Latest from GOA.....Please read and heed

Time To Rein In The BATFE
-- Please ask George Bush to take the agency to the woodshed

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org />
Thursday, February 22, 2007


The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has
been on a tear under the administration of Attorney General Alberto
Gonzalez.

Manufacturers of various products have been told in writing that
their products are not a firearm and that they can be marketed
outside the federal paperwork system for selling firearms. Then,
months or years later, BATFE sends another letter reversing the first
determination.

The Congressional Research Service found in 2005 (ATF Firearms
Procedures) that BATFE has no written procedures for determining what
is a firearm. The "process" is arbitrary, and the string of
reversals in recent months shows how capricious a BATFE determination
is.

Historic Arms received a letter of determination in 1995 that its
BM-3000 was not a firearm. Indeed, Historic Arms had designed the
product as an accessory for a machine gun to fire different kinds of
ammunition than the gun had originally been designed to fire. For 11
years, the company manufactured their product without incident. But
in 1996, Historic Arms received a second letter determining that the
product was actually a machine gun!

As in other cases, BATFE wanted all the company's products sent to
Washington along with all the names of the customers who had
purchased the item.

In 2004, the BATFE determined that the Akins Accelerator was a "non
firearm" accessory that allowed a shooter to bump fire a semi-auto
and considerably increase the rate of fire. This year, BATFE has
determined that the trigger finger which is bumping the trigger is
itself a machine gun! Again, send in all the product and customer
names.

For years, Centerfire Systems had a parts kit that it sold for
machine guns. Now, six years later, BATFE has reversed itself on
this company. And, the Bureau has put Centerfire Systems through the
same drill -- send in their products and their customer lists.

In a related matter involving the definition of what makes a gun a
"gun," KT Ordnance was raided by BATFE last year and its products
were confiscated. What were the dangerous items? A parts kit for
customers to legally make their own (unregistered) firearm. Again,
BATFE wanted the customer list.

The capricious activities by the BATFE wreck economic chaos on these
companies, in addition to violating both theirs and their customers'
rights protected by the Second Amendment.

It is time for the BATFE to put their procedures for determining what
is a firearm, and what is a machine gun, in writing.

This latest bait and switch is but another backdoor effort on the
part of the federal government to attack gun ownership. This time
the attack is on manufacturers.

ACTION: Please contact Pres. Bush. If we do not restrain BATFE now,
they will do immeasurable damage to the firearms industry in the
United States.

You can visit the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at
http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send the President the
pre-written message below. You can also contact the President via
telephone:

Comments:    202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX:         202-456-2461


---- Pre-written letter ----

Dear President Bush,

I am outraged that BATFE still has no written procedures for
determining what is a firearm, and what is a machine gun. It has now
been two years since the publication of ATF Firearms Procedures by
the Congressional Research Service when they revealed that Firearms
Technology Branch has no written procedures.

The Bureau has been in existence for over 30 years. How many
prosecutions have put gun owners and manufacturers in jail based on
shifting, arbitrary and capricious "expert" testimony in
court which
is not based on written procedures?

When is the BATFE going to publish proposed written procedures for
the public to comment on them? When is the Justice Department going
to review the conviction of every gun owner and manufacturer where a
BATFE "expert" testified against him?

Please have the BATFE take action on these problems right away.

Sincerely,

---

This is from the US Code which in its definition of a machine-gun declares that any part or group of parts which can readily assembled also constitute a machine-gun . (paraphrased).

Its a double-edged sword, as manufacturers such as Vollmer and Fleming recognized they could register cheap parts (sears and trigger groups) as machine-guns. Those parts were later placed into semi-autos, making them civilian_legal transferable NFA class 3 weapons since they were registered prior to a grandfather deadline.

Signing the petition could further limit the supply of Class 3 arms.

What is needed is reform of the US Code in favor of liberalization of gun laws or an Executive Order making it so. I can think of only ONE man who would do that. Hes a Doctor from Texas and he is running for President  ;)

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“The gun control agenda is based on the view that ordinary citizens cannot be trusted to use the physical power of arms responsibly. But a people that cannot be trusted with guns cannot be trusted with the much more dangerous powers of self-government. The gun control agenda is thus an implicit denial of the human capacity for self-government and is tyrannical in principle.” (Alan Keyes for President 2008!!!)

{click} Sign the Petition today! http://www.savethesecond.com/

“On its face, [the DOJ DC v. Heller brief] would appear to be an attempt by the Federal Government to gut the Second Amendment, and thus retain as much power, and simultaneously limit the rights, and thus power, of individual citizens, as much as it can, which is profoundly disturbing, by itself. But the fact that it's coming from the White House is especially problematic, since it means that Mr. Clement's/DOJ's brief carries a considerable amount of weight.” (David Crane, Defense Review. 1/17/2008) http://www.defensereview.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1088

{click} Sign the Petition today! http://www.savethesecond.com/

“Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. ... Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them.”
- Founding Father Thomas Paine

“They that are on their guard and appear ready to receive their adversaries, are in much less danger of being attacked than the supine, secure and egligent.”
- Benjamin Franklin

Excerpt from a Constitution Party Press Release:

“The Constitution Party encourages all Americans to look critically at the example of [the Colorado shootings] tragedy that could have been worse, and note the effort to disarm Americans with more gun laws has not resulted in fewer shootings. ‘On the contrary, schools and other places where people are prevented from carrying self-defense weapons have become easy targets for gunmen. It’s time Americans stop and think about where all these shootings are taking place…certainly not at police stations or places where there would be armed resistance’, said Clymer.”
(Constitution Party)

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