I got an email today from Rand Paul. Paul is the junior senator from Kentucky. And he is a reactionary.
The mail came via the Gun Digest. I enter a lot of sweepstakes, so I guess I must have signed up for their newsletter, (when entering sweepstakes, you often have to subscribe to newsletters), and then they, apparently, sold my email address to Rand Paul.
I can’t duplicate the email - it wasn’t anywhere on line that I could find. The Sourthern Colorado Patriots web page contains the entire text of the email. No dramatic graphics, but the basics are there. I know nothing about the politics of this group and my citation of their website should not be construed to be an endorsement.
According to Mr Paul, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is leading the UN in a ‘global gun grab.’ [‘gun grab’? That sounds like a party game.] Supposedly, Hillary is cooperating with the UN to disarm Americans vis an UN Small Arms Treaty.
Or, is she?
As the NRA points out, the Secretary of State cannot sign treaties. Only the president can sign treaties. Then the senate would have to ratify the treaty. Then the treaty would have to survive a constitutional challenge. After that, the content of the treaties would have to codified. These laws would, again, have to stand constitutional challenges. And so on and so on.
Here, the NRA discusses what the UN might try to do with international arms treaties. Not much there, either. There isn’t even a draft treaty in place, so no one can say how the treaty will affect private firearms ownership in the US.
I hate spam, generally, and fear mongering spam, specifically.
The purpose of BS like this is to scare people. And to get people to send money to the politicians who say that they will save us. (Although I have to wonder how many donations Mr. Paul will get by soliciting people who don't live in Kentucky). This email goes beyond usual in that it resuscitates the myth that the UN is going to come in and take over the country. This is pure tripe.
The email neglects to mention that the Supreme Court, (SCOTUS is how you’ll see me abbreviate it), has markedly expanded firearms ownership rights in the last 3-4 years. That SCOTUS in Heller vs D.C. and McDonald vs. Chicago have laid out, in no uncertain terms, that firearms ownership is an individual, not collective, right, (i.e.; the individual right to bear arms is not dependent upon the collective right to bear arms for such things as a militia) It has struck down laws in D.C. and Chicago that outlaw a particular type of firearm; e.g.; handguns.
We have a president who came into office after clearly stating the need for ‘sensible’ firearms control. And, three years later, he has failed to bring one firearms control measure to congress. Even when he had a democratic majority in both houses.
Despite the strident calls from the Brady Center, et cetera, Obama hasn’t even tried to push firearms control. The bill introduced to limit magazine capacity, introduced by Senator Frank Leutenberg of New Jersey hasn't gone anywhere, despite being introduced during the drama after Congress person Gabriella Giffords was shot while holding a public meeting in Arizona.
The one thing that Obama has done is to nominate Andrew Traver to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms. The ATF is the primary agency for the creationg, (‘codifying’), and enforcing firearms laws in the United States.
I couldn’t find a lot of biographical data, but the general consensus, (and one that I agree with), is that Traver was a bad choice for ATF director - because, prior to being appointed to direct the ATF, he was special agent in charge of the ATF office in Chicago and is known to have supported Chicago’s draconian firearms laws. Before they were struck down as unconstitutional by SCOTUS in McDonald vs. Chicago.
Or, I guess, I should say that Obama tried to appoint Traver. Traver’s nomination was rejected by the senate, (led by democrats), and returned to the White House.
So, Dr. Paul, I suggest you stop putting out this fear mongering propaganda. We have enough real problems, without you creating more by inventing non-existent “global gun grab” by the UN.
If I were a citizen of Kentucky, you could count on the fact I wouldn’t vote to re-elect you.
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