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OFF ALERT 06.10.07 Another "Deal" From The NRA |
Today's Washington
Post has reported that the NRA has, once again, cut a "deal"
with the anti-gunners in Congress over your gun rights.
According to the Post, "Senior Democrats have reached
agreement with the National Rifle Association on what could
be the first federal gun-control legislation since 1994, a measure
to significantly strengthen the national system that checks
the backgrounds of gun buyers."
As many Oregon residents have learned, the background check
system, a prior restraint on your rights, is a failure.
This system, which assumes you are guilty and requires you to
prove your innocence before exercising a God-given, Constitutional
right, has delayed and denied countless Oregonians attempting
to make legal firearms purchases. In many cases, buyers have
been told (illegally) they must wait weeks or more to take possession
of firearms they have every right to own.
Well, if Congress and the NRA have their way, things are about
to get a whole lot worse. In a deal the Post calls "a marriage
of convenience for both sides," and NRA lobbyist Chris
Cox calls "good politics," the failed National Instant
Check system is poised to be expanded even further. Furthermore,
the proposed legislation will punish states that do not supply
all the private mental health records the Feds will be demanding.
Cox reportedly said "if the legislation becomes a 'gun-control
wish list' as it moves through Congress, the NRA will withdraw
its support and work against the bill." But this is
the same line they used on their second attempt to pass liability
protection for gun dealers and manufacturers. That bill became
a "gun control wish list" and the NRA not only supported
it, but demanded that it pass with all the gun control that
was tacked on to it.
What do gun owners get in return for this vastly expanded intrusion
into their privacy? According to the Washington Post "Individuals
with minor infractions in their pasts could petition their states
to have their names removed from the federal database, and about
83,000 military veterans, put into the system by the Department
of Veterans Affairs in 2000 for alleged mental health reasons,
would have a chance to clean their records. "
Individuals with minor infractions, and military veterans don't
get their names removed from government "no-buy" lists,
they get the "chance" to "petition" to have
their names removed.
We are quite confident predicting that that process will be
a nightmare if it can be done at all. The recent implosion of
the passport issuing system is a perfect example of the kind
of morass that all government databases become.
According to the Washington Post "Under the bill, states
voluntarily participating in the system would have to file an
audit with the U.S. attorney general of all the criminal cases,
mental health adjudications and court-ordered drug treatments
that had not been filed with the instant-check system"
If that does not terrify you it should. The current background
check system is an intrusive, error riddled mess. Now NRA and
the anti-gunners in Congress want to expand a system that can't
keep criminal records straight, and add vast new amounts of
data about people's "mental health" records.
The abuse and misuse of people's private information is nothing
new and it's a very short trip from "court ordered drug
treatments" to "has attended an AA meeting."
No one supports arming people who are a danger to themselves
or others, but adjudicating someone's mental health is an inexact
science at best. And there is no reason to believe that this
latest attack on your right is going keep dangerous people from
getting guns.
One of the legislators responsible for this "deal,"
anti-gun Congressman
John Dingell ( who has voted with his anti-gun colleagues
96.8% of the time) said "No law will prevent
evildoers from doing evil acts, but this law will help ensure
that those deemed dangerous by the courts will not be able to
purchase a weapon." But of course, that's preposterous.
All this law will bring us is more invasions of our privacy,
more government databases, and more denied purchases.
You can use Gun Owners of America's Legislative
Action link to contact your member of Congress to oppose
this latest attack on your rights.
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© 2000 - 2010, Oregon Firearms Federation. All Rights Reserved.
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