|
|
 |
HR 2640, The NRA's Latest "Victory." |
“We
commend the United States Congress for its action today to strengthen
the Brady background check system.”
Those were the words of Paul Helmke the President of the Brady
gun ban group. The action to which he was referring, as you
no doubt know, was the passage of HR 2640, in lighting moves
with no debate and no recorded votes.
Both the US Senate and the US House passed this bill on December
19th under "unanimous consent" agreements. That means
it was not even discussed. In order for this to happen, the
leadership of both parties had to agree to allow it.
We are not surprised politicians would push more gun control
with no accountability. But what is greatly troubling is that
the National Rifle Association was the primary force behind
this latest attack on gun rights.
The NRA's spin machine is operating at full capacity praising
the passage of a bill written by the most anti-gun members of
Congress.
The bill expands and extends the failed Brady background check
system, a gun registration scheme which has cost thousands of
qualified people the ability to purchase a firearm.
It is amazing the NRA would revive a bill that was going nowhere
just to give more power to the people who are denying legitimate
purchases now.
You will recall the NRA supported the original Brady Bill because
they approved of background checks for gun buys. That a "pro-gun"
organization could support prior restraint of a right is bad
enough, but now, years after this system has been in place,
the NRA joins forces with an organization that has raised millions
to strip Americans of their Second Amendment right in order
to expand this dangerous law.
The NRA has insisted that this bill, rammed though when they
hoped no one was watching, is going to benefit gun owners. On
their website, the NRA uses the following quote to prove what
a great deal this is for gun owners:
"Provides that if a person applies for relief
from disabilities and the agency fails to act on the application
within a year—for any reason, including lack of funds—the
applicant can seek immediate review of his application in federal
court."
A year? A person who applies for relief has to wait a year before
they can demand that some action be taken? That's a mighty long
time to wait for the right to have a firearm ...especially if
you need one. Oh, and then they get to go to court, to "seek"
review. At their own expense of course.
Aside from the fact that the enemies of gun rights are crowing
about this "victory" the biggest problem,(lost in
NRA's extensive justification for what CBS News called the first
major new gun control bill in more than a decade,) is a simple
reality the NRA refuses to acknowledge.
This bill turns over more power and more information to the
very agencies which have used existing law to deny the rights
of Americans or make it impossibly expensive to exercise those
rights.
In Oregon, countless qualified buyers are denied purchases because
of the intentional obstruction of government agencies who maintain
these records. But it is even worse than that.
The original Brady Bill allowed for an end to the mandatory
waiting periods when the availability of records allowed for
an "instant" background check. We have long since
passed that point, but for far too many people the background
check is anything but "instant" stretching to weeks
and months for many. How can the NRA and its apologists believe
that the abysmal record keeping (or the outright obstruction
of some agencies) is going to improve by handing these bureaucracies
more power and personal information?
The NRA, in an article entitled "Clearing
The Air On The Instant Check Bill " said the following:
"In the late 1990s, gun buyers often experienced ridiculous
delays while NICS sorted through cases of mistaken identity
or incomplete police records. Many purchasers were wrongly denied
and forced to go through a cumbersome appeals process. At the
same time, state officials testified before Congress about woefully
incomplete records they provide to NICS--a problem confirmed
in recent reports by the U.S. Department of Justice"
Well someone needs to alert these guardians of our gun rights,
that nothing's changed. And now we are well passed the 1990's.
Gun owners are still being delayed and denied and still face
cumbersome appeals processes. If you are delayed without cause,
it's your tough luck. The so called "safeguards" built
into the law are meaningless and ignored. Sure, the law says
if you don't get an approval within three days, a firearms transfer
may take place, but just try it.
Now NRA wants to solve the problems they created with Brady
by giving us more of the same. They are telling us that the
government bureaucrats will now be using accurate records, we
should all be thankful and this is a great step forward.
In the world of gun rights, "good intentions" don't
cut it . As poorly kept and abused as the records of criminal
behavior are, at least crimes are generally easy to quantify.
"Mental illness" is far less black and white. You
will recall the Bush efforts to screen the entire
US population for "mental illness."
The NRA has joined forces with politicians and organizations
who have declared their intention to end gun ownership in this
country. They have rammed through legislation that requires
that more records be handed over to people who have proven they
cannot be trusted with them. They have asked that gun owners
believe that the same people who defunded the process to allow
people to get their gun rights back under the current law won't
defund the lengthy process to get your rights back under this
new law.
If you believe that more records in the hands of more government
operators is a good idea, you may want to think about the first
act of the Clintons when they took over the White House. The
FBI record scandal proved beyond any doubt how unscrupulous
and criminal political operatives can bypass the law to ruin
people's lives.
In an alert title "Outrage
of the Week" the NRA has invited readers to share their
"weekly outrage."
They say "If you see something that you feel would be a
good candidate for the “Outrage of the Week!” section,
please send it to: freedomsvoice@nrahq.org."
We think the sneaky passage of NRA/Schumer/McCarthy bill more
than qualifies.
800-392-8683 - Grassroots Hotline
|
|
 |
Copyright
© 2000 - 2008, Oregon Firearms Federation. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
|
