Frank Lautenberg’s at it again. S. 843 is a piece of legislation intended to “establish background check procedures for gun shows.”
Because, as we all know, gun shows represent a huge artery of supply to the criminal community:
The wording isn’t up yet, but it’s safe to assume that Here is the wording, and it’s a carbon copy of S. 2577, which he tried to get passed last year. In fact, he’s been trying to get something like this passed every year since the twilight of the Clinton administration.
Last year’s bill would have required gun show promoters to register and report to the Attorney General. In part,
[S. 2577] grants the Attorney General authority to enter the place of business of any gun show promoter and any place where a gun show is held, during business hours and without a showing of reasonable cause or a warrant, for purposes of examining records and the inventory of licensees conducting business to determine compliance with this Act.
Fortunately, the bill never made it to committee, much less to the floor.
Lautenberg was also a co-sponsor of the original Brady Bill, and he wrote the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, also known as the “Lautenberg Amendment,” in 1997.
The list of co-sponsors for S. 843 is a bit telling. Though three of the co-sponsors from last year have bowed out, we still have the usual suspects, including Dick Durbin, Dianne Feinstein, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and Chuck Schumer. That’s to be expected.
The rather rude surprise is the presence of Kirsten Gillibrand’s name on the bill. I’m not going to call for her head; I think it’s safe to assume that she’s been under an insurmountable amount of pressure. Heck, even John McCain supported stricter controls on gun shows, and signing on to this may have been Gillibrand’s way of appeasing the Left, who have been somewhat less than…accomodating to her.
In fact, Carolyn McCarthy nearly soiled herself when Gillibrand was given the seat. And I quote: “I’m not going to let New York State get represented by someone who gets a 100 percent rating from the NRA.” McCarthy is now running against Gillibrand for her Senate seat.
So, did Gillibrand turn tail? Unlikely. The mythical “gun show loophole” seems to be an issue that politicians from both sides can cautiously support, while each appears to be “reaching across the aisle.” Republicans can say it’s only a minor infringement, and the Democrats can claim a victory for gun control should it pass.
This is the kind of legislation that scares me. You can keep the national registrations and blanket bans; those don’t stand much of a chance in the current climate. What can fly is something “moderate” like this.
Between the Heller and Nordyke decisions, we’ve gained more ground in the last two years than we have since…well, since I can remember. Despite the President’s record and initial pronouncements, he’s quietly backed away from the issue, and when his subordinates have spoken out in support of new restrictions, they’ve been quickly silenced.
But it only takes one victory for them to get their foot back in the door, and we can’t let that happen.
Contact your legislators. Don’t harangue them with “my cold, dead hands” slogans: point out the expense of implementing and enforcing such measures, and point out how ineffective they ultimately are. Money talks in politics, and right about now, it does so with quite a resonant voice.