Signs of desperation follow up: I was wrong
In this post, I mentioned the announcement of an announcement and my prediction what the lawsuit would be. I was wrong, by the way. Turns out the lawsuit is even sillier than I thought. Well, here’s the announcement:
Washington, D.C. – The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence united with the Million Mom March today filed a federal lawsuit charging Attorney General Ashcroft and the Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) with violating the law by allowing gun manufacturers to make thousands of new illegal assault weapons.
The lawsuit, filed today in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, is based in part on documents obtained from ATF through the Freedom of Information Act – before Congress moved this year to shield the agency from FOIA requests. The suit charges Ashcroft and ATF with allowing gun makers to violate the 1994 statute banning the manufacture, sale and possession of semiautomatic assault weapons (“Assault Weapon Act”).
The documents obtained through FOIA included private correspondence between ATF and Bushmaster Firearms of Windham, Maine in which ATF repeatedly gave Bushmaster permission to manufacture new “receivers” to replace damaged receivers for semiautomatic assault weapons that were possessed before the Assault Weapon Act went into effect in 1994 and thus were protected by the Act’s “grandfather” clause.
Here’s how it works, a receiver (the piece of metal at the bottom of this picture) is the only part that is legally considered a gun (i.e., it’s the only part that requires a background check and registration). What happens is someone has a grandfathered Assault Weapon and submits the entire gun for repair. However, the repairs involve replacing the receiver. The receiver is replaced. Therefore, the Brady’s argue, Bushmaster has made an illegal Assault Weapon. The ATF said that this is OK.
Again, the anti-gun crowd has proven the Assault Weapons Ban is pretty much junk that is based on technicalities that really result in nothing.
Update: On second thought, it seems this action epitomizes desperation because they are basically trying to engage in any thing that draws attention to the Assault Weapons Ban. Pathetic. Sad.
March 18th, 2004 at 2:39 pm
I thought it was the pistol grip, the barrel shroud, and the 100-round magazine that made the assault weapon so deadly.
March 18th, 2004 at 3:49 pm
Never underestimate the killing power of a pre-ban serial number…
March 18th, 2004 at 7:28 pm
The private correspondence is dated 1996 and 1997. What the hell does that have to do with Ashcroft.
Wasn’t Janet “child stealing and ruby ridge sniping and waco burning” Reno AG then? Wasn’t Slick “where’s my cigar” Willie President?
What do these morons expect? They expect people to trashcan their AWB rifles. Hell, I’ve got half-worthless WWII crap Dad brought home from Europe that I would never get rid of…they ain’t collectors pieces, but they still work. If I had a pre-ban AW, I’d be treating it like a baby.
March 19th, 2004 at 7:00 pm
Can’t we countersue for conspiracy to deprive us of out civil rights?