Gun control advocates are still feeling blowback from the scandalous Fast and Furious gunwalking scheme, six years after the story broke. In response to the scandal, Representative Evan Jenkins (R-W.Va.) recently introduced the Protecting the Second Amendment Act in the U.S. Congress. The bill, H.R. 1976, would bar the federal government from requiring gun store owners to report the sales of multiple rifle or shotgun sales to the same person “based on the geographic location” in which the store is located.
The Protecting the Second Amendment Act is aimed at rolling back ATF Demand Letter 3 and to deter future Administrations from engaging in the sort of behavior that Obama’s ATF dabbled in during his first term. Demand Letter 3 requires gun stores located in the southwest border states (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California,) to report to the ATF any occasions where a person legally purchases two or more “semi-automatic rifles capable of accepting a detachable magazine and with a caliber greater than .22 (including .223/5.56 caliber).”
The Obama Administration engineered support for this rule via its 2009 Fast and Furious program, which encouraged gun stores in the border states to sell rifles to members of Mexican drug cartels.
Fast and Furious was supposedly a sting operation aimed at arresting cartel members. President Obama, however, had another goal in mind: justifying more draconian gun control regulations. As CBS News reported in 2011, internal ATF emails show that Fast and Furious was used as political justification for Demand Letter 3. Correspondence from ATF Field Ops Ass. Director Mark Chait to the ATF Agent in charge of Fast and Furious, Bill Newell, on multiple dates confirmed this.
From July 2010:
“Bill – can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks.”
From July 2011:
“Bill–well done yesterday… (I)n light of our request for Demand letter 3, this case could be a strong supporting factor if we can determine how many multiple sales of long guns occurred during the course of this case.”
I spoke with a FFL holder in one of the named border states and he stated that, despite the Trump Administration’s push to reduce administrative regulations across-the-board, so far there’s been no change with regard to Demand Letter 3.
“My understanding is that we’re supposed to continue following [Demand Letter 3] until we hear different from them [the ATF],” he said. “So far, we haven’t heard anything, so we’re continuing to follow it.”
If enacted, H.R. 1976 would indeed roll back Demand Letter 3. But there’s one thing it wouldn’t change: according to the Gun Control Act of 1968 (18 U.S.C. sec. 923(g)(3)(A)), gun stores are required to report sales of “two or more pistols, or revolvers,” over the course of a five day period to law-abiding gun purchasers. That’s hard-coded into the statute, and Rep. Jenkins’ bill doesn’t touch it.
I know it’s early in the presidency but Trump’s lack of enthusiasm for pro gun related legislation is rapidly taking it’s toll on me. If we don’t see some significant movement by this time next year you’re going to see a lot of republican voters sit out of the midterms.
Voters that stay at home will be cutting off their nose to spite their face.
Trump has more important priorities right now than worrying about guns.
Be happy that you are not turning in or registering all of your pistols, semi-autos and pump guns under Hillary’s Australian Style Gun Control.
The dems may well be back in 2018 and they can torpedo any pro 2A SCOTUS picks remaining in Trump’s term. Hillary may well be in for a rematch in 2020.
The ‘be thankful it’s not worse’ argument is the single laziest and most unappealing argument in the history of language. Trump was elected to do certain things, things he has by and large not done. The idea that doing nothing is good enough is the reason we are in this position. Raise your freaking standards man.
I for one would love to see a massive gun confiscation. Then we can do away with this pretense of being a functioning democracy.
It might help to realize that the Trump administration is but one leg of our three-legged governmental system.
He is having to deal with both houses of congress (whom he promised to clean up, so there’s people on both sides of the aisle fighting him as he tries to do so) as well as a judicial system that is packed with Trump haters. There’s only so much he can do.
And, yes, we should indeed be thankful Hillary isn’t president. If she was, you can bet your last cartridge she would have guns as a primary focus. Just look at California to see how bad it could be for the rest of us, and even California will get much worse before it gets better (IF it gets better).
“Voters that stay at home will be cutting off their nose to spite their face.”
Yep. This idea of not voting because you didn’t get your way is childish and gets you nowhere, giving your potential representative’s seats to the enemy.
Something you might not have thought of… I don’t “vote” to “get my way.” And I don’t abstain from voting because someone else’s wants and ideas are imposed on me. The only real purpose of electoral politics is to scam people into thinking that they have anything real to say about anything! The whole purpose of elections is to empower the politicians and the system to control all of the people and their poperty. It wasn’t set up for anything else, ever.
I only want to be left alone, to live my life without anyone imposing force, fraud and theft on me – or anyone else… just as long as I (we) don’t use force, fraud or theft on others. I don’t want anything from anyone except individual liberty, voluntary association, peace and prosperity.
None of those have ever been choices on a ballot. If I could “vote” for those things, I’d be first in line.
By what legitimate authority do you “vote” to limit or destroy my peace, prosperity and liberty?
In our screwed-up 2 party system the ‘spite your face’ method is the ONLY way to make progress on issues. If you keep voting GOP thinking that next time they won’t pull the football out from under you, they have absolutely no reason not to keep doing it (actually it behooves them to do it because it’s easier to run against scary liberals who are successful at gun control).
Now, if you love all the things the GOP and Trump are doing, that’s fine. But for those of us who held our nose, well, cutting it off might be a better option.
Voters have two choices here: vote Republican and take their chances if they will make things better or not, or vote Democrat – knowing they will continue their long history of trampling upon the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Unfortunately, there is no real “third choice.”
I think everyone needs to just breathe a little bit, and look at what Trump is up against. The high powered assault media and DNC is in full slander mode, simply trying to scare the GOP into not putting forth any real effort. Trump can only do so much via executive order, which are nice, but ultimately pointless. If we want real change the GOP controlled congress needs to put bills on his desk. If that ultimately doesn’t happen, the RINOs like McStain and Demgraham are to blame.
Gee, who could have guessed that a politician fails to do ANYTHING on an issue they claimed to care about and someone makes excuses for them. It’s those dastardly liberals! And that nasty media! That’s why we can’t do anything we said we’d do despite having the Senate, House AND Executive Branch! Vote for us again 2018!
Gimme a break.
Would be nice IF we had both the house and the senate, but as long as the people keep electing RINOs like McConnell, McShame and others, plus Representatives like Ryan, and his ass kissing followers, we do NOT have control, Soros and the Demorats do.
Yes, YOU do need to vote to stop the tyranny of the RINOs.
At this point it’s a fantasy to believe that any pro gun legislation will be passed by this Congress. Republicans haven’t been for small government in a long time. They just edge gun owners along cause they know we’ll vote for them. They have no intention to actually restore our rights. If we lose our anger they lose our votes and they know it.
Actually, it will take an act of Congress to PREVENT the “rubber-stamp” reactivation of the multiple purchase reporting requirement by OMB:
Fact Sheet – Multiple Firearms Sales or Other Disposition Reporting
In August 2011, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) was authorized by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under information collection 1140-0100 to initiate similar reporting requirements on the multiple sale or other disposition of certain rifles from licensed firearms dealers in the four border states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas . In November 2014, it was submitted for renewal without change and approved by OMB. The expiration date is Nov. 30, 2017.
The reporting requirements mandate that all federally licensed firearms dealers and pawnbrokers in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas submit to ATF reports of multiple sales or other dispositions of certain rifles to unlicensed individuals when two or more particular kinds of rifles are transferred at the same time, or within five consecutive business days of each other. The types of rifles that must be reported are those with the following characteristics: (1) semiautomatic; (2) a caliber greater than .22 (including .223/5.56 mm); and (3) the ability to accept detachable magazines.
https://www.atf.gov/resource-center/fact-sheet/fact-sheet-multiple-firearms-sales-or-other-disposition-reporting
Why not give proper credit to the people who actually discovered and reported on this corruption?
https://web.archive.org/web/20120207121649/http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/a-journalist-s-guide-to-project-gunwalker
David Codrea, Mike Vanderboegh (RIP), and Sharyl Attkisson
https://web.archive.org/web/20120103101210/http://www.cbsnews.com/sharylattkisson?tag=contentMain;contentBody
In spite of great efforts to bury the stories and the people who reported on it, the information is still available.
RE: “would bar the federal government from requiring gun store owners to report the sales of multiple rifle or shotgun sales to the same person “based on the geographic location” in which the store is located.”
So, the bureaucratic work-around is to require it for ALL stores, anywhere in the country. Poof! Compliance with the law!
More than likely. This is something i can’t understand the ATF does something says limited time and scope, but it never goes away just gets more and more. Kinda like those taxes in 1913.
Much doubt that this will go anywhere. RePubs don’t have the leadership nor the spine. Like the rest of the pro gun bills, it will die a slow death. After all, doesn’t Pelosi and Schumer run the country? We sure as hell know their agenda!
Not one law passed in the past 50 plus years has ever stopped me from owning guns. Dem or Rep president
I think the right fear mongers people with they’re gonna take your guns and the left fear mongers with we don’t want all of them just the ones we don’t like which are none of them. It a lose lose situation.
Our best hope is within the next 4 years we seat 2 more conservative justices
“Gun control advocates are still feeling blowback from the scandalous Fast and Furious gunwalking scheme, six years after the story broke.”
No they’re not. They couldn’t give a solitary Eff what peeps think about this non-scandal. Remember, it’s a blip, a botch, a non-scandal. It’s a conspiracy theory actualized by the rootin-tootin-2a-packin-heat-never-do-gooders crowd. There are no consequences.