The Uninvited Ombudsman Report, No. 51

Taken from the most recent “Page Nine” Alan Korwin’s “The Uninvited Ombudsman Report”

1- Not Much Ammo

The lamestream media told you:

According to Curt Anderson of the Associated Press, a man was arrested after threatening to assassinate the President. In his car police found a loaded 9mm pistol and dozens of rounds of ammunition.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:

A man was arrested after threatening to assassinate the President. In his car police found a loaded 9mm pistol and less than one box of ammunition.

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2- BIDS v. NICS

The lamestream media told you:

Both presidential candidates support reasonable gun-control laws, although the Democrat's idea of "reasonable" does include total gun bans like the one in D.C. recently overturned by the Supreme Court.

That decision in the Heller case did allow for "imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms," a direct reference to the NICS background check enacted under the Brady law.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:

The gun policy posted by Obama is, well, there isn't one. His voting record on the subject earns an F-.

The gun policy posted by McCain is actually pretty good on its face, though confidence in such political posturing is less than robust.
http://tinyurl.com/2t5ssr

But that's not the point, the regulation of commercial sales is. The current NICS system cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build and run. It's a fortune. But the big problem is that it keeps records of everyone who buys a firearm, which is specifically prohibited by federal law -- it is a national firearms registry.

The FBI swears they destroy the records, eventually, but confidence in that is virtually nonexistent, and there is no way to confirm or deny their statement. When Janet Reno built the thing in 1994, she had the gall to say it was incapable of deleting a record. What is well documented is government use of gun registrations to disarm a public prior to tyranny, here and abroad. History is replete with monstrous examples.

Despite dreamlike hopes, eliminating background checks is not going to happen in the foreseeable future, and besides, there may be some value in keeping felons on the lam and other miscreants from buying guns at retail.

The BIDS system is the alternative to NICS. It costs little, works just as well in screening out bad apples, and cannot create a registry. Did I mention that instead of squandering hundreds of millions of our national fortune, it costs little?

America needs BIDS. Arguing for no background checks is just not going to carry the day. That used to work, but these times aren't those times. BIDS is the answer. Low cost. Works fine. No registry. Take a look. Start talking about BIDS. Save the money.
http://www.gunlaws.com/BIDS%20v.%20NICS.htm

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3- Student Shotgun Programs

The lamestream media told you:

Guns and schools don't mix. The federal ban on guns around schools is a good thing, even though we keep reporting on school shootings and fail to connect the dots. All sensible teachers are against guns in the hands of school kids, because guns are so dangerous. Any child who even mentions the word gun, sketches a gun, wears a gun t-shirt or points a finger in a gun-like manner, will be dealt with harshly, get a severe blemish in the record book forever, and be covered in national "news" reports.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:

NEWTOWN, Conn. -- In terms of sheer numbers of participants, the eight-year-old Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) has been the most successful youth-oriented program in National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) history. Nearly 30,000 middle and high school students have participated in the program, which includes trap, skeet and sporting clays competitions. The competitions are held with real shotguns and live ammunition, safely.

With SCTP now of a size and scope beyond the NSSF's mission parameters, responsibility for its continuation and development is being passed along to the newly formed Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF).
http://www.nssf.org/sctp

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4- Gun Sales Rising

The lamestream media told you:

The economy is in the doldrums, business is bad, people are hurting, spending is down, consumer confidence is down, unemployment is up, good jobs are scarce, foreclosures are up, the market is down, gasoline is expensive, food prices are up, blah, blah, blah.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:

Gun and ammunition sales are up 9.7% in the first quarter of 2008, according to a National Shooting Sports Foundation analysis.
Sales were led by a 17.3 percent increase in ammunition sales, a 5 percent rise in handgun sales and a 6.7 percent increase in long gun sales. The statistics come from the Pittman-Robertson federal excise tax collection report, calculated as a percentage of wholesale receipts, paid quarterly by firearm and ammunition manufacturers, and earmarked for state wildlife conservation and habitat restoration programs.

The stats reflect solely U.S. civilian sales and do not include sales to military, police, etc. During the quarter, $76.8 million was generated for conservation through excise tax collections, compared to $70.1 million in the same period in 2007. From January through March, $19.9 million was collected for pistols and revolvers, $30.3 million for long guns and $26.4 million for ammunition. The latest tax collections suggest overall sales of $716.4 million, not including retail markup or final retail sales.

In other news, ATK Armament Group sales were up 32 percent in the first quarter of 2008, to $442 million, compared to $336 million in the prior-year quarter. The division of ATK produces commercial and military ammunition and gun systems, propellants and advanced energetics. ATK's overall first-quarter earnings rose 9 percent when compared to the same period the previous year, with sales for the quarter surpassing $1.1 billion. "ATK" trades on the NYSE and closed Friday at $105.90. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=atk

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9- Shooting, Not Buying

The lamestream media told you:

The Heller case, which overturned D.C.'s 32-year-old gun ban, will lead to the Wild West days of Dodge City, with shootouts happening on a regular basis. "Eighty people a day die at the hands of guns," said NYC Mayor Bloomberg. "It's just completely befuddling that our Supreme Court would be in alliance with the gangbangers," said Tom Barwin, village manager of Oak Park, Ill., which has a now-endangered gun ban in place.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:

Residents of Washington D.C. cannot legally buy guns, since there are no gun stores in the city, and direct sales across state lines have been banned by federal law since 1968. People lucky enough to already own guns in the District have not been involved in the much-feared public blood letting officials are now afraid of. How any of this will lead to shootouts was unclear at press time.

Mr. Barwin's inane statement is very valuable, in showing how hopelessly ignorant some elected officials are. "Arguing with such vapid stupidity is less than worthless," said an observer who refused to be named. "The man has no understanding of the good that guns do or the difference between criminals and the rest of the citizenry. He needs education along with well-deserved scorn."

Someone needs to tell Mayor Bloomberg that guns do not have hands, and that people die at the hands of something known as criminals. Reporters failed to question the mayor about the obvious gaff. More than half of all U.S. firearm-related deaths are suicides, many related to poor care for the destitute elderly infirm. Japan suffers a far higher rate of suicides, despite a near total ban on guns (people often throw themselves under trains).

Despite an inability to get guns, D.C. residents will be able to get gun training, thanks to the NSSF "First Shots" program that teaches newcomers how to use and enjoy firearms safely. Tom Gresham's Gun Talk Radio Show featured an interview with NSSF President Steve Sanetti on the upcoming program for the district's residents.
http://tinyurl.com/4ez48u

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Murdock v. Pennsylvania, 319 U.S. 105 1943
"A state may not impose a charge for the enjoyment of a right granted by the Federal Constitution... A person cannot be compelled 'to purchase, through a license fee or a license tax, the privilege freely granted by the Constitution.'"

"This does not apply to the Second Amendment," said LawyerMan, because it has been "distinguished." That means courts have decided the words only apply in some special context. "I vote for the words meaning what they mean," said LaymanMan. No public rioting has been reported yet.

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Contents:
(searchable by item number)
1- Not Much Ammo
1- BIDS v. NICS
3- Student Shotgun Programs
4- Gun Sales Rising
5- Islamist News Vacuum
6- ChiCom's Muslims Active
7- Indians Screwed Again
8- Government Represses Economy
9- Shooting, Not Buying
10- China's World Stage

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