Obama & The Second Amendment

President Obama Breaks Gun Promise
in Record Time

I'm sure all of you remember Presidential candidate Obama's repeated promises "I'm not going to take anybody's guns away" and that he "supports the Second Amendment". It took just 37 days, for Obama's administration to jump-start the bandwagon in support of yet another "assault weapons" ban. The difference is that this time some handguns are likely to fall under the ban. Certainly FN's Five-Seven (5.7x28mm) pistol, even though the ammunition that anti-gun crusaders claim are "cop-killer" bullets is not sold in the U.S.

Gun owners will remember that Attorney General Eric Holder was the number two man in charge of the Department of Justice under Janet Reno during the Clinton Administration. The number two man when we saw the FBI attack the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas; during Ruby Ridge; and when machine gun toting federal agents seized little Elian Gonzales at gunpoint to send him back to Cuba.

At the end of February, Holder said "As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons."

The reason for the ban has changed - from protecting U.S. citizens to (my apologies to Dave Barry, but I am not making this up) protecting government officials in Mexico! In other words, the push for the ban - a ban that at least two studies said did not impact crime at all - is to protect Mexican officials from the drug cartels.

H.R. 45 - Illinois Style Gun Control
Across The Nation

Two weeks before the inauguration, Congressman Bobby Rush (D-Ill) introduced House Resolution 45. This is the bill your dad used to warn you about.

The most outrageous part of this bill is that this bill removes the law preventing the government from keeping a database of gun-owners!

That's right. It would allow the government to create a tracking system of who owns guns, how many and what kind. It would repeal Section 926(a) of Title 18, United States Code called the Prohibition on Establishment of System of Registration. More over, it opens up gun-owners for massive amounts of abuse and felony charges for mere paperwork problems.

Also known by the brief and catchy title of Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 this bill proposes licensing all firearms owners and treating them like sex-offenders, much the way Illinois does. Included in this draconian legislation are provisions requiring;

• Obtaining a license to possess a handgun before purchasing one.
• A passport photo and thumbprint.
• Notification to the government any time you move.
• Sign a release for all your mental health records.
• Sign another release that you are not a "prohibited person".
• Sign an agreement to lock up your guns and keep them out of the hands of anyone under 18. (Note: No exclusion for training or hunting with your own kids).
• Take a written exam on local, state and federal gun laws.
• An exam on safe storage & handling of your handgun.
• Pay a $25 fee for the privilege of doing all of the above.

In return, you get a five year license to possess your own guns. The bill also makes it a felony to obtain a gun without a valid license and dealers will still have to call to confirm your license is valid.

More Silliness

And if all of this isn't enough, just wait until you hear this. Kansas state senator Oletha Faust-Goudeau (D-Wichita), introduced Senate Bill 106 which would make it illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to possess a cigarette lighter or "open flame device". Say what? The theory is that since those under 18 can't legally buy cigarettes and some youths commit arson, well we just have to protect them from themselves.

Never mind that many parents equip their children with a "survival kit" when camping or fishing in the outdoors. And those survival kits will contain matches AND a cigarette lighter for starting fires. And what of 16 or 17 year olds at the campsite waiting for parents to return? Are they not allowed matches or lighters to fire up the lanterns and the Coleman stove?

Herein lies the heart of the problem with one of our political parties. They believe that people are too inept to figure out what they should and should not possess. They need the guidance of this one political party to tell them what things are too dangerous for them to have. Whether it's lighters or guns.

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