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Thursday, February 12, 2009

Our Right to Bear Arms

I got this email late last night;


H.R. 45 (Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009) targets all gun owners in the U.S.A. While the media the world and everyone else is focused on the "phony plan" to spend tax dollars legislation is sneaking through the House and Senate for more gun control.

This nefarious bill seeks to strip us all of our Constitutional Rights to possess and bear firearms of any distinction. It requires, within the first two years, that all new guns be registered. The bill goes retroactive after two years. Meaning that two years after the passage of the bill, ALL FIREARMS in a citizen's possession must be registered, not just those purchased after the bill passes, and this apparently applies to antique firearms as well.


Every five years the firearm owner must go through a complete renewal process for each weapon owned. Failure to comply carries stiff penalties including confiscation of the firearms and jail time (penalties as high as ten years imprisonment in some cases). The bill also authorizes government searches without warrant, the creation of a federal bureaucracy to monitor firearm possession, etc.

The following is a summary of the bill as provided by the Congressional Research Service. If you read the whole bill, you'll find it will effectively preclude the ownership of any firearms by law-abiding people unless directly licensed by the Attorney General :

1/6/2009--Introduced. Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit a person from possessing a firearm unless that person has been issued a firearm license under this Act or a state system certified under this Act and such license has not been invalidated or revoked. Prescribes license application, issuance, and renewal requirements.

Prohibits transferring or receiving a qualifying firearm unless the recipient presents a valid firearms license, the license is verified, and the dealer records a tracking authorization number. Prescribes firearms transfer reporting and record keeping requirements. Directs the Attorney General to establish and maintain a federal record of sale system.

Prohibits:
Transferring a firearm to any person other than a licensee, unless the transfer is processed through a licensed dealer in accordance with national instant criminal background check system requirements, with exceptions;
Licensed manufacturer or dealer from failing to comply with reporting and record keeping requirements of this Act;
Failing to report the loss or theft of the firearm to the Attorney General within 72 hours;
Failing to report to the Attorney General an address change within 60 days;
Keeping a loaded firearm, or an unloaded firearm and ammunition for the firearm, knowingly or recklessly disregarding the risk that a child is capable of gaining access, if a child uses the firearm and causes death or serious bodily injury.
Prescribes criminal penalties for violations of firearms provisions covered by this Act. Directs the Attorney General to:
Establish and maintain a firearm injury information clearinghouse;
Conduct continuing studies and investigations of firearm-related deaths and injuries; and
Collect and maintain current production and sales figures of each licensed manufacturer. Authorizes the Attorney General to certify state firearm licensing or record of sale systems.


Like all other threats against our freedoms, we must rise and defeat this bill, slap it down hard.

first off... WHAT!?! How on earth does this keep guns out of the hands of criminals? Only those of us that are law abiding (even if that law is insanely stupid) will be punished. It seems a lot like NAIS, but for fire arms. So I went to look it up. HR 45

Now this doesn't say much at all. And don't we already have laws like this? And then I have to question State Laws. Doesn't the States supersede the Federal? Or am I confused about what the Constitution states. Do we even still have one of those? why are they wasting our tax money on yet another law on the same subject that we already have a ton of laws for. Why over turn the Brady Bill?

Does anyone know about this bill? I clicked on related bills since this gives a vague description of what it is really about. I don't feel like getting overly paranoid at this point. I am kind of tired of all the laws that are meant to save us from ourselves. Every person I know owns a firearm, legally under the state laws. Some have conceal and carry permits, we even thought about one of those. But if I can't keep my gun with out having to re-licence and wait to see if the federal government decides that I am not a bad guy, well. . . Doesn't matter. If you have more info on this, could you kindly share it with me. I really believe that the laws that are already in place are enough for the good guys.

All I want is a rifle. . .

18 comments:

ChristyACB said...

Since just about any stupid bill can be introduced, but most of those don't make it past committee, it is just something to keep an eye on.

But like you said, the only people this bill will hurt are the law abiding ones. Criminals should be dancing with glee should it pass.

Anonymous said...

Federal laws override state laws when the two conflict, and in some cases where the federal laws have been deemed to "occupy the field", they override any state law on that topic, even if they don't conflict (e.g., air traffic control). There is very very little left purely to the states any more.

Sandy@American Way Farm said...

Even if they don't control the guns they'll control the ammunition. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVA1bKPA500 to find out more about ammunition accountability legislation. Discussion on this subject starts about 1/2 way through the video. -Sandy

Phelan said...

ChristyACB, Watch I shall.

A Lawyer, thank you for that info. Makes little sense because a state knows best when it comes to their people, but what do I know?

Sandy, I had heard that. I can't watch video's so if you have a print link, please leave it. The thing with that is, many people make their own.

Tweedle said...

hey would ya look at that, looks like someone stole my guns......

rachelbess said...

I think amongst other things, Obama's current dedication to bipartisanship, or for skeptics, it's at least a desire to *appear* bipartisan will prevent this from becoming law. democrats know how important 2nd amendment rights are to many, especially republicans. A law like this passing would essentially insure that anyone who voted for it could guarantee being defeated in the next election. Like Christy said, it's worth keeping an eye on, but I doubt it would even get past committee.

Yart said...

Here is another link it is to the full text of the bill.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-45

This is unbelievable!

Judy T said...

Sounds like overkill. Only being able to sell/transfer guns through a dealer- what another great way to rid us of cash. I'm sure there would be a 'processing fee'.
Judy

Gail said...

I hope all Americans will stand up and say no!

Sandy@American Way Farm said...

Try this link for the text of the youtube video on ammunition accountability legislation:
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/london-ky/TL3SHAP2F0NKA3E85

here's another one explaining about it as well:
http://www.usavsus.info/US-AmmoRegistr.htm

-Sandy

Celeste said...

that is outrageous

Em said...

Wow! Looks scarily familiar. I am in NSW, Aus and am going through the process of getting my licence..here is a BRIEF rundown of the process:

Do paperwork and pay for shooting club membership
Fill out licence forms inc proof of club membership, reason to acquire etc, do firearms safety course
Wait
Finally acquire licence
Request paperwork to aquire a firearm
Fill out paperwork and send back to firearms registry
Wait
Find and install a safe in the meantime which must meet strict requirements
Recieve approval and paperwork to purchase firearm
Go to gun store, present paperwork and licence, buy gun, wait for an hour while gun store fills out paperwork to be sent back to the firearms registry
Take gun home.

You then have to attend the rifle club a certain number of times each year, and can expect police to turn up at any time to check the firearm is stored properly. Also, the gun store takes your licence details every time you purchase ammo so Big Brother knows when and how much and what type you bought.

So yeah, fight to keep your rights or you will end up just as bad as us. Once you lose ground it is very hard to get it back!

FarmerGeek said...

I just posted a few state bills that are in the works around the country. Hopefully they will pass, but they basically say that these states are going to ignore anything the federal government does that is not in accordance with the finite and restricted responsibilities put upon the federal government by the constitution. The rights and responsibilities of the states cover anything that is not SPECIFICALLY outlined in the constitution. I think it is Minnesota that has a bill that is also saying that they are going to ignore federal regulations for firearms and ammunition made in the state and sold in the state, since they believe the federal government only has a right to say anything about interstate commerce, not intrastate.

Either way, some scary stuff going on out there.

~Babychaser~ said...

Talked to my husband a little bit ago and his research told him that this bill has been squeezed into the stimulus bill. If that is true, it could be law as early as next week.

I need to go do something happy now... our government makes me very angry these days. Must focus inward on my family and let my husband deal with the outward stuff. He deals much better than I.

Thanks for the info... it was this post that told us about it in the first place.

Jean&Vic said...

I too saw this pop up a while ago (but sorry I know I am late to post here), and forwarded the info to most of the people I know encouraging action against it.
I see one thing from this if it becomes law, and that is a lot of otherwise law abiding citizens becoming criminals, and then the real fight begins. From there it has to go to court, and has to be put before of all things a Jury. hopefully at that point it becomes too much of a logistical nightmare to be enforced. At that point it either gets stricken from the public books, or else there will be a lot of people worried about spending time behind bars for not knowing if grandpa had more rifles than he told you about.
That is of course making the assumption it passes.
This is only one of several that are up before the house though, so do your homework, and make sure the people who are supposed to represent you know who you are and how you feel. more so, if you are not letting them know just how wrong you think this is, then you are not doing your part and deterring this kind of stupidity.
So to ask, how many times have you written about this house resolution?

Phelan said...

I have an update on todays post about this issue.

I informed my dealer about this, and asked what he knew. He didn't know about it and laughed. "That punk on the street has a $20 gun, if this passes that gun will be worth a cool hundred. Forget about drug running, guns are where the money will be."

oh, and I alwasy write of call my reps once I know what the bills are truley about.

Tina said...

Oh please. Guns kill. Why the hell do you need a gun????????????????????????? Are you planning on killing anyone anytime soon? Seriously, you rednecks kill me (pun intended).

Unknown said...

Years ago, just as my parents arrived at my then fiancé's house, so did the police ~ demanding that s produced his firearms certificate. This cert was for a distress flare launcher which he said he'd handed into the police station days before. Some of his tools that I acquired after he was removed from my house 15 years later, are still in a flare box! It is solid, metal, heavy & useful for storing odd bits & pieces (hand drill, wood working stuff, plane, spoke shaves...), but no flaresnor ammo, nor guns

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