Posted on 12/29/2008 7:02:40 PM PST by epow
A week before Minnesota’s firearm deer season I visited my 86-year-old father. He regaled me with an entertaining stream of tales from his 70 years as a deer hunter in the north woods. He lamented his failing eyesight and then rose from his ancient recliner and went to the closet where he keeps his guns. He took out a battered old case and handed it me. “I want you to have this.”
I knew what was inside. A Savage model 219 single-shot 30-30 rifle. My father bought it in 1944 for $12. It’s well worn after more than 60 years of hard use. It was an honor to be given such an heirloom. Over the past few years my father has passed on most of his modest collection of firearms to his children and grandchildren. It is his way of passing on our family’s heritage.
However, if some people had their way, my father would be a felon the next time he passed on a firearm to a family member. These people complain about a so-called “gun show loophole,” which, if you were to accept the rhetoric of firearm prohibitionists, is responsible for an endless stream of death and carnage.
In truth, attempts to close the “loophole” are really attacks on cherished freedoms that have been quietly enjoyed by millions of Americans since the founding of our nation. With the exception of those unfortunate residents of a few nanny-states, citizens of the U.S. always have been able to gift, buy, sell and trade firearms without the interference of government.
But if people like Duluth’s Joan Peterson, a member of the national board of trustees of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (and the author of the Dec. 9 Local View commentary, “ ‘Gun show loophole,’ still open in Minnesota",
(Excerpt) Read more at duluthnewstribune.com ...
Great. I don’t live in MN but every time I read one of these articles I have to purchase more ammo.
I’m rushing as quick as I can to purchase further firearms!! It’s getting scary here!! I’m even considering building a hidden room to store them. Is that too paranoid?
PVC pipe and bury them at least 3 feet deep.Seal the ends up good with caps.The woods in PA have a lot already underground just in case.
Not paranoid, just don’t tell your neighbors.
Molon Labe.
Every house needs several hidden storage areas, and a safe room.
Even here in CA, where all firearms transactions go thru a dealer with a 10 day wait, interfamily transactions are still allowed. I can give guns to my dad or my son or other immediate family members. Handguns, whoever still must be registered, which can be done by submitting a form with $19.
Obama will close the so called gunshow loophole, reinstitute the AWB as well as other common sense gun laws.......... probably very shortly after taking office. Pelosi/Reid are leading the charge.
No. Just make sure it's adequately sized to also hold people, has fresh air and water with filtration, and a food store.
Bambi moves on this and he'll have a GOP Congress in 2010. And no second term.
There comes a time when a man must reconcile himself to being an outlaw. That time is near.
Do you know where to buy some modest quantities of dessicant? I like the idea of burying some stashes. I live in the desert but underground there can still be a condensation problem.
On a related note:
Christmas Eve Massacre Statement from Paul Helmke WASHINGTON,
Dec. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In response to a man dressed in a Santa suit opening fire at a home in Colvino, California, shooting an eight-year-old girl in the face, her 16-year-old sister in the back, then killing eight others and himself, Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign, issued the following statement:
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and community touched by this terrible tragedy. It is profoundly sad that a distraught man would take up arms to kill his family and others.
“In this season of hope, however, we should not despair and say this kind of violence is inevitable. We should not tolerate the steady drumbeat of gun deaths and injuries that tears our families and communities apart. We can and should do all that is within our power to find solutions to gun violence.
“In the New Year, we hope that our nation’s leaders have the courage and conviction to take steps that will help protect our families and communities from gun violence.”
The "gun show loophole" is their cherished Gun Control Act of 1968 working exactly as was (then) intended. Its intent was described as outlawing the sale of firearms in interstate commerce to individuals.
If you were a commercial dealer, you got your inventory often from out of state distributors. To continue to do this, you now needed a special license from the (then) ATF.
All of this was "hung" on the Interstate Commerce Clause. Sales between individuals of the same state were not affected because there was no possible way the transactions could be considered "interstate commerce".
Now what the gun grabbers are saying is that the law never meant what it said, and they are going to correct that "loophole". You can sell your books, computer, or car to anyone you want, and it's not considered interstate commerce. But they want to redefine guns to be items that never can leave the stream of interstate commerce, and so are always susceptible to meddling by the federal government.
To politicians, guns occupy a place of far more importance than artwork, gold, or financial instruments. They are in a class of their own, demanding special "attention".
Speaking of ammo, are you aware of this one?
http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?id=227
“Encoded Ammunition”/Bullet Serialization
“Encoded Ammunition” (Bullet and Cartridge Case Serialization) Means:
* Forfeiture of Currently-Owned Ammunition
* A Separate Registration for Every Box of New Ammunition
* Outrageously Expensive Ammunition Costs for Police & Private Citizens Alike
*A Waste of Taxpayer Money, Better Spent on Traditional Police Programs
In 2007, the sponsor of “encoded ammunition” legislation in Maryland urged lawmakers across the country to introduce the same kind of legislation in their states. The bill would require ammunition manufacturers to engrave a serial number on “the base of the bullet and the inside of the cartridge casing of each round” of ammunition for popular sporting caliber center-fire rifles, all center-fire pistols, all .22 rimfire rifles and pistols, and all 12 gauge shotguns.
Reasons to Strenuously Oppose This Legislation
People would be required to forfeit all personally-owned non-encoded ammunition. After a certain date, it would be illegal to possess non-encoded ammunition. Gun owners possess hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition for target shooting, hunting and personal protection. Consider that American manufacturers produce 8 billion rounds each year.
Reloading (re-using cartridge cases multiple times) would be abolished. There would be no way to correspond serial numbers on cartridge cases, and different sets and quantities of bullets.
People would be required to separately register every box of “encoded ammunition.” This information would be supplied to the police. Most states do not even require registration of guns. Each box of ammunition would have a unique serial number, thus a separate registration.
Private citizens would have to maintain records, if they sold ammunition to anyone, including family members or friends.
The cost of ammunition would soar, for police and private citizens alike. The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturing Institute estimates it would take three weeks to produce ammunition currently produced in a single day. For reason of cost, manufacturers would produce only ultra-expensive encoded ammunition, which police would have to buy, just like everyone else.
A tax of five cents a round would be imposed on private citizens, not only upon initial sale, but every time the ammunition changes hands thereafter.
Shotgun ammunition cannot be engraved. Shotgun pellets are too small to be individually engraved. Shotgun cartridge cases are made of plastic, which would be difficult to engrave.
Criminals could beat the system. A large percentage of criminals’ ammunition (and guns) is stolen. Criminals could also collect ammunition cases from shooting ranges, and reload them with molten lead bullets made without serial numbers.
Congress eliminated a similar requirement in the 1980s, because there was no law enforcement benefit. Federal law had required purchasers of handgun ammunition to sign a ledger, but Congress repealed that requirement in 1983 (.22 rimfire) and 1986 (center-fire handguns), because it burdened purchasers, vendors and police, with no law enforcement benefit.
"Common sense"???
Gun-Grabber Alert!
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