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Originally Posted by
ExecDirector
@renegade... You are espousing what we put in our petition, a background check "for persons who are responsible for directing the management and policies of the entity..." Not *everyone*. The bare minimum so that there was at least one check done. And that was offered in lieu of eliminating the trusts/corps completely.
I figured that you had something of the like in your proposal. It seems like a reasonable balance to me.
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There are actually many cases winding through prosecution where prohibited persons got weapons via trust/corp purchase with no background check. It is nigh impossible to break out the cases through PACER or TRAC because it is a general charge with no specific modifier for "he bought a can through a trust," etc. I'm trying to lay my hands on good numbers. Sadly, the fact that there were enough folks who did exploit the process made some sort of action by the Fed inevitable.
This is news to me. I would never have thought that the average crook would waste money setting up a trust and then wait several months just to be able to have a papered NFA item.
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I agree that government is woefully inept at enforcing the laws they have and that adding even more is rarely a good solution. With that said, if we (NFATCA) do nothing, there will be more regulation without ANY checks. And if we attempt to provide those checks we will get excoriated for fraternizing with the enemy. To the point where we receive death threats. And I am not kidding.
The current administration is the lousiest we've had since Nixon. They have had ample opportunity to address the problem of gun violence in this country but have failed to do so. I'm beginning to think that the status quo actually like gun violence. It gives them a platform to stand on with the average uninformed American.
It is unfortunate that the NFATCA got screwed by the powers that be in this particular scenario. It is also unfortunate that so called gun owners are resorting to emotional outbursts of rage instead of calm logical analysis. This is the kind of garbage that we are to expect from the "other side" - not ourselves.
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The screaming masses want nothing short of working to ban Hughes and the NFA. That is certainly a noble goal. We've actually looked at what it would take to mount such a legislative campaign... during an administration that was receptive. Tens of millions of dollars. We are hard pressed to get a couple hundred folks to pony up $50 a piece. So, for now, we fight the things that we can afford to fight. EVERYONE told us that they wanted the CLEO signature gone and we have been waging that fight for nearly a decade. Hardly anyone kicked in a few bucks to wage the fight. Yet we still did it. We got further than anyone ever had and had ATF/DOJ sign off until the White House took a giant dump on the process. Somehow, that is our fault. Newtown gave the WH all the bully pulpit they needed to screw things up. And for the record, we got the ball rolling in the Bush administration. It's hard to just pull up stakes and say "Never Mind... we'll wait until a gun guy is in the WH." You cannot start and stop and start the process. You have to be in it for the long haul.
It seems like the NFATCA is going to need some major support from the major gun rights organizations in order to get things done in this political climate. The members of such organizations will need to put pressure on these orgs, especially the NRA. Congress also needs to get off their backside and fulfill their constitutional duties. The ATF has been running rampant for too long and is in major need of an overhaul.