This is not a question of American citizens’ rights, this is a question of the US government purposely arming narcoterrorists in order to have this talking point, claiming the 90% lie over and over.
I can’t think of many things more insulting or downright foul to hear from our President other than his own crimes being blamed on our rights – as was intended. He is now going international with the demand that our rights go away because he committed crimes… to deny us those rights.
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This is like a rapist saying “not only did she deserve it when I did it to her, but that proves my point, we have to keep the world safe from women like her who cause rape”.
First update on the civil suit against the Justice Department, from UT San Diego:
WASHINGTON — A federal judge seemed skeptical Wednesday of the Justice Department’s bid to dismiss a congressional lawsuit seeking records related to Operation Fast and Furious, a bungled federal gun-tracking operation in Arizona.
When asked about the breakdown, Stephen Fischer, a spokesman for the NICS System, said the FBI had no comment. However, an ATF agent who worked on the Fast and Furious investigation, told Fox News that NICS officials called the ATF in Phoenix whenever their suspects tried to buy a gun. That conversation typically led to a green light for the buyers, when it should have stopped them.
From the UD SD story again, the judge is at least doing her job:
Judge Amy Berman Jackson sharply challenged the department’s claim that federal courts have no jurisdiction in the dispute. Department lawyer Ian Gershengorn said the battle over the documents should be resolved by the checks and balances between the legislative and executive branches.
“I’m a check and balance,” countered Jackson, an appointee of President Barack Obama. “The third branch exists.”
Well, she seems better than other Obama appointments. And she seems to understand that there has been no “check and balance” when the Department of Justice and the president have simply claimed executive privilege and hushed everything up – which is the reason for the lawsuit. She is seeing things up close, so she probably has to acknowledge what’s going on. She’s being presented with information directly, and can’t just ignore things like the media does.
To some degree, this is also a story of how the media not only gets it wrong, but how the media is carrying water for Obama.
The department has turned over thousands of pages of material on the operation itself. The continuing dispute is over documents describing how the department responded once Congress started investigating.
That’s what the Justice Department sent as “documents”. Page after page after page.
Gershengorn said that if the suit were dismissed, Congress had other powers at its disposal, such as the power of the purse. He said that negotiations and accommodation between the House and the executive branch are messy and contentious, but that the system allows for accountability with voters.
That is absurd, insulting, and the kind of thing that would get Sam Adams heating up the tar and sending somebody to get feathers. The DOJ is hushing up a the murder of two federal agents and hundreds of mexican citizens, hushing up their program that is the kind of violent criminal conspiracy that would make headlines for years if it were done by organized crime, but instead, is hushed up because the media simply refuses to report it, and refuses to report the truth because they love their great leader.
Saying that Congress can simply use “the power of the purse” to reduce budgets for departments is absurd. No one is held accountable for this:
People need to go to prison, not have their department funding meddled with. The DOJ lawyer Gershengorn should be with them as an accomplice after the fact to murders.
House lawyer Kerry Kircher called the notion that there haven’t been meaningful negotiations and accommodations “preposterous.”
“We’ve been negotiating for four months,” Kircher said.
He also said the House was at a disadvantage.
“This is an asymmetrical relationship here,” Kircher said. “They have the documents. We don’t have the documents.”
As to Congress’ powers, such as reducing spending for the executive branch, he said, “All that means is they get less money” – not that the committee gets the documents.
Presented with this kind of thing, I’d like to say the judge won’t just rule in favor of who appointed her, but there’s little telling.
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David Codrea at Examiner.com has some info on “Guns Across the Border“, a book that tells the story of Operation Wide Receiver.
“Operation Wide Receiver,” a precursor to “Operation Fast and Furious” wherein U.S. guns were bought by straw purchasers and “walked” under the noses of ATF investigators into Mexico, has been the subject of numerous Gun Rights Examiner reports. The central figure in those reports was Mike Detty, a gun writer, a firearms dealer, and the confidential informant who literally risked his life over the course of years to do what he believed was right, only to find the obvious criminals weren’t the only ones he couldn’t trust.
Operation Wide receiver really was a botched sting. The ATF in Mexico knew that guns were coming, the Mexican authorities knew guns were coming. The smugglers turned out to be good at smuggling and got a lot of guns past both US and Mexican authorities through a variety of tactics. Smugglers are good at smuggling? Who’da thunk it?
Fast and Furious, by contrast, was not a botched sting. The ATF in Mexico (ATF attache Darren Gil) and the Mexican authorities had no idea guns were coming, and the purpose was to find guns at murder scenes in Mexico, about which ATF supervisors were “almost giddy”.
Wide Receiver sought to track and interdict guns being smuggled south using a combination of RFID-tracking devices embedded in the shipments and overheard surveillance aircraft. Wide Receiver failed because of the limitations of the technology used, compounded by the ineptness of its installation and the unexpected resourcefulness of the cartel’s gun smugglers.
As a result of the mistakes made in Wide Receiver, guns were lost: approximately 450 made it into Mexico. As a result, the botched operation launched in 2006 — and in this instance, actually botched — was shut down in 2007.
Compare the mistakes of Wide Receiver to the operations launched under Eric Holder’s Department of Justice, which had the advantages of learning from the postmortem failures of Wide Receiver two years before.
Fast and Furious used neither tracking devices nor aircraft, ran interference for smugglers with local law enforcement on multiple occasions, and federal agents were not allowed to interdict weapons.
Wide Receiver shut down within a year after 450 weapons went missing in a botched law enforcement operation. Fast and Furious purposefully ran at least 2,020 weapons to the Sinaloa cartel without any intention of arresting the straw purchasers and smugglers. Other operations in other states — CBS News’ Attkisson cites allegations of “at least 10 cities in five states” — allow the possibility that (if the other operations were as prolific as Fast and Furious) Holder’s Department of Justice may have intentionally sent more than 12,000 guns into criminal hands in the U.S and Mexico, enough to arm three U.S. Army brigades.
Law enforcement operations sometimes go horribly wrong, and every indication is that Operation Wide Receiver executed by the ATF during the Bush administration while Alberto Gonzales was the attorney general was a “keystone cops” operation of the first magnitude. It was a horrible failure.
(Newser) – The push for stricter gun laws might not be quite so dead after all in the Senate. The New York Times reports that efforts are “quietly” underway to get something done on background checks and illegal trafficking. Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey, the co-sponsors of the background-check bill that got yanked last week, say they have been talking to colleagues to get rid of some objectionable loopholes. One potential compromise would allow a person who lives in a rural area to sell a weapon to someone without having to find a sporting goods store to facilitate.
So they’re admitting that they’re targeting “urban” people? At least they’re getting more honest about their racism.
Looks like that’ll be a 14th Amendment violation for lack of equal protection under the law.
A separate initiative to crack down on illegal trafficking, which includes buying a weapon for someone who can’t legally own one, is being spearheaded by Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand and Republicans Kelly Ayotte and Chuck Grassley.
That last name is very interesting. Chuck Grassley has been the spearhead of the senate move against Obama’s Fast and Furious program wherein the ATF gave guns to the Mexican narcoterrorist cartels. He’s well aware of how anti-gun this administration is, he’s seen how the Department of Justice has held back and said nothing about Fast and Furious, and he’s well aware of the violent hatred of the Constitution demonstrated by this adminstration when it used the ATF to undermine the Second Amendment in order to push for gun control and oppression of citizens. He’s very knowledgeable on the subject.
The story notes this at the end:
Gun-control supporters are working on a national campaign to put pressure on those in the “no” camp.
Yup. They never stop. Ever. They have a need to destroy your rights. It’s what they do, it’s all they do, and they will never, ever stop until they have their boot stamping on a human face forever.
Spanish channel Univision has won a Peabody Award for their Fast and Furious reporting. Most all American media outlets choose to ignore the ATF’s botched Gun Walking operations where over 2500 guns ended up in Mexican cartels hands.
It’s worth noting that they do start out with a lie that 70% of guns in Mexico come from the US, which Stratfor disproved back when the claim was 90%, but beyond that, it’s not too bad.
‘(t)(1) Beginning on the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of the Fix Gun Checks Act of 2013, it shall be unlawful for any person who is not licensed under this chapter to transfer a firearm to any other person who is not licensed under this chapter, unless a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer has first taken possession of the firearm for the purpose of complying with subsection (s). Upon taking possession of the firearm, the licensee shall comply with all requirements of this chapter as if the licensee were transferring the firearm from the licensee’s inventory to the unlicensed transferee.
Oh, and it gets better:
‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘transfer’–
‘(A) shall include a sale, gift, loan, return from pawn or consignment, or other disposition;
So let’s say a friend I’ve known for 10 years suddenly finds out that his ex-wife’s new boyfriend is a violent thug who assaults him when he goes to pick up his daughter for visitation, and my friend I’ve known for 10 years is concerned for his own safety. Can’t loan him a gun.
Let’s say my girlfriend has a temporary job in a new town, and she’s concerned for her safety. She’s been to the range, but doesn’t own anything yet, and would like to have a gun in the house. Can’t loan her a gun.
“SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED” apparently doesn’t mean much anymore.
Reporting requirements for stolen guns get really draconian:
SEC. 123. LOST AND STOLEN REPORTING.
(a) In General- Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end–
‘(aa) It shall be unlawful for any person who lawfully possesses or owns a firearm that has been shipped or transported in, or has been possessed in or affecting, interstate or foreign commerce, to fail to report the theft or loss of the firearm, within 24 hours after the person discovers the theft or loss, to the Attorney General and to the appropriate local authorities.’
If you own a firearm, you have to report the theft. Most people do anyway because they want their gun back, but this potentially criminalizes individuals who have been the victims of theft. It also gives police a tool to lean on citizens who’ve done nothing wrong.
It adds a greater governmental burden to exercising your rights, which acts as a barrier to more people enjoying their rights. Buy a gun and something happens, and the government may come after you for the actions of criminals. Why? Because going after the citizen helps disarm them, and it’s certainly easier than dealing with criminals.
There’s also a large section of the bill on “trafficking guns” all of which was already illegal, even if Obama’s ATF still violated the laws in Fast and Furious. The government already violates the next law they’re putting out that you have to abide by, while they simply ignore the murder of hundreds of Mexican citizens and two US federal agents because they don’t care. Rules are for peons like you, not the Ruling Class like them.
A Colorado Senate committee on Monday passed a measure that bans ammunition magazines of more than 15 rounds after several hours of testimony from a barrage of experts, law enforcement officials and victims of mass shootings.
House Bill 1224 passed on 3-2 party line vote and moves to the Senate floor on Friday.
There’s no such thing as a pro-gun Democrat. Most of the rest of the story is Democrats saying how they want to save teh chidrenz from teh gunz; and the usual leftist-statist “needs” for expansion of government power and restriction on the citizen.
Republican senators saved special scrutiny for David Chipman, a former agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol and Firearms who testified in support of the bill. Chipman said the limit on magazine sizes would stop some shooters from becoming “killing machines.”
But Sen. Steve King, a Grand Junction Republican and a career police officer, tore into Chipman, asking him if he’d ever shot someone or been shot at.
“I have not,” Chipman said.
Considering that the ATF is responsible for more murders than a dozen Sandy Hooks, it might’ve been worth questioning him on what the effects of monopoly of force by the state are as well.
People who want to commit murder will commit murders. The Aurora, CO movie theater killer went to the trouble of booby-trapping his apartment with all kinds of incendiary devices. The Bath School Disaster, still the largest school mass murder in US history, was not done with a gun.
It will stop nothing, it will save no one, and it will endanger many people who rely on modern tools for self defense. Of course, they are the unseen costs – the lives lost because they couldn’t defend themselves also go ignored.
…Collins couldn’t aim her gun at the serial rapist who attacked her at the University of Nevada at Reno, where she was a student. That’s because, like most public colleges outside of Utah and Colorado, UNR is a “gun free” zone. The rule required her to leave her gun at home, leaving her defenseless the one time she needed its protection most.
In October of 2007, while walking to her car after a night class, Collins was grabbed from behind in a university parking garage less than 300 yards from a campus police office. The school’s “gun-free” designation meant nothing to James Biela, a serial rapist with a gun of his own, who saw Collins as an easy target. “He put a firearm to my temple,” she recounted, “clocked off the safety, and told me not to say anything, before he raped me.”
The university has since installed more emergency call boxes and lights in the parking structure, but Collins says that won’t stop an attacker who knows the campus is a gun-free zone, a policy she believes invites crime, and may have even emboldened the man who raped her.
Just months later, Biela went on to murder 19-year old Brianna Dennison in a case that received widespread national attention. While Biela now sits on death row, Collins is convinced the outcome would have been different had she been armed.
“I know, having been the first victim, that Brianna Dennison would still be alive, had I been able to defend myself that night.“
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the bill would establish tough penalties for those who buy a firearm or ammunition with the intent of transferring it to someone else. The measure would also make it a crime to smuggle firearms out of the United States.
So when are they going after Holder? Oh, that’s right – never.
Leahy said there is no federal law now that defines either gun trafficking or straw purchasing – when a person who can legally buy guns transfers those guns to criminals and others barred from gun ownership – as crimes.
The Form 4473 contains name, address, date of birth, government-issued photo ID, National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background check transaction number, make/model/serial number of the firearm, and a short federal affidavit stating that the purchaser is eligible to purchase firearms under federal law. This includes swearing that you do not use any illegal drugs, thus outlawing firearms possession by e.g. American marijuana users. (Cf: Prohibited persons.) Lying on this form is a felony and can be punished by up to five years in prison in addition to fines, even if the transaction is simply denied by the NICS, although prosecutions are rare in the absence of another felony committed with the gun purchased.
All you have to do is enforce existing laws.
The bill was crafted by Leahy, fellow Democrats Dick Durbin of Illinois and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and Republicans Mark Kirk of Illinois and Susan Collins of Maine.
There’s a typo there. They mean Democrats Dick Durbin and Kirsten Gillibrand, and Democrat-supporters Mark Kirk and Susan Collins.
“The absence of any federal law defining gun trafficking as a crime in this country is shocking,” Gillibrand said.
Despite his calls for greater gun control, including a new assault weapons ban that extends to handguns, President Obama’s administration has turned away from enforcing gun laws, cutting weapons prosecutions some 40 percent since a high of about 11,000 under former President Bush.
From the AP again:
The proposed legislation would make it a crime to transfer a weapon when a person has “reasonable cause to believe” that the firearm will be used in criminal activity. It contains exemptions for the transfer of a firearm as a gift, or in relation to a legitimate raffle or contest.
This kind of legislation becomes very nebulous. It rapidly turns into a charge that prosecutors can levy against someone without actual proof in order to get them to plea bargain down to a lesser charge rather than face trial or the financial costs of trial. We don’t need any more laws. We certainly don’t need Obama’s DOJ being given any more laws that they violate to turn around and enforce on citizens.
Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.) lashed out against President Obama’s gun control proposals on Wednesday, asking if a Fast and Furious probe would be included in the list.
“My home is the home to Fast and Furious, where there was gun-running across the Mexican border, and you know we still haven’t gotten any clear answers,” Salmon said. “Is that part of the President’s gun proposal? To finally come to grips and find out what actually happened with Fast and Furious and how far it went up to the top, to Eric Holder? Because I haven’t heard that yet.”
Hey there, Bob Woodward! Why don’t you ask some questions about this giant government conspiracy? Some guys stealing paper in a hotel is a big deal, but a government agency running guns to Mexican narcoterrorist cartels isn’t?
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The media doesn’t question it. It was part of the plan – to create a crisis, the “iron river”, when they called Bill Newell up from Phoenix to repeat the 90% lie. They decided to use Sandy Hook instead, because they got caught in Fast and Furious. Sandy Hook just happened to be the lunatic they needed, because their own objectively evilplans to arm narcoterrorists fell apart when they ended up killing Brian Terry and Jaime Zapata.
A second wrongful death lawsuit has been filed blaming U.S. government officials involved in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives’ “Operation Fast and Furious,” which allowed thousands of weapons to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.
Tuesday, the Texas family of fallen Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jaime Zapata sued the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the former head of the ATF and others they blame in Zapata’s death.
In February 2011, Zapata and his partner Victor Avila were gunned down in Mexico by suspected drug cartel members. Avila survived but was critically injured and has joined Zapata’s family in the suit.
As CBS News reported, at least two of the murder weapons had been trafficked by suspects the ATF had under surveillance but failed to arrest. Zapata’s parents argue that if ATF agents had arrested the suspects and confiscated the weapons early on, the rifles might not have been used in their son’s murder.
ShortTimer
JBH
