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. Obamas 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 thats 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.
Its 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 thats 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.
Nice...
Is there a real judiciary left?
Those "betters" have to sleep sometimes...we only need to find out WHERE!
“When you go to sleep a free man and wake up as a criminal without doing anything...
Thats the definition of tyranny.”
We have been trending that way for a while. Now, for every click of a mouse on your post, something which you have no control over, is another felony against you.
Just the frosting on the cake, the law being unconstitutional to begin with. But FCC regulations is not about content... “Net neutrality is all about making the big, bad, companies play... “fair”...
Right....
So, I’m reading a MAGAZINE that states such speech could TRIGGER some kind of ACTION against me? They want to MUZZLE my free speech? I’ve got some BULLET points in my SIGHTS, to present to these BUTTSTOCKS.
#1. Go pound sand, A-wholes.
Doesn’t appear so with this group.
Seems they do not look at the Constitution when they make rulings,
Far to often their biases appear to drive their rulings.
Course roberts is a very small little man.
yes, that ought to reduce gun violence in America.
It’s not a legitimate government. It is an NWO occupying force. Romans 13 does not apply to it IMO.
You’re absolutely right!
This is NOT a legitimate government. The Congress is full of those who continually break their sworn oaths. Everything that emanates from that body of traitors is tainted.
Then we have the case of the parasite occupying the White Hut. Congress’ treason is reflected in their not evicting this tyrannical communist imbecile from his roost.
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