Custom Search

'Fast and Furious' a prelude to gun registration?

Bob Unruh, WND

Questions over federal weapons-to-Mexico operation on rise

The National Rifle Association has launched a lawsuit against Washington's plans for additional paperwork requirements for gun dealers in four southwestern states, claiming that the Obama administration is trying to "distract" the public from its own mistakes in "Operation Fast and Furious."

But what if, asks a spokesman with the Second Amendment Foundation, the paperwork was the goal of the "Operation Fast and Furious" debacle by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives?

The ATF sting operation, in an attempt to build a case against Mexican criminal organizations, allowed at least 2,000 illegal weapons to be purchased in the United States and taken across the southern border so they could be traced.

The program disintegrated last year after it was revealed that two of the weapons were found at the scene of a murdered U.S. Border Patrol agent. At least 150 shootings have been linked to the weapons.

On Sunday, the New York Times attacked U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who is leading congressional inquiries into the controversy, claiming his business interests are profiting from his public position. Yesterday it was reported that three ATF officials involved in the fiasco were promoted from the American Southwest to positions in Washington.

Amid those developments comes the ATF's announcement that all gun dealers in New Mexico, Arizona, California and Texas are being ordered to provide additional documents for each gun purchase.

The government ordered: "You must submit to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) reports of multiple sales or other dispositions whenever, at one time or during any five consecutive business days, you sell or otherwise dispose of two or more semi-automatic rifles capable of accepting a detachable magazine and with a caliber greater that (sic) .22 (including .223/5.56) to an unlicensed person. You are required to report all such sales that occur on or after August 14, 2011. You must continue reporting multiple sales for the rifles subject to this demand letter until we provide written notice to stop."

The letter drew outrage from the NRA, which filed complaints in Washington, D.C., New Mexico and Texas over the issue.

"This is a bait-and-switch scheme by an administration and a bureau frantically trying to distract lawmakers and the general public from the deadly 'Fast and Furious' debacle," said NRA spokesman Chris W. Cox.

"This is a serious problem with deadly consequences, yet the Obama administration wants you to believe it can deter $40 billion transnational criminal enterprises by imposing paperwork requirements on honest American firearms dealers."

Other critics said the attack on Issa and the transfer of ATF workers also were meant as distractions from the issue at hand – the decision by the federal government to allow the purchases of illegal weapons.

Reporting requirements were goal?

However, Dave Workman, senior editor at the Second Amendment Foundation-related The New Gun Week, told WND that the paperwork may have been the goal all along.

"There is a very strong belief in the firearms community, and you can quote this, that Project Gunrunner and in particular Operation Fast and Furious was allowed to go haywire just so the Obama administration could institute these reporting requirements," he said.

Such "reporting" requirements always seem to be a first step to gun registration or gun ban efforts, he noted.

Advocates of gun restrictions have taken several major blows in the U.S. Supreme Court in the last few years – including the Heller decision on Washington, D.C.'s handgun law and the McDonald decision regarding a Chicago law. In Heller, the court ruled that the 2nd Amendment protects an individual civil right and is not just intended for the creation of state "militias." The McDonald decision said the amendment applies to individuals in states across the land.

"There are quite a few people who believe the reporting requirements are a backdoor approach to firearms registration," Workman told WND.

He said the attempt to create the additional restrictions in the four southwestern states is being made because of the history of gun operations on that region.

Workman said the move might have been what Obama was noting when he told an anti-gun organization that he was working "under the radar" on some issues.

Promotions for all

According to the Los Angeles Times, three of the ATF managers who supervised what was described as "a controversial sting operation" were promoted to Washington.

They include William G. McMahon, the ATF's deputy director of operations in the region; William D. Newell, a field supervisor who coordinated the program; and David Voth, another field supervisor.

McMahon was named on Sunday as deputy assistant director in the agency's office of professional responsibility; Newell was named special assistant to the assistant director in the agency's office of management; and Voth became branch chief for the ATF's tobacco division in Washington.

Blasting Issa

Meanwhile, the New York Times blasted Issa in a front-page article that accused him of profiting financially from his decisions in Washington.

Aug. 16, 2011

Four Winds 10 - News