Only two weeks into the Appointed One’s presidency and we already see someone trying to invalidate the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution. No, there is no attempt to directly amend the US Constitution, that would require a lot of work, and would get a lot of notice from the voters all across the country. No, what we have here is another attempt to outlaw firearms by way of licensing them.

Just to make sure everyone knows exactly what the US Constitution says:

Article Five
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

So in other words, it requires more than just the US Senate and the US House of Representatives to change the Constitution.

Also, in case anyone has forgotten what the 2nd Amendment actually says, in full:

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.

Even though this has been interpreted and beat to death by lawyers and ‘constitutional scholars’ from both sides of the argument, a common theme has been:

The people’s right to have their own arms for their defense is described in the philosophical and political writings of Aristotle, Cicero, John Locke, Machiavelli, the English Whigs, and others. Though possessing arms appears to be distinct from “bearing” them, the possession of arms is recognized as necessary for and a logical precursor to the bearing of arms. Particularly in the event of oppression or slaughter of people by governments or racial majorities, researchers have noted that exercise of the right to bear arms internationally is intrinsically linked to a people’s ability to possess them, and that the possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave. link

This was confirmed when the US Supreme Court struck down the law banning handgun possession in Washington DC.

Now it seems we have another putz who seems to think they need to restrict our ability to own a firearm.

HR 45 - Congressman Bobby Rush (former black party leader) from Illinois introduced HR 45 to the 111th Congress. It is a sweeping bill requiring registration of all firearms (except antiques) and Federal level licensing of all gun owners. Remember that Bobby Rush served six months in Jail for a 1969 illegal weapons charge. Based on other countries actions, once registration occurs, confiscation will follow.

Also, lest we forget the charges of AWOL leveled against George W Bush, Rush also went AWOL. In 1968, he was AWOL from the US Army, founded the Black Panthers (a known domestic terrorist group) and then was given an honorable discharge from the US Army. I guess it’s ok to go AWOL if you’re a social reformist fighting for civil rights but not ok if you are helping free another country from the grip of communism.

In September of 1968, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover described the Black Panthers as “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country. link

Last year, a similar bill, sponsored by Rush was also co-sponsored by Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s chief of staff. Unlike last year, this year’s bill is gaining a lot of traction.

The bill is kind of difficult to link to on the Thomas Register but if you search on ‘HR 45′, it will show up. I have pasted the crux of the bill here:

The bill’s summary is as follows:

SUMMARY AS OF:
1/6/2009–Introduced.

Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit a person from possessing a firearm unless that person has been issued a firearm license under this Act or a state system certified under this Act and such license has not been invalidated or revoked. Prescribes license application, issuance, and renewal requirements.

Prohibits transferring or receiving a qualifying firearm unless the recipient presents a valid firearms license, the license is verified, and the dealer records a tracking authorization number. Prescribes firearms transfer reporting and record keeping requirements. Directs the Attorney General to establish and maintain a federal record of sale system.

Prohibits: (1) transferring a firearm to any person other than a licensee, unless the transfer is processed through a licensed dealer in accordance with national instant criminal background check system requirements, with exceptions; (2) a licensed manufacturer or dealer from failing to comply with reporting and record keeping requirements of this Act; (3) failing to report the loss or theft of the firearm to the Attorney General within 72 hours; (4) failing to report to the Attorney General an address change within 60 days; or (5) keeping a loaded firearm, or an unloaded firearm and ammunition for the firearm, knowingly or recklessly disregarding the risk that a child is capable of gaining access, if a child uses the firearm and causes death or serious bodily injury.

Prescribes criminal penalties for violations of firearms provisions covered by this Act.

Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish and maintain a firearm injury information clearinghouse; (2) conduct continuing studies and investigations of firearm-related deaths and injuries; and (3) collect and maintain current production and sales figures of each licensed manufacturer.

Authorizes the Attorney General to certify state firearm licensing or record of sale systems.

What we have here is an attempt to do an end run around the 2nd Amendment. They want to license all firearms with the exception of ‘antiques’. As they say, the devil is in the details:

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a)(6) on the afternoon of May 10, 2007, Blair Holt, a junior at Julian High School in Chicago, was killed on a public bus riding home from school when he used his body to shield a girl who was in the line of fire after a young man boarded the bus and started shooting.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(b) (2) it is in the national interest and within the role of the Federal Government to ensure that the regulation of firearms is uniform among the States, that law enforcement can quickly and effectively trace firearms used in crime, and that firearms owners know how to use and safely store their firearms.
(c) Purposes- The purposes of this Act and the amendments made by this Act are–
(1) to protect the public against the unreasonable risk of injury and death associated with the unrecorded sale or transfer of qualifying firearms to criminals and youth;
(3) to restrict the availability of qualifying firearms to criminals, youth, and other persons prohibited by Federal law from receiving firearms; and
(4) to facilitate the tracing of qualifying firearms used in crime by Federal and State law enforcement agencies.

This all clearly states the government wants to restrict ownership. Why do they continue to ignore the simple fact that most firearms used in the commission of a crime are stolen to begin with?

Where is Bobby Rush’s district?

Bobby Lee Rush (born November 23, 1946) is an American politician from Illinois. A Democrat, he has served in the United States House of Representatives as the member from Illinois’ 1st congressional district since 1993. Rush’s district is located principally on the South Side of Chicago. It is a minority-majority district and has a higher percentage of African Americans (65%) than any other congressional district in the nation.

It seems that Wikipedia gives a slightly different breakdown of what Bobby Rush would like to present as the South Side of Chicago.

Segregation meant that blacks became concentrated on the South Side, especially as some whites left. Mid-century industrial restructuring in meat packing and the steel industry meant that many jobs were lost. African Americans who became educated and achieved middle-class jobs also left after Civil Rights Movement achieved changes in housing, and the South Side became relatively depopulated, with a concentration of poor families. It lost many of the businesses and cultural amenities of its peak days. A large Mexican-American population resides in Little Village (South Lawndale) and areas south of 99th Street. [edited]

Street gangs have been prominent in some South Side neighborhoods for over a century, beginning with those of Irish immigrants, who established the first territories against other European immigrants and black migrants. Some other neighborhoods have been relatively safe for a big city. By the 1960s, gangs such as the Vice Lords began to improve their public image, moving from thuggish ventures to obtaining government and private grants. By 2000, gangs crossed gender lines to include about a 20% female composition^. The deep South Side has a population of 752,496 that is over 93% African-American and that includes zip codes that are over 98% black or African-American. link

Now, having never been to that part of Chicago, but from reading that description, it kind of sounds like it’s a toilet, regardless of race. Of course, when you look at a quick description of the Black Panthers, and what they were about, you can kind of understand that this might be a rough part of town.

The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was an African-American organization established to promote Black Power and self-defense through acts of social agitation. It was active in the United States from the mid-1960s into the 1970s. link

To see what the demographics in one of the areas in his district are, take a look here. Isn’t violence normal in low income poverty neighborhoods? Since when is a gun required to commit an act of violence? It also seems that the Illinois 1st Congressional District is where the Appointed One hails from.

The district has the highest percentage (65.5) of African American residents in the nation, and has been represented in Congress by African Americans since 1929. It is also one of the most reliably Democratic districts in the country, although not quite to the extent that it was during the 1980s when over 90% of the district’s residents were black.^[4] The district has not elected a Republican to Congress since 1932, and Democratic candidates routinely receive over 80% of the vote here.

Rush was a co-founder of the Illinois Black Panthers in 1968, establishing a program for free breakfasts for poor children and a clinic for sickle cell anemia screenings. He became a Chicago alderman from 1983 until his election to Congress, and was an ally of Mayor Washington in the Council Wars of the 1980s. He has maintained a solidly liberal voting record in Congress, consistently voting the Democratic position over 90% of the time; when he has broken from the party, it has usually been to take an even more liberal position, rather than that held by Republicans. Rush opposed incumbent Richard M. Daley in the 1999 election for mayor of Chicago, but despite the support of fellow congressmen Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Danny Davis he was backed by only 3 out of 50 aldermen, and lost the election by a margin of 72%-28%; he managed only a 55%-45% advantage among black voters. Barack Obama opposed Rush in the 2000 congressional primary, but Rush emerged with a 61%-30% win over Obama. Redistricting following the 2000 Census moved Obama’s home into the 2nd District, although he has since moved back into the 1st District.

Rush has focused much of his attention in Congress on urban revitalization issues, and he was a staunch supporter of gun control efforts even before his adult son Huey (named for Black Panther leader Huey Newton) was killed in a 1999 mugging. Rush has generally received perfect ratings of 100 from labor groups including the AFL-CIO and AFSCME, and occasionally also from Americans for Democratic Action, the ACLU and the National Abortion Rights Action League; he received corresponding 0 ratings from the American Conservative Union in 6 of his first 12 years in office. link

The emphasis of certain parts above are mine, to highlight his intent and where he’s coming from. It’s pretty plain and simple, his purpose is to remove firearms from the slums of his district, thinking that it will reduce crime. Typical knee-jerk reaction to a liberal gun-control nut. With his buddy, the Appointed One, in office, he think she can get it through.

To make sure you understand the extent of this law, you need to see what he ahs defined as should be licensed:

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
(a)(2) QUALIFYING FIREARM- The term `qualifying firearm’ has the meaning given the term in section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, as amended by subsection (b) of this section.
(b) Amendment to Title 18, United States Code- Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
`(36) The term `qualifying firearm’–
`(A) means–
`(i) any handgun; or
`(ii) any semiautomatic firearm that can accept any detachable ammunition feeding device; and
`(B) does not include any antique.’.

In other words, anything more than a buffalo rifle from the mid-1800’s.

By reviewing the crime statistics from the Illinois State Police, working with the FBI to tabulate the crime rates, Illinois’ crime rates have gone down…. CONSIDERABLY Even the murder rate went down! The 2006-2007 stats show for Cook County alone, the murder rate decreased 9.7%

From the looks of the statistics, and Bobby Rush’s past associations and causes, this is nothing more than an attempt by another liberal to come restrict freedoms, continue building the nanny state, and in Bobby’s case, probably to come through on campaign promises.

Unless you want to defend yourself like you hunted buffalo in the mid-1800’s, you had better start making calls to your local Congress Critter, or those who will vote on this in committee. Unless you want to defend your home, family, and country with a black powder pistol, you had better start making calls to your local Congress Critter, or those who will vote on this in committee. Unless you want the government to be able to walk into your home and take you away for abiding by your constitutional rights under the 2nd Amendment, you had better start making calls to your local Congress Critter, or those who will vote on this in committee.

The folks you need to call are the people who sit on the House Judiciary Committee:

Chairman	Conyers Jr	(D) MI		Ranking Member		Smith		(R) TX
	Berman	(D) CA				Sensenbrenner Jr.		(R) WI
	Boucher	(D) VA				Coble		(R) NC
	Nadler	(D) NY				Gallegly		(R) CA
	Scott	(D) VA				Goodlatte		(R) VA
	Watt	(D) NC				Lungren		(R) CA
	Lofgren	(D) CA				Issa		(R) CA
	Jackson Lee	(D) TX				Forbes		(R) VA
	Waters	(D) CA				King		(R) IA
	Delahunt	(D) MA				Franks		(R) AZ
	Wexler	(D) FL				Gohmert		(R) TX
	Cohen	(D) TN				Jordan		(R) OH
	Jognson	(D) GA				Poe		(R) TX
	Pierluisi	(D) PR				Chaffetz		(R) UT
	Gutierrez	(D) IL				Rooney		(R) FL
	Sherman	(D) CA				Harper		(R) MS
	Baldwin	(D) WI
	Gonzalez	(D) TX
	Weiner	(D) NY
	Schiff	(D) CA
	Sanchez	(D) CA
	Wasserman Shultz	(D) FL
	Maffei	(D) NY

Since these days, folks from Congress and the Senate seem to be moving on to ‘greener’ pastures since the Appointed One was made president, the constituency of the committee may change. You should be able to keep up with it here.

—>Gardie

Tags: 2nd amendment, constitution, gun control