By Alan Korwin
PHOENIX, AZ –-(Ammoland.com)- The lamestream media told you:
According to published reports (AP, 3/14/13), Sen. Charles Schumer, speaking about his proposed background-check bill S.374, said, “The bill explicitly says there is no registration, explicitly says no confiscation.”
The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
A number of Page Nine readers misunderstood my recent offer to Mr. Schumer (though most got it), when I suggested we take him up on this part of his plan. We’ll have nothing to do with the so-called background check part, because that’s just a coverup for gun registration and everyone knows that. But the no-confiscation and no-registration part might be a good idea, let’s see a bill for that part, and maybe agree at least there. I don’t think that’s what he expected, but why not try to hold him to his own words.
Now for the irony. His bill says nothing of the sort.
There are no explicit, implicit or smoke signals dealing with a restriction on gun confiscations or registration. We can only assume the Associated Press got it wrong, played along, failed to read the bill, took Schumer at his word, misquoted, misheard, quoted someone else, hey I’m running out of excuses here.
Even if it’s in there somehow and I missed it (the bill does it’s deeds in only 15 pages), we all know by now that a Schumery statement in a bill such as “There shall be no such act…” is meaningless tripe, lets the government walk, and must be coupled with punishment to count. “Anyone who acts thus shall pay…” is where the teeth are. Make it comitatus law or legislators are lying, it’s that simple. If they mean it, they can say it, no problem. The idea of prison terms for actual or attempted confiscations or registrations remain sound.
I think what threw some people was the headline, designed to attract the media’s attention. Which it did.
The only part of Schumer’s plan that gun owners might accept, depending on the final draft, would be arresting politicians for infringement. A cool word we should be using more often.
The original letter to the editor (it got a lot of ink nationwide):
Gun Owners Could Back Part of Schumer’s Plan
Dear Editor,
According to published reports (AP, 3/14/13), Sen. Charles Schumer, speaking about his proposed background-check bill, said, “The bill explicitly says there is no registration, explicitly says no confiscation.” It’s good that Mr. Schumer put this on the table, it’s a step in the right direction.
The firearms community might accept this, in principle, with slightly different wording. It’s a question of laws with teeth. What if, instead of saying “no gun registration,” Schumer’s bill said, “Anyone who creates or attempts to create any sort of gun registration shall go to prison.”
Think of it as constitutional comitatus law — law with teeth that holds officials accountable, instead of laws that merely make statements (like Mr. Schumer’s draft). The rewrite is modeled after our posse comitatus law that has worked so well for a century and a half.
Similarly, instead of “explicitly” saying no confiscation, let it say, “Anyone who confiscates or attempts to confiscate firearms (or ammo or accessories) that the public bears shall go to prison, too. And pay serious fines.” Mr. Schumer’s noble assurance would be met.
I’ll bet the pro-rights community might support Mr. Schumer along those lines, and we’d have at least partial agreement at last. Let’s work together for reasonable bipartisan compromise. No registration and no confiscation, under penalty of law. It’s just common sense. Honest legislators should have no reason to object.
Note: Because the NICS background-check system is inherently a registration-prone model, the registration-free BIDS model should get serious consideration at this point in time. https://www.gunlaws.com/
BIDSvNICS.htm
About GunLaws.com:
Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Bloomfield Press, founded in 1988, is the largest publisher and distributor of gun-law books in the country. Our website, gunlaws.com, features a free national directory to gun laws and relevant contacts in all states and federally, along with our unique line of related books and DVDs. “After Your Shoot” for media review is available on request, call 800-707-4020. Our authors are available for interview, call to schedule. Call for cogent positions on gun issues, informed analysis on proposed laws, talk radio that lights up the switchboard, fact sheets and position papers. As we always say, “It doesn’t make sense to own a gun and not know the rules.” Visit: www.gunlaws.com