The Violence Policy Center's Josh Sugarmann claims that with Obama having signed restrictive new tobacco legislation into law, gunmakers are now the "last unregulated industry."
President Obama's signing of a bill granting the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory authority over the tobacco industry now leaves the gun industry as the last American industry not regulated for health and safety.
Let me repeat. Guns are now the only consumer product manufactured in America not regulated by a federal agency for health and safety.
But wait--if one were to count every gun law on the books in this country at the federal, state, and local levels, the total would be in the tens of thousands. Hardly sounds "unregulated" to me (let alone shall not be infringed).
Sugarmann attempts to justify his "unregulated" claim this way:
Health and safety regulatory powers commonly include the authority to set design standards, recall dangerous or defective products, and require reporting from manufacturers.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the default "regulator" of guns in our nation, has no such powers. ATF is currently empowered only to oversee commerce in guns.
In other words, if no federal agency has the power to dictate the design of a product, that product is "unregulated."
The BATFE, by the way, does have considerable power in that regard. Federal law specifies very strict licensing requirements for rifles and shotguns with short barrels, for suppressors (aka "silencers"), and even pistols with the ergonomic feature of a second grip, firearms (aside from those determined--by decree--to have a "sporting purpose") with a bore diameter of over half an inch, and fully automatic firearms. Speaking of the BATFE and fully automatic firearms, get a load of what they manage to classify as a "machine gun" (also here).
Never mind that, though, my point is that Sugarmann claims that all the gun laws on the books are apparently not "safety measures."
Yet these are sales standards, not product safety standards.
Now wait a second--you mean those tens of thousands of gun laws aren't about safety? I agree, of course, but I didn't expect the forcible citizen disarmament cheerleaders to come out and admit it.
Check out other Gun Rights Examiners:
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- DC: Under Obamacare, where will Canadians go for medical services?
- Denver: What happens to you when you buy a gun?
- Los Angeles: SoCal Churches go concealed carry.
- Minneapolis: Dirty Deeds in Virginia
- National: U.S. guns blamed for Jamaican crime
- Seattle: Lautenberg’s legislation cloak’s anti-gun senator’s true intention
- Wisconsin: Gun rights advocates make progress
Comments
Whenever I hear people like Sugarman whining about safety, I remember the Texas Ranger who was asked if his cocked and locked 1911 was dangerous. He said he wouldn't carry it if it wasn't.
I'd like a prescription for my own personal arsenal, please.
Ah--the story of Texas Ranger Charlie Miller. I love that story:
www.smartcarry.com/mainwebsite_html/cocklock.htm
Of course Sugermann's idea of a "safe" firearm is: "unable to function in any way. shape, or form so as to be unable to protect a U.S. citizen from a violent criminal or a crooked politician". His idea of "regulated" is: sued, shackled, and strangled until it doesn't exist any more. Clearly to him the firearm industry is the same as the tobacco industry: poisonous and harmful to everyone.
You make the common mistake of actually taking the words used by the anti-rights bigots seriously. A more accurate translation would be, "Guns bad! Stop using guns!" Going further in your interpretation is a waste of time and effort.
I've had a couple of firearms recalled to correct potential public safety issues. So even if the CPSC isn't requiring this, responsible firearms manufacturers are taking care of "health and safety" issues all by themselves - funny how free enterprise works that way.
i think its brilliant
What he really means is that "Now that the FDA can regulate the tobacco industry, you simple serfs retain only one remaining right and we intend on taking that too!" We need to fight the regulations and get rid of around 90% of all existing regulations on everything... it's time to take back our Freedom and Liberty from the control freaks. People in every State need to sue over every regulation that exists… and when you lose, the next person takes your place and sues. We need an organization for just such a purpose so as to make these regulations too costly for the State to maintain.
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