by Bob Barr | Dec 12, 2018 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.com Last week I wrote about a spate of bills in the New York State Senate, sponsored by a liberal Senator from Brooklyn, intending to squash gun ownership across the entire Empire State. On the other side of the Hudson, New Jersey politicians are upping the ante, with a measure signed into law last month that criminalizes speech. Not just any speech, mind you; but speech relating to the Second Amendment. You can still rant in New Jersey about Donald Trump, or call conservatives any manner of vile names. But, if you try to communicate online about certain firearms matters, Bingo! The “Garden State” authorities will come after you for daring to provide instructions for readers to learn how to print plans for a 3-D firearm. This is not about criminalizing the possession of such an instrument (New Jersey competes with its older brother in making it extremely difficult to legally own a firearm at all). The new law makes it illegal to even communicate how to print one. Insidiously, New Jersey political leaders, whose fear of the right to keep and bear arms knows no bounds, have constructed this latest Second Amendment speech infringement in such a way that it effectively makes it unlawful for anyone to place such plans online anywhere, not just in their state. What prompted this draconian measure? One small company — Defense Distributed, a non-profit defense firm based not in Newark or Jersey City, but in Austin, Texas. Defense Distributed had the audacity to provide instructions for individuals who want to try their hand at printing a 3-D firearm to do so. There is, of course, more to...
by Bob Barr | Dec 5, 2018 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.com Not content with enacting some of the most stringent anti-gun laws in the country and abusing its regulatory power by browbeating insurance carriers to not do business with the NRA, New York has launched a new broadside against the Second Amendment. In a move that should set off alarm bells with privacy advocates everywhere and with anyone who uses or has used social media, legislation has been introduced in the state legislature that would force residents seeking to either purchase a rifle or a shotgun from a lawful dealer, or seeking to obtain or renew a pistol permit, to surrender to law enforcement access to their social media history along with their use of internet search engines for the previous three years. This monstrosity of a bill undermines not only an individual’s Second Amendment rights, but those guaranteed by the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments as well. State Sen. Kevin Parker, a Democrat from Brooklyn, is the proud sponsor of the legislation. And, knowing that a majority of his colleagues in the legislature have in the past demonstrated as little regard for constitutional rights as Parker when it comes to the Second Amendment, his bill could very well find its way to Gov. Cuomo’s desk, where it would be gleefully signed into law. In Parker’s view of things, invading a person’s privacy as his bill would do, apparently is a reasonable response to the tragic shooting at a Pittsburgh Synagogue in October. The reality is that Parker’s idea is nowhere close to reasonable or constitutional. What, exactly, would New York’s Finest be looking for, in such canvassing...
by Bob Barr | Dec 4, 2018 | Uncategorized |
The Daily Caller In one of the more blatant examples of a federal agency abusing its power and usurping the power of Congress to legislate, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), reportedly is ready to declare that “bump stocks” are “machine guns” and therefore unlawful to be possessed, except under strict licensing. Gun control activists certainly will cheer this action once it is finalized (which reportedly will be later this month), and the average citizen, if asked, likely would agree that bump stocks should be illegal following the well-publicized use of such a device by mass murder Stephen Paddock in Las Vegas in October 2017. The manner by which the administration is going about making the devices unlawful, however, should be of great concern to all Americans who care not only about sound federal firearms policies but, even more important, the rule of law. Normally, and according to Article I of our Constitution, if the government deems certain activity — such as possessing a machine gun — to be of sufficient danger and therefore should be illegal, the Congress (not an Executive Branch agency) passes legislation to that effect. If signed by the president, that activity becomes unlawful. This is what occurred in the immediate aftermath of Prohibition when the National Firearms Act of 1934 went into effect. That Act defined what a “machine gun” is (essentially a firearm capable of firing more than one round with a single pull of the trigger) and declared that only licensed persons strictly regulated would be permitted to possess such a firearm. The Gun Control Act of 1968 added further restrictions in this area....
