Biden's New ATF Nominee and New Gun Control Efforts

[Belsnickel]

So, in case anyone missed this yesterday, but this shit show was an interesting one.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/04/11/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-april-11-2022/

I'm going to go through some points in this speech and talk about them a little bit.

Quote:Buyers aren’t required to pass background checks.  Because guns have no serial numbers — these guns — when they show up at a crime scene, they can’t be traced.  Harder to find and prove who used them.  Meaning you can’t connect the gun to the shooter and hold them accountable.

Biden talks a few times about these kits. These are sometimes called "P80s" or "Polymer 80s". These kits re 80% complete lowers/receivers/frames which means they aren't a firearm in and of themselves. They require the buyer to complete and assemble the firearm. So what's the big deal? Well, this changes already defined and approved items for sale. These definitions are also made by law, so an executive agency changing this is not exactly something that should be done.

I am also genuinely curious about the number of 80% lowers being found at crime scenes, too. I'm not really buying this. Criminals aren't the types to put the work into these projects and then leave it at a crime scene. They may have stolen them or bought one off of someone which would already be illegal and wouldn't be solved with these regulations. 

Quote:I was getting criticized when I first passed this law when I was a senator.  And guess what?  I was down in southern Delaware — they do a lot of hunting and fishing down there — and I was walking up one of the creek beds.  And a guy standing said, “You want to take my gun?”  I said, “I don’t want to take your gun.”  He said, “Well, you’re telling me I can’t have more than X number of bullets in a — in a — in my gun.”  And I said, “What — do you think the deer you’re hunting wear Kevlar vests?  What the hell you need 20 bullets for?  You must be a hell of a terrible shot.”  (Laughter.)

This has always been a stupid line. Now, I say this as an avid hunter that uses a single-shot rifle or a bolt action with three rounds. The whole Kevlar vest thing, though? More bullets doesn't help that. AP rounds do.

Quote:Outright banning the sale and possession of un-serialized guns.

From the very beginnings of this country, through all of the gun control laws passed, the one thing that has stood is that Americans could make their own firearms. You can't sell them, but you can make them. That's the law, and there is no regulation done through executive action that could change that legally. 

Quote:Eliminate gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability.  They’re the only outfit — (applause) — they’re the only outfit in the country that is immune.

Quote:Look, this is incredibly rare because gun manufacturers have more immunity from liability than any other American industry, so they have never had to take responsibility for the death and destruction their products cause.  But as part of this settlement, Remington agreed to release thousands of pages of internal documents.

Not true. What they are attempting to do is place additional liability that is beyond what is normally done on the firearms industry. No other industry is held liable for what their end consumers do with their legally produced products. Period. If I go stab someone with my pocket knife, Benchmade isn't getting sued. If I run someone over with my car, Subaru isn't getting sued. If I kick someone in the face, Danner isn't getting sued. Why should Glock get sued if I shoot someone?

Quote:And, by the way — it’s going to sound bizarre — I support the Second Amendment.  You have a right.  But from the very beginning, the Second Amendment didn’t say you can own any gun you want, big as you want.  You couldn’t buy a cannon when, in fact, the Second Amendment passed.  And certain people from the very beginning weren’t allowed to purchase guns.  It’s nothing new.  It’s just rational.

Actually, you've always been able to buy a cannon. Still can. From the very beginning until today we have allowed our people to own cannons. We've even contracted people with cannons to use them for us ever since the early days of our country. We hired privateers which were private citizens that owned a ton of cannons and set them loose on our enemies.

Quote:Today, to lead and support the dedicated men and women of the AFT [ATF], I am proud to nominate Steve Del- — Dettelbach — excuse me, I mispronounced your name — I just — as Director of Bureau of Al- — Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Steve is immensely qualified.  He served the Department of Justice for two decades.  He worked side by side to support the work of federal, state, and local law enforcement, including AFT [ATF] agents.  And one of those was he — a case he was — personally tried as a U.S. Attorney, where the serial arsonist firebombed the courthouses and police headquarters in Mansfield, Ohio.

Again!? Seriously? And not just once, but at least three times he calls it the AFT. After the fiasco last time you would think they would have been more keen on reining that it.