Thank God we have Congressional Democrats to keep us safe from gun crime. Right? Stalwarts like Elijah Cummings and Carolyn Maloney are ever-vigilant, watching the horizon for new threats. And as soon as they spot one, bam! They throw all of their well-practiced legislation-writing capabilities into making sure that gun trafficking isn’t just against the law, it’s even illegaler than it already is. Because nothing fixes a problem like more laws…

They’ve introduced more doomed gun control legislation in the house.

The bill would make it illegal for a person to receive or transfer two or more firearms while “knowing or having reasonable cause to believe” that those guns would end up in the hands of a felon or someone intending to commit a felony.

Because straw purchases, or conveying a gun to a known fellon isn’t already illegal. Enough.

“If you actually charge someone with actually firearms trafficking, we have never been able to do that,” said McMahon, according to Cummings’s letter. “We say it all the time, that we are locking up firearms traffickers, but really what we are locking up are people who lie on a federal form, or people who deal without a license … so I think a firearms trafficking statute would be most helpful.”

Really? That might surprise a few inmates serving time in federal prisons. And if the laws currently on the books cover the illegal activity, what good will more laws proscribing the same activity do?

But this, along with the Administration’s new gun-control-by-executive-0rder rules, is just a sparkly dog and pony show, nicely coordinated between Congress and the White House. The NRA’s Chris Cox has a pretty good bead on it:

“This is a blatant effort by the Obama administration and ATF to divert the focus of Congress … from their gross incompetence in the Fast and Furious scandal,” wrote Chris Cox, the NRA’s executive director. “This scheme will unjustly burden law-abiding retailers in border states.”

The Maloney’s and Cummings’ bill is DOA, of course. Go ahead and fit it for a toe tag. It has no prayer of advancing in the GOP-controlled House. But that was never the point. Like the President’s little gambit, it’s designed to throw up a smoke screen and attract attention away from the Fast and Furious fiasco. Fortunately, unlike the President, Congress can’t decree that federal agencies implement the rules without being voted into law.

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12 COMMENTS

  1. DOA or not, there is one major problem with this and Obama’s regulatory end run: time spent fighting this crap is time (and money) not spent on expanding rights. We need to be on the offensive, especially at the federal level. I would like to see national carry enacted and the Hughes amendment repealed in my lifetime. Furthermore, from a strategic perspective, if we have friendly representatives introducing bills that have no chance (constitutional carry of title II weapons for everyone!) then the grabbers have to use resources fighting them.

  2. I enjoy laughing at their lunacy, especially Cummings. Everytime I hear his name, I know it’s going to be something stupid.

  3. Expect to hear more from him since his nephew was shot and killed in Norfolk a few months back.

    • Ah so, now he’s a victim like Carolyn McCarthy. Everybody knows that victims know more than other people and their opinions matter more. Being a victim is an accomplishment. So much so, they’d like us all to join them in their victim-hood.

      No thanks.

    • That is a fantastic idea.

      Stick pro-shooter riders on all the “common sense” gun rights bills.

      Make it a poison pill.

  6. He would turn the tide for us
    Lead us from temptation
    And when we reach the promise land
    He will witness our creation
    He will witness our creation

    Oh Elijah, oh oh oh
    Oh Elijah, oh oh oh

    • No, you di-nt. You did not quote Head East. That would be like quoting REO Speedwagon or Sugarloaf. There is not enough bad pot in North America to make Head East seem quotable. You’re listening to Air Supply right now, aren’t you?

      • “I know a place, where you can go,
        when you’re flyin’ high,or layin’ low,
        & I’ve got the time, I got plenty to spare,
        Yes, I’ve got the time, & I’ve got the place,
        I just wish you were there”

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