Is Obama Ready To Take On The Gun Lobby?

[jpak]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dennis-a-henigan/is-obama-ready-to-take-on_b_899868.html

The Obama Administration has taken a modest, though useful, step toward curbing the torrent of assault rifles flowing from U.S. gun shops into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels. Hopefully, it reflects a new willingness by the President to take on the gun lobby.

The Justice Department announced it will go forward to implement its proposed requirement that gun dealers in four states bordering Mexico notify federal law enforcement authorities whenever there is a multiple purchase of certain semi-automatic rifles. It is now clear that the sickening Mexican drug violence is fed primarily by guns trafficked from U.S. gun shops. It is equally clear that semi-automatic assault rifles are the cartels' weapon of choice. The new reporting requirement will give the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) timely notice when someone buys 5, 10, 20 or even more assault rifles from a dealer. This information allows ATF to identify the individuals who are likely functioning as straw buyers for the cartels, giving law enforcement a chance to arrest the traffickers, and interdict the guns, before they get to the border.

Of course, the National Rifle Association (edit - morans) is in full lather about the new rule, promising a lawsuit and sending its lobbyists on a beeline to Capitol Hill to get Congress to block the rule from ever taking effect. Apparently the NRA wants to ensure that when a straw buyer walks away from a border state gun shop with 10 AR-15 assault rifles, that transaction will remain a dirty little secret between the buyer and the dealer. That is, until one of the guns is used against a Mexican police chief and the gun eventually is traced back to the U.S. gun shop.

In the recent hearings convened by Rep. Daryl Issa (R- edit-moran CA) on an ATF anti-trafficking operation dubbed "Fast and Furious," Issa and the NRA were stung by the testimony of one of Issa's own witnesses, an ATF agent from Phoenix who told Issa's committee that the proposed rifle multiple sale reporting rule would be a valuable new tool against trafficking. Given that the "Fast and Furious" operation has come under fire because ATF may have allowed guns to "walk" into Mexico, instead of stopping them before they got there, it seems odd that the NRA and other ATF critics also would object to a reporting requirement that would give ATF a better chance to stop trafficked guns before they cross the border.

<more>

Sic 'em Mister President - make them eat their peas.

:patriot: