We Can Only Hope It's True

Alan Gottlieb, leader of the Citizen's Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is claiming that he used the background check expansion amendment that is known as the Toomey-Manchin Amendment to restore a bunch of gun rights to the the citizens.

We can only hope that this is true and that the gun-contollers will fall for it.

None of the bills that have been presented to the Senate address any of the causes of of Aurora, or Sandy Hook, or Columbine, or any other mass murder.  The fact of the matter is that firearms are private property and private property is bought and sold without government interference. 

Take the so-called "gun show loophole".  Federal law says licensed firearms dealers must perform a background check on all purchasers of firearms.  This is what takes place at gun shows.  Guns sold by federally licenced dealers may not be sold without such a check and the BATF form 4473 is kept on file by the dealer.  The rationale for federal jurisdiction is the interstate commerce clause in the US Constitution.  There is no "loophole" to get around this requirement.

The anti-rights crowd says that the problem is "unlicensed dealers".  Such a label is an oxymoron.  The concept of "unlicensed dealers" is a construct of illegality.   All legitimate dealers are licenced.  Period.

Now, private individuals may sell their guns and collections of guns.  There are no federal regulations against doing so.  Sometimes, private individuals exchange their legally owned firearms to other private individuals for cash or other items of value.  And, sometimes this happens at gun shows.  These private individuals are not "dealing".  They are not engaging in a business.  They are merely disposing of private property.  If you sold your personal bedroom furniture, you would not be a furniture dealer.  If you sold your personal cars, you would not be a car dealer.  This whole concept of "unlicensed dealers" is merely a obfuscating prevarication to garner support for the anti-rights position.

I am a student of history.  All throughout history, the biggest danger to safety and security of people has been government.  Our founding fathers understood this.  That is why they crafted the Bill of Rights so that the means for hanging on to our rights was the number two item, right after the number one right to be able to voice our complaints.

At the risk of sounding callous, I am sorry that so many innocents have died recently, especially in "gun-free" zones.  But it is a small price to pay for the greater good of keeping tyrants at bay.