The Two Faced NRA
7-1-12
There is no doubt that "Operation Fast and Furious" was a terrible and damaging scheme, but who was really behind it, responsible for it and knew about it, still remains unknown. What is obvious is that the NRA saw it as a tremendous opportunity to convince Congress to find Attorney General Eric Holden in contempt, implying that the Obama Administration was lax in curbing gun flow to the Mexican drug cartels.
The NRA has spent billions over the years touting the second amendment's "right to possess and bear arms." I agree and would be a member myself except for one thing. We did not have AK47s when the Constitution was written and the NRA refuses to limit their "right to possess and bear" to hand guns and shot guns.
In 1986, the NRA backed Owner Protection Act eased regulations of licensees and placed severe restrictions on the US Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm's ability to weed out illegitimate gun dealers. By 1992, the number of "kitchen table" dealers in the US ballooned to 245,000. This huge loophole in the federal law exploited high volume criminal gun trafficking.
In 1992, President Clinton implemented a law requiring licenses to be issued only to those engaged in the gun sales business. Later Brady Bill was passed but unfortunately, neither excluded "gun show sales" so illicit gun sales exploded in Arizona and drug cartels in Mexico were our major customer.
In May, 2012, Attorney General Holden and the Obama Administration imposed a new federal regulation to stop the flow of guns across the border. It requires all gun merchants in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas to report anyone buying more than one assault weapon. The Attorney General feels the measure is appropriate and will stop the flow of guns from United States to Mexico.
Now, the NRA, who insisted on punishing Attorney General Holden for allowing guns into Mexico, is suddenly violently opposed to the measure restricting traffic of AK47s and assault weapons to the Mexican drug cartels. The NRA has filed a lawsuit challenging the new regulation and has vowed to fight the measure all the way to the Federal District Court (Wayne La Pierrie, executive VP of NRA).
It is obvious that the NRA does not want to stop the flow of assault weapons to the Mexican drug cartels. Assault weapons are big business. US citizens should realize that when they join the NRA they are not just defending their right to bear arms. They are promoting the sale of assault weapons which mass murder innocent people and increase the flow of drugs into the United States.
P.S. If you wonder how the NRA has been so successful weakening gun laws, defending the right to bear arms and now getting Congress to find Attorney General Holden in contempt, you might consider the following. Recent NRA contributions include: $432,288 to Republicans for Re-election and $43,450 for Democrats. During the 2010 election cycle, the NRA spent $7.2 million primarily supporting Republican candidates or opposing Democrats for a 12 year total of $2.9 billion.
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