{"article":{"id":146885,"heading":"america going down the drain","author":"steve","created":"2006-02-11 09:38:28","modified":"2007-09-19 17:29:53","last_modified":"Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:29:53","article":"

> ALERT FROM JEWS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FIREARMS OWNERSHIP

> America's Aggressive Civil Rights Organization

>

> February 9, 2006

>

> JPFO ALERT: Congressional Hearings on the BATFE

>

> In August of 2005, participants at gun shows in Virginia

> were shocked to discover that while they were purchasing

> perfectly legal firearms, BATFE agents visited their homes

> and their neighbors' homes, asking questions like, \"Do

> you know your spouse\/neighbor is buying a gun? How do you

> feel about that?\" (1) Agents obtained the residence

> information from purchase forms that buyers are required to

> fill out ... a clear violation of federal law.

>

> Now, seven months later, the U.S. House Judiciary

> Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security will

> hold an oversight hearing to investigate apparent

> wrongdoing by BATFE. The hearings will be held on February

> 15, at 4:00 p.m. While we applaud the fact that _someone_

> is looking into the issue, we remain skeptical as to the

> outcome.

>

> For one, the hearing is being chaired by James M.

> Sensenbrenner. Despite the (R) after his name,

> Sensenbrenner has shown multiple times that he is no

> ALERT FROM JEWS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FIREARMS OWNERSHIP

> America's Aggressive Civil Rights Organization

>

> February 9, 2006

>

> JPFO ALERT: Congressional Hearings on the BATFE

>

> In August of 2005, participants at gun shows in Virginia

> were shocked to discover that while they were purchasing

> perfectly legal firearms, BATFE agents visited their homes

> and their neighbors' homes, asking questions like, \"Do

> you know your spouse\/neighbor is buying a gun? How do you

> feel about that?\" (1) Agents obtained the residence

> information from purchase forms that buyers are required to

> fill out ... a clear violation of federal law.

>

> Now, seven months later, the U.S. House Judiciary

> Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security will

> hold an oversight hearing to investigate apparent

> wrongdoing by BATFE. The hearings will be held on February

> 15, at 4:00 p.m. While we applaud the fact that _someone_

> is looking into the issue, we remain skeptical as to the

> outcome.

>

> For one, the hearing is being chaired by James M.

> Sensenbrenner. Despite the (R) after his name,

> Sensenbrenner has shown multiple times that he is no friend

> of gun owners. Author of the Real ID Act (2), Sensenbrenner

> vigorously defended the BATFE after the John Glover

> travesty (3). Not content with that, he has also refused to

> allow HR 1603 -- the \"Fairness in Firearms Testing\" bill

> (4) -- out of the _same_ committee now conducting these

> hearings! With Sensenbrenner's record of support for the

> State over the individual, how impartial can the hearings

> be? That it was scheduled for 4pm -- too late for it to be

> part of the evening news -- is equally telling. Are gun

> owners being set up for betrayal yet again?

>

> There's no dispute that the Virginia incidents were

> completely unacceptable violations of individuals' rights

> (as well as violations of federal law!). But we must ask,

> what about all of the innocent gun owners currently rotting

> in prison or left financially destitute as a direct result

> of BATFE's capricious and arbitrary actions (5)? Will the

> hearings address those who are falsely accused based on

> dubious informant tips, set up by \"experts\" who don't

> bother to examine the firearm in question (6), and

> convicted on the subjective opinion of those same \"experts\"

> (7)?

>

> The BATFE has been known as a rogue agency for decades, yet

> no one -- neither Democrat nor Republican -- has

> attempted to rein them in. The few investigations into this

> organization have netted at most a slap on the wrist. Why?

> Because they are useful to those who wish to gather and

> maintain power. A police state, after all, must have its

> police force.

>

> We must continue to educate everyone -- even those who

> neither own nor like firearms -- about the dangerous power

> of the BATFE, and the precedent it sets. If one agency can

> arbitrarily decide whether an object is \"legal\" (without

> any standards or documented testing procedures), than ANY

> agency can. After all, if the BATFE can decide a shoestring

> is a machine gun (8), what is to prevent the DEA from

> declaring your greenhouse a \"drug manufacturing plant\"?

>

> This issue affects all Americans, regardless of political

> affiliation. Please, please take a moment to join our \"Boot

> the BATFE\" campaign at http:\/\/www.jpfo.org\/bootbatfe.htm<\/a> .

> We must continue to make noise about this issue and demand

> our representatives do whatever it takes to put the BATFE

> genie back in its bottle.

>

> With all of the documented abuses the BATFE has indulged

> in, there is NO excuse for defending this agency gone mad.

> Anyone who defends, condones, or apologizes for the BATFE

> is either willfully ignorant ... or maliciously power-

> hungry. Boot them out of your lives, and tell them why. The

> American people have tolerated this monstrosity for far too

> long.

>

> - The Liberty Crew

>

> (1) \"BATFE Sinks to New Low in Richmond\"

> http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/cz324<\/a>

friend

> of gun owners. Author of the Real ID Act (2), Sensenbrenner

> vigorously defended the BATFE after the John Glover

> travesty (3). Not content with that, he has also refused to

> allow HR 1603 -- the \"Fairness in Firearms Testing\" bill

> (4) -- out of the _same_ committee now conducting these

> hearings! With Sensenbrenner's record of support for the

> State over the individual, how impartial can the hearings

> be? That it was scheduled for 4pm -- too late for it to be

> part of the evening news -- is equally telling. Are gun

> owners being set up for betrayal yet again?

>

> There's no dispute that the Virginia incidents were

> completely unacceptable violations of individuals' rights

> (as well as violations of federal law!). But we must ask,

> what about all of the innocent gun owners currently rotting

> in prison or left financially destitute as a direct result

> of BATFE's capricious and arbitrary actions (5)? Will the

> hearings address those who are falsely accused based on

> dubious informant tips, set up by \"experts\" who don't

> bother to examine the firearm in question (6), and

> convicted on the subjective opinion of those same \"experts\"

> (7)?

>

> The BATFE has been known as a rogue agency for decades, yet

> no one -- neither Democrat nor Republican -- has

> attempted to rein them in. The few investigations into this

> organization have netted at most a slap on the wrist. Why?

> Because they are useful to those who wish to gather and

> maintain power. A police state, after all, must have its

> police force.

>

> We must continue to educate everyone -- even those who

> neither own nor like firearms -- about the dangerous power

> of the BATFE, and the precedent it sets. If one agency can

> arbitrarily decide whether an object is \"legal\" (without

> any standards or documented testing procedures), than ANY

> agency can. After all, if the BATFE can decide a shoestring

> is a machine gun (8), what is to prevent the DEA from

> declaring your greenhouse a \"drug manufacturing plant\"?

>

> This issue affects all Americans, regardless of political

> affiliation. Please, please take a moment to join our \"Boot

> the BATFE\" campaign at http:\/\/www.jpfo.org\/bootbatfe.htm<\/a> .

> We must continue to make noise about this issue and demand

> our representatives do whatever it takes to put the BATFE

> genie back in its bottle.

>

> With all of the documented abuses the BATFE has indulged

> in, there is NO excuse for defending this agency gone mad.

> Anyone who defends, condones, or apologizes for the BATFE

> is either willfully ignorant ... or maliciously power-

> hungry. Boot them out of your lives, and tell them why. The

> American people have tolerated this monstrosity for far too

> long.

>

> - The Liberty Crew

>

> (1) \"BATFE Sinks to New Low in Richmond\"

> http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/cz324<\/a> <\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"commentary","numcomment":3,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2006\/02\/146885.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}