm with flash suppressor, collapsible stock and a 20 round magazine. But not in MA.
I found one in RI for $350 with a red dot scope. I could buy it but could not get it shipped to an FFL in MA. Peed me off royally. So I bought a Mossberg 479 30-30 lever action rifle for $250 from the same dealer. That one is legal in MA.
The reason for all this BS?
Those particular features are illegal in MA because when the Federal assault weapons ban was about to sunset, the Atty. General in MA at the time decided to introduce legislation to copy it for MA. Guess who signed it into law?
Mitt Romney.
“Did you really think we want those laws observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them to be broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against... We’re after power and we mean it... There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system, Mr. Reardon, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.” - Ayn Rand, ‘Atlas Shrugged’ 1957
L
Actually the ATF is better than some agencies. I have a customer who requested guidance from Health and Human Services on HIPAA regulations.
HHS came back and declined to give clarification on the regulation because doing so would constitute legal advice.
I hope post that daily all over the internet!!!
That Mossy looks sweeeeet!! I want!!
FUMR!
BTTT
Thank you for the ping!
NO ROMNEY, NO WAY, NOT NOW, NOT EVER!
Thank you for this information.
Reason Number 1,771,561 to NOT vote for R0mney.
I am certain that there is a good reason why you don’t just pack up and leave that fair state. Care to share it with us?
NO ROMNEY!
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