By J Gary DiLaura
WHY WAS THE “BUMP STOCK” APPROVED BY ATF?
Our prayers are with those souls that went to a concert for fun, a good time and ran away fearing for their lives; we feel the pain of the loved ones left behind. May God bless them all!
In my opinion, with few exceptions, we already have every law you can think of, regarding guns! We don’t need any more. Maybe we need a better way of evaluating new gadgets and for sure a better agency to do it.
The National Firearms Act (NFA) was enacted in 1934; it was amended by the Gun Control Act in 1968 and the Firearm Owners Protection Act in 1986. The Firearm Owners Protection Act amended the National Firearms Act to include within the definition of “machine gun” any part designed and intended solely and exclusively for use in converting a weapon to a machine. That IS what the Bump Stock does!
BUMP STOCK
Who in their right mind would allow a product on the market that allows a semi auto gun to fire full auto, when that is specifically prohibited by the National Firearms Act? The same ATF, the same DOJ, the same Attorney General and the same President that came up with Fast and Furious… the dumbest idea ever… allowing 2,000 illegal guns to “walk” into Mexico! My God, Eric, what the hell were you thinking?!
Didn’t ATF demo the Bump Stock? The gun fire we heard on 10-1-17 was full auto fire and NOT “simulated” auto fire! If it was accomplished by use of the Bump Stock, any idiot who demonstrated the device should have been able to figure that out! The Bump Stock allows auto fire, not “simulated” auto fire! Those poor people aren’t “simulated” dead!
“Well, the finger fired it ever time”. Answer: “Its full auto, idiot! It don’t matter how it fired full auto… it’s full auto, because of a “part!” I wonder if the same genius ATF Agent who was the “master mind” of Fast and Furious, test fired the Bump Stock! In 2010, ATF sent a letter to the manufacturer redefining the word “part” in the NFA and said it was permitted! Another poor decision! Read on and you’ll see why I feel and have felt the ATF must be dissolved!
I have arrested several subjects on NFA charges… in my opinion, any device/modification that allows the shooter to fire any gun full auto with anything other than an unaided human finger is a device/modification that is not allowed.
Any “parts” that allow single pull, auto fire, are already banned. The “crank” trigger makes the weapon fire at an automatic rate of fire and should be banned. No “device” of any kind should be allowed! Pulling the trigger as fast as you can is okay and can be as fast as some machine guns but cannot be sustained for long.
If a gun is manufactured full auto, then that’s what it is and must fall under the NFA. If a gun is manufactured semi auto then that’s what it is and cannot under any circumstances fire full auto, that’s the NFA, period and it’s that simple!
ATF
The ATF has demonstrated poor judgment throughout their history, this time it’s a mistake in interpretation of full automatic… you heard the Bump Stock “assisted fire”… was it full auto? Their poor judgment is not every now and then, but as if it’s in their training manual! “Let’s allow 2,000 guns to go to the most dangerous drug cartels in Mexico and see what happens!”
The ATF is an agency that should be dissolved and all Gun Act law enforcement functions transferred to the FBI. The regulatory function and serial number trace can be easily handled by something less than an ATF agency! Regulatory should go to a gun regulatory agency with no arrest powers and their valuable EOD (Bomb Function) rolled into a separate Bomb/ EOD Agency. Both federal and local law enforcement can be served with their very competent and valuable EOD functions!
The ATF has been one of the most incompetent federal law enforcement agencies that walked the earth. Just think about the massive blunders we know about; think about how many massive blunders we don’t know about?
WACO… that falls squarely on the shoulders of the ATF! They could have arrested David Koresh away from the compound the day before “the raid” or any time they wanted as he traveled to town regularly! But ATF wanted a confrontation, in my humble opinion! Same with Ruby Ridge… again, they didn’t have to “raid” the cabin. Randy Weaver attended gun shows, but arrest opportunities were passed up and a “raid” by federal agents resulted in a dead marshal and others. The FBI HRT was pulled into the nightmare that ATF, and not the US Marshals caused!
In my opinion, ATF has always had something to prove… that they could conduct dangerous raids and outperform “other” federal agencies and they have proven, over and over, something else instead… they can’t!!!
FAST AND FURIOUS
Then there was Fast and Furious, the Arizona ATF Office idea, which resulted in who knows how many deaths (at least 130 Mexican deaths according to Mexican authorities) and the death of a US Border Patrol Agent. Eric Holder refused to cooperate with the Congressional investigation, denied knowledge and became the FIRST ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE US HELD IN CONTEMPT BY CONGRESS! An inept ATF working with a corrupt AG and an anti-American, agenda oriented President Obama… 2,000, that’s two thousand guns walked, think about that for a while?! That’s enough to arm a medium size army!
The ATF has primary jurisdiction on gun matters unless the gun is a part of the FBI’s substantive investigation. If a bank robber had a machine gun, we charged him with federal gun charges. We then called ATF as a courtesy, to go on the arrest, with great hesitation, because they were very heavy handed, would not follow our lead and many times “caused” the subject to fight. Our complaints fell on deaf ears! After one really dangerous fight they caused, we told their powers-at-be that they would not participate in any further arrests with the Bank Robbery squad, period!
The EOD guys were different… they are competent; think about it… they have to be!
No one wants to point fingers but something has to be done or done-away-with – the AFT. Maybe the Bump Stock is not their fault. Maybe when they demonstrated it they used a “bait and switch” bump stock that had a heavy spring because what we heard WAS auto fire by any definition! Maybe Congressman John Dingle was correct in 2008 when he called the ATF “jack booted thugs” during the hearing on their abuses! They should have nothing to do with the National Firearms Act and no arrest powers. If it looks like a machine gun, shoots like a machine gun, sounds like a machine gun… it’s a machine gun and I don’t care what causes it to shoot like a machine gun!
My opinion! Retired FBI, Firearms Expert!
THE 2ND AMENDMENT, TYRANNY AND THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
Look at the Congressional Record, circa 1789, and see what the drafters of the Constitution were trying to accomplish! It is how to prevent tyranny and not whether they should! It becomes overwhelmingly obvious, due to what the numerous representatives said on record, how they accomplished that goal… the Constitution with the first 12 Amendments. They originally proposed 12, with 3 to 12, as the Bill of Rights! They ratified 1 to 10 later as the Bill of Rights.
The Representatives repeatedly said, “No Soldier Shall be quartered in any private house, in time of Peace, nor at any time, but by authority of law”.
On August 17, 1789, Rep. Burke proposed to insert, “A standing army of regular troops in time of peace, is dangerous to public liberty, and shall not be raised or kept up in time of peace but from necessity, and for the security of the people, nor then “without” the consent of two-thirds of the members present of both houses, and in all cases the military shall be subordinate to the civil authority.”*
The Representatives said repeatedly that an armed citizen is necessary to defend against tyranny, and an army during peace time would be a danger to our freedom from tyranny; that a ruthless American leader and his army could become the King of America. They wanted a State Militia but wanted the militia free from martial law unless during a “time of war”. They did not want any president to have control of the state militias and wanted the “armed citizen” to be the stop gap.
Why would anyone say the purpose of the 2nd Amendment, the one immediately after the freaking 1st, is anything but to preserve, protect and defend the freedoms provided by the 1st and the rest! It is not for hunting and gathering, sporting, home defense… it is to PROTECT, PRESERVE AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION! AND IT IS WORKING! No nation will ever attack the US while she has 130 MILLION armed citizens!
An original copy of the amendments proposed by the Congress, and sent to the State of Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations, does survive. Certified as a true copy by Assembly Secretary Henry Ward, it reads in part:
“A well regulated Militia being necessary to the Security of a free State, the Right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.”
Make all the laws you want, but you cannot legislate stupid or crazy!
I submit that the people who depend on armed guards the most, do not want “their” armed body guards taken away! The armed elites are the first ones to say, “Disarm America… but not me!”
Like the president of MGM, who dealt with those geniuses regularly, once said, “Who cares what actors have to say?”
My opinion and I’m sticking to it!
* US Congressional Record 1789