Are we negotiating?

[ChattanoogaPhil]

As much as I am against ALL background checks, I believe they are here to stay. I also believe that NICS is going to be extended to some portion of current private sales. Maybe not between family members, but quite likely other private sales. With that in mind, what are we negotiating for?

I sent this e-mail to Senator Bob Corker (our hometown guy) and other reps, and will soon be sending a modified version to the NRA. My modified version will be much more blistering of their lack of effort to date.

Senator Corker,

Thank you for doing a great job representing Tennessee, both as Mayor of Chattanooga and U.S. Senator.

While Congress is contemplating changes with background checks on gun purchases, I would like you to consider replacing the outdated and burdensome system of NFA transfers. As it is now, to buy a sound suppressor for a gun requires a $200 tax, special paperwork, FBI fingerprint cards, photos and six month wait while an overwhelmed and understaffed ATF agency processes the purchase transfer paperwork. This is not an exaggeration. Read the below from the ATF website.

" Q: How long does it take for ATF to process my NFA application?

In addition, the sheer volume of applications submitted for ATF review has dramatically increased in recent years. In fiscal year 2005, for example, ATF processed 41,579 NFA applications of all types. By FY 2011 that number had increased to 105,373, with a 25% decrease in the number of NFA examiners available to process the work. Currently, ATF's customer service goal is to process an Application to Make and Register a Firearm (Form 1) and an Application for Tax Paid Transfer and Registration of a Firearm (Form 4) within 6 months of ATF's receipt of a correctly executed application."

Buying a sound suppressor should be no more complicated than buying a gun requiring NICS approval. NFA rules are nearly 100 years old. Please consider doing away with this outdated system of NFA purchases and replacing it with NICS.

 

[Moonman]

Supressors are Environmentally and neighbor friendly (Sound Reduction).

They should be an OVER THE COUNTER purchase PERIOD!

Noise pollution is real and can be lowered.

Political reaction EXTREMISM caused them to be included in the NFA in the first place.
Fully AUTO Machine-Guns and Sawed-Off Shotguns were one thing, but Supressors are quite another.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Good. I hope you write your representatives and tell them so. I used sound suppressors as an example, but machine guns and short barreled rifles should not require anything more than NICS either. That said, I'd be delighted to move forward with suppressors which is a far easier sell than machine guns.

 

[10ring]

Perhaps in order to make them more palatable to the public and some legislators we need to rename to something like "noise abatement device" or "hearing protection system"

Alternatively, we could promote them as barrel extenders designed to make guns harder to conceal?

 

[venomballistics]

Supressors are Environmentally and neighbor friendly (Sound Reduction).

They should be an OVER THE COUNTER purchase PERIOD!

Noise pollution is real and can be lowered.

Political reaction EXTREMISM caused them to be included in the NFA in the first place.
Fully AUTO Machine-Guns and Sawed-Off Shotguns were one thing, but Supressors are quite another.

I think political extremism caused full auto and sawed off shotguns to be included too

 

[keith44spl]

Politicians have to label things to suit their own agendas....

Those firearms restricted by the National Firearms Act of 1934....

Were "Gangster Guns".....So, now that Capone and all of his cronies are long gone....

No need for all that red tape to bind up the law-biding citizens of a free land.

Only the crooks and gangsters in Washington should fear the law abiding.



.

 

[jaykellogg]

Before the Sandy Hook shootings I was hearing that suppressors might be taken out of the NFA. I will say it ain't gonna happen now. The anti gunners have tasted blood and aren't about to surrender on anything.

I just hope the make up of the Supreme Court doesn't change in the next 3½ years.

 

[627 city hunter]

We shouldn't surrender at all to their demands.

There is no compromising.

Suppressors are fantastic.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

(US Senator Lamar Alexander)

Dear Philip,
 
Thanks very much for getting in touch with me and letting me know what's on your mind regarding the right to bear arms.
 
I'm a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights. Congress should not pass laws that take away these rights from law abiding citizens and leave criminals to terrorize the streets. Good citizens don't abuse guns – criminals do. I will continue to support legislative efforts to protect the Second Amendment rights of law abiding Americans, and oppose efforts to overturn the Second Amendment.
 
In two recent cases, the U.S. Supreme Court clearly held that the Second Amendment protects the right of individual Americans to keep and bear arms. In the 2008 case, D.C. v. Heller, the Supreme Court held that D.C.'s restrictive gun laws violated the constitutional rights of Americans. Two years later, in McDonald v. Chicago, the court struck down the city of Chicago's handgun ban and held that, like the federal government, state and local governments must respect Second Amendment rights. I joined legal briefs in both cases in defense of this constitutional right and was pleased with the Supreme Court's decisions.
 
I am grateful you took the time to let me know where you stand. I'll be sure to keep your comments in mind as Second Amendment rights are discussed and debated in Washington and in Tennessee.
 
Sincerely,
Lamar

----------------------

(US Senator Bob Corker)

Thank you for taking the time to email me to share your thoughts and concerns.

I want you to know that we read every single letter and e-mail that is sent to us in order to best understand the issues that are important to you. It is our commitment to respond to your input as thoughtfully and efficiently as possible. I meet with my staff regularly to discuss the issues raised in correspondence like yours and will be back in touch with a more thorough response soon.

Thank you again for your email. I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with me.

Sincerely,


Bob Corker
United States Senator

 

[Quick10]

Senator McCain's response has changed. This is his new response.

February 28, 2013

Dear Mr. Brooke:


Thank you for contacting me regarding gun control. I appreciate your concerns regarding this matter.

Congress, like the American people, continues to be divided on the issue of controlling firearms as a means of addressing the appalling level of violence which besets our nation. I do not believe, however, that the answers to these problems lie with gun control. We cannot resort to abridging law-abiding citizens' Constitutional rights in order to solve the tough problems that face our nation.

Criminals, by definition, have a patent disregard for the law. It would be dangerously naive to assume that they would abide by gun restrictions. Washington, DC, is an excellent case-in-point. The District has among the strictest gun control laws in the nation, and yet also holds one of the highest violent crime rates.

I will continue working to stop violent crime and those individuals who have or would abuse their Second Amendment rights. While addressing these important concerns, rest assured that I will ensure that the rights of honest, law abiding citizens are not abridged.

Again, thank you for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to do so regarding this or any other matter of concern.
Sincerely,
John McCain
United States Senator

JM/JT

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Well here's Corker's "back in touch" (see above) 2nd letter.

Really nothing to do with what I had wrote to him about. Just a general Sandy Hook 2A forum letter.

[[ Dear Mr.

Thank you for taking the time to contact my office about the issue of gun control. Your input is important to me, and I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts.

Like any parent, I was heartbroken to hear about the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, and like other Tennesseans, I have the victims and families in my thoughts and prayers. Given such an unspeakable act of violence perpetrated on children, it's appropriate to talk about what we're doing to keep our communities safe, recognizing the issues involved are complex, especially when it comes to identifying and acting upon the warning signs that always seem to precede these incidents.

While I have always believed that it is critical to ensure that firearms are kept out of the hands of those who have lost their constitutional right to firearm possession, the right to own firearms for shooting, hunting, and self-protection is important to me as a Tennessean and as an American. Should legislation dealing with our Second Amendment rights come before the Senate, I will certainly take your concerns into consideration. I also wanted to share the steps I have taken to protect our Second Amendment rights in the attached "Policy Points" document.

Thank you again for your letter. I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with me.



Sincerely,

Bob Corker
United States Senator ]]