Publicola

Yet another gun control bill looks likely to pass, thanks in no small part to the NRA. Angel Shamaya tells us about the NICS Improvement Act that will make a person's state records, including but not limited to medical records, available to the government.

“What do you get when you put a current and former board member of the National Rifle Association (NRA) in the same room with two of the most vehemently anti-gun members of the House and Senate?' asks CNSNews columnist Jeff Johnson in his Sept. 26 news report. “On Thursday, the answer to that question was: agreement.'
The NRA is enthusiastically endorsing a gun control bill that's also supported by avowed gun banners Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy. Handgun Control, Inc. calls the bill “a sensible step that will save lives” — note the word “step” — which is what they say about banning semi-automatic rifles due to ergonomic and safety features, and what they've said in the past about completely banning handguns."

Here's Larry Pratt's take on it.

"Remember the so-called 'Our Lady of Peace Act' from last year? Well, Our Lady is back, but under a new name.
Two notoriously anti-gun legislators have teamed up again to deny millions of additional Americans their right to keep and bear arms. They are Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY).
What makes this bill so dangerous is the fact that many Congressmen who are perceived to be 'pro-gun' are supporting the bill as well.
According to CNS News, a current NRA Board member, together with a former board member, appeared at a press conference last week to support the Schumer-McCarthy legislation. Specifically, Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) and Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) lent their visible support on Thursday in favor of the 'NICS Improvement Act'. "


The NICS Improvement Act is typical of federal extortion: they have no constitutional authority to force states to abide by it, so they threaten to cut off federal funds to any state that does not comply.
This has been a successful tactic for the feds, most notably in the case of a state's BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) level. The BAC level is used to determine whether someone is driving while intoxicated. The feds told the states that unless they dropped their BAC level's to .08 from the .10 most state's used to determine who was driving while intoxicated, they'd lose money for highway construction projects. Sc was the lats hold out & they caved in earlier this year.
So if this bill passes, which seems likely, then expect your state to sell you out for road construction money.

& in case you just don't get it, this bill is not about making it harder for criminals to obtain guns. It's a culling of the herd. The government is trying to incrementally cut down the number of people who may legally own guns. Think they'll stop before you're included in the prohibited class? Only if we fight bills like this real hard, or you die real soon.

Here's the strategy:

Convince people that certain actions justly disqualify a person from owning weapons legally.

Slowly expand the list of prohibited actions.

Couple this with bans directed towards classes &/or types of weapons.

Institute a system of firearm owner registration.

When you've reached a certain point (where you think you've used this incrementalism all you can or need to) then you enact a blanket prohibition on all privately owned firearms.

If I was directing the confiscations what I would do is set up across the nation a series of DUI checkpoints. Confrontational resistance would be kept at a minimum & officer safety would be maximized while being able to round up a sizable number of privately owned weapons. Few people would know what was going on until after they were disarmed.

Of course all this seems a bit far fetched doesn't it?

Actually all but the last part of the strategy I outline (the actual blanket prohibitions & mass confiscations) have happened to one extent or another. Here's the strategy again with more details:

Convince people that certain actions justly disqualify a person from owning weapons legally. Not many people will argue that a murderer or rapist should be able to legally own a weapon.

Slowly expand the list of prohibited actions. First it was felonies. Then any crime punishable (not the sentence received, but the sentence that could have been received) by a year or more in jail. Now it includes domestic violence misdemeanors that were committed before the law included them was enacted. With the addition of state records the number of disqualified person will increase yet again, ranging from misdemeanor marijauna convictions to people who have something in their medical records that the state can say is disqualifying.

Couple this with bans directed towards classes &/or types of weapons, such as assault weapons bans, saturday night special bans, smart gun only laws, .50 caliber firearm bans, etc...

Institute a system of firearm owner registration. A Shall Issue CCW law is a good technique because most firearms owners don't the this as registration. Purchase permits &/or retained background check records are another good method that most firearms owners will not object to.

When you've reached a certain point (where you think you've used this incrementalism all you can or need to) then you enact a blanket prohibition on all privately owned firearms.

If I was directing the confiscations what I would do is set up across the nation a series of DUI checkpoints. When running the license plate &/or drivers' license certain data comes up, such as that person having a CCW permit &/or a record of any firearms they have registered with the local or state authorities. Then I'd simply detain that person (confiscating any weapons he/she had with them) while another team of police went to that persons' house & picked up any weapons that were there. Confrontational resistance would be kept at a minimum & officer safety would be maximized while being able to round up a sizable number of privately owned weapons. Few people would know what was going on until after they were disarmed.

Doesn't seem as far fetched when you see that most of the strategy has laready been successful.

The NICS Improvement Act is just another step towards the overall goal of a disarmed populace. It will likely pass, especially with the bi-partisan & NRA support. This should, at the very least serve as a reminder that while some say, "It could never happen here" it is happening here.