You knew it was coming, but I bet you didn't think that the left's assault on gun rights would come as quickly and as aggressively as it has. While sensible state legislatures are considering allowing concealed carry on college campuses and expanding gun rights, the out-of-step administration and Democrats in Congress are launching an all-out attack on the Second Amendment in what time they have left over after bankrupting the nation.
It's a two-pronged attack, with gun-bashing Attorney General Eric Holder declaring that it's time to bring back the assault weapons ban and Democrats in congress seeking to impose just about every restriction and rights violation gun owners have ever feared short of outright gun confiscation in Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act (H.R.45), sponsored by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL).
Attorney General Holder has a long record of hostility to gun owners and their rights. He supported and was involved in enforcing the unconstitutional DC gun ban, has previously endorsed a nationwide prohibition on guns, advocated banning private gun sales at gun shows during his confirmation hearing, and is now proposing the return of the broadly-worded assault weapons ban, which included many common handguns and hunting rifles as one of "just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make." I can only imagine what the other changes are, when he is on record saying, "The Second Amendment does not protect firearms possession or use that is unrelated to participation In a well-regulated militia.”
Bobby Rush's manipulatively titled gun bill seems designed to fulfill many of Holder's most extreme gun-grabbing dreams. It proposes a structure for licensing every gun owner in the country, which would require a test, an expanded background check, a waiting period, and a fee in order to get a license.
It also includes draconian enforcement measures, like a two-year jail sentence if your gun is stolen and you don't notify the federal government within 72 hours, potentially 10 years in jail for having an unsecured gun and ammunition in the same house with a child under the age of 18 (so much for taking my teenager hunting with me), extensive permanent tracking of all gun owners with a stiff penalty for not filing a change of address with the government, and the right for federal agents to search your house without a warrant at any time if you are a licensed gun owner. It also requires periodic license renewals so that the government can check up on you and keep charging you additional license fees.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Baritone
You might want to go to Sean Hannity's web site and get your vote in for what kind of revolution you would most like to promote and participate in. Vote early and often.
B
2 - Baritone
btw imo it'll never pass, or, if it does, it will be a significantly watered down version having few, if any, teeth. Even most of the liberal Dems get weak kneed at the prospect of facing down the NRA.
B
3 - STM
Time to bury them assault weapons ...
Stockpile that ammo.
The Reds are-a-comin'
4 - Doug Hunter
Damn, I should have invested in assault rifles instead of financial stocks.
5 - Dave Nalle
They're not coming, Stan, they're here.
Dave
6 - Ruvy
Time to bury them assault weapons ...
Stockpile that ammo.
The Reds are-a-comin'
They're not coming, Stan, they're here.
This is all getting very musical - romantic even...
Isn't it rich?
Isn't it queer?
Losing your freedoms this late
In your career?
And where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don't bother - they're here.
7 - Ruvy
That was with apologies to Steven Sondheim, folks....
8 - A Duck
lol @ Ruvy
9 - Cindy
oops...
10 - Cindy
That's not bad Ruvy. We can work with that.
11 - Cindy
Dave,
It's not the government's fault. It's the people who vote. Isn't that what you told me?
I still wonder why you defend the idea of a Republic. It never seems to work for you any better than anyone else.
12 - Baritone
It's hard being Dave.
13 - Cindy
Dave supports a form of government where people don't make their own decisions. We can't trust you to make your own decisions, right Dave?
So, Dave gets what he asks for. A choice of who will represent him. Who do you like this round Dave?--Larry, Moe, or Curly.
14 - Cindy
Some people need more of a stake in the government. After all, they have more stuff...it only makes sense.
Dave says it has something to do with freedom.
15 - STM
Cindy: "I still wonder why you defend the idea of a Republic."
Bingo. Never should've rebelled against the Crown. See what happens? You folks over there need the Queen back, and a proper flag.
16 - Baritone
We have quite enough "Queens" thank you very much!
Drama queens, welfare queens, drag queens.
When you think about it the word 'queen' is a rather strange bird. It seems like a word one would use in this sort of context: I fell off the ladder into the bushes and got a big queen stuck in my butt.
Ah, I don't know. Maybe not. :-)
B
17 - Dave Nalle
It's not the government's fault. It's the people who vote. Isn't that what you told me?
The people who vote ARE the government, effectively. So it is largely their fault that they elect the useless tools we have in office.
I still wonder why you defend the idea of a Republic. It never seems to work for you any better than anyone else.
Because it works better than the alternative. But like any system of government it will inevitably break down. It took 230 years, which is not bad, but we can see it breaking down into demagoguery and populism right now.
We're about due for a revolution, but I'd like it to be ina positive direction rather than where it seems to be going right now.
Dave supports a form of government where people don't make their own decisions. We can't trust you to make your own decisions, right Dave?
What I favor is a system where people make all their own decisions and the government is not involved in those decisions.
Some people need more of a stake in the government. After all, they have more stuff...it only makes sense.
I had the thought the other day that perhaps we should outlaw all lobbying and then create a third legislative branch made up of lobbyists for unions and businesses who participate directly in government. It's an appealing concept.
Dave
18 - STM
Geez, mate, that must've bloody hurt!
19 - STM
B'tone's fantasy ladder episode, I mean, not Dave sitting up 24/7 and forgetting to shave whilst working out where to stash his guns and at the same time plotting the demise of the Obama administration.
20 - Cindy
Dave,
I won't criticize anything you said Dave. I like to encourage progress.
I especially like this:
What I favor is a system where people make all their own decisions and the government is not involved in those decisions.
B,
There's no telling how long that comment will work for me. It should be interesting though trying to explain to people today exactly why I keep laughing. "Well, you see, it has to do with the dangers inherent in cleaning the gutters and queens and things..."
21 - Baritone
After I submitted my "ladder" comment, I thought perhaps it was crossing a line considering the source (that being me.) It just occured to me that we do seem to have any number of people and groups who either refer to themselves or are refered to by others as "queens" of one sort or another.
B
22 - Dr Dreadful
Don't worry, B-tone. There's always a place on a political forum for discussion of assorted quirky objects introduced abruptly into locations which enjoy very little sunshine.
23 - Cannonshop
...because they are the only defense we have left against those who would like to shred the Bill of Rights and replace the rule of law with the rule of tyrants.
But the people Want the rule of Tyrants. This is the government that the American People have decided they desire. It's over, Dave. The People proved in september of last year that what they want, is the Nanny-State, and again in November in the polls.
Americans don't want to be free, they want to be RULED. Ask the winners.
24 - Cindy D
Cannon?
Are you the pot or the kettle? I always get those two mixed up.
25 - Baronius
Cannon, all we know is that liberalism in the most appealing package can defeat moderation in the least appealing, in the midst of a stock market collapse. I don't think that's an endorsement of totalitarianism on the part of the voters.
In fact, I've been impressed by the number of people making coherent arguments against the stimulus package. My deepest fear has been that Republican votes really are for lower taxes, and Democratic votes for more spending. (That, and spiders.) But in the debates over the past month, you've heard the rightward arguing against big government, and the leftward arguing for more government. It's really about competing visions, not just marketable packaging.