"My first priority will be to reinstate the assault weapons ban as soon as I take office. Within 90 days, we will go back after kitchen table dealers, and work to end the gun show and internet sales loopholes. In the first year, I intend to work with Congress on a national no carry law, 1 gun a month purchase limits, and bans on all semi-automatic guns." – presidential candidate Barack Obama
In my last post, I touched on American militia groups. I'm not in any of those groups, but I have met enough people who are in them to know what gets them fired up and what gets militia membership to increase. The number #1 reason is when they think the government is trampling the Second Amendment and coming after their guns. The militia groups refer to this as tyranny. Because gun ownership is an explicit Constitutional right (unlike, say, health care), the militia groups are correct. This is not a value judgement. It's simply a fact.
Enter the Democrats. Here's what the Obama administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress are pushing only two months into Obama's presidency:
First up – On February 25th, 2009, Obama's newly sworn-in Attorney General, Eric Holder, (who has said in the past he doesn't believe the Second Amendment gives citizens the right to own guns) repeated the Obama Administration's desire to reinstate the Federal Assault Weapons Ban and make it permanent.
Next up – H.R. 45: The Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sales Act of 2009. This one is sponsored by the former founder of the Illinois Black Panther Party, Representative Bobby Rush (D-IL). In short, this legislation would ban possession of a firearm unless the following conditions are met – It is registered. You are fingerprinted. You supply a current Driver's License. You supply your Social Security #. You will submit to a physical & mental evaluation at any time of the government's choosing. You will have to pass a firearms knowledge examination in order to own a gun. You will have to release your medical records to the Attorney General for purposes of assessing your mental health. Each change of ownership through private or public sale must be reported and a $25 fee will be charged. Each lost or stolen firearm must be reported within 72 hours. All guns must be locked and inaccessible to any child under 18. The government has the right to come and inspect that you are storing your firearm safely at any time. Failure to comply with any of these rules results in loss of your firearm, a fine, and you may be imprisoned for 1-5 years.
We might as well call H.R. 45 the "Government Can Take Your Weapon If The Government Feels Like It Act."
Next up – On March 20, 2009, Federal District Court judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly (appointed to the federal bench by Bill Clinton) issued a preliminary injunction against implementation of a new rule that had passed Congress and would allow law-abiding citizens to carry a concealed firearm in national parks and wildlife refuges for purposes of self-defense. Kotelly's reasoning to overturn Congress ? (Your gonna love this.) Kotelly blocked the rule because no environmental impact analysis had been performed. Never mind the fact that a concealed firearm DOESN'T HAVE ANY ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT.
Next up – Obama ends the post-9/11 program that allows pilots to carry guns on planes. The Washington Times reports:
Now President Obama is quietly ending the federal firearms program, risking public safety on airlines in the name of an anti-gun ideology. The Obama administration this past week diverted some $2 million from the pilot training program to hire more supervisory staff, who will engage in field inspections of pilots.
So now, instead of pilots being able to defend the public against possible terrorists, Obama is hiring more people to INVESTIGATE PILOTS, because, as we all know, the pilots…are…the…problem ???
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It's no coincidence that gun sales are proving to be one of the few recession-proof industries since Obama's election. Gun sales are skyrocketing. The gun shops can't keep up with the demand. People know Obama and the Dems plan to throw ever more roadblocks in front of gun owners. The Dems don't plan to repeal the Second Amendment all at once. They know there would be outrage if they tried that. Instead, the Dems plan to chip away at gun ownership step by step, the same way they chip away at your incomes little by little until you're poor and dependent.
And don't forget, we have as many as 20,000 total gun laws already on the books if you count all the local laws, and we have about 300 major federal and state gun laws if you don't count all the little local ones. We aren't lacking for gun laws.
If militia groups are getting riled up and antsy (I don't know if they are, but I imagine so), now you know why.
