These gun grabbers and their media enablers really annoy me sometimes. OK, a lot of the time. Most of the time. Fine. Always. Take the editorial Crack down on ‘bad apple’ gun dealers over at cnn.com (complete with a photo gallery of spree killings). You’d think that Chicken Noodle News’ online editorial team would make mention of the fact that one the article’s co-authors, Dan Gross, is the president of the Brady Campaign and Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Or that the other author, Ruben Gallego [above] is an Arizona Dem U.S. Rep who proclaimed . . .
I know as a US Marine who is trained in close quarters combat that having untrained individuals carrying guns can make the work of law enforcement officers more difficult.
And not knowing the anti-gun bias of the writers of a CNN Op-Ed makes the work of discerning their bias more difficult. But bias there is, aplenty. [Note: since this article appeared on TTAG, CNN has added a bio of both authors and a disclaimer.]
For many Americans, the profound sadness of mass killings this summer in these cities is compounded by the frustrating sense that these events are being met with nothing more than hand-wringing and empty rhetoric.
This kind of bloodshed has become an accepted fact of American life, facilitated by an irresponsible corporate gun lobby and too many politicians, particularly Republican leadership in Congress that refuses to do the will of the American people. Yet, despite the polarizing politics that define this issue, there is still much that can be done to address the scourge of gun violence in America.
Number one on Gallego and Gross’ list: background checks for every gun sale, including private sales. Never mind that federal background checks on all gun sales would add delay and expense to what is supposed to be an un-infringed right to keep and bear arms. Never mind that “universal background checks” would put America [further] on the road to gun registration -> confiscation -> very bad things. The important thing: Americans support it! Like they supported slavery.
Anyway, “gun safety” proposal number two . . .
While Congress should certainly take action to close critical gaps in our gun laws and expand Brady background checks to all gun sales, gun dealers should not wait on Congress to take the steps necessary to prevent dangerous people from obtaining weapons.
The Brady Campaign has devised a smart, simple Gun Dealer Code of Conduct that can dramatically reduce gun injuries and deaths now. Among its key provisions is a requirement that dealers not sell any gun without a completed background check — a policy that Walmart, the nation’s largest seller of firearms, voluntarily implemented in 2002, with success. Broad adoption of the Brady Code of Conduct would prevent dangerous people from getting guns and thus reduce gun crimes, injuries and deaths across the board.
Similarly, there’s no reason for the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to wait to aggressively pursue America’s top suppliers of crime guns.
Indeed, this relatively small group of “bad apple” gun dealers is responsible for supplying almost the entire illegal market. In light of these troubling statistics, DOJ and ATF can and must do more to hold accountable gun dealers that put the public and our communities at risk.
That is why we recently wrote to Attorney General Loretta Lynch urging her to lead a national effort to identify, reform, shut down, and — where appropriate — prosecute “bad apple” gun dealers.
DOJ and ATF’s efforts should include focused, annual inspections of dealers supplying crime guns and public disclosure of information related to the supply of crime guns. Armed with robust data, communities across the country will be better equipped to name and shame the “bad apple” dealers whose business practices put our families at risk — a tactic we have already employed on a limited basis in Phoenix and other major cities.
Are you picking-up what they’re putting down? If not, keep one very important fact in mind: none of these “bad apple” gun dealers are breaking the law. They’re all selling a legal product legally. If they are breaking the law – for example, knowingly selling firearms to straw purchasers (buyers who are buying for prohibited persons) – they can and should be prosecuted. But they’re not. Because they’re not.
Gallego and The Brady Campaign’s true intention: shut down gun dealers. If they force “bad apple” gun dealers in high crime neighborhoods – who supply firearms to potential victims in these locales – to stop selling guns, a certain percentage of “crime guns” will then come from another dealer. The Brady Bunch will shift to attacking that dealer. And so on.
If you doubt this “camel’s nose in the tent” strategy, check out the aforementioned Gun Dealer Code of Conduct. What does “Limit purchases of handguns to one per 30 days per civilian, non-law enforcement customer” and “Immediately notify local and federal authorities of any multiple handgun purchases that occur within any ninety day period” have to do with best practices for gun dealers? Them’s gun control laws, folks.
Even as we fight to expand Brady background checks to all gun sales, including those online and at gun shows, we must insist that gun dealers in our communities adopt best business practices, and the Obama administration must commit to cracking down on those who can’t — or won’t — act responsibly.
“Act responsibly” is Gallego’s and Gross’ way of saying “kick gun dealers’ collective ass – regardless of the law of the land.” Which, I might point out, includes the United States Constitution. The fact that the antis’ ignore our country’s founding document is the most annoying aspect of their anti-gun jihad. But, like gun dealers in high-crime neighborhoods, the Constitution and its supporters aren’t going away anytime soon. Thank God.