'Gun show loophole' the number one federal priority for the citizen disarmament lobby?

April 14, 5:52 AMSt. Louis Gun Rights ExaminerKurt Hofmann

Previous Next

5 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

I have mentioned before that I believe that the front on which the gun prohibitionists have the greatest chance of success (at the federal level) is closure of the mythical "gun show loophole."

Such a measure is not their first choice--they have made very clear that banning so-called "assault weapons" is what they really want (the "jewel in the Obama crown," as my colleague David Codrea called it).  The gun haters seem to be coming to grips, though, with the realization that for the time being, at least, support for such a radical measure just isn't there.

First, it was Nancy Pelosi repsonding to Attorney General Eric Holder's call for a renewed AWB with the NRA's "enforce existing gun laws" (neither Peloisi or the NRA seems interested in explaining how to reconcile "enforcing existing gun laws" with shall not be infringed).  Then, it was 65 House Democrats writing a letter to Holder expressing their intention to actively oppose such a ban, and then, Holder himself changing his tune to "enforce the laws on the books."  After that, it was White House spokesman Robert Gibbs joining the "enforce the laws already on the books" chorus.  Finally, frothing-at-the-mouth-gun-grabbing Senator Dianne Feinstein herself told "60 Minutes" that she "wouldn't bring up [the ban] now."  Clearly, the anti-rights crowd has decided to settle for lower hanging fruit . . . for now.

The Brady Campaign cannot help but to have noticed:

"It's weird," Peter Hamm, the communications director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, told Newsweek. "When you see people like [Attorney General] Eric Holder or Hillary Clinton or [White House chief of staff] Rahm Emanuel become muted on this issue, you feel like you want to call up a friend and say, 'What's up?' "

"What's up," Petey, is that the public is growing less and less receptive to your citizen disarmament message.

So--on to Plan B.

At the 10th year anniversary this month of the Columbine massacre in Colorado, the Brady Campaign urges Congress to require Brady criminal background checks on all gun sales, including at gun shows.

Congress should introduce legislation to close the gun show loophole immediately.

It's instructive to note that they had to go back ten years to find a sufficiently horrendous shooting in which guns obtained at a gun show were used (and the person that bought them would have passed a background check at a gun shop, anyway). 

Keep in mind also that the "loophole" the Brady Bunch wants to close is really the "private sales loophole."  They talk mostly about gun shows, because those are easy to demonize, but a private sale at a gun show is no different in principle from a private sale anywhere else, and one of the Brady Campaign's favorite slogan is "no background check, no gun, no exceptions."

In the Orwellian world of the forcible citizen disarmament lobby, privacy is a "loophole."  That's a world liberty loving Americans should want no part of.