from Ari Armstrong
http://www.co-freedom.com
December 22, 2000
The NRA wants federal agents to "enforce the gun laws on the
books." All 20-plus-thousand of them. As if the feds needed more
encouragement to harass peaceable citizens. Two recent cases illustrate the
moral bankruptcy of the NRA's position.
A December 21 Associated Press article published in the Rocky Mountain News
states:
CHICAGO -- A gun shop owner was sentenced to 2.5 years in federal prison
[December 20] in a crackdown on dealers who arm gangs. A sales clerk received
15 months behind bars.
Chicago police officers testified they bought 25 guns from the B&H gun
shop in Oak Lawn while posing as gang members... The two men were found guilty
of selling guns to straw purchasers...
In other words, the gun sellers were entrapped by the police for the
"crime" of not being able to read minds. The problem is that people
don't tend to walk around with a sign on their foreheads saying, "Straw
purchaser." Instead, "straw purchasers" tend to claim they are
buying a gun for their own use. It's disgusting that the feds would trump up
charges against licensed gun dealers on these grounds. If straw purchasing is a
crime, then isn't it common sense to go after the straw purchaser? But nothing's
common sense about "Project Exile." Instead, the purpose of that
program is to put innocent gun owners behind bars, disrupt honest businesses,
and stigmatize gun ownership. Oh, and to increase the power and budgets of
federal agencies.
The second case involves a man who sold a gun without filing the
state-mandated paperwork. The gun was resold an unknown number of times over a
period of years. The latest owner of the gun used it to murder a police officer.
So the original owner is being charged with involuntary manslaughter. (See the
page 2A article in the December 22 issue of the Rocky Mountain News, reprinted
from the New York Times article by Dirk Johnson.)
So in supporting "Project Exile," the NRA supports the registration
of guns and gun owners with the government. Both "criminal" cases
demonstrate the police-state tactics now employed by our federal government.
What's really sad is that an organization that claims to support civil rights
helps fund Project Gestapo.
Ari Armstrong is our Liberty Ally and editor
of the Colorado Freedom Report, seen at http://www.co-freedom.com.
This article is reprinted here with permission. We urge you to get on Mr.
Armstrong's email list to receive direct updates whenever he puts out new
information.
