Whatever your opinion onhte matter....
HR45: Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009
This bill negates the civil rights of people the government knows owns guns.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-45&tab=summary
How: By practicing your right under the Second Amendment LEGALLY, you will have to surrender your protections under the 4th Amendment (specifically unlawful searches and seizures w/out warrants). Submission to psych and mental health evaluations which are subject to interpretation, ie. bias of the state leaves open the door not only for disarmament but also ostracization.
Many of you know that I can go on benders of this subject, fear mondering about criminals and the government that is untrustworthy but this is why:
*the government is using fear of crimninals and Mexican drug cartels (WTF?!?) to gain compliance of those who are on the fence if not full out against guns and PRIVATE ownership.
*the Obama Presidency promised transparency on all pending legislation, but this one is being snuck in while officially the administration has said that gun control is low priority compared to the economy.
* this law wll do NOTHING to take guns off of the streets. Out of homes, YES. Away from people who are NOT selling drugs, YES. But NOT out of the hands of the hypothetical street gangs (if they're real that only makes this bill even more heinous) or the cartels, who can frankly, for $1000 get a better deal of 4-5 AKs from Venezuela than one semi auto AR-15 from an American corrupt gun owner/dealer.
I'm not gay, but I support gay rights.
I'm not a woman, but I support women's rights.
I'm not a "person of color" but I support equal rights.
I'm not pro choice, but I'm not a woman either, so I don't tell women what to do.
This law, if passed, will punish people for crimes that they have not committed.
This country stood on the principle that you are innocent until proven guilty, but this law assumes you are guilty if you choose to own a gun. You may agree. This is morally no different than restricting women for fear of their being raped instead of looking at the rapists. Blaming gays for AIDs instead of looking at the facts. It is a witch hunt that wil only empower the government (and I do remember the last 8 years where most of the people I was around condemned it) and criminals. It will also throw a great many people across the line of "legal" activity as more than a few will doubtless try to circumvent the law through whatever means necessary (people have done it with alchohol and drugs, why not guns?).
This law will not prevent crime, it will increase it by making some of the most reasonable people you know break the law: sometimes without even realizing it.
It will also increase the powers of the government to invade people's privacy in ways that the Patriot Act (yeah, that's still around too, BTW), look no more irritating than a nosy neighbor.
This is not fear mongering: these are facts. Look to the link, but as you read the restrictions, replace the word firearm with something else. Automobiles (which accidently kill more people a year than accidents involving guns [see CDC website]), pornograghy, kitchen knives, motocycles, cigarrettes... .all these items and many more are politically charged. Gun rights activists are some of the most annoying rights thumpers you may know (ehem), that is because they know how easy it is for rights to be nullified. See the arguments over pro-life and pro-choice, gay marriage, the Equal Rights Amendment (which was never ratified): find any person you know who has a passion for a political cause, ANY cause, and ask them how much power the government has concerning their issue. Whether you believe in true citizenship or just being a civilian under a state, as the government takes more freedoms and powers away from the people, everyone agrees that the govt. is not infallible. Is it right then for it to take more power, or do Americans still believe in freedom, no matter if their opinion agrees with how that freedom is used?
This was more than I wanted to write, but ...... if you made it this far, thank you for your time.