Wednesday, June 27, 2007

That Pesky Second Amendment

Remember that old joke about "Hi! I'm from The Government and I'm here to help!"

The BATFE-men are living up to their reputation, according to a recent article on World-Net Daily.

WND, along with Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America, accuse the BATMen of using minor irregularities in filling out governmental forms as an excuse to revoke the licenses of gun shops all across the country.

We're not talking about 'willful' acts, such as neglecting to fill out the forms. Instead, the irregularities cited include using "N" instead of "NO" when answering a "yes or no" question on the BATFE forms. Another example: writing "Bltmo" instead of "Baltimore" when naming the city in which the transaction occurs (the forms are notoriously skimpy when trying to cram the required information into the tiny spaces provided ... you have probably noticed this).

According to WND, Pratt notes that "The inspectors have no handbook under which to operate, and the absence of such written procedures allows them to be arbitrary and capricious."

When a shop owner appeals the ruling of BATFE which shuts down the business, it goes directly to BATFE. Not some neutral third party, or a court, but directly to the governmental agency which ruled against the business in the first place. It would be disingenuous to suggest that BATFE could be impartial in this process of 'mediation', since it is one of the original parties.

Pratt told WND, "the power that has enabled ATF to take away people's licenses to do business" continues unabated.
...
The agency holds, he said, a "continuing animas against gun owners and dealers."

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