First Blow Getting Closer

This from Pro-Gun New Hampshire:

MY CRYSTAL BALL ON GUN CONTROL
By Evan F. Nappen, Esq.

Swami Evan looks into his crystal ball and what does he see as the most immediate threat to gun owners? It is NOT the anti-gunners "dancing in blood" of Blair Holt to push for national gun licensing and other extreme measures. It is NOT the renewal of the failed 1994 Assault Weapon Ban. It is NOT even the McCain-backed "Gun Show Loophole" fix. Although any or all of these might eventually be a fight, the real, immediate risk is an Executive Order "Gun Ban" by Obama.

On Thursday, February 12, Congressman Eliot Engel, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, wrote a letter signed by 53 Members of Congress urging President Obama to "return to enforcement of the law banning imports of assault weapons, which was previously enforced during the administrations of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton." The signings were led by Congressman Michael Castle (R-DE) and Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)... Engel added that returning to enforcement of the imported assault weapons ban is "a no-brainer that would require no legislative action ... We ask that you direct ATF to act in accordance with the 1968 Gun Control Act and return to enforcing the ban on the import of all assault weapons, both those that are fully manufactured abroad as well as those imported as parts." 

This is a "no-brainer" for Obama and I believe he will do it shortly. Here is why:

1) No legislative action required, so no legislator has to stand up and be counted. They all get political cover.

2) The 53 congresscritters who signed the letter can proudly boast of it to their constituents.

3) There is REPUBLICAN precedent for this, thanks to BUSH 41.

4) It addresses the recent Mexico-getting-US-guns farce.

5) It plays into the ATF's misleading statistics on gun traces and so-called crime guns.

6) It makes believe he is doing something about crime and mass shootings.

7) It actually helps domestic producers by cutting out cheaper imported parts guns. (Not that that would be a reason Obama would like it, but it is a reason the domestic makers are not going to squawk about it.)

I hope I'm wrong, but I bet I'm right. So, stock up now on Eastern Bloc goodies, they won't last long.

I've been predicting this since before the election, and I have advised my consulting clients who use imported parts (such as magazines) to have a contingency plan should an Executive Order like this come to pass.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

This hot off the wire from the AP this afternoon: 

Lawmakers: US must enforce assault-gun import ban

By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO – 1 hour ago

MEXICO CITY (AP) — More than 50 U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to enforce a ban on importing assault weapons, saying many such guns are later smuggled south to arm Mexico's ruthless drug cartels.

"They come to the United States from Europe and other places, and they make their way down to Mexico," Rep. Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat, told reporters in Mexico City on Wednesday.

The ban was implemented under the administrations of President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton, and the U.S. government can enforce it under provisions of the 1968 Gun Control Act.

But the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, has quietly abandoned the ban in recent years, the lawmakers said in their letter. The ATF declined to comment.

"As a result, the civilian firearms market is flooded with imported, inexpensive military-style assault weapons from primarily former Eastern bloc countries including Romania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia," the letter said.

All 53 lawmakers who signed were Democrats.

The ATF estimates that 90 percent of weapons seized in Mexico come from sources within the United States. Mexico has long demanded that the U.S. do more to stop the flow of weapons south, and Obama has pledged to step up those efforts. Congress included $10 million in the economic stimulus package approved last week for the ATF's Project Gunrunner, which targets gun-trafficking networks in the U.S.

You want an AK...now's the time!