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| Obama Executive Order: Republican Vote Blocks Funding For New Gun-Sale Requirements |
| 2011-07-14 |
| Third down, 5 feet to go, coach calls an end run..... big right tackle takes it down..... House Republicans on Wednesday voted to strip funding for a new Obama administration policy that increases reporting requirements for some gun dealers who sell semiautomatic rifles. The rule from the Department of Justice (DOJ) requires dealers to report within five days multiple sales to the same person of semiautomatic rifles with removable magazines. Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) sponsored the amendment to the fiscal 2012 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies appropriations bill that would nix funding for the rule. "For more than a decade, efforts to track rifle purchases and create a national gun registry have failed to gain support in Congress, so the ATF is working to implement these regulations using rules written by unelected bureaucrats," Rehberg said. "I'm going to keep this government accountable to the people." Democrats vehemently opposed Rehberg's measure, which was supported by the National Rifle Association (NRA). Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) said stripping the funding from the rule would be akin to "virtual wholesale slaughter." "The NRA is so afraid that the people who are really funding the NRA, the gun manufacturers, might lose some sales that we're willing to sacrifice the lives of these people that are casualties of this gun war," Moran said during the markup. "And we're promoting it. We're enabling ... that slaughter to continue," Moran said. The new reporting requirement focuses on gun dealers in Southwestern states with close proximity to the Mexico border. It comes amid a push from the Obama administration to strengthen security in the border region. The issue has received increased attention recently because of a congressional investigation into a controversial gun-tracking operation established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Operation Fast and Furious authorized the sale of thousands of weapons in the border region to known and suspected straw purchasers for Mexican drug cartels. Rehberg's amendment passed with 25 members voting for it and 16 voting against. The measure garnered support from retiring Democratic Rep. Dan Boren (Okla.), who partnered with Rehberg earlier this year to successfully amend H.R. 1 with nearly identical language blocking funds for the heightened reporting requirements from the fiscal 2011 continuing appropriations bill. That bill later died in the Senate, and Democrats stripped the reporting-requirement provision from a subsequent measure. The requirement focuses on dealers in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. ATF estimated the rules would affect about 8,500 gun dealers in the area. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a leading gun-control group, said the ATF's rifle rule would not put many, if any, new burdens on gun shops. The group's acting president, Dennis Henigan, pointed to the nearly identical reporting requirement that has existed for more than 40 years requiring gun dealers to report multiple sales of handguns by the same person within a five-day period. "It is a modest burden for gun dealers to have them fill out this form, but it is an enormous help for law enforcement to be able to identify as quickly as possible purchasers who are walking away from gun shops with five, 10 or 20 of these assault rifles," said Henigan in an interview after the vote. Citing the severity of the Mexican gun violence, the ATF in December asked the White House to fast-track the new reporting requirement, which the administration promptly declined. Deputy Attorney General James Cole said earlier this week that the requirement was aimed at curbing sales of high-powered guns to traffickers for drug cartels, not average citizens attempting to arm themselves for sport or protection. "This new reporting measure ... will improve the ability of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to detect and disrupt the illegal weapons trafficking networks responsible for diverting firearms from lawful commerce to criminals and criminal organizations," he said in a statement. Rehberg's amendment was one of many offered during Wednesday's markup that pushed a heated gun-rights debate to the forefront of the committee's agenda, as Republicans soundly defeated a Democratic attempt to limit gun purchases by suspected terrorists and succeeded in inserting language to allow imports of more powerful types of shotguns. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #9 "have to then consider as part of the mission and I'm not ready to do that - yet" I am, swksvolFF. From the git-go. >:-( |
| Posted by: Barbara 2011-07-14 18:39 |
| #8 I tend to agree with ya rjschwarz at 7, bill was likely set into motion a little while back and now they (gun control) see that window closing, down to executive orders and shadow dealings. But I don't like that thought, it shows a concerted effort and raises the question, when and why did that effort begin? I find myself looking at the possibility that this act was part of the mission briefing as contingency plan and have to then consider as part of the mission and I'm not ready to do that - yet. The more information which comes out the more I don't like it. So, why not greater restrictions on north border states, or is that next. What say you Canada, ready for the democrats to craft a plan to flood your country with violence so that they could extend this failed act into a nationwide USA social experiment? Is it inappropriate to state that if the border was secure, this alleged activity could not happen...unless the FAT is involved. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2011-07-14 16:49 |
| #7 Probably trying to ram it through before Fast and Furious hits the main stream media and everyone hears about it. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2011-07-14 14:56 |
| #6 I suspect if the Fast and Furious stuff hadn't hit the news we'd be blasted in the media about gun deaths in Mexico caused by American Assault weapons and a lot of pressure would have come around on anyone voting against this measure. Kind of suprised they didn't just table this now that the cat is out of the bag. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2011-07-14 14:56 |
| #5 "FAT" as in "fat?" Er, eh, ugh that would be the First Lady's baliwhack. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2011-07-14 10:28 |
| #4 So what happens if a private responsible firearms business reports FAT agents? |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2011-07-14 10:05 |
| #3 "...the amendment to the fiscal 2012 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies appropriations bill that would nix funding for the rule." "That bill later died in the Senate, and Democrats stripped the reporting-requirement provision from a subsequent measure." This is why conference committees exist, so that one chamber cannot force another chamber to support an amendment, or to strip an amendment, without some horse trading going on. The House Republican leadership can insist that the amendment be restored in the final vote, or the overall funding bill is dead. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-07-14 09:01 |
| #2 The rule from the Department of Justice (DOJ) requires dealers to report within five days multiple sales to the same person of semiautomatic rifles with removable magazines. Given that the individuals making such purchases are most likely to be ATF/DoJ personnel or agents, won't they accept a photocopy with a new date stamp on each submission? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2011-07-14 08:36 |
| #1 "virtual wholesale slaughter." Sounds like the Moran (D-VA) has been playing too many video games. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-07-14 06:14 |