

Obama offers new gun control steps - weu
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ap-exclusive-obama-offers-new-gun-control-steps

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ctdonath
_One new policy will end a government practice that lets military weapons,
sold or donated by the U.S. to allies, be reimported into the U.S. by private
entities, where some may end up on the streets. The White House said the U.S.
has approved 250,000 of those guns to be reimported since 2005; under the new
policy, only museums and a few other entities like the government will be
eligible to reimport military-grade firearms._

These guns are mostly (if not all) "curios and relics", largely uninteresting
to anyone but collectors. They are not the kind that "end up on the streets".
This is not an attempt to curb crime, but instead to curb a popular & harmless
hobby enjoyed by people who are card-carrying good guys who have subjected
themselves to intense background checks.

Little different from banning re-importation of US cars sold overseas on the
grounds that a vanishingly small number _might_ be used as getaway cars in
crimes.

 _The Obama administration is also proposing a federal rule to stop those who
would be ineligible to pass a background check from skirting the law by
registering a gun to a corporation or trust. The new rule would require people
associated with those entities, like beneficiaries and trustees, to undergo
the same type of fingerprint-based background checks as individuals if they
want to register guns._

There is a category of _extremely_ tightly controlled weapons known as "NFA"
or "Class III", which includes "sawed-off shotguns", "silencers", "disguised
guns", and the very few remaining legal machineguns. To get one of these, one
must pay a $200 tax, pass an intensive criminal background check, and have a
local Chief Law Enforcement Officer (CLEO) sign the paperwork. This last point
is often problematic: despite full legality of the registered purchase, and
unquestionable confirmation the buyer is not a criminal and has no criminal
intent, many CLEOs nonetheless refuse to sign the paperwork and have no legal
obligation to do so. To get around this refusal (amounting to anti-gun
bigotry), buyers may (and this has been firmly established by government gun
registration department BATFE) create a corporation or trust which legally
buys and owns the weapon, available to officers thereof. Shutting down this
imputed "loophole" serves absolutely no purpose but to crush the very small
category of upstanding citizens who cannot get reasonable cooperation from
local officials, citizens who purchase these arms for upstanding hobby or
business purposes.

In doing so, the Obama is unilaterally moving to destroy a Constitutionally
protected activity which is long allowed & regulated by legislation, activity
which has no connection to crime.

