Setting the Stage for Gun Control to be a 2016 Campaign Issue?
Clinton Joins Obama in Call for Additional Restrictions on Constitutionally Protected Rights
“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” – Rahm Emanuel
Although the quote above is from 2008, the concept is nothing new for anti-gun zealots on the left, including Emanuel’s political cronies. The current mayor of Chicago – a prime example of the failures of gun control – has close ties with many other anti-gun politicians, including President Obama and 2016 democrat front-runner Hillary Clinton, and it is obvious that they are sharing the same playbook.
Emanuel was first appointed as the finance committee director for Bill Clinton’s presidential bid in 1992, before going on to be Clinton’s Assistant to the President for Political Affairs. Emanuel was later serving as Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Strategy when when the 1994 “Assault Weapon Ban” (another fine example of the failures of gun control) was enacted. After a stint as a US Congressman representing Illinois’s 5th district, Emanuel was appointed by the Obama administration to serve as White House Chief of Staff following the 2008 election. Perhaps it was during all of this close time together that Emanuel shared his strategy of capitalizing on crises to push unpopular political agendas like the ones that top democrats are now espousing with renewed vigor in the wake of the recent tragedy at a Charleston, South Carolina, church. Continue reading
41P Final Ruling Pushed Back to (at least) December 2015
A final decision on ruling 41P – the rule change that would add further impediments to owning NFA items such as silencers and short barreled firearms – has officially been pushed back. Again. Previously expected nearly a year ago, a decision was pushed back to the end of 2014 and then again to “sometime in May 2015.” More recently, the NSSF released a statement that a decision would likely not come for another six months at a minimum.
Yesterday, the NSSF’s prediction was officially confirmed as the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs website was updated to reflect a new final decision date of “12/00/2015,” meaning “sometime in December 2015.”
Keep in mind that this does not mean that 41P will go into effect in December or, for that matter, that a decision will actually be reached by that point. Several dates have been given as the final action date, yet those dates have come and gone with only more delays. In addition to addressing each concern raised in the 9,500+ comments received on the matter, the NSSF brought up a number of technological and implementation hurdles that would need to be addressed – perhaps no small obstacle given the history of eForm 4 implementation, management, maintenance, and (pending) re-launch.
Despite all of that, a decision will be reached at some point, whether it is in December or later. However, that decision could very well be to say that “this is all rubbish, let’s scrap the idea.” Regardless of when the decision comes and what it is, we maintain that there is no time like the present to jump into the NFA game and doing so with an NFA gun trust is an easy way to do it.
The abstract of the rule change reads:
The Department of Justice is planning to finalize a proposed rule to amend the regulations of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) regarding the making or transferring of a firearm under the National Firearms Act. As proposed, the rule would; (1) add a definition for the term “responsible person”; (2) require each responsible person of a corporation, trust or legal entity to complete a specified form, and to submit photographs and fingerprints; and (3) modify the requirements regarding the certificate of the chief law enforcement officer (CLEO).
Join the 41P discussion on the GunLink forums or add your comments below.
Another 41P Pushback? Good News for NFA Enthusiasts.
According to yesterday’s NSSF Bullet Points newsletter, it looks like a final ruling on 41P – the rule change that would modify the process of transferring or making NFA firearms for legal entities – may get pushed back again.
The newsletter, under the heading “No Implementation Yet Seen for Notice 41P as Final Rule” reads: “NSSF has confirmed with ATF that the bureau is unlikely to publish Notice 41P (NFA Trusts) as a Final Rule for quite some time. This is in part because EPS resources are being diverted to help process the 310,000 public comments received in response to the armor piercing ammunition framework proposal. In addition, it seems ATF has not prepared to revise the NFA database so that it can track “responsible persons” for NFA trusts. The proposed rule would require the responsible person(s) on an NFA Trust be fingerprinted.”
As we previously reported, the BATFE received over 9000 comments on Notice 41P and is required to address each issue raised in those comments. With resources diverted to processing the gargantuan number of ammo ban comments, processing 41P comments – perhaps seen as a back-burner issue – may have stalled.
Short of flat-out discarding the entire 41P proposal, this lack of movement on the issue and further delay of a final ruling (if it ever even happens, instead of just quietly disappearing) is some of the better news that could come on the subject. Further delay of a ruling gives those wishing to own NFA-regulated items, such as supressors and short-barreled rifles, using a trust (which you can even get online) more time to establish that trust and get their required paperwork filed.
Anti-Gun Group Uses Trick Photography to Hide Paltry Numbers
As reported by NRA-ILA, 
pro-gunners apparently were not the only ones in Nashville last weekend for the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits. Moms Demand Action for Gunsense in America were apparently there also, but nobody seemed to notice. Until they got caught creatively spinning “facts.” Big shock there.
The social media post by MDA reads “Just blocks from the NRA convention, hundreds of moms, dads and kids gathered today to show that we’ll go anywhere to bring the message of gun sense to America! Join our fight, we’re just getting started.”
Hundreds, you say? That’s cute, compared to the nearly 80,000 that attended the NRA meetings down the street. And “hundreds” might seem reasonable if you take the accompanying photo at face value. However, as usual, one just cannot seem to take anything this group says at face value.
It just so happened that there was another photographer in the area that captured the real story with this photo. What was claimed to be “hundreds” of anti-gun zealots shows the actual anemic turnout for their photo op was really only a few dozen – including the children that were dragged to the event for their dose of indoctrination. Perhaps technically since there have been slightly more than one hundred there, they feel comfortable calling it “hundreds.”
So how did they do it? Trick photography, of course. They arranged people in a funnel shape with a few people in the front, fanning out toward the rear so that the attendees filled the field of view – and no more – to give the appearance of a large crowed as far as the eye can see.
Just a reminder that when you see the anti’s propaganda machine output, caveat emptor!
Students for Concealed Carry “Empty Holster Protest” Coming Up
Group Seeks Social Media Users to Help Spread the Word via Thunderclap
Students for Concealed Carry, a student-run, national, non-partisan organization which advocates for legal concealed carry on college campuses is organizing an “empty holster protest” March 30 – April 3, 2015 and they need your help to spread the word.
The group describes the (school) week-long protest as a peaceful demonstration that involves students wearing empty holsters to protest college polices and/or state laws that disarm law-abiding citizens who are legally permitted to carry a concealed firearm in hundreds of other locations in their respective states. Participants will also be distributing literature, and holding debates or speaking events on the subject of on-campus carry.
They are using the Thunderclap tool to flood social media with a big announcement at March 30 at 9:00AM EDT. Participants who sign up will have the announcement (and only this one announcement) posted to their social media timeline at the specified time. Check it out and sign up here. Continue reading
