A Takeaway For Gun Owners From Pelosi's Campaign For Speaker

Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will probably be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives. I say probably because there are some Democrats that are opposed to her and the aging leadership. She, Steny Hoyer (D-MD), and James Clyburn (D-SC) are all in their 70s. However, while this group of dissidents might prevent Pelosi from getting the requisite number of votes (218), it is doubtful they will win in the end.

In a story in the Washington Examiner about Pelosi's campaign for Speaker and the battle her allies are waging on her behalf was this:

As the leadership fight escalates, Pelosi’s lined up endorsements from former President Barack Obama — who called Pelosi “one of the most effective legislative leaders” on Tuesday — and key advocacy groups that helped Democrats retake the majority. Progressive groups, gun control organizations, unions, reproductive rights groups like NARAL Pro-Choice and more have thrown their weight behind Pelosi’s speaker bid.

“Do you really want to make enemies out of these groups?” said (Rep. Jan) Schakowsky, adding later, that the fight “is not just inside baseball, this has enormous ramifications for how we successfully move forward to pass an agenda that’s going to help people.”

The Brady Campaign and Shannon Watts have all formally endorsed Pelosi for Speaker. Moreover, Michael Bloomberg who "invested" over $100 million in this election cycle to get Democrats elected has worked closely with Pelosi and shared office space with her super PAC.

What does this mean for gun owners?

It should be obvious - expect gun control to be on the Democrats agenda in the House from day one of the new Congress. Pelosi has a constituency to repay and she will. I fully expect that bills will be introduced that will contain every gun control measure that you can think of and some that we haven't. Moreover, these bills will get a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee and most will pass in the House. Furthermore, the Hearing Protection Act, national reciprocity, and even provisions for use of Pittman-Robertson funds to construct shooting ranges are dead.

Our only hope for stopping these infringements will be the Senate which remains in Republican hands. Even then, there are some Republicans who might vote for things like red flag laws or bans on bump fire stocks. Fortunately, the filibuster is still alive when it comes to bills passing the Senate and it still will require 60 votes to invoke cloture. Therefore, if you haven't contacted your two Senators or Senator-elect, you better do it now and put opposition to gun control on their radar.

The Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times" will epitomize the next two years when it comes to the fight for gun rights.

"I want gun control and I hope to God nobody else sends me any more prayers."

The above quote comes from Susan Orfanos. She was the mother of Telemachus Orfanos who was one of the victims in the multiple murders committed at the Borderline Bar in Thousand Oaks, California. It was reported on the CBS Evening News for Friday, November 9th.

"He didn't come home last night," said his mother, Susan. "I don't want prayers. I don't want thoughts. I want gun control and I hope to God nobody else sends me any more prayers. I want gun control. No more guns."

The link to the story includes the video interview with her and a friend of the murderer.

I can excuse the bitter words of a distraught mother who lost a son. However, I have also gotten emails from both the Brady Campaign and the cult of personality known as Giffords calling for more gun control and asking for donations.

Excuse me but these murders happened in the gun control paradise known as California. Giffords Law Center rates the state an "A". It is the only state in the Union rated this high. Even New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts only get A minuses. In the last Brady Campaign rankings I can find from 2015, California was the number one state in terms of adopting the gun control measures they wanted.

Red Flag laws?

Check!

Highly restrictive may issue concealed carry?

Check!

Ban on open carry?

Check!

Waiting periods?

Check!

Assault weapon (sic) bans?

Check!

Magazine size restrictions?

Check!

Purchase of ammunition only through licensed dealers?

Check!

Background check to buy ammo?

Check!

Ban carry in establishments that serve alcohol?

Check!

The state has every thing that the gun prohibitionists have been calling for to supposedly stop "gun violence" and "mass shootings" and yet it failed. When a murderer is determined to commit evil deeds the weapon really almost becomes irrelevant. It could just as easily have been an attack using a knife as in Melbourne, Australia on Friday. Even worse might have been an arson attack where an exit was illegally locked or blocked. Some of the worst night club fires in the US and the rest of the world have been due to arson.

My point is that there is little that can be done to stop the initial attack even with the most restrictive of laws. Evil people will do what evil people will do.

That said, there are a number of things that might have lessened the toll. For example, if the six off-duty cops there had been allowed to carry in the Borderline Bar, they could have responded with deadly force to stop the murders. Or, for example, as Greg Ellifritz points out, the murderer posted to Facebook and Instagram during the attack which was an opportunity to attack the murderer when he was distracted. While it might have been illegal in California, in many states you can carry in a place that serves alcohol so long as you don't drink. This would be the place for Designated Defenders as suggested by Massad Ayoob.

I'm not sure how to prevent all mass violence events. I do think Malcolm Gladwell is on to something with his theory of threshholds where each event begets a larger and worse event. Media publicity doesn't help. I'm not saying that it shouldn't be reported but restraint and discretion should be exercised. For a start, do like many bloggers and academics have pledged: don't report the killer's name. As the No Notoriety campaign suggests focus on the victims and not the killer.

It would be a start. In the meantime, be alert and be careful where you go.

Much Ado About Nothing

The Brady Campaign, CNN, and the cult of personality known as Giffords are all in a tizzy that an BATFE official actually reached out to a lobbyist for comments. You may remember the white paper written by BATFE Associate Deputy Director Ron Turk that suggested items for discussion with regard to firearms regulations. The white paper was released after the inauguration of President Trump. It is to be noted that Ron Turk has always maintained that the items discussed in the paper were not official policy but rather items for discussion that he proposed.

According to CNN, after writing his initial draft of the white paper, Turk sent it to firearms lobbyist Mark Barnes for comments.

"If I am missing the mark on a major issue or disregarding a major discussion point any feedback you have would be appreciated," Turk wrote to the lobbyist, Mark Barnes, on January 9, 2017. "My hope is that the agency can demonstrate flexibility where appropriate and identify areas for further discussion, recognizing that solving everyone's concerns on each side would be difficult."

Some of the suggestions from Barnes were included in the final draft of the white paper. Things like allowing dealers to use the NICS system to run background check on their own employees and a re-examination of a 20-year old sporting use study in light of the sporting uses of AKs and ARs. However, things that Barnes also suggested like loosening restrictions on the imports of SKS carbines and Makarov pistols from Russia were not included.

I think what has the gun control lobby and their enablers in the media so upset is that they weren't approached for suggestions.

From Avery Gardiner of the Brady Campaign:

"I was surprised to see that the draft document had been emailed out to a gun industry lawyer and the final product took his suggestions as edits -- without any disclosure of that until we went to court to get these documents," said Avery W. Gardiner, co-president of the Brady Center. ...

"There was a secret white paper that was partially written by the gun lobby. That's exactly the kind of thing the Freedom of Information Act is supposed to address -- transparency of government," Gardiner said.

And from David Chipman, the former BATFE Special Agent who now works for Giffords, who is dismayed by the revelation:

"An independent ATF is critical to this nation's security. The white paper suggests that the gun industry's quest for power and influence has trumped public safety," Chipman said.

An interesting side note on Chipman, he is a 1984 graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy - the ultra-expensive, ultra-upper class, prep school. I'm having a little bit of cognitive dissonance over a preppy actually getting his hands dirty working for a lackluster agency like BATFE. Isn't that a little beneath a graduate of Phillips Exeter?

Back to the story in question, think back to the Obama Administration and all the photo ops and meeting held with the gun control industry. They were quite numerous. I think the problem here is that they are miffed to be on the outside looking in as opposed to the good old days when they had a seat at the table.

The CNN story does have link to all the drafts of the white papers if you are interested. They have also included a video on the page that seems like an outright editorial call for universal background checks. As Glenn Reynolds has often said they are Democratic operatives with a byline. I'd modify it to include gun control advocates with a byline.

Tell Me Again How Gun-Free Zones Are Safe And Crime Free

The gun prohibitionists argue banning guns in certain locations make them safer. They especially push this argument with regard to schools and universities. The argument against allowing firearms on university campuses is that college students are impulsive irresponsible drunks who would go around shooting up the place. At least that is the impression left by the Brady Center from their amicus brief in the case of D'Cruz* v BATFE (later renamed Jennings v BATFE).

So it was with interest that I read this notice sent out by the Western Carolina University Police Department last Wednesday.

WCU Police are investigating a report of an armed robbery that occurred at approximately 9:15pm this evening. Suspects are two white males and one black male. Armed with what appeared to be a semiautomatic handgun and a baseball bat. Occurred in the area of the old Brown cafeteria. Suspect #1 is described as a white male, mid 20's, 5"8", thin build, facial hair, white t-shirt, blue jeans, dark colored knit type hat, armed with a handgun. Suspect 2 is a white male, mid 20's, no further description. Suspect 3 is a black male, mid 20's 5'10", thin build, dark t shirt. Suspects were last seen in the area of the Old Brown Cafeteria. Police are searching the campus for the suspects. Anyone with information is asked to call WCU PD at 828-227-8911. Thanks. University Police

Didn't these miscreants know that the University of North Carolina and all its constituent institutions like WCU are supposed to be gun free? I'm sure the baseball bat was only for use in intramural games.

The only firearms allowed on campus are those of concealed carry permit holders which must be kept locked in their cars. And even that modest measure upsets the university's administration.

So I would say to the university chancellors and police chiefs who were united in their opposition to any guns on campus, tell me again how gun-free zones are safe and crime-free.



* James D'Cruz, the original plaintiff, was demonized and vilified by the Brady Campaign. Josh Horwitz of CSGV even wrote he "sounds like a school shooter." I wonder what they would make of the fact that James is now a first year law student at Harvard Law School.

Trouble In Paradise?

An observant reader sent me a link to a new job posting for the Brady Campaign. The posting which appeared on Saturday says that they are seeking a "Chief Campaigns Officer". He wondered if they were dissatisfied with Dan Gross and cutting him loose after less than a year on the job.

The ad says they are seeking someone with 10 plus years of "senior-level experience" in " politics, community organizing, political advocacy, nonprofit management, and/or communications." They want the same amount of experience in staff management along with the usual strong interpersonal skills, organizational skills, etc. Of course, they want a commitment to the mission of the Brady Campaign.

From the position summary and responsibilities:

Position Summary

Senior level decision maker within the organization responsible for overseeing the organization’s member and constituent engagement, policy and public health and safety programs. This position works closely with senior staff and consultants.


Responsibilities

Member/Constituent Engagement

• Set and direct objectives for the director of legislation and mobilization to engage the American public.
• Grow the membership of the organization and ensure high level of member activity in advocacy and fundraising activities.
• Coordinate member engagement with the development department.

Policy Program

• Set and direct objectives for the director of legislation and mobilization and the director of the legal action project related to passing and protecting policy.
• Effectively represent the perspective of the American public in policy conversations at the federal level.
• Provide resources to state level chapters regarding policy at the state level.

Public Health and Safety Education Program

• Design and guide public education campaigns and the promotion of those campaigns federally and at the state level.
• Effectively operate the legal action project.

I'll be honest in that I can't quite figure out if they are replacing Dan Gross or adding the equivalent of an ILA's Chris Cox to the overall NRA's Wayne LaPierre.

Some of the duties such as setting objectives and directing both the director of legislation and the director of the legal action project belong, in my opinion, to Dan Gross as president of the Brady Campaign. Or, it could be that flush with a reported $5 million in donations, they are seeking to expand their lobbying efforts.

Regardless of whether this is a Dan Gross replacement or an addition to their lobbying efforts, it still will not be enough to allow them to regain their place at the head of the gun prohibitionist table as it is increasingly obvious that Mayor Bloomberg and his Illegal Mayors have pushed them aside.

CCRKBA Says Justice Steven's Comments Illustrate Importance Of This Election

Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens was the speaker at a luncheon sponsored by the Brady Campaign on Monday. In his speech, he said he was astounded that Congress hadn't taken steps to address "gun violence" (sic).

In reaction and to illustrate the importance of this election for both the Second Amendment and the future direction of the Supreme Court, Alan Gottlieb of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms released this statement:

BELLEVUE, WA – Monday’s high-profile prodding by retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens for Congress to do something, and for presidential candidates to say something, about gun control proves the importance of who is in the White House and the U.S. Senate to make and confirm high court nominations, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

Reuters reported that the retired justice was the speaker at Monday’s luncheon hosted by the anti-gun Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Stevens wrote dissenting opinions on both the 2008 Heller ruling and the 2010 McDonald decision, both of which affirmed that the Second Amendment protects an individual civil right to keep and bear arms.

“In both of his dissents,” noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “Justice Stevens contended that the right to keep and bear arms was limited to state militia service. It was, and remains, an astonishing position on a fundamental civil right.

“What Justice Stevens’ speech clearly underscores,” he continued, “is the critical importance of who is president, not just for the next four years, but whenever a vacancy occurs on the high court. Imagine if Justice Stevens’ opinion had prevailed.”

Stevens’ dissent in the Heller case was heavily criticized by the majority opinion, written by Justice Antonin Scalia. The majority ruling described Stevens’ arguments as “simply wrong,” and at one point – when addressing Stevens’ history of the Second Amendment – said that he “flatly misreads the historical record.”

“Stevens’ replacement on the Supreme Court was liberal Elena Kagan,” Gottlieb noted. “A liberal, anti-gun majority could easily narrow, rather than expand, the scope of our Second Amendment. That’s why it is, and always will be, important for gun owners to have a pro-gun-rights president and pro-gun majority in the Senate, especially on the Judiciary Committee.”

To see more on Steven's speech, Sebastian at Shall Not Be Questioned has video of the event.

Brady Campaign Shills For Eric Holder

In the latest missive from the Brady Campaign, their new president Dan Gross shows his true colors. It is obvious that he cares more about protecting Attorney General Eric Holder than in discovering the truth about Operation Fast and Furious. As I said yesterday, to these people a few dead Mexicans (or even hundreds) are worth it if they can get more gun control out of the operation.

“A strong whiff of hypocrisy rises from the letter sent today to Attorney General Holder by the House leadership. Speaker Boehner and his colleagues pretend to be concerned about the harm operation Fast & Furious has done to our relationship to Mexico, but they cannot explain why the House of Representatives, under their leadership, has done nothing to respond to the Mexican government’s desperate pleas for the Congress to strengthen American gun laws to stop gun trafficking from American gun shops to the Mexican drug cartels.

The House Republican leadership decries the failure of U.S. authorities to prevent illegal guns from crossing the border, yet the House recently voted to block an Obama Administration effort to give the authorities a vital (sic) additional tool to fight trafficking of assault rifles to Mexico.

Speaker Boehner pretends concern for gun violence victims, but on the recent fifth anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre, he could not find the time to meet with a group of victims, despite finding time, some weeks before, to travel to Florida to meet with the leaders of the gun industry.

Earth to Dan - the bulk of the guns that the narco-terrorists are getting are not from Ranger Bob's Gun and Bait Shop in Laredo, Texas but from either deserters from the Mexican Army or are being smuggled across Mexico's southern border. As to the ATF requiring the reporting of multiple sales of semi-automatic rifles, that is hardly a "vital" tool and is of dubious legality to boot.

The only hypocrisy that I see here is from the Brady Campaign who are showing themselves to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Obama Administration. I guess sending out missives like this is what it takes to get gun control under the radar.

The Incestuous Relationship Between Media Matters And CSGV

Last week we saw another hit piece on gun rights issues by Media Matters for America. This one concerned Operation Fast and Furious. It accused former S.C. Governor Mark Sanford of being the latest to push the "paranoid conspiracy theory" that Project Gunwalker was an effort to build support for more gun control in the United States.

Or put more simply, Sanford is saying that "a lot of people" want to know if "Fast and Furious" was a plot hatched by Attorney General Eric Holder to curb gun rights in the United States. The answer to this question is a resounding no.

This conspiracy was recently laid out in the book Fast and Furious: Barack Obama's Bloodiest Scandal and its Shameless Cover-up, authored by Townhall news editor Katie Pavlich. The theory is so far-fetched that even Fox News host Bill O'Reilly has expressed skepticism, calling it a "conspiracy thing." Media Matters has previously debunked several other outrageous claims contained within the book.

Attacks on gun rights and on gun rights organizations like the NRA are not new for Media Matters. The NRA-ILA had a post a day later that noted for the month of April alone MMfA had run 32 hit pieces on the NRA. Attacks on the investigation into Operation Fast and Furious by the House Oversight Committee are also common as alluded to in the quote above regarding Katie Pavlich's new book. They had one just yesterday accusing Rep. Darrell Issa and Fox News of trying to politicize the scandal.

What is new is the author of these last two pieces for MMfA's County Fair blog - Timothy Johnson. If his Facebook page is to be believed, he now works for Media Matters.

Prior to joining Media Matters, he worked for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (sic) and ran the MeetTheNRA website for their 503(c)3 counterpart the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence (sic). He can be seen in his hoodie, second from the left, in this photo of CSGV staffers. The MeetTheNRA website is where they take quotes out of context so that they can accuse NRA leaders, past and present, of being "a group of individuals who promote racism, misogyny, homophobia, anti-immigrant animus, religious bigotry, anti-environmentalism, and insurrectionism."

Attack pieces seem to be Mr. Johnson's forte as evidenced by an article that he and Ladd Everitt published in the Neiman Watchdog entitled "'Is the NRA paying mainstream reporters by the hour?'" Neiman gave the article this synopsis.

Two gun control advocates say that misstatements and fuzzy data coming from the National Rifle Association often are accepted by the press unchecked, and then disseminated, incorrectly, as trends and facts in American life. They point out, among other things, that gun sales are not perpetually rising; that neither are sales of guns to women, and that lax 'carry laws' have not been shown to lessen crime. There’s a lot of misinformation being spread, hardly examined at all by the press.

Prior to this stint with CSGV, Mr. Johnson was an intern with the Brady Campaign's Legal Action Project in the Fall of 2010.

Legal Action Project Intern Tim Johnson, a current Georgetown Law student, joined the Brady Center for similar reasons. Tim explains, "Interning for the Legal Action project has shown me the importance of pro bono legal work as a way to assist victims injured by the negligence or intentional conduct of corrupt gun dealers." In the wake of the McDonald and Heller Supreme Court decisions has allowed Tim to take part in the ongoing debate over the Second Amendment.

Johnson is listed in the Georgetown University directory but no info as to year or area of studies is given.

Nonetheless, Mr. Johnson does seem to have a long history of working with gun prohibitionists. Prior to his work for the Brady Campaign and CSGV, he worked the now-defunct Iowans for the Prevention of GunViolence in his home state of Iowa.

To conclude, given the left-wing and rabid anti-gun biases of both Media Matters and CSGV, is it any wonder that Media Matters sought someone from CSGV to be their new, pun intended, hired gun? If anything, his hiring just serves to confirm the incestuous relationship between these groups.

Quote Of The Day No. 2

Bob Owens has a good point. You'd think that organizations who are ostensibly dedicated to ending "gun violence" would be leading the charge against Operation Fast and Furious. After all, it was a gun running scheme that has lead to hundreds of dead Mexicans and at least two Federal law enforcement officers. If that doesn't meet the definition of "gun violence", then what does.

I'll let Bob continue from here.

Both CSGV and Brady claim to be organizations dedicated to stamping out gun violence, but a search of both of their web sites show that neither seems to have the slightest problem with Operation Fast and Furious. The gun-walking plot is the deadliest political scandal in American political and Presidential history, costing the lives of 300+ Mexican nationals and only came to light after three U.S. federal agents were gunned down using walked weapons from separate gun-walking operations in Arizona and Texas.

If the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and the Brady Campaign really represented sincere efforts to end gun violence, then they should have been two of the organizations leading the charge for accountability here. Brady and CSGV should wage a public relations war, helping the House and Senate investigators, and demanding answers and accountability from the Obama Administration...

These organizations remain graveyard silent as the bodies continue to fall. Far from fighting gun violence, they use their silence to enable it.

The Bradys - The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight

The Brady Bunch aka the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (sic) is confused. They don't seem to know who leads their organization.

On February 6th, they announced with great fanfare that Dan Gross had been "elected" President of the Brady Campaign.

Washington, D.C. – The Board of Trustees of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center today announced that Dan Gross, the co-founder and Executive Director of the Center to Prevent Youth Violence (formerly PAX), has been elected the new President of the nation’s largest gun violence prevention organizations....

Dan Gross replaces Paul Helmke, a lawyer and former Mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana, who stepped down July 10, 2011. Dennis Henigan, Vice President for Law and Policy at Brady, served as acting president in the interim.

They even got USA Today to buy into Gross being elected as opposed to hired and Paul Helmke stepping down as opposed to the reality of not having his contract renewed.

Youth anti-violence advocate Daniel Gross has been elected to head the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center, the Washington-based organization promoting gun control plans to announce Monday...

Gross is cofounder and executive director of the Center to Prevent Youth Violence and was elected to the Brady post by the organization's board of trustees. He replaces former Brady president Paul Helmke, former mayor of Fort Wayne, Ind., who announced in June he would step down on July 10. Helmke's resignation followed a five-year commitment he'd made to serve the organization starting in 2006.

So it was interesting to read the February 16th press release where the Brady Campaign announced their 2011 state-by-state "scorecard" which ranks states on the degree of oppressiveness of their gun control regime. It had this tidbit in it.

"Guns don't fall from the sky into the hands of criminals," said Brady Acting President Dennis Henigan. "All too often, crime guns come from gun dealers in the states that stubbornly refuse to enact common sense, lifesaving gun laws. Every day, a river of illegal guns flows out of the states with weak gun laws, victimizing families in states that are doing their best to protect their residents. It is no accident that the states with the weakest gun laws are the exporters of death and injury."

Has Dan Gross said to himself after being on the job 10 days "Omigod! I can't take any more of these losers! It is worse than I expected and I wasn't expecting much." Or is it that the memo that the Bradys have a new president just not get out to all their PR staffers? Regardless, I'm glad they remain the gang that couldn't shoot straight.

Funny? No. Sad And Pathetic - Yes.

The gun prohibitionists at the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence are seemingly upset by Weer'd Beard's organization of gun bloggers to do more than just light a candle to combat criminal violence.

I don't think any of us found the Brady Campaign's Too Many Victims campaign that funny. It think the majority of us found it sad and pathetic that they thought they could fight criminal violence by standing around with a candle.

Creative Responses To "Too Many Victims"

There have been many creative responses to the Brady Campaign's politicization of the anniversary of the shootings in Tucson. Yesterday, through the inspiration of Weer'd Beard, many blogger featured pictures of a lit candle and their means of protecting home and hearth. A couple have gone even beyond that.

The first comes from bloggers Joe Huffman and Barron Barnett who produced a video featured Joe's daughter and members of the Lewiston Pistol Club.




The second comes from blogger Sean Sorrentino who held a counter-protest in Raleigh, NC across from the United Community Church of Christ. His counter protest garnered interviews from both the Raleigh News and Observer - the largest newspaper in eastern North Carolina - and from NBC17.

Sean writes about both of these stories here and here. Sean lives in Wake County which has a population of over 900,000 people. One person with an effective counter protest garners as much attention from the media as approximately fifty from NCGV.

The creative counter protests seem to be irritating the anti-gunners. As Miguel at Gun Free Zone reports, one south Florida anti-gun lefty blogger equates our countering the Brady Campaign's plea for attention with that of the Westboro Baptist Church. That's right - since we believe in self-defense and protecting our loved ones - we are branded as racist, ne'er-do-well homophobes. If that pathetic response is the best they can do, we've won.

UPDATE: Barron and Joe's video generated many comments on the CSGV Facebook page including Joan Peterson's "OMG". Barron provides an admirable fisking to their comments here.

National Right To Carry Reciprocity And The Senate

Now that HR 822 has passed the House of Representatives in overwhelming fashion, it moves to the Senate. Unless I am greatly mistaken, there is significant pressure on senators from both sides of the debate. The Brady Campaign is ramping up the pressure with an auto-mailer campaign asking senators to vote no. Nonetheless, even they admit they don't have the votes to stop it.

I sent an email today to Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) about the bill. While I have no worries that Sen. Richard Burr will be a solid backer of the bill, Hagan can be wishy-washy despite her claims of being a Second Amendment supporter. What surprised me was that I got an email back from her office almost immediately discussing her stance - if you could call it that - on the bill. If she hadn't been getting lots of mail on the issue, she wouldn't have been so prepared to issue something other than a generic thank you for your letter response.

Dear Friend,

Thank you for contacting me regarding National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act (H.R. 822). I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this important issue.

This bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on February 18, 2011, and was referred to the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

If enacted, the bill would allow any person with a valid state-issued concealed firearm permit to carry their firearm in any other state that also issues concealed firearm permits. Currently, 48 states, including North Carolina, have laws permitting residents to carry concealed firearms.

While H.R. 822 has yet to reach the Senate, I pledge to keep your thoughts on this issue in mind. My family, like the great state of North Carolina, has a long tradition of hunting and gun ownership, and I take great pride in that heritage. I have opposed requiring gun owners to obtain federal licenses or creating a federal system to track gun sales and transfers, as I believe these proposals would infringe this important constitutional right. I will continue to support the rights guaranteed under the Second Amendment.

Again, thank you for contacting my office. It is truly an honor to represent North Carolina in the United States Senate, and I hope you will not hesitate to contact me in the future should you have any further questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Kay R. Hagan

If you haven't already done it, it is time to contact both of your state's senators and urge them to vote for the National Right-To-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011. I wouldn't want to think that our voices could be drowned out by an auto-mailer run by the Brady Campaign.

Brady Campaign Brings In A Head Hunter

The Brady Campaign/Center has brought in executive search firm Korn/Ferry International to help them find their next president. Korn/Ferry International is the world's largest executive search firm and is a publicly-traded company. These guys don't work for free. My guess is that to bring in a firm like Korn/Ferry will cost at least $100,000 and probably more.

Kaveman at Days of Our Trailers blog does an excellent job in fisking the Brady's job announcment. Regarding a couple of the job responsibilities:

"S/he will be expected to create and execute a comprehensive strategy that utilizes a wide range of voices to deliver the organization’s messages."

Get that? They want a wide range of voices to say what we want them to say. Nice.

"The CEO shall be responsible for effective stewardship of the organization’s existing resources and for identifying and attracting new resources to the Brady Campaign."

Translation: Must be good enough at dancing in the blood to make people want to pay to watch it.

Sebastian at Snowflakes In Hell does an excellent job at analyzing the Brady Campaign/Center's stated priority of building the grassroots and notes:

I hate to break to the Bradys but grassroots are generally a bottom up thing, not a top down thing. NRA exists from the bottom up. It did not create its grassroots, it’s grassroots created it (or took it over, more accurately). I don’t predict Brady will have much success in this, because they are going about it wrong. The big disadvantage they have over us is that anti-gun is not a hobby. Shooting is, and one that is practiced by millions of Americans. That gives a natural base of support on which you can build a grassroots-based movement.

This is precisely why the Brady Campaign and Center is having to spend a six-figure sum to find a new CEO and President. They don't have a farm team at the grassroots with which to build potential future leaders. The local and regional gun control organizations that would normally constitute a farm team are just like the national organization - white, upper-middle class, top-down organizations funded by grant money and not by dues paying members. With regard to their grassroots problem, they remind me of Gertrude Stein's comment on Oakland, California - "There is no there there."

The posting by Korn/Ferry International is here and shown below. The other thing this posting does is give a sense of what to expect from the Brady Campaign in terms of activity. Note the programmatic goal of having all guns "child-proofed" by 2015.

COMPANY Posted: Aug 15, 2011
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

LOCATION
United States

COMPANY BACKGROUND/CULTURE
The Brady Campaign, a non-partisan 501© (4) is the nation’s largest and best-known citizens’ organization working for stronger gun laws. It works at the state and federal levels to prevent gun violence by supporting and defending sensible gun laws, regulations and public policies, mobilizing grassroots activists, electing pro-gun-control public officials and increasing public awareness of the realities of gun violence.

The Brady Campaign is supported by the chapters of its Million Mom March, and thousands of other activists, community leaders, law enforcement officials and ordinary citizens to build coalitions and fight gun violence. The Brady Campaign also has an affiliated Political Action Committee allowing it to be active in federal elections.

The affiliated BradyCenter to Prevent Gun Violence is the legal action, research and education component of the organization. It operates as a 501© (3). Founded in 1983, the Center works to educate the general public about the issues surrounding gun violence in the United States. The Center's Legal Action Project has been at the forefront of the movement to compel the gun industry to reform its sales and marketing practices. Overall, the Center provides innovative educational and public health solutions to gun violence in our communities.

The Brady Campaign has embraced building this grassroots strength as one of its most important priorities for the years ahead. It has targeted key states and communities in which to concentrate. While it will take time to build, this effort must proceed with urgency. The new President will be expected to take the lead in making this happen.

The organization is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with a staff of 25. There are 5 regional staff members in other parts of the country and the two entities have a combined annual budget of $5.3 million.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
The CEO will be a proven, results-oriented manager of people, teams, and organizations. S/He will provide the Brady Campaign with strategic leadership and bear ultimate responsibility for the organization’s programs, operations, and staff. The CEO will oversee effective program delivery and the executive team in its day-to-day management of the organization. S/he will be expected to create and execute a comprehensive strategy that utilizes a wide range of voices to deliver the organization’s messages.

The CEO will report to the Board of Directors on the activities of the organization. The CEO will ensure that the Brady Campaign is a financially sustainable organization by working in partnership with the Board of Directors, the executive team and appropriate staff. The CEO shall be responsible for effective stewardship of the organization’s existing resources and for identifying and attracting new resources to the Brady Campaign.

Additionally, specific objectives include:

Organizational Objectives

•Foster a culture throughout the organization where issues are discussed and resolved, decisions are made, people are assigned responsibility for the achievement of concrete, measurable outcomes and then held accountable for the results.
•Work closely with the senior staff to assess and refine the structures and operating procedures necessary to foster increased collaboration among departments as well as greater decision-making roles for the organization’s senior managers.
•Insure that a plan is executed and results are achieved to increase the diversity of the Board, the staff and the volunteer base of the organization.
•Insure that a wide range of effective voices including Board members, staff and volunteers are assigned to work nationally and in targeted communities throughout the country to make the case for reducing and preventing gun violence.
•With the assistance of the Board and the Development Department expand the involvement of staff and volunteers to raise substantial amounts of money from new and existing major donors, and foundations.
•In cooperation with Development Department staff complete a rigorous review of the direct marketing effort and all development efforts to include planned giving, foundation grants, events and major gifts to insure that the organization is maximizing opportunities for net revenue.
•Insure that the organization is making maximum use of the new technologies to support grassroots organizing, fund raising, sharing of best practices among community based activists and other parts of the movement and communicating the movement’s messages to a broad range of communities.
•Work closely with the Chair of the Board and the Chair of the Nominating Committee to insure that a pool of potential Board members is developed and tested to insure that excellent people are recruited to succeed members whose terms are expiring.

Programmatic Objectives

•Spearhead and actively support the efforts to build a powerful grassroots movement in those states and communities that have initially been targeted for concentration. Insure that metrics and milestones are established and adhered to.
•Lead a process to develop and implement a comprehensive communications strategy that will effectively make the case that gun violence is a pressing public issue, requiring urgent action.
•Develop an action plan to advocate aggressively for sensible gun laws
•Insure that messages resonate and have the desired effect with particular targeted communities and groups and that they are delivered by the most effective messengers over the most appropriate channels.
•Develop strategies to determine and promote evidence-based arguments for public policies, which are grounded in research and support common sense efforts at reducing gun violence.
•Take the lead in building a more unified and broad based movement, linking with other organizations and people with similar interests such as communities of color, groups combating domestic violence, public health, suicide prevention, law enforcement, faith-based organizations as well as other groups devoted to reducing gun violence.
•Build the movement to insure that all guns in our nation are childproofed by 2015.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE / QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal candidate will be an effective and inspiring leader and public representative with a strong commitment to eliminating gun violence. S/he will be expected to make common sense measures to prevent gun violence broadly accepted in our society. S/he will provide organizational and strategic leadership to the board and staff, guiding and integrating Brady’s public education and political programs while driving an ambitious agenda of grassroots expansion and activist mobilization. While no one person will possess all of the qualities enumerated below, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal characteristics:

•Experience managing a staff, providing it with clear direction, delegating where appropriate, holding people accountable while assuming the ultimate responsibility for the effective performance of the organization. A person receptive to and not threatened by input and feedback from senior staff and lay leadership.
•A successful track record and a genuine enthusiasm for raising substantial amounts of money from individuals, corporations and foundations.
•A demonstrated commitment to diversity with a record of recruiting and managing a talented and diverse staff. A person who places a high priority on the professional development of staff through delegation of responsibility and collaborative effort.
•Exceptional verbal and written communications skills including experience with both print and electronic media and the new technologies, as well as the ability to serve as the organization’s chief spokesperson, often in the face of public resistance to the organization’s positions.
•An understanding of the application of modern technology for membership development, fundraising, public education, lobbying and organizational management.
•A background in the design and management of legislative agendas, grassroots organizing and public education programs.
•Experience, working effectively in a bipartisan fashion with a variety of constituencies--other organizations, community leaders, elected officials, current and future funders and the media.
•Experience working with or serving as a member of a lively and highly engaged non-profit Board of Directors.
•A deep seated commitment to the prevention of gun violence.
•A leader who can articulate a vision, communicate organizational priorities as well as inspire and motivate people to work hard in the pursuit of a mission.
•A strategic and creative thinker with the organizational skills necessary to insure that strategies are implemented and objectives are achieved.
•A person with excellent political skills, who is comfortable with controversy and diversity and who will be able to balance, negotiate, network and build coalitions among diverging and competing points of views, both within the organization and outside it.
•A good listener who inspires trust and confidence and remains open to the ideas of others.
•The capacity and desire to develop a rapport with a wide variety of persons, volunteers, victims, all levels of staff and lay leadership.
•A high level of energy, an ability to work long hours and a willingness to travel throughout the country.
•Unimpeachable integrity.
•A sense of humor.
EDUCATION
An undergraduate degree is required. A graduate degree is highly preferred.

COMPENSATION
The competitive compensation package will be offered to attract outstanding candidates.

Damning With Faint Praise

By now, virtually everyone in the gun community knows that Paul Helmke is leaving as President of the Brady Campaign. While there is some discussion on whether he walked away on his own accord or was pushed out, the bottom line is that he will be gone effective July.

I found the release from the Brady Campaign announcing his departure and his accomplishments somewhat lacking in substance. Some of these "accomplishments" remind me of Good Penmanship Awards from grammar school. They are nice but not indicative of any substantial accomplishment unlike making the Honor Roll in the pre-grade inflation days.

Take, for example, the accomplishment listed as "leading the Starbuck 'open carry' campaign." I'm sorry but Starbucks still allows open carry and told the Brady Campaign to pound sand over the issue. If that is an accomplishment, then what do they consider a failure?

Paul Helmke Departs Brady After Busy, Fruitful, Five-year Term As Brady President
Long-Time Public Servant Blazed Trails, Strengthened Movement

Jun 24, 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. - With a great deal of sadness and overwhelming gratitude, the Brady Campaign and Brady Center today announced that Paul Helmke will end his five-year-tenure as Brady president on July 10 and begin the next chapter in his life and his long career of public service.

"When the Brady Boards hired me as President in 2006, I committed to remain in the job for at least five years. July 10 will mark the end of five busy, active, challenging, exciting, and fruitful years - and will be my last day as President," said Helmke in a memo to the organization's staff.

Jim and Sarah Brady expressed deep gratitude to Helmke for his outstanding commitment to the organization and the movement.

"Jim and I thank Paul for his wonderful work over the past five years. He has poured his life and soul into both the Brady Campaign and Brady Center," said Sarah Brady, Chair of the Brady organizations. "He is a man of the highest integrity who has worked tirelessly to keep Americans safer for so many years, long before his tenure with us. His accomplishments are too numerous to mention, but we are delighted that he has made our voice louder and our movement stronger. We both will miss him as a friend and a leader."

"The Board is grateful to Paul for his many accomplishments over the last five years, and his dedicated and tireless service to Brady and the gun violence prevention movement," said Board Chair William Harwood. "Paul helped blaze new trails for Brady and the movement. He helped us focus extraordinary national attention on the tragedy of American gun violence, and along the way laid a strong foundation from which we will excitedly continue to strengthen this organization and our movement."

Helmke also announced that although he will leave as CEO on July 10, he will remain through the end of July to help with the transition to new leadership.

Among the well-liked and highly-respected former mayor's many accomplishments with the Brady organizations are these:

• responding to the decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court in Heller and McDonald in a way that makes legislation implementing common sense restrictions on guns more likely in the future;
• helping pass the NICS Improvement Act in 2007, which law has already helped spur the addition of another million records to the Brady background check system;
• engaging a new generation of victim advocates, such as Virginia Tech survivor Colin Goddard, in the fight for sensible gun laws;
• supporting the filming, release and distribution of two new documentaries on the gun issue -- Living for 32 and Gunfight;
• pursuing an aggressive media strategy, including national television and radio, as well as local, newspapers, magazines, and web outlets;
• the Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence initiative;
• beginning relationships with professional athletes such as Plaxico Burress;
• advancing Brady's "assault clips" campaign and targeted district strategy;
• enlisting 100+ sponsors for bills to close the gun show loophole and ban assault clips;
• implementing successful defensive efforts in the states to stop "guns on campus" as well as helping pass strong pro-active legislation in places like California;
• leading the Starbucks "open carry" campaign;
• steering the organization through the most serious economic downturn since the Great Depression;
• supporting the writing and promotion of a new book on the gun issue, Lethal Logic by Dennis Henigan;
• getting more attention from the White House, Administration, as well as many leaders on the Hill than in the past decade;
• budgeting for new investment in donors that resulted in thousands of new donors and supporters.

"Special Projects"

Mike Vanderboegh pointed out an article in Government Executive that seems to indicate that Ken Melson, Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, is digging in his heels about being pushed out of the agency. It surprises me a bit but I assume that his conditions on leaving are not being met by the political appointees in DOJ.

However, what really caught my eye in that article was a statement by Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign, who was opining that ATF's problems were because they only had an Acting Director.

The fact that no one has been confirmed as ATF director is worrisome to Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "You can't run an important agency or any agency with just an acting head," he said. "It makes it hard to launch special projects and crime-fighting initiatives and get support from agents to carry them out. I'm a former mayor, and if we'd had an acting police chief, things would have spiraled out of control."

Helmke "points the finger at Congress, because they made it a confirmable position, so either confirm someone or restructure the agency," he said. "The issues in Fast and Furious need to be addressed to find out who's responsible, but with an acting head, no one's responsible."

Ken Melson came on board to head ATF in April 2009. Project Gunrunner did not morph into Operation Fast and Furious until after that. If Operation Fast and Furious was not a special project, then what was it? Or does Mr. Helmke have other special projects in mind such as the Shotgun Importability Study or the Multi-Rifle Sale Reporting Requirement? Perhaps the special project he had in mind was for ATF to find a way to completely abrogate our Second Amendment rights.

As to his specious argument that "no one's responsible", tell that to Rep. Darrell Issa and Senator Chuck Grassley who are looking long and hard at the higher-ups in the Department of Justice. Even if Andrew Traver had been confirmed as Director of ATF, I sincerely doubt he would have had the authority to start a project like Operation Fast and Furious on his own without clearance from his DOJ superiors. It involves wiretaps, international borders, and the drug cartels.

Helmke's comments show just how desperate the Brady Campaign has become if this is the best they can do.

Blah, blah, blah

The statement of Brady Campaign head Paul Helmke on their new campaign featuring Plaxico Burress is below. This campaign is being done in conjunction with the National Urban League and is called the Urban League Celebrity Empowerment Challenge. Burress said he is "committing his time and talent to volunteering with National Urban League youth programs that emphasize health, education and anti-violence, and pledging to recruit other professional athletes to do the same."

I realize that Burress is doing what he is told he must do by his advisors if he wants to be able to play in the NFL again. This is similar to the stuff that Michael Vick had to do with the Humane Society of the U.S. To be honest, it is all a charade at portraying "redemption" on the part of Burress and his handlers. I just have to say it pisses me off to see the anti-gun vultures using him.

Paul Helmke, President Of The Brady Center, Remarks At Urban League, Plaxico Burress News Conference

Jun 13, 2011



NEW YORK -- The Brady Center has formed a partnership with Plaxico Burress to prevent gun violence. Plaxico contacted us a year ago and told us that when he was released from prison, he wanted to spend his time warning young people, especially, about the risks and dangers of guns.

He told us that his direct, and painful, experience with a gun in a nightclub in 2008 had taught him a lot of lessons. It had taught him, ultimately, that guns make everything worse. And as time unfolded behind bars, his experience helped him understand that once he was free, he would have an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children, athletes, and the entire sports community.

We're pleased to work with Plaxico on this life-saving issue. The Brady Center is the nation's largest public interest organization dedicated to ending gun violence in America. As a non-profit, 501-c-3 organization, we work to bring justice to gun violence victims in the courts. We educate Americans about the risks and dangers of guns. We fight in the courts to make sure strong gun laws remain on the books.

We have joined forces with people from the faith community, Hollywood, law enforcement, the medical community, education, and other segments of society. Today we're happy to add another voice for our movement.

Children 15 years and under in America are 12 times more likely to die from guns than children in the next 25 largest industrialized countries combined. African-American children and teens are almost five times as likely as their white peers to be killed by firearms. Community violence, including gun violence, has the equivalent emotional impact on children as war or natural disaster.

Gun violence in America is clearly a disastrous problem -- but it's one we can do more to prevent.

America needs more voices such as Plaxico's speaking on behalf of sensible gun laws and sensible behavior around guns. America needs Plaxico, other athletes and sports professionals, to be active in campaigns against gun violence. Plaxico will occupy a new and important place in this conversation.

He has agreed to work with us to share:

·His life's journey, including how his decision to use a gun illegally injured himself, endangered many, and led to his incarceration;

·The lessons he has learned about the consequences of misusing a gun and the illegal possession of a gun;

·The inherent risks and dangers of guns; and

·The importance of abiding by gun laws.



We will have more to tell you about this partnership in the coming weeks. But for now, we are eager to see this man who has proven he can be a giant in football become a giant in the cause of helping save lives from being lost to gun violence.

Pelosi Still Most Disliked Congressional Leader

The Rasmussen Reports' most recent national survey shows Democrat Minority Leader (and former Speaker) Nancy Pelosi as the most disliked congressional leader.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 28% of Likely U.S. Voters hold a favorable opinion of Pelosi, now the House minority leader, while 63% view her unfavorably. This includes eight percent (8%) with a Very Favorable impression of the San Francisco congresswoman and 45% with a Very Unfavorable one.

I wonder why that could be. Maybe it is the people she associates with.

From Glittarazzi.com under Creative Commons License - 2011 Brady Center DC Gala

From 2011 Brady Center DC Gala

Brady's Prepared For ATF Comments On Multi-Rifle Reporting

The Brady Campaign is prepared for the May 31st deadline for comments on the ATF proposal to require dealers in the Southwest to report multiple sales of semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines in calibers greater than .22. Dennis Hennigan of the Brady Campaign posted this note on their website:

Tell ATF to Fight Assault Rifle Smuggling to Mexico!


Dear Friend,

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has proposed an important new step to curb gun smuggling to Mexico.

ATF wants to hear from you and has asked for the public to weigh in with comments on its new idea.

Please tell ATF that you support its proposal to require reporting of multiple sales of weapons, such as semi-automatic military-style assault rifles, by gun dealers in the Southwest border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

The comment period closes May 31, so please click here to take action today!

America's gun laws are so weak that gun dealers don't even have to inform law enforcement when they sell dozens of these weapons of war in one sale.

The violence fueled by our weak gun laws is killing thousands both here and in Mexico, and gun trafficking to Mexico threatens to cause a major foreign policy crisis for the U.S.

Please make your voice heard and help ATF crack down on gunrunners to Mexico and contribute to security in Mexico and the United States.

After you've taken action, please also forward this message to your family and friends.

Sincerely,
Dennis Henigan, Vice President
Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence

Within that letter is a link to a form letter generator. Unfortunately, while the message can be personalized a bit, they have frozen the parts saying you support the proposal to require the reporting. Otherwise we could just use their generator to send mass amounts of letters opposing the ATF proposal. Their letter reads:

Support the Proposal to Require Reporting of Multiple Sales of Certain Long Guns (OMB control number 1140NEW)

Dear [Decision Maker],

I am writing to offer my comment in support of the Proposal to Require Reporting of Multiple Sales of Certain Long Guns (OMB control number 1140NEW).

America's weak gun laws have contributed to massive numbers of guns, including military-style assault weapons, being sold by gun dealers to gun traffickers in the U.S. These guns harm Americans and are smuggled to Mexican drug cartels who wreak havoc on citizens, visitors, law enforcement, and government officials in Mexico.

Reporting multiple sales of weapons such as semi-automatic assault rifles will provide ATF with crucial notification of bulk gun sales to traffickers, giving law enforcement an opportunity to promptly investigate and stop a potential trafficker.

Under current law, ATF and other law enforcement agencies have neither the tools nor the resources to adequately stem the flow of trafficked guns from the United States into Mexico. Congress needs to provide law enforcement the tools it needs to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, including requiring background checks for all gun sales, giving ATF increased enforcement authority to crack down on corrupt gun dealers, and restricting the sale of military-style weaponry, such as large capacity ammunition magazines. The proposed reporting requirement is an important first step to stopping gun trafficking.

I urge you to support the Proposal to Require Reporting of Multiple Sales of Certain Long Guns (OMB control number 1140NEW).

Of course, it is utter bullshit. However, it emphasizes the need for our side to get its act together and submit comments. May 31st is only five days away if you count today. I will have a sample letter up with instructions a little later this morning.

If anyone knows of a form letter generator with a message opposing this proposal, please put it in the comments. I will make sure to publicize it.

H/T Josh

"Disputed And Unconfirmed"

The Brady Campaign issued a new "research report" today entitled Officer Gunned Down. I won't get into a critique of the so-called study now. Rather, I want to point out what might be one of their first comments on Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker).(corrected)

Rio Rico, Arizona, Dec. 14, 2010.

Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, 40, was shot and killed while attempting to apprehend a group of armed subjects who had been robbing illegal immigrants as soon as they crossed the border from Mexico to Arizona.

Two of the guns recovered at the scene of Agent Terry’s murder were part of a Phoenix-based sting operation targeting major Mexican drug trafficking organizations. The shooting has engendered controversy, as it s alleged that federal prosecutors and ATF permitted 1,998 guns to be purchased and retained by suspected straw buyers in the hope that a major case could be built. While the truth of those allegations are disputed and unconfirmed. it is undisputed that if firearms laws were stronger by prohibiting multiple sales and requiring responsible sales practices, these gun sales could not have been legally completed.

Other weapons from the sting were recovered in May 2010, when a Customs and Border Protection agent confronted an armed band of criminals along the U.S. side of the border. The suspects fled but some of the guns they left behind were traced back to weapons purchased in the sting

The allegations are disputed and unconfirmed?

Are the authors of this report living in Never-Never Land? Have they not seen the CBS News reports by Sharyl Attkisson where ATF Agents have gone on camera and on record about Operation Fast and Furious? Have they not read the released documents from Senator Grassley and Representative Issa which show that the firearms dealers were told to go through with these sales even though they objected? I won't even go into the work done by Mike Vanderboegh and David Codrea to bring this story to light since December 2010.

These sales would not have been completed if the gun dealers were allowed to follow their own good instincts and decline the sale. They had questions and were co-opted by the powers that be in the Phoenix Field Division.

The authors of this "study" by the Brady Campaign are engaging in willful denial of the facts. To try and blame it on weak gun laws and irresponsible gun dealers is to whitewash the complicity of ATF managers in allowing these gun to walk. Frankly, it is the authors of this study who are being irresponsible.