Kill (the) bill - volume three

Hopefully, the Bobby L. Rush Bill of Rights Subversion Act of 2009 will die alone and in the dark, friendless and with no co-sponsors. We shall see.

I know some view it as a non-starter, just a political attention-getter, not worth expending effort to oppose lest we use up "political capital" that will be needed for future battles. My own preference is to play Whack-a-Mole as these things pop their heads up, shine the light, bang the pots and pans, and drive them scurrying back under the baseboards. It's my belief that the gun activist community can be sufficiently motivated --by the proper leadership-- to walk today and chew gum six months from now. It's also my belief that if they can't be, if the detachment and apathy is truly insurmountable, we're kidding ourselves about the Second Amendment anyway.

Here are some more impositions H.R. 45 would mandate that may help motivate interest:

It shall be unlawful for any person who owns a qualifying firearm to fail to report the loss or theft of the firearm to the Attorney General within 72 hours after the loss or theft is discovered.

That way, if you defy this tyrannical edict through the time-honored liberty-promoting practice of civil disobedience, and refuse to submit to licensing and registration, they've got another federal count to charge you with. And as with the entire scheme, actual prohibited persons needn't worry--they can't be required to self-incriminate, you'll recall...Heyyy...maybe that's an "out"...?

It shall be unlawful for any individual to whom a firearm license has been issued... to fail to report to the Attorney General a change in the address of that individual within 60 days of that change of address.

The better to see you with, my dear. There is no place you can run, no place you can hide. There is no escape.

[I]t shall be unlawful for any person to keep a loaded firearm, or an unloaded firearm and ammunition for the firearm...within any premises that is under the custody or control of that person, if—
(A) that person—
(i) knows, or recklessly disregards the risk, that a child is capable of gaining access to the firearm...

Thus removing the obligation for training and discipline in the home (hey, that always works well) and opening the door for more pitchfork murders. And since this "law" has an ex post facto component, maybe the feds can prosecute a certain grandmother I know about...

Still, we are provided an "out" of sorts, that is, if we render our guns useless for home defense.

And there's another curious exception if "the child uses the firearm in a lawful act of self-defense" that would appear to defuse my concerns, that is, if the minor can get and use the gun after it's been locked away with a "safety device"...that one actually makes my head hurt.

"It shall be unlawful...it shall be unlawful...it shall be unlawful..."  Hmmm...seems to be a pattern here of sorts...

Good grief, here we are minding our own business, and this despot wannabe won't stop until he backs us into a corner where we either surrender cherished Liberty and submit to tyranny, or become criminals. I guess things must be pretty good with his urban Illinois constituency if he can ignore what it takes to go after real criminals...  If he wants to create a whole 'nother criminal class out of peaceable people, who aren't responsible for the trouble and who simply want to be left alone...

Here's another little bonus for freedom Rep. Rush felt compelled to add, "Sec. 404. Orders":

The Attorney General may issue an order prohibiting the sale or transfer of any firearm that the Attorney General finds has been transferred or distributed in violation of this Act, an amendment made by this Act, or a regulation issued under this Act.

Oh. Is that anything like carte blanche for administrative gun bans under whatever pretext is convenient?

In a strange way, we actually ought to thank Rep. Rush for this bill. It demonstrates the intent of the gun haters, and highlights the path to their end game. It shows us what they're really after when they use deceptive spin phrases like "common sense gun control" and "reasonable restrictions." It puts to the lie disingenuous claims that they don't want to take anyone's guns away, that they respect the Second Amendment...

Still, perhaps it is unlikely this bill has any chance of passage...now. What confidence do we have that we'll be able to make this same claim next year, or the year after...?

So what should you do? Like I say, I'm a Whack-a-Mole fan. You can find your congressional representative in my right sidebar's "Political Resources" link list. Click on "US House," find your congressperson (assuming you don't already have that information, which you really, really should) and send him or her a clear message expressing your opposition to H.R. 45, Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009.

As for Rep. Rush, well, you could always send him a card...

More on H.R. 45 from Gun Rights Examiner
Qualifying firearms
Kill (the) bill
Kill (the) bill - volume two