Posted on 05/07/2005 12:40:33 PM PDT by Richard-SIA
If your rep. is listed PLEASE call or fax them with your thanks, even if this is the only time they have ever done the "right" thing for us.
It is as important to reward our reps when they do support us as it is to punish them when they do not.
If they are NOT on the above list please call or fax them with your request that they become a bill supporter ASAP.
Civility is a MUST, even if they respond in a negative manner. Asking for a written reply helps to ensure your request will actually be considered and not ignored.
Additional back round on this issue is posted to the NFAOA site under "Bills in congress". More hints on effective lobbying are available on the NFAOA site under "Activism".
I had a hard time formatting this post for some reason, you may find it easier to read at NFAOA.
Are you saying this is a good bill?
How is registering anything good?
?
I can't force myself to wade through the legaleze today... is this a good idea or no?
No.
BAD idea, as it starts a gun registry of any firearms that veterans may have brought home from war.
That way, tehy can 'oops' teh amnesty and confiscate the EEEee-vil 'assault weapons', regardless of them being old WWII vintage 7 or 8 shot bangers.
I thought the RKBA supporting denizens of this board would be much more familiar with the VHFA, the sorry state of ATFE's existing registration records (NFRTR), and the plight of our veterans in regards to their War Trophy firearms.
To elucidate.
This is an EXCELLENT bill, in fact it's passage may be critical to preserving our RKBA and reforming ATFE abuses of law abiding citizens in the long run.
The ONLY guns to be registered under this bill are real MACHINE GUNS that our veterans who have served overseas brought back as war trophies.
It has no effect on standard Title 1 guns or politically defined "assault weapons".
Many veterans think their trophies are already registered, but ATFE has been very inconsistent on recognizing the War Trophy papers as legal NFA registration documents.
This legislation would allow for re-registration, and registration of previously unregistered trophies, removing any doubt as to the veterans (or heirs) legal ownership of very valuable personal property.
As a dealer in full-auto arms I frequently get request for appraisals of such guns.
It is sickening to have to tell a seriously ill veteran that without proof that his trophy is registered with ATFE I cannot so much as touch it, much less appraise or broker it for him.
These guys risked everything to defend America, now most of them are elderly and ill, yet ATFE continues to seek them out for the purpose of taking their valuable property from them for destruction, and possible prosecution of the veteran.
Perhaps the back round on this issue is too complex for full discussion here.
I suggest visiting the NFAOA site and perusing the many post there for more information.
Bottom line, this is an EXCELLENT bill that will be a great service to our veterans and their heirs, while also making badly needed corrections to the records of ATFE. It would also allow the veterans to 'cash in' on their valuable war trophies, they could buy medical treatment, pay for their kids college tuition, buy a new car, etc, etc.
So it would even help our economy, as collectors would put some of their hoarded cash back into circulation.
It is an EXCELLENT bill.
Unregistered NFA items subject the owner to a fine of $250,000 and ten years in prison.
The veterans or heirs who have these NFA items did no overt criminal acts.
They are risking fines and prison merely for having War Trophy guns they or their husbands and fathers brought back from previous conflicts around the world.
Prior to the emergence of PC anti-gun hysteria our soldiers were encouraged to destroy the enemy, and allowed to keep captured weapons as souvenirs.
These souvenirs have become very valuable, and ATFE now denies that many of them which WERE registered via any of several past means are recorded in the NFRTR data-base.
This bill will allow a short "amnesty" to ensure that the veterans or heirs have an opportunity to register their war trophies, thus preventing their unfair prosecution and seizure of their valuable guns.
Yep, Bad Idea the way I read it. Looks like anyone owning any firearm for which a federal purchase record cannot be located is in possession of an illegal firearm. Veterans (+heirs)appear to be the only ones who can legally "register" firearms acquired outside the US (or for which proof of purchase within the US cannot be produced, as in most private sales) and only if they do so in the 90 day amnesty period. This puppy smells so fishy it should be DOA and clearly impinges on 2A which contains no mention of where firearms must be acquired before being kept and borne. Neither does it limit itself to the "machine-gun" denominations which are subject to transfer tax and registration.
Qualifying Firearm- (1) IN GENERAL- For purposes of this section, the term `qualifying firearm' means any firearm which was acquired-- (A) before October 31, 1968; and (B) by a veteran, while such veteran was a member of the Armed Forces and was stationed outside the continental United States.
The system in place is an ugly dog, but this doesn't read any better.
I read it and ID'd at least three ways it can be interpreted to be confiscatory.
It sounds like the brain child idea of banning center fire ammunition in as much as the same lame 'thinking' is behind it.
There's at least three ways it can be interpreted to justify confiscations and worse for legally owned firearms.
This is a bad idea.
I'm also willing to bet that the 'amnesty' isn't.
Good bill, it gives veterans/heirs the chance to legally keep something of value that is otherwise illegal. Their option, to register or not.
It creates a registry, which is a bad idea.
Then they know who has the 'eeee-vil' assault weapons and where to find them.
I'm willing to bet that it'll be reinterpreted every time the gun grabbers feel like confiscating something.
And, there are firearms that are legally owned that this would require registration on.
The term 'any firearm' is always a tipoff to a broader interpretation in the future, and bad intent.
I'd have to agree with darksheare. With the expiration of the assault weapons ban, the most pernicious gun laws are found on the state and local level. Most that I'm aware of have grandfather clauses, which the 1968 acquisition date might help with, but there's nothing to prevent grandfathering from being repealed. In Chicago, for example, handguns are legal only if owned prior to the enactment of their ban, 1982 I believe, and registered with the city. I presume an unregistered handgun registered under this act would become legal, but there's nothing preventing Mayor Daley from repealing the grandfather clause, in which case I suspect you'd get a letter followed by a knock on the door. This isn't a bad thing, but I don't see it as much of a positive. I'd guess the owner of an "assault weapon" in California would be "legal" on a federal level, which he was anyway, and illegal state. It might aid owners of fully auto weapons in states where they're allowed, presuming the get the federal licensing and pay the annual fee, but that's about all.
Yeah, it just has way too much wiggle room for the gun grabbers.
I think it's the database they want. In Chicago they've attempted to get the federal list of multiple handgun (that's 2) purchasers within a week, which the government can legally maintain in order to crosscheck for Chicago purchasers. Would they go after this list to check for federal registrants who hadn't registered with the city, and are thus subject to confiscation and charges? IMO, in a heartbeat. I see little or no upside for gunowners in this.
That's all I have to say..
Oh, Yeah..
" Cold, Dead, Fingers "...
From my cold and .............
Title one arms are not required to be registered in the NFRTR, NFA Weapons are.
The bill's intent is to register NFA arms.
So machine guns, DD shotguns, AOW's, etc. would be registered under the bill, allowing their ownership to become fully legal.
By example, a P-08 Luger semi-auto pistol brought back from Europe does not require any registration, with or without this bill.
But a Thompson or MP-40 already does per the NFA-34 act.
I realize that the NFA world is not familiar to many Americans, but it is the area ATFE likes to abuse most as an excuse for their continued existence.
I never said the language is perfect, but in order to be amended with improvements it has to get out of committee. Our support can give it a fair hearing and allow the necessary adjustments before passage.
Any database is a bad idea.
They've been trying for such a thing for years, and the intent has been obvious from the start on that.
This bill seems tailor made to at the very least poot the foot in the door for the creation of just such an intrusive database.
But the way it reads leaves me to believe that it refers to such a database.
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