We’ve reported on Frank Lautenberg’s knee-jerk Explosive Materials Background Check Act before, but now that the full text has been released people have begun to parse out exactly how bad this thing is. Unfortunately, since it simply re-writes existing law instead of creating new law, it’s fairly hard to understand all the moving parts. Jesse over at Predator Intelligence has a document he put together that shows how the EMBCA amends Federal law to screw over gun owners. Here’s what I take away from this . . .
- Requires those who want to use black or smokeless powder to obtain a “limited” explosives license. ANY AMOUNT OF LOOSE BLACK OR SMOKELESS POWDER WOULD REQUIRE SUCH A PERMIT. Commercial small arms ammunition (finished cartridges) is exempt. For now.
- The bill redefines “manufacturer” in terms of explosives to mean anyone who makes something that goes boom, even if it isn’t for sale or profit. Previously, you needed to be “in the business” of manufacturing to qualify as a manufacturer, which means making a profit from your endeavors. As the current law makes the manufacture of an explosive without a license illegal, this is pretty clearly a stab at making tannerite and other binary explosives that people assemble themselves illegal.
- It expands the factors that would exclude someone from purchasing “explosive materials” to include those who have a restraining order against them.
- Restricts those who are suspected of being terrorists or on one of the many secret terrorist watch lists from obtaining a license for explosive materials, turning the “shall issue” explosives permit process into a “may issue” permit at the Attorney General’s discretion. And they don’t have to tell you why you were denied, or provide a means of redress.
In short, it looks like this bill is specifically designed to restrict the ability of those who load their own ammunition or use black powder firearms from buying the components that fuel their activities. Keep in mind that right now, gun stores don’t need an additional license to sell black powder or smokeless powder. You can even buy it online and have it shipped to your door for a modest fee.
Should this bill pass, gun owners would need to pay $50 every three years to buy and store gunpowder. And gun stores would need a whole new set of licenses to sell the stuff. This is an immense financial burden to law abiding Americans involved with firearms, and doesn’t do a damned thing about fireworks. Or pressure cookers.
But, but, but we have to DO SOMETHING! 90% of the 10 people we asked demand it!
It’s just “common sense” *pukes*
It’ll save the environment and stop the spread of CO2.
Dont forget the children!!
and “closes a loophole”
“…all we’re asking for is a few ‘reasonable’ restrictions. If it can save just one pressure cooker…”
This is just another deceitful back door piece of legislation designed to ratchet up restrictions on gun ownership and use under the crudely transparent guise of restricting sales of explosives to those who would make a bomb.
No doubt about it; these grabbers are employing the California approach of incrementally adding restriction after restriction until they achieve their ultimate goal of firearm prohibition and confiscation.
The Democratically controlled CA Legislature is currently pushing proposals to expand the definition of “assault weapons” to include ANY auto feed rifle with a detachable magazine, I say again ANY auto feed rifle with a detachable magazine.
They also want to prohibit the sale of any “off list” firearm within the state, and prohibit passing it to your heirs upon death, in effect, taking your property so it cannot be sold or given to your kids as gun models eventually fall off the list. (“Off List” simply means the Mfgr has not paid the fees and costs and meet testing requirements to have the particular model of firearm included on the CA DOJ List of Approved Guns; it has little or nothing to do with safety).
The Democrats want to eliminate grandfathering of previously acquired mags over 10 round capacities making them unlawful to possess period.
That’s just three of a dozen or so proposed laws being sponsored by Democrat gun grabbers in this year’s CA Legislative session. It just doesn’t end; year after year over and over they keep throwing this stuff out there and it gets worse each year. With the current supermajority of Democrats in both houses it is depressing to law abiding firearm owners to face this kind of draconian threat year after year and now face the prospect of it all passing.
And that is what we all have to look forward to at the Federal level. It is what the current administrations’ relentless gun control push is really all about; incrementally greater restrictions ending in eventual confiscation. Think DiFi and her ilk are quiet because they feel defeated over their set back; think again. They’ve got gobs of money at their disposal such that dwarfs the NRA, and they are using every underhanded deceitful trick in the book to brainwash the politicians and the body politic into believing that their train cannot and should not be stopped.
Once they’ve conquered the Second Amendment, what’s next; Free Speech, Religion, property ownership, your children? Who knows, but whatever it is, it will be something these Democrat extremists think everyone should agree with them on, because it’s “COMMON SENSE”.
Amen brother. We are behind enemy lines in CA. We are politically and financially active in fighting these bills, but sometimes it just feels futile. I’m not sure how much longer I should stay and fight, vs packing up and moving to a free state.
We can’t run. We have to fight until there is no option other than to move or relinquish.
If this kind of stuff is rammed through on the federal level, there will be no place left to hide.
Gun grabber front groups like Brady and MAIG (with unlimited funding) are relentless at all levels.
Our best hope is to support the NRA, write and call, and hope that logic and justice prevail over lies and rhetoric with our representatives.
“……90% of the 10 people we asked demand it!”
Even if it was 90% of 100 million it still doesn’t mean squat. This because the rights insured by the Bill of Rights are, wait for it……………. Individual rights. This country is not a democracy as the pollsters and majority rule obsessed people would want you to believe. This country is a Constitutional Federal Republic.
“90% of the registered Democrats in liberal districts in CN that we asked…”
there, fixed it for ya.
Umm little late, but ummm charcoal, and sulfer mixed into a fine powder. Ahh FELON put that aluminum coke can down. Pot. Nitrate is easy to make too! Lookie: Home shopping big box store has a sale on heavy walled pipe?
Jeeeeez…..this stuff is getting old. I suppose it’s way too much to expect a sudden onset of reality and common sense and these knee jerk reaction bills will stop. How the hell did Lautenberg even “write” this bill? I’ve seen lettuce with more life in it.
Lettuce have peas?
Maybe Lautenberg was visualizing whirled peas?
Lautenberg introduced basically the same bill in 2007 and 2011. He has had this on his agenda for a long time, like Di-Fi and the assualt weapons ban.
Based on his previous record with this I think he might really believe this will make a difference.
…why must my state screw up everything for everyone… When is this guy put of office anyway, anyone know when his term is over?
Wow.
This is a really bad bill.
Being a kind of private person, having to cough up even a drivers license to buy anything or get in some place just really grates on me…
Great. Where is that list of my senator/congressmen/state legislators.
More lost time arguing with the phone people.
Wow, does calling our Senators in Oregon actually do any good since Smith left the Senate? Doesn’t matter to me anymore, though, for I am moving my family and business to Arizona this Fall after living in Oregon for over 40 years. (Yes, I was here before California “immigrants” turned it into a blue state.) Anyhow, keep up the good fight.
Good luck down in AZ.
You’re right. So far, I’ve had zero luck with Merkley. He is such a tool.
I wrote both senators and Defazio. Defazio said he was not in favor of an AWB. Wyden didn’t respond and Merkley was all about the UBC.
When you get down here make sure to help us vote our very own problems out of office. I mean you McCain!
So.. I am a little concerned with the language around manufacturer (well the whole thing obviously, but specifically that phrase). When I see that word, I immediately think of FFL (class 3 I think) and would it be that far of a stretch to see them requiring a FFL to buy/store powders? It is the only feasible way I can see how they can regulate the storage of these materials considering to get the FFL you have to submit to a visit by the BATF, and are required to keep logs and submit to more random inspections… Thoughts?
I guess it doesn’t matter that the Chechen brothers used powder from fireworks? Unbelievable.
Hadn’t heard that, but suspected as much. The color was right for potassium permanganate and charcoal.
And Terrorist will simply purchase Fireworks like the Boston Bombers did. Once again, a do nothing law!
I could be wrong, but Lautenberg’s law has been proposed many times and has failed every time. Given they are close to recess, and there is immagration fight on the table, I highly doubt this will go anywhere.
The funny thing to me is in every state where Fireworks are banned, every 4th of July there are more Fireworks in the local neighborhoods than at the official celebration and cops drive by like nothing is happening.
You are right. Fireworks are banned in Oregon. As soon as you cross the border into Washington prior to he 4th there are huge fireworks stands everywhere you look with parking lots jammed with Oregon plates.
Its not a state wide ban in Oregon. The sell fireworks all over here in Salem, usually in the parking lots of wal-marts and safeway. Folks start shooting them off around July 1-2 every year.
We always has friends and relatives bring over crap that flys and explodes from Washington. It always made the 4th More fun. The only legal fireworks at time were fountains and spinning fireworks.
brb stocking up powder and primers
Where can u find them?
so you were the guy who bought out Midway’s Pistol primer inventory in the two minutes it took me to access their site after their inventory notice went out?
those emails don’t go out as soon as the product is back in stock. they tend to be 6-12 hours behind. I noticed something back in stock at like 2am, bought what i wanted, and received an in-stock email the next morning at 9am after it was all sold out.
Good luck finding it. This may be designed to create a run on powder to keep it in short supply and run the price up. It worked with guns and factory ammo.
Oh yeah, and if you do find it, pay cash.
The feds can’t seem to get a huge commercial manufacturer to properly disclose the amounts of explosive materials on hand:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/20/us-usa-explosion-regulation-idUSBRE93J09N20130420
But somehow, the feds are going to be able to police the hundreds of thousands of small-time reloaders and shops that sell reloading supplies?
Laws really only are for the “little people”.
See my comment above.. I think this is how they will do it.. Require the peeps to get a FFL.. Same requirements as if you were an actual seller of firearms.
Time to get phone callin’ your reps people.
Right, so fireworks don’t use gunpowder anymore?
Not trying to take away from the reloaders but does/will this mean anything for buying factory manufactured ammunition?
It’s an attempt to kill off reloading so everyone has to buy factory rounds, which would presumably extend the ammo shortage as more buy ammo. Then the government can more easily control supply by buying rounds themselves, which will keep people from shooting to train, hunt, or participate in competitions. Their idea to dry up supply of ARs clearly didn’t work, so they’re trying to dry up supply of ammo to kill off positive gun culture until only criminals and the government have ammo. When only criminals can shoot banning guns is a no-brainer. In order to get what they want crime has to get much worse.
Isn’t it ironic, how politicians who cry out for “common sense laws”, lack common sense.
But what they are doing makes sense only if you assume their motivation is to disarm us serfs. 🙂
Agreed. I find those that marvel at their own reason and logic tend to be the most unreasonable and illogical of individuals.
I truly believe they are tyrants, hell bent on destroying ll freedoms. The entire Bill of Rights and the Constitution is in their crosshairs.
Bush pissed on it every day, thus preventing it from catching fire.
However, now that it’s dried out and urea-impregnated…
Christ almighty. Are we going make a law requiring a background check to pee near nitric acid too?
So, since the NRA is a half step away from being a terrorist organization I guess NRA members will soon be ineligible to purchase powder should this bill be enacted.
Those of us who do not fear all the things that go boom or bang need to contact as many of the elected as we can and give them a very simple message….
No. Your law will not work, we will not comply. We will remove you from office at the next election.
The key is the simple part of the message. We can’t reason with them because they are arguing from an emotional set of feelings. We can’t discuss anything with them because they expect us to admit we are wrong before they will listen. And we can’t use facts, examples, or any level of reason because they have their goals and anything outside of ‘the plan’ is ignored.
No, we need to send a simple message. Tell them No. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.
What’s “great” about this legislation is even moreso than with the statistics behind firearms themselves, this targets the “innocent people”.
If someone wants more regulation on guns they can point to some accidents and crimes involving guns to try to justify it. Yeah we know these numbers are infinitesimal compared to perfectly safe and legal instances of gun use, but whatever, there are some stats out there.
Now think about trying to make that same (weak) argument for powder? Powder is only bought and used by SPORT shooters. You use it to make competition ammo, match grade ammo, or custom hunting loads.
People who have guns only for defense don’t usually reload. A gun novice who buys the cheapest handgun they can find just to stick in their bedside table and forget about for 20 years, they don’t buy powder.
Instances of gunpowder being used by criminals in recent history? None.
So go ahead Lautenberg, kick the political hornet’s nest again. You’re giving us all an AIRTIGHT example of a gun-hater/-grabber/-owner-hater using a hypothetical and superficial connection of gun sport to a current event to try to get rid of us.
“…and doesn’t do a damned thing about fireworks. Or pressure cookers.” Or gasoline. Or drain cleaner and aluminum foil. Or fertilizer. Or just about every aerosol canned product. Or any other flammable substance that can be used as an incendiary or explosive device. This is stupid. They might as well require background checks to walk into Home Depot or Lowe’s, as those two stores contain more potential for mass destruction than any gun shop in the country.
No one has mentioned this so far, but it’s worse then it looks. The ATF requires brutal storage requirements for regulated explosives. When I say brutal, think bunker. ATF will need to perform a field inspection of this in order to verify that it is within the law. For information on the whole process, see here There doesn’t appear to be any exception for those who only want a limited license. For those who think the answer to this is stock up, you could still be convicted for continuing to poses explosives after the law took effect. This is a serious bill, and something we have to fight.
There is no way that I could comply with those regs at my property.
You can buy potassium nitrate in a good grocery store.
You can also extract all the nitrates you want from the dirt in your back yard…
Yeah, using the sophisticated technology and complex process of “dripping warm water though dirt” and then “evaporation”.
A decent garden store, Home Depot, or Lowe’s will have:
* Spectracide Stump Remover (100% KNO3)
* Lily Miller Sulfur Dust (90% S; good enough for BP)
Last I knew, gunpowder was classed as a propellant rather than an explosive.
The overreach and smug arrogance of this man are almost beyond belief.
What next? Charcoal and liquid oxygen…?
Once again, your senators are proposing things that aren’t even illegal in /CANADA/. That’s right, you can buy black powder or smokeless without /ANY/ license whatsoever.
When can we stop playing nice????? Are we going to wait until everything is out of bounds before we react?????
I’m so tired of having to ask Uncle.Gov permission to live my life!!!
Be patient. They will soon ignite a confrontation that they will never live down. Think post ’94 AWB elections on steroids.
Oh come on, look at your jar of powder and tell me where it says explosive on there? My Varget and CFE223 states that it’s flammable, which is true.
Going out to buy charcoal, lots of it, and beer, lots of that too. Then I am gonna invite everybody over for a propane fueled barbecue, need to save the charcoal. Everyone is to pee in the barrels carefully, don’t wanna lose a drop. MMM, uric acid. Aluminum powder, gotta get aluminum…Bicarbonate as well, did I forget anything?…… let me think….let me think. This if course is due to the increase in the run on powder that this new legislation is likely to create. Create a run on ammo, then figure out how to stop us from making our own. But they “ARE NOT trying to take away anyone’s guns”. You know-anything dies without its appropriate food, but they ain’t going after guns. Riiiiight…….
List of other explosive materials or items that could potentially explode that should be “banned”, cold packs, artificial sweetener, aluminium, industrial drain cleaner, hydrogen peroxide etc etc. There are so many off the shelf, everyday use items at your local Walmart or hardware store that can potentially be made explosive, anyone who knows how to read can easily find the information and make one. This is just a backdoor attempt, at ammunition control.
You forgot flour… Ever heard of a FAB? Ever seen a grain silo or flour factory catch on fire?
Yeah I know there are tons of materials that are explosive.
I hope that the Senate will take up the “Lautenberg Memorial EEG Act soon.” It will require Sen. Lautenberg to prove that he’s not brain dead before he can vote on anything.
Dead people should only be allowed to vote in Chicago, where it’s a Democrat tradition.
We should ban meat curing
And piles of manure. And caves. And barns.
http://docsouth.unc.edu/imls/lecontesalt/leconte.html
Let’s get really deconstructionist about gun control!
BAN Dirt, Water, Fire, Wood, and Stone!
Kitchen:
http://www.amazon.com/Salt-Petre-Potassium-Nitrate-Grade/dp/B00BMNRX68/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1367944125&sr=8-5&keywords=food+grade+potassium+nitrate
Art Studio:
http://www.amazon.com/Coates-Willow-Charcoal–Short-Sticks/dp/B001BYPRI4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1367944249&sr=8-4&keywords=willow+charcoal+powder
Garden:
http://www.amazon.com/Sulfur-Powder-Brimstone-1-Lb/dp/B000VV1VOM/ref=sr_1_5?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1367944275&sr=1-5&keywords=sulfur
I am again amazed at the stubborn stupidity of these people. “We have to do something!” “It’s about the children!”
When I was in 6th grade, my shop teacher caused a small dust explosion to demonstrate the improtance of shop cleanliness. If I chose, I could easily make incindiary weapons or explosives with the cleaners, solvents, and pool supplies in my garage hazmat cabinet. It’s idiot simple to make things blow up or burn down.
I am forced to again conclude that this isn’t about ending the menace of homegrown terror, but is instead about the Federal Government’s ability to exert power without being hindered by civil rights or reason.
Yeah, dust is bad news. Anyone doubting that can go ahead and light a fire near a grain silo.
A total back door attack to take away 2A by making Ammo cost too much and stop almost all reloading because that saves you money, went to the range yesterday and was only half the normal amount of shooters , Because everyone is now having a very hard time getting ammo ,,, and most of what i shoot is my reloads… They know what they are doing …. just made me give some more SAF, and the NRA-ILA…
“It expands the factors that would exclude someone from purchasing “explosive materials” to include those who have a restraining order against them.”
Anybody got statistics on the number of people who use explosives when violating their restraining orders? I’m betting the number is so low as to be indistinguishable from zero.
What this country needs is just a few more laws.
Parents, do you know where your pressure cooker is? Are you keeping your pressure cooker under control? Has it been looking really mean lately? If so come to Recall & take a nice vacation, just skip the Mars trip brady’s, Randy
They can’t get background checks, what makes anyone think this has any chance of getting past Congress? The government page linked in Nick’s commentary states this piece of garbage has less than a 2% chance.
We must fight this as hard as the Toomey-Manlove bill. It’ll be $50 today and $500 tomorrow.
They couldn’t get background checks, THIS TIME. Like the bodysnatchers, all we have to do is go to sleep ONCE and they’ll slide something like this through. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
Screw these assholes!
“[I]f the public are bound to yield obedience to laws to which they cannot give their approbation, they are slaves to those who make such laws and enforce them.” Candidus, Pen name of Samuel Adams during the era of the
Sons of Liberty. Source: in the Boston Gazette, 1772
I’m forced by their actions, arrogance, and outright lawlessness to believe that the usurpers, tyrants, and thrashers of our Constitution won’t get it until we show them in no uncertain terms what the Founders had in mind when they crafted the 2nd Amendment.
“When Injustice becomes Law, Resistance becomes Duty” – Thomas Jefferson
We no longer have the model of government that the Founders established. The communist globalists that have taken over our government ignore the Constitution’s limits on what government can do. 95% or more of the federal bureaucracy and its “regulations” are unconstitutional. Most of the federal laws are unconstitutional. The problem is that the traitors have infiltrated all 3 branches, executive, legislative, and judicial.
And the worst part? The Boston bombers used FIREWORKS POWDER to make their bombs…not GUN POWDER. Yet no one is calling for registration of fireworks.
NEITHER should regulated….this IS a modern day “Powder Alarm”.
Quote from Cuomoism;
You don’t need a pressure cooker to cook a deer. Ban them.
ONLY CROOKS AND SOCIALIST LOVE GUN CONTROL.
BECAUSE THEN WE THE PEOPLE CAN NO LONGER PROTECT OURSELF.
A SOCIALIST WILL TAKE FROM YOU.
A CROOK WILL TAKE FROM YOU.
FACTS, EVERY COUNTRY AND CITY WITH STRICT CUN CONTROLL HAS THE HIGHEST CRIME RATE.
this will also put amateur pyro makers out of business
Yet just another exercise in douchbaggery, and bafoonism. period.
Be wary of reminding this J/A legislator in CA. of the 1000’s of peeps that need to run to the gas pump daily, for a cpl gallons of pure GASOLINE for the lawn mower.. OMG!! Vote em OUT people!
This is wonder why that FCC forced Warner Brothers to pull the iconic cartoon “The Looney Tunes” off the air, and forced the classic cartoon cable network Boomerang to pull that cartoon off the air, which shows its characters Foghorn Leghorn, and Wile E. Coyote using explosives that also contain ammonium nitrate (e.g., which create that “BOOM!” sound). To me, I am a fan of the Looney Tunes, I watched it when I grew up. To me it didn’t seem to mind to watch it.