Rules Necessary to Fight Mexican Drug Cartels
This week Main Justice offered a story titled, “DOJ: New Gun Store Rules Necessary to Fight Mexican Drug Cartels,” which actually makes us question again why American gun owners and gun shops need to face greater scrutiny because of the situation south of the border?
Actually to the story, “the two month old regulation on gun merchants in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas is necessary to prevent guns from being sold to Mexican drug cartels.”
Again, this is a disgraceful situation considering ATF’s role in Fast and Furious, and Mexico’s handling of their affairs.
Bloomberg Puts Spin on Gun Shop Lawsuit
No surprise that Bloomberg offered a story from the AP that had just a hint of bias about the situation over the requirement for gun shops in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to provide ATF information about purchases of multiple long guns.
The story titled, “US defends gun sale reporting requirement in court,” does at least offer some key facts on the situation:
“The requirement was imposed amid controversy over ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious which tried to track guns suspected of being bought by straw purchasers back to gun-smuggling ringleaders, who have long eluded law enforcement.”
While that passage is fair enough, it still puts the blame on the gun shops as much as the ATF.
Time Magazine Really Says “America’s Cop need to Be an Example for Mexico’s”
With the ATF debacle Fast and Furious slowly gathering attention, Time magazine suggested “Fast and Infuriating: America’s Cops Need to Be an Example for Mexico’s.” That suggestion alone is a head scratcher but the story further noted:
“This week the U.S. Senate voted 99-0 to ban future ‘gunwalker’ operations like the Obama Administration’s ‘Fast and Furious’ debacle. ‘Fast and Furious’ was the well-intentioned but awfully executed program headed by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) in Arizona that let hundreds of illegally purchased weapons get smuggled into Mexico so they could be tracked to criminal groups there. The problem: the ATF lost track of many of the guns – including two assault rifles found at the scene of the murder of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry last December.”
Was Fast and Furious ever really “well-intentioned?” We feel it was a dreadful idea from the beginning, and looked only to point that blame for Mexico’s cartel violence on American gun shops.
Kathleen McKinley Offers Catch up on Fast and Furious Coverup
Conservative activist and blogger Kathleen McKinley offered a good primer on the “Fast and Furious Coverup,” noting some key points:
“It looks like the Obama administration scandal Fast and Furious is growing. If you aren’t familiar with what Fast and Furious is, I’ll try and catch you up. Some agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) became concerned with this program in June and came forward. Instead of making sure guns were not in the hands of the drug cartels, agents were told to deliberately allow gun traffickers in Arizona to purchase weapons for Mexican drug cartels, which would end up crossing the border into Mexico. 2,000 weapons crossed the border under this program. Then they were to trace the weapons to the cartel leaders. But the ATF lost track of the guns, and the guns have since been used in murders and crimes in Mexico and here in the U.S., including the killing of a Border Agent here in the U.S. and another American border agent in Mexico. But now, it is seems Attorney General Eric Holder has been less than honest in his sworn testimony about the scandal. Not a good thing for an Attorney General.”
This is an excellent primer on a situation that has gotten so little media coverage. Kudos to Ms. McKinley for shedding some more light on the subject.
Senator Frank R. Lautenberg: “We don’t need states like Texas, Arizona and Alaska telling us how to protect our people from gun violence”
This week writing for The Record (via NorthJersey.com), Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) offered the thought “Race to the bottom on gun control,” where he suggested:
“We don’t need states like Texas, Arizona and Alaska telling us how to protect our people from gun violence.”
This is a bold statement, but could gun owners respond by saying that we don’t need states like New Jersey, Illinois and California from telling us that that we don’t need our guns?
Lautenberg of course sees it differently, writing that “our streets are flooded with guns,” and adds:
“In New Jersey, we work hard to keep guns out of the hands of people who have no business having them. Before we issue a permit for concealed carry, we require applicants to complete a firearms training course and demonstrate why they need to carry a handgun. These rules make New Jersey’s handgun laws among the nation’s toughest — and our state should take pride in that.”
The truth is that New Jersey is not without gun crime, so how is it that “the nation’s toughest” laws allow this to happen? Lautenberg also fails to note that criminals don’t apply for permits to carry, nor do they take a training course and never both to demonstrate why they need to carry a gun.
Huff & Puff: Did the Wild West Have More Gun Control Than We Do Today?
Writing for the Huffington Post, Adam Winkler, a professor of law at UCLA, asks the loaded question (no pun intended) “Did the Wild West Have More Gun Control Than We Do Today?”
Much of this is just a plug for his book “Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America,” and Winkler throws a few curve balls such as this passage:
“Gun control advocates fear — and gun rights proponents sometimes hope — the Second Amendment will transform our cities into modern-day versions of Dodge. Yet this is all based on a widely shared misunderstanding of the Wild West. Frontier towns — places like Tombstone, Deadwood, and Dodge — actually had the most restrictive gun control laws in the nation.”
Winkler should stick to law, because his efforts with history are clearly not his calling. Does anyone expect the movie versions of Deadwood, Dodge or Tombstone to be accurate? But he tries to lay out the “facts” in a way that implies that most people actually believe everything they see on TV and in the movies.
Then Winkler switches gears and ends with this passage:
“The story of guns in America is far more complex and surprising than we’ve often been led to believe. We’ve always had a right to bear arms, but we’ve also always had gun control. Even in the Wild West, Americans balanced these two and enacted laws restricting guns in order to promote public safety. Why should it be so hard to do the same today?”
The idea is that we suddenly see the light, and say, “you are right. If they could have gun control in Deadwood, then we should have it here.”
What he forgets to mention is that these towns weren’t as lawless as the movies implies. He says, “Many frontier towns, including Tombstone, Arizona – the site of the infamous ‘Shootout at the OK Corral’ – also barred the carrying of guns openly.” It did, but unless you missed the movies, most people know that the shootout occurred because someone broke that law. In other words criminals ignored the law – imagine if criminals did that today, but wait they do!
Media Hypes Arizona Gun Raffle
Was it a slow news weekend? Numerous outlets took time to note that the Republican Party in Pima County, Arizona was raffling off a gun “almost identical” to the one used to shoot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The problem is that the raffle was for a Glock 23, while Giffords was shot by a Glock 19.
Similar guns, but again where is the due diligence in reporting when the topic involves firearms? Why doesn’t the media note that these are different models? The answer is that it is more sensational to suggest that the GOP would offer up a gun used in a recent shooting.
TMZ.com even offered a photo of Giffords from January 8, the day of the shooting, as she was being rushed to the hospital by first responders. TMZ also offered this quote from the interim chairman of the Prima Country GOP:
“That Glock is no more responsible for those deaths and the congresswoman’s injuries than a Number 2 pencil is responsible for cheating on a test.”
The response from TMZ:
“Translation — guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Real translation — This guy doesn’t have a clue.”
No, it is gossip shows such as TMZ that praise Hollywood, and don’t understand Middle America. Why can’t law abiding citizens in Arizona express their Second Amendment rights to own a handgun? As has been noted elsewhere, the Giffords reportedly own Glock handguns as well!
National Shooting Sports Foundation: NSSF Looking For Retailers to Join Lawsuit
From National Shooting Sports Foundation:
Dear Federal Firearms Licensee:
As you may know, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has announced that it will begin requiring the approximately 8,500 firearms retailers in the Southwest border states (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California) to keep records of and report to ATF sales made to the same individual – within a five (5) business day period – of more than one semi-automatic rifle that accepts a detachable magazine greater than .22 caliber (Multiple Sales Reporting of Certain Semi-automatic Rifles).
ATF has stated it is imposing this requirement pursuant to its “demand letter” authority under the Gun Control Act. This week, ATF began sending “demand letters” to border state firearms retailers implementing this new multiple sales record keeping and reporting requirement effective August 14, 2011.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) – the trade association for America’s firearms industry – will be filing a lawsuit challenging the legal authority of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and ATF under the Gun Control Act to impose this new multiple sales reporting requirement. When Congress authorized the reporting of multiple sales of handguns it could have required the same for the sale of long guns, but it did not. ATF is clearly exceeding its lawful authority under the Gun Control Act. Current ATF Acting Director Ken Melson himself has previously questioned ATF’s legal authority to impose this new requirement. Read more
Huff and Puff Story Includes Usual Misleading Information
In a piece titled, “AFT ‘Fast and Furious’ Operation: Inside The Controversial Gun Trafficking Investigation,” the Huffington Post offered some typical media misinformation:
“Also, gun shops in Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona are now required to alert the ATF to purchases of two or more high-powered rifles in a five-day span to help agents spot suspicious buying patterns.”
This is not true. Gun shops in Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona must report sales of firearms greater than a .22, so the use of “high-powered” is flat out wrong. This continues to be the biggest media lie – even surpassing that infamous 90 percent number that we’ve tracked for so long. But this reporting is not only misleading but could be confusing to those looking to buy intermediate powered rifles!
Arizona Republic Offers Misleading Facts in “News” Story
This week The Arizona Republic ran a story titled “Guns in Arizona: A life-or-death question,” and while it was in the news section, it had an op-ed feel, suggesting a true media bias. The intro offered this thought:
“Arizona has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the nation. It also has one of the highest rates of gun deaths in the country.”
The first question is whether these facts are actually linked, and honestly there is no proof. But then, we need to determine what the authors mean by “highest rates of gun deaths.” In fact, Arizona only ranks 10th, which we suppose could suggest the country is in the top 10.
But according to data from 2009, Arizona had a total homicide rate of 6.28 per 100,000 people. That trails Michigan, where Detroit has much higher crime than any city in Arizona. Contrast that figure to the 12.74 rate of Louisiana, or 6.67 of California – a state that has some of the most restrictive gun laws in that nation. Nowhere in the story is California even mentioned. In other words, merely noting that California has a higher crime rate sort of debunks the basis of this “news article.”
However, we can also look specifically at gun homicides and again Arizona ranks 10th at 4.54, just below Michigan (again with Detroit and Flint), which has a 4.55 per 100,000 gun homicide rate. But there is more. Illinois, which as with California has strict gun laws, comes in above Arizona and in 2009 had a 4.59 per 100,000 gun homicide rate, while California had a 4.82 per 100,000 gun homicide rate.
So, in other words, two states that have strict gun laws still have a greater homicide rate. What does that say about the Arizona Republic story? It is certainly something to think about.
