Obama plans to start 2016 out with a bang, or what I have labeled the beginnings of a “horrible version of short timers syndrome.” In light of numerous high-profile massacres in recent years, the President plans to do something that would not have helped in any way whatsoever. Why? Because you should never let a tragedy go to waste.
Twenty years after President Clinton tackled gun control by drastically reducing the number of licensed firearms dealers in the U.S., President Obama is preparing to tackle gun control by increasing the number of licensed gun dealers.
The different approaches of the two Democratic presidents is just one sign of how the politics of firearms has been transformed, and of Mr. Obama’s scaled-back ambitions despite a string of high-profile gun massacres during his time in office.
The target is apparently the “gun show loophole.” Once again, I’ll note, the actions proposed would not have stopped the mass shootings that our Commander-In-Pander is using to push his agenda.
The action contemplated by the White House hinges on the legal definition of those who are “engaged in the business” of buying and selling guns for profit as their livelihood. Current law doesn’t set a total number of annual gun sales to qualify as a business, but Democratic lawmakers and gun control advocacy groups are urging the White Houseto issue the rule as a way to close the “gun show loophole” that allows firearms to be sold without background checks at such expositions.
As Brian Doherty with Reason so eloquently put it:
Remember, more background checks would have done nothing to stop any of the public atrocities that allegedly inspired the move. Indeed, I’d be interested if the White House could deliver verifiable numerical facts about how many gun murders in the past few years could reliably have been prevented by such background check law expansion, even if they assumed the insane: that indeed no one ever would sell a gun citizen-to-citizen without a background check if there were a law against it.
Similar to how the terrorists in Paris were able to get their hands on a small arsenal of Kalashnikov assault rifles, despite the incredibly stringent weapons laws in Europe.
Now, Obama’s promises were much grander in the beginning – closing the supposed gun-show loophole is minor compared to his original scope – which leads us to wonder if this is him simply appeasing the masses.
Neither comes close to the stronger gun control measures Obama sought in the wake of the 2012 mass shooting of schoolchildren in Sandy Hook and that he has said he still wants. But with Congress unlikely to approve any new gun curbs before the 2016 election, the measures are in line with what gun-control advocates were hoping would be adopted before Obama leaves office.
The purpose of a GOP majority – one lacking a veto proof majority – during a Democrat presidency is to stop bad legislation more than it is to pass good legislation. When it comes to our 2nd Amendment rights, our GOP majority has done a fine job of restricting the President from what I can assume would have been some drastic measures were a Democrat majority in place; where they surely would have been found riding the waves of mass hysteria to unprecedented levels of destruction.
Regardless, even this “small move,” could potentially have a fairly hefty impact – making it more important than ever for us in the Republican Party to get serious about a presidential candidate that has a shot at beating Hillary and undoing this mess.
The background check change has been anticipated for months. Obama will tighten the definition of what it means to be “engaged in the business” of firearms sales. Currently, the law says people who sell guns with the “principal objective of livelihood and profit” have to get a dealer’s license through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — and therefore conduct a background check on buyers no matter where they sell, including online or at a gun show.
It’s unclear whether a lot more dealers would line up for licenses. But gun-control advocates say a better definition would make it much easier to prosecute sellers who should, but don’t. Only about half of the people who are tried for selling guns without a license are convicted by juries, according to a report from Everytown, the pro-gun control group led by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The facts continue to show that national murder rates continue to drop.
And while advocates for gun-control are content to dance on whatever graves become available after a mass shooting, despite the facts behind the shooting, the public isn’t falling for it.
But despite the clear desire of a class of Democratic Party politicians, no enormous amount of additional concrete damage to Second Amendment rights happened in 2015. The American people continue to like it that way, and continue to add to their personal supply of weapons in record numbers, such as the likely 185,000 single-day Black Friday gun sales figures. Although 2015 also featured great brouhaha over mostly bogus claims of an epidemic of public mass shootings, national murder rates in latest available year to year figures continue to go down.
So there you have it. Different year, same Obama. His constant attacks on the rights of Americans have become so frequent that it’s no longer surprising. As of the writing of this post, we are down to 311 days, 7486 hours, or 449,220 minutes away from November 8th. But who’s counting?
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