Wednesday, June 18, 2014

The Supreme Court’s Overkill

On Monday, the Supreme Court struck down a challenge from a former police officer named Bruce Abramski, who was convicted of "straw purchasing” after he bought a handgun on behalf of his uncle.

Despite the fact that Abramski’s uncle is an eligible gun owner and Abramski transferred the gun through a federally licensed firearms dealer, the Court upheld his conviction.

Abramski’s challenge said that it should be legal for one registered gun owner to purchase a gun on behalf of another eligible gun owner — especially if it is done through the proper channels. (Before taking control of the gun, Abramski’s uncle also passed all of the necessary background checks.)

Yet for the Supreme Court, that wasn’t enough. It ruled that Abramski should also have listed his Uncle’s name on the forms when he made the original purchase.

Tell me something — how does this kind of bureaucratic overkill prevent criminals from getting guns?

It doesn’t — and preventing crime is not the Court’s true intent.

In the majority opinion, Justice Elena Kagan wrote:

“[Federal gun law] establishes an elaborate system to verify a would-be gun purchaser’s identity and check on his background. It also requires that the information so gathered go into a dealer’s permanent records… And no part of that scheme would work if the statute turned a blind eye to straw purchases.”

Protecting this 'scheme' is all that the liberals on the Court really care about.

Just like all the other liberals in Washington, their only goal is to control gun ownership any way they can.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

The Justice Department’s Gun Grab

Having failed to convince Congress to support its radical gun control agenda, the Obama Administration is now using the Justice Department to attack gun rights through the financial system.

In the latest example of how Obama will stop at nothing to advance his anti-gun agenda, the Justice Department is using the flimsy excuse of “fraud protection” to force financial institutions to cease providing services to gun companies.

The Justice Department is conducting something called “Operation Choke Point”, supposedly in an effort to combat credit card fraud. The operation targets businesses that have a “high risk” of fraud — whatever that means — by forcing financial companies to end their relationships with those companies.

The program was designed to crack down on online payday lenders, but – big surprise! -- Holder and his cronies are also using the program to attack law abiding gun companies.

A new report from the House Oversight Committee found that several gun companies have had their banking relationships severed as a result of this program.

Fox News quotes one of the report’s authors, Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri: “We have documented that they are going after gun and ammunitions manufacturers, gun sellers and non-deposit lenders…There is an orchestrated effort…to do away with entire industries instead of going after the bad actors.”

The National Shooting Sports Foundation says that several of its members have had their banking relationships terminated as a result of this illegal program, “simply because they are engaged in the lawful commerce of firearms.”

One of the banks participating in the program is TD Bank, which cut off business with a hunting and fishing store because of the program. (Remind me not to attend any Celtics games any time soon!)

This is a disgusting use of executive power to bypass Congress, the Constitution, and the will of the American people. But unfortunately this kind of tactic is all too common from Obama’s Justice Department.

The tyranny of the Obama Administration truly knows no bounds.