Merging ATF with DEA is a Really Bad Idea

In the budget outline that President Trump submitted to congress last week, one of the "government efficiency" proposals presented was to merge ATF with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).  During his Gun Talk Radio program on Sunday, Tom Gresham said during the third hour of the program that is a "horrific idea".  

A horrific idea horrible idea. The DEA is famous for violation of civil rights, of individual constitutional rights. They're all about asset forfeiture breaking in taking your stuff baby shooting you in the process. We need SIMP to get rid of the ATF gone.

You don't need to fold it into anything else, and certainly not the DEA. So I'm hoping that the White House gets enough feedback just says this is a terrible idea, and we, as gun owners who helped you get elected, do not want this. We don't want to be dealing with the DEA on firearms related issues.

On yesterday's Bearingarms.com's Cam and Company, senior vice president and general counsel Larry Keane for the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) told Cam Edwards that NSSF is strongly opposed to merging the two agencies. 

Shotguns for Self Defense

On Sunday's Gun Talk Radio, host Tom Gresham spoke with Ken Campbell from Gunsite Academy.  Ken detailed what makes shotguns so effective and how to use them.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vs. the ATF

On Sunday's Gun Talk Radio, Tom Gresham talked about last week's court decisions that came out of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.  He mentioned that it is becoming, as Cam Edwards said, the 5th Circuit vs. the ATF court.  Tom said since the Bruen decision, everything has changed.  They said that the ATF's pistol brace rule is unconstitutional.  They threw it out completely.  They have also said the Trump era "bump stock" rule is unconstitutional.  The 5th Circuit has also thrown out the so-called "ghost gun" rule ATF announced this year.  Take a listen.

Tom Taylor of Sig Talks P320 with Tom Gresham

During this past weekend's NRA Annual Meeting, Gun Talk Radio's Tom Gresham had a chance to speak with Tom Taylor of Sig Sauer about the P320.  Bloomberg's anti-gun mouthpiece The Trace and the Washington Post did a hit piece last week on Sig claiming there are owners of the pistol who claim it goes off by itself. For the Trace, it is just one more opportunity to rail against the Protection in Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.  They posted a story last week about why firearms are not subject to recalls by the Consumer Product Safety Council.   Taylor completely debunked the claims made about the pistol by The Trace and the Washington Post.  Take a listen.

ATF Raids Polymer80 - Maker of Firearm Build Kits

The Wall Street Journal broke the story last Friday:

The raid target, Nevada-based Polymer80, is suspected of illegally manufacturing and distributing firearms, failing to pay taxes, shipping guns across state lines and failing to conduct background investigations, according to an application for a search warrant unsealed Thursday after the raid took place.

The probe focuses on Polymer80’s “Buy Build Shoot Kit,” which includes the parts to build a “ghost” handgun. The kit, which Polymer80 sells online, meets the definition of a firearm, ATF investigators determined according to the warrant application. That means it would have to be stamped with a serial number and couldn’t be sold to consumers who haven’t first passed a background check.

Gun rights activist John Crump wrote on Ammoland:

The target of the raid centers around the company’s “Buy Build Shoot Kit,” which includes a slide, barrel, parts, the jigs, drill bits, and an 80% frame. The end-user would still need to mill out the frame to turn it into a working firearm. The ATF claims that because of the way the company sells the kits that these packages constitute firearms, and Polymer80 needs to serialize the frame.

After sharing the story on his web site, gun writer and radio host Tom Gresham asked the question "Is this the first of many moves to erode our 2nd Amendment rights or simply poor execution by Polymer80?"  Tom spoke with the Second Amendment Foundation's Alan Gottlieb in the first hour of Sunday's program.

VSSA · Gun Talk Radio Talks with Alan Gottlieb About ATF Raid

Tom Gresham Speaks with Clark Aposhian on the Larger Importance of his Bump Stock Law Suit

On yesterday's Gun Talk Radio, Tom Gresham's first guest was firearms instructor Clark Aposhian, who has a law suit pending in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the Trump Administration's bump stock ban. 

Aposhian filed a lawsuit last January challenging the bump stock ban, arguing that outlawing the shooting accessory was unconstitutional because it amounts to the executive branch rewriting laws, a job reserved for Congress. He had asked a Utah federal judge to press pause on the ban while his lawsuit played out, but she ruled he did not show “a substantial likelihood of success” on the merits of his lawsuit.

A three judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals made a similar decision in May, ruling he did not show he was likely to win his case or that the ban would hurt the public's interest.  His attorney's appealed that decision and asked for an enbanc review by the full court, which has been granted.  During yesterday's program, Aposhian discussed the larger inplications of his suit on gun rights in general and that this isn't just about bump stocks.

VSSA · Gun Talk Radio's Tom Gresham Speaks with Clark Aposhian on his Bump Stock Ban Suit

Georgia Run-off Election is Ground Zero for Gun Rights

There are two races for the U.S. Senate in Georgia that will determine whether gun owners have a firewall against a President Joe Biden and his gun ban schemes.  As Gun Talk Radio host Tom Gresham said last week, and reiterated on his radio program yesterday, gun owners need to step up and do what it takes to insure that Democrats do not win those two seats.

If you don't want what happened in Virginia to happen nationally, VSSA urges you to make a donation to help win the Georgia Senate run-off elections.

Some Great 2A News Resources

If you would like some great resources for up-to-date Second Amendment News, here is a list of some of the VSSA Legislative Director's live Daily and Weekly sources:

Weekly Sources

Tom Gresham's Gun Talk Radio Show - Sundays 2PM-5PM Eastern

Mark Walter's Armed American Radio - Sundays 8PM-11-PM Eastern

Gun for Hire Radio - Weekly Podcast

Daily

Bearing Arms Cam and Company  - Usually posted by 3PM Eastern daily

Mark Walters and Rob Pincus Daily Facebook Live Chats

Mark Walters Daily Defense Radio - 4PM-5PM 

Lock and Load Radio - Mon-Fri: 6:00pm-9:00pm Eastern

These are all great sources for the latest 2A news.  There are also many good podcasts available on a number of firearm related topics.  Just go to your favorite podcast aggregator (Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts etc.) and use search terms like firearms, or gun rights to find them.

NYSRPA vs New York After Action Report

Gun Talk's Tom Gresham was at the U.S. Supreme Court today for the oral arguments in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association vs City of New York.  He posted his thoughts after the proceedings.  He noted that there was a relatively large turn out of gun ban folks at the court, likely paid for by Bloomberg, with loud speakers and a list of speakers.  There wondered why the pro-rights community did not have a similar showing.

Gresham said he does not believe the Court will find the case moot, but he also said while he believes we will get a favorable ruling, it is likely it will not go as far as we want.  We'll have to wait and see.  You can see he report below.

Tom Gresham: Gun Sales Driven by Gun Control Ended Two Years Ago

Last week, Gun Talk Radio host and gun writer Tom Gresham was in Las Vegas covering the Shot Show. On Friday, he was interviewed on NRATV.com's NRANews Cam and Company. Gresham told host Cam Edwards that contrary to what the press has been reporting, guns sales driven by gun control ended two years ago. The growth of the shooting sports is driving new gun ownership. He and Cam talked about the need to promote legal gun ownership for disenfranchised residents of high crime areas and the minority communtities. Tom urged gun owners to take people to the range, so that they will know what firearms are all about. Gresham called it "vaccination against gun control." Originally aired on Cam & Co 01/20/17.

The Election and Our Gun Rights

That was the topic for much of the first hour of Tom Gresham's Gun Talk Radio program yesterday.  Gresham reminded listeners where Hillary Clinton stands on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.  Then, he interviewed Tom Mason, co-author of Shall Not be Infringed: The New Assaults on Your Second Amendment.  In the book, Mason and co-author David Keene (former NRA President) outline and examine the ongoing battle fought in the courts, Congress, and state legislatures across the country as well as in the media and even the United Nations. Guns have become a symbol over which battle after battle is fought, all the while hiding the end game of a cultural shift to government dominance.  Although the Supreme Court ruled the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual right to “keep and bear arms,” Hillary Clinton has promised to challenge this Constitutional freedom, even vowing to make it a litmus test for Supreme Court justice nominees. Gun control advocates continue to insist that the Court was wrong and should reverse this finding, thereby, stripping American gun owners of the Constitutional protection that has thus far made it impossible to ban gun ownership.

Last week, Keene spoke at the Heritage Foundation and discussed the book.

Alan Gura: Heller Could Be Gone Sooner Rather Than Later

I finally got around to listening to the podcast of Tom Gresham's Gun Talk radio program from February 14 and the first guest on the show was Alan Gura, the attorney who argued the Heller and McDonald cases before the Supreme Court.  Gura, as have many, talked about Scalia's impact on the Court.  When discussing the Heller opinion, Gura mentioned that many lower courts are actually basing their rulings on the minority opinion of Justice Breyer, giving the issue "intermediate scrutiny" when determining whether a law violates the Second Amendment.   Then he gave gun owners the best reason to get involved in this year's election.  He said the Second Amendment is obviously on the ballot this election and we have known for a while this was going to be the case given the ages of the justices currently on the Supreme Court.  He predicted if the court shifts to a 5-4 liberal make up Heller will be gone.  The interview is about 17 minutes and is well worth the time to listen.

Tom Gresham on the Gun Dealio App, and How Honest Gun Owners Get Snared by Gun Control

On Friday, Gun Talk Radio host Tom Gresham talked with NRANews' Cam Edwards about the new Gun Dealio App that allows gun owners and sportsmen to know what sales are going on in their area.  The app is available for both IOS and Android operating systems.  He also talked about new gun control laws passed by the Los Angeles City Council, and explains that the magazine ban and gun storage laws make it easier for law-abiding gun owners to run afoul of the law. It becomes more difficult and dangerous to be a gun owner, but causes no problems for criminals. Further, he responds to the Social Security gun grab, infringing the Second Amendment rights of more than 4 million benefit recipients.

Is Operation Choke Point Behind Google's "Increased" Restrictions on Firearms and Accessories?

Over the weekend Breitbart reported that Google was about to put forward increased restrictions on firearms, ammunition and firearm accessory ads.  Tom Gresham also mentioned it on his Gun Talk Radio program.  But as Sebastian and Bob Owens noted, these "increased" restrictions are not really much different than what they are already doing.  On Sunday night's broadcast of Armed American Radio, Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation wondered if Google's announcement of a policy change that isn't really a policy change is driven by Operation Choke Point.

For those not familiar with Operation Choke point, it is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Justice to put a whole host of industries, including firearms and ammunition manufacturers and retailers, on a "high-risk" list and urged banks to pay close attention to those industries.

So,  as Gottlieb asked, is Google making a big deal about it's policy change which isn't really a change in policy to make a point that it should not be targeted by Holder's DOJ goons?

Robert Zimmerman on Armed American Radio

Besides several very good firearm and pro-rights related blogs, a good source of 2nd Amendment information is available from longtime radio programs like NRANews's Cam and Company, which is on satellite radio as well as the Internet and Sportsman Channel, Tom Gresham's syndicated radio program Gun Talk, and Mark Walters' syndicated radio program Armed American Radio.   The great thing about all three is they podcast their broadcasts so if you can't listen live, you can listen at your convenience.  This past Sunday's Armed American Radio featured the Robert Zimmerman and his attorney in the first two hours, talking about his brother George and sharing information about the case that you haven't heard in the mainstream media.  It was very apparent why Robert Zimmerman was the family spokesman throughout this ordeal.  You can hear the mostly untold story here and here.

Those Non-Existent New Gun Owners

We've been told by folks like the Brady Campaign that all those record breaking gun sale numbers are driven by existing gun owners, that we have less people owning firearms than ever before.

But Fox Business has this report that gives a different picture:

Retailers surveyed by the NSSF, a trade association for the firearms industry, reported that 25.8% of their customers were first-time firearm buyers in 2012. That reflects a slight improvement over the prior year’s 25% but a large jump from 20.8% in 2010.

Tom Gresham gave similar data on his Gun Talk program yesteday.  During a conversation with a caller, Gresham estimated that the number of people owning at least one firearm is over 100 million, about 30% of the nation's population.

A Split in the Community

Over the weekend a split emerged in the pro-rights community on the Manchin/Toomey/Schumer background check amendment.  Alan Gottlieb announced that the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms not only was supporting Manchin/Toomey/Schumer, but that they had a hand writing it and making the claim that the amendment has far more goodies for gun owners than bad measures.  Bitter at Shall Not Be Questioned posted about this yesterday complete with video of Gottlieb talking about CCRKBA's role in the "compromise."  Shortly after her post, Gottlieb appeared on Tom Gresham's Gun Talk Radio program to discuss it further.  You can hear that discussion below.

In short, Gottlieb claims that we are only giving up private checks at gun shows and those advertized over the internet, but we are getting all these pro-rights pieces including:

• Interstate sales of handguns, 
• Veteran gun rights restoration, 
• Travel with firearms protection, 
• Divil and criminal immunity lawsuit protection, 
• The guarantee that people, including federal officers, will go to federal prison for up to 15 years if they attempt to use any gun sales records to set up a gun registry.”

Dave Kopel address the travel with firearms and gun registry here:

The Attorney General may not create a registry from the records of “a person with a valid, current license under this chapter.” In other words, the AG may not harvest the records of persons who currently hold a Federal Firearms License (FFL). Thus, pursuant to inclusio unius, the AG may centralize and consolidate the records of FFLs who have retired from their business.

Under current law, retired FFLs must send their sales records to BATFE. 18 USC 923(g)(4); 27 CFR 478.127. During the Clinton administration, a program was begun to put these records into a consolidated gun registry. The program was controversial and (as far as we know) was eventually stopped. Manchin-Toomey provides it with legal legitimacy.

Then Kopel address the travel provision that Gottlieb promotes:

But notice part (2) of the new definition: a new exclusion for any firearms crime punishable by more than year of imprisonment. In some states, such a crime includes merely not having a state-issued gun permit. So now let’s suppose that the Pennsylvanian is going to Maine. On the way, he travels through Massachusetts. Under current law, FOPA protects him. Under Manchin-Toomey, Massachusetts can arrest and imprison him, and he will have no federal defense. In Massachusetts, possession of a firearm without a state permit is punishable by imprisonment up to to 2 years. Possession outside one’s home or business is a sentence of 2.5 to 5 years, with a mandatory minimum of 18 months. New Jersey and New York City also have penalties of over one year for simple possession without a local permit.

Maybe the Pennsylvanian might qualify for some exemption under the laws of Mass., NYC, or NJ. Or perhaps not. What we know for sure is that today the Pennsylvanian is protected by FOPA, and if Manchin-Toomey passes, he will not be.

On a related note, Larry Keene addressed the issue on Bill Bennett's program this morning. As the trade association for manufacturers and retailers, he is looking at Manchin-Toomey from that perspective and sees a lot to not like in it.

Finally, the editors of National Review had this to say about the "compromise" amendment:

The provision would create new hurdles for law-abiding gun owners, requiring two private parties to seek out — and pay — a federally licensed intermediary before they could carry out a simple transaction. Worse, the vagueness of the legislative language would make it difficult for private sellers to determine if a given sale requires a check. The new regime would make even the most innocently intentioned of firearms transfers significantly more risky for the average American.

In addition to being difficult to comply with, the provision is likely to prove difficult to enforce. Because it would exclude a broad class of transfers, unscrupulous sellers would quickly establish methods of advertising their wares that hid in the lacunae of the legislative language, and adequate enforcement of the law would require police and prosecutors to devote considerable resources to the parsing of close cases and the ferreting out of intent. This mess would likely lead to the reappraisal of today’s legitimate and noncontroversial exclusions as tomorrow’s unacceptable loopholes. Indeed, the very same “gun-show loophole” Toomey/Manchin attempts to close was once a perfectly respectable member of the class of private sales the bill makes a show of protecting.

VSSA stands firm in opposition to Manchin/Toomey/Schumer.