Memo On Talking Points For New Gun Control Bill

Below is the point-by-point "explanation" of the Stop Gun Trafficking and Strengthen Law Enforcement Act. What makes this more interesting is that the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have included their talking points as well. By doing so, they are explicitly telling the world - and those of us in the gun community - how they plan to push this bill. They are also essentially writing the editorials for their supporters in media.

STOP GUN TRAFFICKING AND STRENGTHEN LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2011
Section-by-Section

Section 1. Short Title

Section 2. Prohibition on Firearms Trafficking

• Amends Chapter 44 of title 18 to create a new Section 932 to address firearms trafficking.
• Prohibits the transfer of a gun to another where the individual knows the gun will be transferred to a person who is prohibited by law from carrying a gun or to a person who intends to use or actually uses the gun illegally.
• Covers organizers as well as conspiracies.
• A violation carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment. Conspiracies receive a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.
• Trafficking kingpins who work in concert with five or more individuals are eligible for up to 25 years imprisonment.

Talking Points

• International drug cartels are trafficking tens of thousands of military-grade assault weapons from the United States to Mexico every year.
• To move guns across our southern border, the cartels have set up a patchwork network of straw purchasers throughout the United States in which the cartels pay individuals to purchase guns on their behalf.
• These guns have fueled the massive outbreak of violence in Mexico that has led to the death of over 40,000 people since 2007.
• In hearings and interviews before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, law enforcement agents said they are hamstrung in their attempts to stop illegal gun trafficking by the lack of a federal gun trafficking bill.
• Under current law, prosecutors are forced to charge straw purchasers and traffickers with mere paperwork violations.
• This bill fills that void by creating a federal firearms law that criminalizes the intentional act of moving a gun out of lawful commerce and into unlawful commerce.
• The bill is narrowly tailored to get the “worst of the worst” gun traffickers, and will have no effect on lawful gun ownership.

Tools?

Representatives Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), and Carolyn McCarthy say they want to give ATF more tools to stop smuggling and straw purchases. More tools? Reading their release you can't help coming to the conclusion that the only tools in question are the aforementioned representatives.

Straw purchases are already illegal. Smuggling of arms is illegal under the Arms Export Control Act as Dave Hardy makes clear. Possession of a firearm (or ammunition) by a felon is a felony in and of itself. If a drug cartel or other organization is conspiring to buy guns by using straw purchasers, you have RICO as a tool to combat it. This bill is nothing but a means to get some airtime and glowing accolades in the New York Times and Washington Post.

The other thing of note in this release is where it says that they have released the testimony of Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson given on July 4th. You have to ask yourself if this was to build support for their bill or to alert Eric Holder and his minions in the DOJ just what Melson had to say. My guess it is the latter as Rep. Cummings has been a synchophant of the Justice Department throughout the whole investigation.

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Representatives Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) introduced the “Stop Gun Trafficking and Strengthen Law Enforcement Act.” The legislation establishes a dedicated firearms trafficking statute to empower law enforcement to keep high-powered firearms out of the hands of dangerous criminals, including Mexican drug cartels.

“This legislation gives law enforcement the tools they need to do their job,” Rep. Maloney said. “It prohibits the transfer of a gun when an individual knows the gun will be transferred to a person who is prohibited by law from carrying a gun or to a person who intends to use the gun illegally. This is a sensible solution to a severe problem and will ensure that weapons do not end up in the hands of criminals-- and drug cartels-- by specifically prohibiting firearms trafficking in the criminal code.”

“We have to move beyond the all-or-nothing rhetoric of the current gun debate and work toward common-sense measures to help our law enforcement authorities combat the Mexican drug cartels without infringing on anyone’s right to own a firearm,” Cummings said. That’s exactly what this bill does.”

“Straw purchasers represent a significant problem in the United States. It is long past time that we take concrete steps to fight back against these individuals who funnel weapons into the hands of criminal and terrorist organizations. I’m proud to join Representative Maloney in taking this step to make our country safer,” Rep. McCarthy said.

“This legislation will provide Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms with the tools to keep illegal firearms from making their way into the hands of convicted felons who move guns across the southern border, utilizing a network of straw purchasers in the United States. These straw purchases act as an intermediary party for organized crime networks and the cartels by purchasing guns on their behalf", according to Chris Schoppmeyer, FLEOA's Vice President for Agency Affairs. The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) is the largest professional police organization that represents over 26,000 federal agents and officers from 65 agencies in the United States Government, including the ATF.

"This legislation would give law enforcement a strong, new tool to fight the gun trafficking that feeds lethal violence in Mexico, and American communities as well. There is no Second Amendment right to supply drug gangs with the firepower of an army," said Dennis Henigan, Acting President of the Brady Campaign. "Mexican families, and American families, have the right to live in peace. That's what this valuable legislation is all about."

“The U.S. civilian gun market is stocked with military-grade weapons—both domestically manufactured and imported—and has extraordinarily weak controls on their sale. This has transformed the United States into a virtually unregulated bazaar of military-style firearms. Traffickers can stock up on their weapons of choice: AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles and pistols, 50 caliber sniper rifles, and high-capacity armor-piercing pistols. The ‘Stop Gun Trafficking and Strengthen Law Enforcement Act of 2011’ is a crucial step in meeting the United States’ responsibility to address cross-border gun trafficking,” said Kristen Rand, legislative director of the Violence Policy Center, a national non-profit gun violence prevention organization.

The Members released testimony by Acting Director of ATF, Ken Melson, which was obtained as part of the Oversight Committee’s investigation of ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious, stating that law enforcement officials “absolutely” need a firearms trafficking statute to effectively attack these criminal trafficking rings. Additionally, the Members released a letter from the Mexican Ambassador to the United States that stated his support for firearms trafficking legislation.
As a part of the Oversight Committee’s investigation of ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious, law enforcement agents on the ground have warned Congress that the lack of a dedicated firearms trafficking statute means that criminals who supply Mexican drug cartels with weapons of war are typically charged with mere paperwork violations – dealing in firearms without a license – and often only receive a sentence of probation.

This legislation is narrowly tailored to fill that void and help law enforcement stop illegal firearms trafficking.

Illegal Mayors

Sebastian at Snowflakes in Hell reports that another member of Mayor Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns has been arrested.

Mayor Richard Corkery of Coaldale, Pennsylvania has been arrested on 28 counts of possession of child pornography. Pictures of underage boys were found on his computer.

Jeez!

Perhaps Mayor Bloomberg should worry more about the mayors in his group than about legal, law-abiding gun owners.


 

Rhonda Ezell On Fox Chicago Sunday

Rhonda Ezell, the lead plaintiff in Ezell v. Chicago, was a guest on Fox Chicago Sunday along with attorney David Sigale. The thing that impressed me the most about her interview was the quiet conviction and dignity she brings to the issue especially in the face of the questions from political reporter Mike Flannery. You could tell she was nervous being on television but she never lost her composure. She was asked questions about the lawsuit as well as about concealed carry in Illinois.

Flannery gave the impression that the Ezell lawsuit along with McDonald and all the other Second Amendment lawsuits were being funded by the "gun industry". While the Second Amendment Foundation supported both lawsuits, they are not the "gun industry". I just wish David Sigale had challenged Flannery on that but overall I think he did well.

FOX Chicago Sunday: Rhonda Ezell on Gun Rights: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

H/T Colleen Lawson

49 States Say He's Wrong

The local Fox affiliate in Chicago puts on a news show on Sundays called Fox Chicago Sunday. This past Sunday part of the discussion dealt with the SAF and NRA lawsuits challenging the prohibition of carry in any form in the state of Illinois.

One of the guests was Patrick Thompson, Chairman of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, who shared "why he believes allowing concealed carry would be a public safety disaster." He starts out his weak argument by saying the Violence Policy Center has statistics that show crime doesn't go down where concealed carry is allowed. Moreover, he holds that people are more likely to resort to the gun if concealed carry is allowed.

Unfortunately for Mr. Thompson, the experience in the rest of the United States - and especially in those states with shall-issue CCW - have proven him wrong. Of course, that doesn't stop him from nattering on about how CCW is bad.

FOX Chicago Sunday: Patrick Thompson on Concealed Carry: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

If The Hughes Amendment And NFA Didn't Exist....

I would want this!

It is the CZ Scorpion EVO 3 A1 submachine gun in 9mm Luger. From the CZ website:

The CZ SCORPION EVO 3 A1 submachine gun in cal. 9x19 is all-purpose, light automatic small arm of the PDW category. This weapon allows shooting to be conducted in bursts, limited bursts and in single shots.

In the standard version this SMG is equipped with a folding stock enabling shooting from the shoulder. The weapon can be shot from free hand when the folding stock is retracted. The effective range of fire from shoulder is up to 250 m distances, from hand up to 50 m. When the last cartridge from the magazine has been shot the bolt remains locked-open. No tools are necessary for routine maintenance disassembly. Low weight and small dimensions facilitate concealed carry and use in a very constraint spaces.

Characteristic features of this weapon are a good balance making quick and easy aiming, high accuracy of fire, long service life a high functional reliability under various combat conditions. The relevant advantage is in ambidextrous controls and multiple rails as per MIL-STD-1913.

The Scorpion EVO 3 A1 weighs only 2.77kg or 6.1 pounds due to its polymer frame. The Scorpion is very compact measuring only 16.1 inches with the stock folded and 26.1 inches with it unfolded. The double-stack magazines have a capacity of 30 rounds.

It has a very fast rate of fire with a theoretical rate of 1150 rpm. However, the manual states only 180 rounds should be fired continuously through the barrel at one time before it overheats. As you can see from the short video below, it doesn't take much time to empty the mag.



Another video that gives more details on the Scorpion EVO 3 A1 and shows it "in action" with a police counter-terrorism team.




However, we do have the Hughes Amendment and the NFA so I can only dream.

Beware The Ides Of July

Katie Pavlich of Townhall.com who has been done really good reporting lately on Project Gunwalker posted that Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) plan to introduce a new gun control bill on July 15th. According to the ancient Roman calendar, the 15th of July - just like the 15th of March - is the Ides of the month.

U.S. Representatives Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) will join other members and a leading law enforcement organization for an event Friday, July 15th, 11:00 a.m. at the House Triangle to introduce the “Stop Gun Trafficking and Strengthen Law Enforcement Act,” which establishes a dedicated firearms trafficking statute to empower law enforcement to keep high-powered firearms out of the hands of dangerous criminals, including Mexican drug cartels.

Frankly, other than getting glowing tributes from the opinion pages of the New York Times and the Washington Post, I don't see much of a future for this legislation. It will gain a quick handful of Democrats as co-sponsors and then languish in committee just like Carolyn McCarthy's HR 308.

As Katie notes,

So let me get this straight, democrats want to punish law abiding Americans and impede on Second Amendment rights with new legislation "to prevent gun trafficking to Mexico," however, aren't willing to focus on the ATF and DOJ's role in deliberately putting high powered firearms into the hands of criminals including Mexican drug cartels?

Katie was the one who broke the story yesterday on the email from Assistant Director for Operations Mark Chait to Bill Newell which suggests that one aim of Project Gunwalker was to build support for the multiple-rifle reporting requirement.

NRA Head Addresses UN Conference

Wayne LaPierre, Executive VP and CEO, of the NRA addressed the UN's Preparatory Committee on the Arms Trade Treaty today. His remarks to this group are below. The gist of his remarks were that the NRA will fight tooth and nail any effort to regulate U.S. civilian firearms ownership by the UN. Moreover, he reminded them that treaties must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Senate and they isn't going to happen if he can help it.

I'm sure his remarks were received politely but wouldn't be that popular with the prohibitionist agenda prevalent amongst the less than democratic countries which comprise the majority of the UN's membership.

United Nations Arms Trade Treaty
Preparatory Committee - 3d Session
New York, July 11-15, 2011
Statement of the National Rifle Association of America

Mr. Chairman, thank you for this brief opportunity to address the committee. I am Wayne LaPierre and for 20 years now, I have served as Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association of America.

The NRA was founded in 1871, and ever since has staunchly defended the rights of its 4 million members, America's 80 million law-abiding gun owners, and freedom-loving Americans throughout our country. In 1996, the NRA was recognized as an NGO of the United Nations and, ever since then, has defended the constitutional freedom of Americans in this arena. The
NRA is the largest and most active firearms rights organization in the world and, although some members of this committee may not like what I have to say, I am proud to defend the tens of millions of lawful people NRA represents.

This present effort for an Arms Trade Treaty, or ATT, is now in its fifth year. We have closely monitored this process with increasing concern. We've reviewed the statements of the countries participating in these meetings. We've listened to other NGOs and read their numerous proposals and reports, as well as carefully examined the papers you have produced.

We've watched, and read ... listened and monitored. Now, we must speak out.

The Right to Keep and Bear Arms in defense of self, family and country is ultimately selfevident and is part of the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution. Reduced to its core, it is about fundamental individual freedom, human worth, and self-destiny.

We reject the notion that American gun owners must accept any lesser amount of freedom in order to be accepted among the international community. Our Founding Fathers long ago rejected that notion and forged our great nation on the principle of freedom for the individual citizen - not for the government.

Mr. Chairman, those working on this treaty have asked us to trust them ... but they've proven to be unworthy of that trust.

We are told "Trust us; an ATT will not ban possession of any civilian firearms." Yet, the proposals and statements presented to date have argued exactly the opposite, and - perhaps most importantly - proposals to ban civilian firearms ownership have not been rejected.

We are told "Trust us; an ATT will not interfere with state domestic regulation of firearms." Yet, there are constant calls for exactly such measures.

We are told "Trust us; an ATT will only affect the illegal trade in firearms." But then we're told that in order to control the illegal trade, all states must control the legal firearms trade.

We are told, "Trust us; an ATT will not require registration of civilian firearms." Yet, there are numerous calls for record-keeping, and firearms tracking from production to eventual destruction. That's nothing more than gun registration by a different name.

We are told, "Trust us; an ATT will not create a new international bureaucracy." Well, that's exactly what is now being proposed - with a tongue-in-cheek assurance that it will just be a SMALL bureaucracy.

We are told, "Trust us; an ATT will not interfere with the lawful international commerce in civilian firearms." But a manufacturer of civilian shotguns would have to comply with the same regulatory process as a manufacturer of military attack helicopters.

We are told, "Trust us; an ATT will not interfere with a hunter or sport shooter travelling internationally with firearms." However, he would have to get a so-called "transit permit" merely to change airports for a connecting flight.

Mr. Chairman, our list of objections extends far beyond the proposals I just mentioned. Unfortunately, my limited time today prevents me from providing greater detail on each of our objections. I can assure you, however, that each is based on American law, as well as the fundamental rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

It is regrettable that proposals affecting civilian firearms ownership are woven throughout the proposed ATT. That being the case, however, there is only one solution to this problem: the complete removal of civilian firearms from the scope of any ATT. I will repeat that point as it is
critical and not subject to negotiation - civilian firearms must not be part of any ATT. On this there can be no compromise, as American gun owners will never surrender their Second Amendment freedom.

It is also regrettable to find such intense focus on record-keeping, oversight, inspections, supervision, tracking, tracing, surveillance, marking, documentation, verification, paper trails and data banks, new global agencies and data centers. Nowhere do we find a thought about respecting anyone's right of self-defense, privacy, property, due process, or observing personal freedoms of any kind.

Mr. Chairman, I 'd be remiss if I didn't also discuss the politics of an ATT. For the United States to be a party to an ATT, it must be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the U.S. Senate. Some do not realize that under the U.S. Constitution, the ultimate treaty power is not the President's power to negotiate and sign treaties; it is the Senate's power to approve them.

To that end, it's important for the Preparatory Committee to understand that the proposed ATT is already strongly opposed in the Senate - the very body that must approve it by a two-thirds majority. There is a letter addressed to President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton that is
currently being circulated for the signatures of Senators who oppose the ATT. Once complete, this letter will demonstrate that the proposed ATT will not pass the U.S. Senate.

So there is extremely strong resistance to the ATT in the United States, even before the treaty is tabled. We are not aware of any precedent for this - rejecting a proposed treaty before it's even submitted for consideration - but it speaks to the level of opposition. The proposed ATT has become more than just controversial, as the Internet is awash with articles and messages calling for its rejection. And those messages are all based on the same objection - infringement on the constitutional freedom of American gun owners.

The cornerstone of our freedom is the Second Amendment. Neither the United Nations, nor any other foreign influence, has the authority to meddle with the freedoms guaranteed by our Bill of Rights, endowed by our Creator, and due to all humankind.

Therefore, the NRA will fight with all of its strength to oppose any ATT that includes civilian firearms within its scope.

Thank you.