Alberto Gonzales in action -
new 2nd Amendment - ... shall be infringed as often as possible
by
Mike Crane
Some have claimed that Alberto Gonzales as our attorney
general would protect our Second Amendment rights. After all he was
appointed by a Republican President, so he must be a "real"
conservative. Well it is true he was appointed by a Republican
President, but his record on protecting your Second Amendment rights
is dismal.
Not only does Alberto Gonzales fully support repeating the
semi-auto ban fiasco, he is now showing that he will chip away at
your Second Amendment rights every chance he gets.
Case in point, read the recent announcement from the BATF
below:
“in any case where the Attorney
General has not authorized the importation of the firearm pursuant
to this paragraph, it shall be unlawful to import any frame,
receiver, or barrel of such firearm which would be prohibited if
assembled.”
So in this case Congress has passed on to an unelected
individual the basic capability to establish rules that have the
force of law. So our new Attorney General is using this misplaced
authority to actually violate perfectly legal and properly applied
and paid for permits in existence.
Set aside for a moment the fact that the Second Amendment says
our rights " ... shall not be infringed."
and think about a company that has established an operation based
upon a legally applied for permit, filled out the volumes of paper
work to comply with these intrusive regulations and paid hard earned
money for the permit. One would think that this was sorta a contract
between the government and the business.
IF YOU ALREADY HOLD AN
APPROVED PERMIT TO IMPORT FRAMES, RECEIVERS
AND BARRELS “FOR REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT,” ATF WILL BE SENDING YOU A
LETTER EXPLAINING THAT YOUR PERMIT WILL BE
SUSPENDED AFTER SEPTEMBER 10, 2005,
Out of the blue, our new Republican, so-called conservative,
Attorney General finds a phrase in the volumes of laws, regulations,
specification and rules passed by Congress, written by un-elected
political cronies or resulting from defacto laws established by
judicial rulings and takes it upon himself to "suspend" legally paid
for permits.
Not only does this action show a
careless disregard for the Second Amendment, it demonstrates an
utter disregard for the primary purpose of government - to protect
the rights of its citizens.
Now some may think that this is a very minor point and not
worth even thinking about, but they are wrong. Even those who
support gun control should be concerned about the power being
transferred to unelected officials at an alarming rate in a total
disregard for the Constitution. Bending to the pressure from the
Bush Administration - Congress is passing volumes of new laws,
regulations, specifications and rules at an alarming rate. National
ID, Homeland Security, new Patriot Act and the list goes on and on.
Each one of these volumes of new laws contain phrases that
will allow the personal agendas of appointed officials to trump what
used to be your God given rights which are supposed to be protected
by your government and the Constitution.
Our Founding Fathers and the citizens who fought for our
Independence did not risk life and limb to put your rights in the
hands of intrusive government officials. They had all of that they
wanted from King George and the English Crown, free of charge!
Your Second Amendment and other rights are in a new period of
jeopardy, the leadership of both the Republican and Democratic Party
and many of their elected and appointed officials are ready to "suspend"
them and will do so as fast as they can.
We hope that each of you will
recognize that the time has come to get more involved in the
political process and demand a return to our Founding Principles.
Modifying the famous words of Neil Armstrong, the "suspending"
of legally obtained and paid for permits by an arbitrary decision by
Alberto Gonzales:
"One small step for Alberto Gonzales,
a giant step for intrusive government"
Email
This page
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U.S. Department of
Justice Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives
Assistant Director |
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Washington, DC 20226
www.atf.gov |
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July 13, 2005
OPEN LETTER TO FEDERALLY LICENSED
FIREARMS IMPORTERS
AND REGISTERED IMPORTERS OF U.S. MUNITIONS IMPORT LIST
ARTICLES
The purpose of this open letter is to provide important
information to importers concerning the lawful importation
of certain frames, receivers and barrels.
Importation of Frames, Receivers or Barrels
of Firearms Under Title 18 U.S.C. § 925(d)(3)
Section 925(d) provides standards for the importation
of firearms and ammunition into the United States. In
particular, section 925(d)(3) provides that the Attorney
General shall authorize a firearm to be imported if it
meets several conditions: (1) it is not defined as a
firearm under the National Firearms Act (NFA); (2) it is
generally recognized as particularly suitable for or
readily adaptable to sporting purposes; and (3) it is not
a surplus military firearm. However, the subsection
further provides that “in any case where the Attorney
General has not authorized the importation of the firearm
pursuant to this paragraph, it shall be unlawful to import
any frame, receiver, or barrel of such firearm which would
be prohibited if assembled.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
(ATF) has determined that the language of 18 U.S.C. §
925(d)(3) permits no exceptions that would allow frames,
receivers or barrels for otherwise non-importable firearms
to be imported into the United States.
Accordingly, ATF will no longer approve ATF Form 6
applications for importation of any frames, receivers, or
barrels for firearms that would be prohibited from
importation if assembled. No exceptions to the
statutory language, for example for “repair or
replacement” of existing firearms, will be allowed.
ATF recognizes that importers have, in the past,
obtained import permits authorizing the importation of
barrels and receivers for non-importable firearms for
"repair or replacement" and may have entered into
contracts in reliance upon such authorizations. In order
to mitigate the impact of ATF’s change in import policy
and to allow importers a reasonable period to come into
compliance, ATF will forgo enforcement of this import
restriction for 60 calendar days and allow importers
holding existing permits to continue to import barrels and
receivers for a period of 60 calendar days. ATF believes
this time period is adequate for importers who have
entered into binding contracts for the sale and shipment
of such barrels and receivers to complete the process of
importing the items into the United States. ATF will
advise Customs and Border Protection that in no event
should these permits be accepted to release these items
for entry into the United States after September 10, 2005.
Importers are reminded that ATF previously approved
permits for non-importable barrels and receivers for
repair or replacement only, and this restriction was
stamped on the face of the permit. Importers who import
such components for any purpose other than repair or
replacement of existing firearms, e.g., for assembly into
new firearms, will be exceeding the scope of the import
authorization in violation of law. If ATF determines,
through inspection or otherwise, that an importer
willfully violates the import provisions of the GCA, the
importer's license is subject to revocation pursuant to 18
U.S.C. § 923(e).
Importers holding approved import permits for
non-importable barrels and receivers will receive a letter
prior to September 10, 2005, advising them that their
permit has been suspended.
This determination affects importers as follows:
- IF YOU SUBMIT A NEW APPLICATION TO IMPORT FRAMES,
RECEIVERS AND BARRELS ON OR AFTER THE DATE OF THIS
LETTER, AND THE PERMIT IS FOR NONSPORTING FIREARMS,
SURPLUS MILITARY FIREARMS, OR NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT
FIREARMS, ATF WILL DENY YOUR APPLICATION.
- IF YOU HAVE SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION TO IMPORT
FRAMES, RECEIVERS AND BARRELS THAT HAS NOT YET BEEN
DENIED OR APPROVED BY ATF AND THE PERMIT IS FOR
NONSPORTING FIREARMS, SURPLUS MILITARY FIREARMS OR
NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT FIREARMS, ATF WILL DENY YOUR
APPLICATION.
- IF YOU ALREADY HOLD AN APPROVED PERMIT TO IMPORT
FRAMES, RECEIVERS AND BARRELS “FOR REPAIR OR
REPLACEMENT,” ATF WILL BE SENDING YOU A LETTER
EXPLAINING THAT YOUR PERMIT WILL BE SUSPENDED AFTER
SEPTEMBER 10, 2005, AND PROVIDING YOU WITH INFORMATION
REGARDING YOUR RIGHT TO SUBMIT ARGUMENTS WHY YOUR PERMIT
SHOULD NOT BE REVOKED.
Maintaining open lines of communication is vital to the
successful future of ATF’s partnership with the import
community. The Firearms and Explosives Imports Branch
staff is available to answer your questions about the
issues addressed in this letter. You may reach us by phone
at 202-927-8320 or by fax at 202-927-2697. Additional
information regarding this issue will be provided on our
Website at www.atf.gov.
Sincerely yours,
Lewis P Raden
Assistant Director
(Enforcement Programs and Services) |
Source:
http://www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/071305openletter.htm
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If you have some interest in A Real
Choice for the people of Georgia, the following articles
may be of interest:
Part 1
Many ask, “Why a Southern Party …?”
Part 2
The Southern Party: Strengths and Weaknesses
Part 3
The
Southern Party: A Plan for 2006 Election Cycle
Part 4
The Southern Party: We need your help
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