Back in June or July you may have read an article regarding the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (BATF) sad and desperate attempt at creating the illusion that America needed more restrictions, if not an outright ban, on firearms, or more precisely, so-called "assault weapons.” Which is a misnomer, as the term "assault weapon" refers to a fully automatic, short range firearm that is intended for high volume fire in close quarters.
We currently have enough restrictions on automatic firearms with the high cost and miles of red tape required for the average citizen to obtain a class III firearm. The cost alone is prohibitive.
The BATF Illusion

It is my understanding that the BATF orchestrated the shipments of guns across the border from Texas to Mexico and into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels in an apparent attempt to create this illusion. My first thought was "WHAT?" If I'm not mistaken the BATF themselves broke so many laws that anyone involved should have been sentenced to 25 years and fined in excess of $250,000.

Instead, this is, in part, what happened:

"Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson has been reassigned to a lesser post in the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney for Arizona was also pushed out Tuesday Aug 30th as fallout from Operation Fast and Furious reached new heights. Melson's step down from his role as head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to the position of senior adviser on forensic science in the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Programs is effective by close of business Tuesday, administration officials announced. U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota B. Todd Jones will replace Melson. U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke, one of the officials closely tied to Fast and Furious, is also a casualty in a shakeup tied to the botched gun-running program. Burke was on the hot seat last week with congressional investigators and, according to several sources, got physically sick during questioning and could not finish his session. The purge of those responsible for the firearms trafficking scandal continued as new documents reveal a deeper involvement of federal agencies beyond ATF. In Phoenix, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley, who oversaw Fast and Furious on a day-to-day basis, was reassigned from the criminal to civil division. Also in Phoenix, three out of the four whistleblowers involved in the case have been reassigned to new positions outside Arizona. Two are headed to Florida, one to South Carolina.
Hurley's reassignment came after three ATF supervisors responsible for the operation were promoted. William G. McMahon, a former deputy director of operations, took over the Office of Professional Responsibility. Field supervisors William D. Newell and David Voth also moved up despite heavy criticism. The moves follow a series of reports by Fox News detailing the face-off between Attorney General Eric Holder, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, whose investigators have recently broadened their probe. It now reportedly shows a deeper involvement of the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Homeland Security. "While the reckless disregard for safety that took place in Operation Fast and Furious certainly merits changes within the Department of Justice, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee will continue its investigation to ensure that blame isn't off-loaded on just a few individuals for a matter that involved much higher levels of the Justice Department," Issa, chairman of the House panel.
"There are still many questions to be answered about what happened in Operation Fast and Furious and who else bears responsibility, but these changes are warranted. ... I also remain very concerned by Acting Director Melson's statement that the Department of Justice is managing its response in a manner intended to protect its political appointees," Issa continued. Operation Fast and Furious, a program designed to track illegal gun sales, turned into an embarrassing scandal after weapons linked to it were found at the scene of a U.S. Border Patrol agent's murder last year. Thousands of guns ended up in the hands of Mexican cartel members. Melson has led the agency since April 2009, supplanting a Bush administration acting director who was also unable to get Senate confirmation over the objections of gun rights groups. It was during his tenure that the ATF Phoenix office began Operation Fast and Furious in the fall of 2009."

Right to Bear Arms?

Why these men did not face criminal charges is beyond me. Had you or I did the same, what they did we would be on the fast track to prison. It makes me wonder where the idea originated. What genius instigated this preposterous plan? The sole purpose of this was obviously a sad attempt at the removal of firearms from the hands of the common citizenry of America.

History shows that anytime this happens it never turns out well for the lay citizenry. (Anyone remember a little thing called Nazi Germany or a little family named Romanov?) Socialism and communism is usually the precursor to the removal of firearms from the citizenry. Is this the greater plan? I sure hope not.

I do find comfort in knowing that according to research for another article there are nearly 70 million registered gun owners in The United States, owning an average of 5 firearms each. That alone equals a staggering 350 MILLION firearms in the hands of the citizens of The United States. This figure does not include unregistered firearm owners that may have purchased their firearm or firearms face to face or at gun shows, or how many of the registered gun owners have weapons that they bought face to face or from gun shows and these weapons are not registered and therefore unaccounted for.

My previous research showed that all together, gun owners in The United States possess more small arms than all of the armies of the entire world combined. So I suppose this would make anyone with devious plans a little nervous when they imagine the monumental task of disarming the American populace.

I seriously doubt that Americans would just walk in to their local police station and offer up their firearms on demand, like the people of Australia did when they were told to do so, although the numbers show that only a small portion of the estimated number of firearms were actually turned in. I know I wouldn't do it. I would rather die free than live oppressed, much like our forefathers felt I would imagine.

In today’s world it is dangerous to profess yourself a patriot as with new laws enacted since Sept. 11 2001, (oddly called the Patriot Act) anyone deemed a "threat" may simply be plucked up off the street. I can imagine anyone wanting to speak up and protest the seizure of our guns would be deemed a threat.

Just by writing these words makes me feel I am endangering myself, and this is not how one should feel in a free country. Those in power should have much bigger issues to concern themselves with. It amazes me that they put forth the expense and effort to regulate a criminal act such as this for nothing more than an apparent darker, underlying purpose.

Written by Eric W Eichenberger, Carry Concealed Contributor