Back in April, National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea noted that the Brady Campaign's Sarah Brady had been quoted in the Washington Post as having received a promise from President Obama that the administration is working on enacting more restrictive gun regulation by stealth:
During the [March 30] meeting, President Obama dropped in and, according to Sarah Brady, brought up the issue of gun control, “to fill us in that it was very much on his agenda,” she said.
“I just want you to know that we are working on it,” Brady recalled the president telling them. “We have to go through a few processes, but under the radar.
More recently, Larry Pratt, of Gun Owners of America, made reference in a Fox News interview to the possibility of "under the radar" gun regulation:
Pratt pointed to two proposals in particular. Under one proposed rule from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, dealers in four Southwestern states would be required to report multiple sales to the same person of certain kinds of rifles. The proposed requirement -- which would apply to dealers in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas -- is open for comment until the end of May. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence claims the change would help the ATF "crack down" on Mexico's gunrunners.
Not trying to pick a fight with Mr. Pratt or GOA here--they do a great deal of vital gun rights advocacy work--but if any gun rights advocates are unaware of the BATFE's proposal for burdensome new purchase reporting requirements, it's not because the proposal has been "under the radar," but because those advocates had been asleep at the radarscope.
The coverage here at St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner alone has been going on since mid-December:
- BATFE hoping to bypass legislative process to impose draconian new requirements?
- Gun owners must speak up to stop long gun sales reporting requirement
- A comment to the BATFE
- BATFE shows its contempt for will of the people
- Where is the 'gun control' movement's outrage over 'Project Gunwalker'?
- 'Suspect Person': Another reason to fight mulitple rifle reporting requirement
- Celebrating those who died for liberty, too lazy to spend 1 minute to defend it?
Granted, St. Louis GRE isn't exactly mass media, but other GREs, including David Codrea, have covered it more than once, as has the Firearms Coalition, respected gun blogs like GunLeaders.com, No Lawyers - Only Guns and Money and Sipsey Street Irregulars, and even some mainstream news outlets like Washington Post, Associated Press and Reuters.
The information, in other words, has been available--but information doesn't act on itself. The "activist" in "gun rights activist" is supposed to mean something--and what it's supposed to mean is not that a Mayors Against Illegal Guns astroturf campaign gets more than twice as many supporters for the gun registration requirement than comments from those opposed.
Today is the last day to comment. John Richardson (and PT) have made the process effortless.
Get to it.
See also:
- More on ATF rifle registration comments
- Easy Way To Comment On ATF's Power Grab
- Will gun owner apathy enable ATF’s ‘emergency’ long gun registration scheme?
- Celebrating those who died for liberty, too lazy to spend 1 minute to defend it?
- Tell the ATF "NO" to More Gun Registration
- Comment Period Ends Tomorrow
- Deadline today for comments on multiple long gun sales reporting plan
- ATF Multiple Long Gun Reporting — Act Today
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