{"id":3566,"date":"2016-09-20T19:24:37","date_gmt":"2016-09-21T02:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/?p=3566"},"modified":"2016-10-01T08:30:10","modified_gmt":"2016-10-01T15:30:10","slug":"making-criminals-out-of-law-abiding-nevadans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/?p=3566","title":{"rendered":"Making criminals out of law-abiding Nevadans"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"19aprzb3n8qkvgif\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nevada voters — along with Nevada gun owners who can still register to vote by Oct. 8 if they\u2019d like to preserve what\u2019s left of their gun rights (and who knows, maybe even vote against Hillary Clinton\u2019s \u201cAustralian Plan\u201d to confiscate and destroy all the semi-automatic firearms in the country) — may not have noticed, but the Silver State is the latest target of gun-grabbing New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg and his gang of elitist hoplophobes (most of whom can afford and indeed are used to having armed personal bodyguards) who want to gradually eliminate the remaining rights of us \u201cdeplorables\u201d to buy and sell firearms, by making the process increasingly expensive, cumbersome, and likely to get you sent to jail — one state at a time.<\/p>\n

(He got this scheme passed in Washington state last election season with a similar million-dollar burst of TV ads — though non-compliance has been the general rule, there. He\u2019s also trying to ram a similar initiative down their throats in the state of Maine — spending $2.3 million to overwhelm the $40,000 raised by local opponents. Typical.) <\/p>\n

\u201cQuestion One\u201d on Nevada\u2019s Nov. 8 ballot is a measure written and backed with more than $4 million in out-of-state, gun-haters\u2019 money, which aims to make it a crime just to loan, give away, or sell a firearm to a friend or neighbor, without everyone involved parading down to a \u201cfederally licensed firearms dealer,\u201d and paying for a federal (not a state) background check.<\/p>\n

Then, if the would-be buyer or recipient \u201cfails the check,\u201d or even should the federal computers be down for the day, as does happen -\u2013 get this -\u2013 the OWNER of the firearm would have to pass (and pay for) a new background check . . . to get his own firearm back!<\/p>\n

Nevada being a small state, and not a wealthy one, opponents have also raised only about $42,000 to defend their rights against this out-of-state assault. Needless to say, given this 100-to-1 funding advantage, a July Rasmussen\/Channel 13 poll showed the monstrosity winning, 66-to-28 percent among uninformed Nevada voters, with 7 percent undecided. (Scroll to the bottom to find out how to donate to the cause.)<\/p>\n

Years ago, I owned a little Russian Makarov pistol, in caliber 9X18. It was too small for my hand, to begin with. I took it out shooting one day, in a lovely deserted box canyon out of sight of Lee Canyon Road where it climbs Mt. Charleston, scores of miles north of the Red Rock Canyon.<\/p>\n

(I mention the location because this box canyon, inhabited only by birds, rattlesnakes, rabbits, and the occasional burro, a piece of public land where generations of Nevadans had gone to enjoy safe target-shooting till the rusted steel 7.62 cartridge cases crunched gratifyingly under your feet to tell you you were at the right place, has now been made off limits to shooting by the despicable Harry Reid. He merely extended the boundaries of the federally controlled \u201cRed Rock Conservation Area\u201d -\u2013 where Nevadans now have to pay an \u201centry fee\u201d to see some scenery we neither want nor need \u201cprotected\u201d by federal bureaucrats based 2,500 miles away in Washington — to include my lovely, deserted shooting area.)<\/p>\n

The federals have dumped rocks and tree limbs to try and block the access road, and federal Smokeys in 10-foot-tall SUVs now patrol the area, chasing away would-be target shooters. What a productive use of our tax money! <\/p>\n

Back before it was \u201cillegal\u201d (thanks, Harry!) I set out a piece of Samsonite luggage 50 yards away on the other side of the draw in that canyon, with a paper target taped to its side, and fired the little Makarov to see what kind of accuracy it had. Each shot was followed by a strange \u201czinging\u201d sound. I went to check the target to see if what I suspected was actually happening.<\/p>\n

Yep. Those little Russian slugs weren\u2019t penetrating that flexible-sided Samsonite suitcase. They were bouncing off, right back at me, like angry bees.<\/p>\n

I decided right then and there that little Russian pocket pistol would probably prove about equally effective against a home invader wearing a heavy leather jacket, and I didn\u2019t really want it around. I had a friend -\u2013 a middle-aged fellow who\u2019d been a Boy Scout leader, the safest and most cautious shooter I know — who had problems with his shoulders and could no longer handle guns with heavy recoil. I gave him the gun as a gift. He seemed to appreciate it.<\/p>\n

That \u201ctransfer of a firearm\u201d would make both me and my friend criminals, facing heavy fines or jail time, under the despicable, deceptive proposal now on Nevada\u2019s ballot as November\u2019s \u201cQuestion One.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDue to a loophole in the law . . .\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Federal law today required holders of Federal Firearms Licenses to run \u201cbackground checks\u201d on potential buyers — a system which costs billions but has not resulted in the prosecution of a single \u201cconvicted felon\u201d attempting to buy a gun in a licensed gun store, since criminals get their firearms either by stealing them or by buying them out of Guido\u2019s car trunk out behind the tavern — where Guido don\u2019t run no \u201cbackground checks,\u201d believe me.<\/p>\n

\"th\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But this oh-so-smug victim disarmament gang, these rape enablers who want women to be defenseless when the rapist corners them in the blind alley — can\u2019t currently stop me from selling or giving a firearm to my friend, since they don\u2019t have the excuse that I\u2019ve applied for some kind of \u201cfederal privileged license\u201d to sell firearms (which is a dangerous and unconstitutional infringement aimed at making it harder, more expensive, and more onerous to acquire firearms in the first place, of course.)<\/p>\n

And for some reason, even though they live thousands of miles from us, this drives them crazy.<\/p>\n

So they have to go at this state by state, pouring millions into misleading and deceptive TV ads designed to convince those who have immigrated to vote-rich Las Vegas from places like Chicago and Los Angeles — who\u2019ve probably never touched a gun and set no value on their self-defense rights, but who are soothingly assured this will \u201chelp protect the children\u201d -\u2013 to vote away the God-given, constitutionally protected rights of their fellow Nevadans!<\/p>\n

Question One reads: \u201cShall Chapter 202 of the Nevada Revised Statutes be amended to prohibit, except in certain circumstances, a person from selling or transferring a firearm to another person unless a federally-licensed dealer first conducts a federal background check on the potential buyer or transferee?\u201d<\/p>\n

The summary language then explains: \u201cUnder current law, federally licensed gun dealers are required to perform criminal and public safety background checks on buyers before transferring guns to them. However, due to a loophole in the law, a background check is not required when a person obtains a gun from an unlicensed seller, making it easier for felons, domestic abusers, and other dangerous people to buy guns. This initiative requires that an unlicensed person who wishes to sell or transfer a firearm to another person conduct the transfer through a licensed gun dealer who runs a background check on the potential buyer or transferee.<\/p>\n

\u201dA licensed dealer may charge a reasonable fee for this service. Certain transfers will be exempt from this requirement, including transfers between immediate family members and temporary transfers while hunting and for immediate self-defense. Failure to comply with this requirement is a gross misdemeanor for a first offense and a felony for repeat offenses. A licensed dealer who agrees to facilitate a transfer must comply with all requirements of state and federal law as though transferring the firearm from the licensed dealer’s own inventory, except that the background check must be run through the federal rather than state background check system.\u201d<\/p>\n

The BATF \u2018forgot to destroy the records\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Look at that language!<\/p>\n

Let our friends Kermitt Waters or Chuck Muth try to place on the Nevada ballot an initiative to repeal the thoroughly unconstitutional \u201cgross receipts\u201d or \u201cbusiness margins\u201d tax enacted by our last sellout state Legislature (it\u2019s clearly a state income tax; the Nevada Constitution bars any state income tax, and it\u2019s already destroyed thousands of Nevada jobs) and the gaming industry (which loves that punitive, economy-destroying tax, because casinos are EXEMPT!) promptly goes to court to challenge the \u201csummary language.\u201d<\/p>\n

The courts obediently require Waters or Muth or whoever to sit down and negotiate their summary language WITH THEIR OPPONENTS -\u2013 supposedly to make sure it\u2019s accurate and objective. The opponents drag this process out for months, till the court finally announces, \u201cOK, the revised language is approved! You\u2019re now free to go gather signatures. Oh, by the way,\u201d the judges then add with a snicker, \u201cthe clock continued ticking while that negotiation process used up most of the time you were allowed to gather 55,000 signatures to get your measure on the ballot. You have a week left: Good luck!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"th\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But clearly these New York gun-grabbers were allowed to put this purposely slanted and deceptive language on the ballot JUST AS WRITTEN! The courts did NOTHING to remove deceptive innuendo like \u201cloophole,\u201d and \u201cfelons, domestic abusers, and other dangerous people.\u201d<\/p>\n

A loophole is a \u201cway around\u201d the intent of the law. But when background checks at licensed gun stores were sold to Congress, they were assured \u201cPrivate sales won\u2019t be affected\u201d . . . weren\u2019t they? It\u2019s not a \u201cloophole\u201d if it\u2019s an exemption for private transactions which Congress INTENDED, to keep from turning this into even more of a costly, bureaucratized police state. How in hell is some deputy sheriff out in rural Nevada supposed to know if my buddy and I trade hunting rifles? Is it wise to pass laws that can\u2019t be enforced? Should the law really presume the 60-something former Boy Scott leader to whom I gave away my Makarov is a \u201cfelon, domestic abuser, or other dangerous person\u201d?<\/p>\n

Proponents argue this won\u2019t help establish a registry of all gun ownership in the country, by serial number, for use in future confiscations, since that\u2019s \u201calready illegal under federal law.\u201d But that\u2019s nonsense, and they know it. The BATF is gathering such a list of gun ownership by serial number for use in future confiscations, right now, regardless of what the law says, and no one there has so much as received a slap on the wrist for doing so. Called on this, the federals merely pucker up their lips and claim they \u201cforgot to destroy the records.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proof? See http:\/\/personalliberty.com\/atf-forgot-comply-policy-accidently-creating-gun-database\/<\/a> , or http:\/\/conservative-daily.com\/2016\/08\/03\/outrage-obamas-atf-caught-illegally-creating-gun-owner-registry\/<\/a> , or https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/atf-failed-comply-record-keeping-policies\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Besides, if background checks haven\u2019t been about setting up a national gun registry to use in future confiscations — from the very beginning — why does the \u201cFFL holder\u201d call in the firearm\u2019s make, model, and serial number? If all they\u2019re checking is whether the buyer is a convicted felon, what difference does it make whether I\u2019m buying a Colt .38 or a 12-gauge Mossberg . . . let alone the SERIAL NUMBER?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the BATF is required by law to destroy all such records after the check is completed. They just \u201cforgot,\u201d you see . . .<\/p>\n

Proponents also assure us their proposal won\u2019t stop firearms \u201ctransfers\u201d between family members. But isn\u2019t that a \u201cloophole\u201d? And don\u2019t they say the purpose of this November\u2019s initiative is to \u201cclose a Loophole\u201d? So won\u2019t they be back in a few years to close the \u201cloopholes\u201d that they\u2019ve left in this proposal in order to get it passed? Of course they will.<\/p>\n

Besides, if a man gives a self-defense pistol to a woman who\u2019s been living with him for 20 years but has never officially married him, is she \u201cfamily\u201d? What about a daughter-in-law who\u2019s receiving threats? Is she \u201cfamily,\u201d or will I go to jail for loaning her a shotgun? Some of us will doubtless find out . . . the hard way.<\/p>\n

\"th\"<\/a><\/p>\n

English was not the first language of the great Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. So his student Murray Rothbard used to relate how the young Americans in von Mises\u2019 New York seminar would refer to tax \u201cloopholes,\u201d until the old professor finally asked \u201cWhat is this \u2018loophole\u2019 you keep talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n

After Murray and the others had explained to the great economist what a \u201ctax loophole\u201d was, he finally nodded in comprehension and said, \u201cAh, so a \u2018loophole\u2019 is something they haven\u2019t taxed yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

He could just as well have said \u201cor a liberty they haven\u2019t outlawed, yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man who banned the \u2018Big Gulp\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nevada state Attorney General Adam Laxalt, nearly every county sheriff in Nevada — 13 of them — and even Gov. Brian Sandoval (who\u2019s only a conservative when the wind blow north-northwest) oppose this monstrosity. Why would they oppose it if they believed it would really keep guns out of the hands of criminals? Because they know it would instead turn tens of thousands of perfectly innocent Nevada gun-owners into unwitting felons -\u2013 even for loaning a self-defense handgun to a girlfriend who\u2019s being stalked! This piece of nonsense would create thousands of \u201ccrimes\u201d with a \u201claw\u201d police would have no possible way to equitably enforce.<\/p>\n

Such onerous laws are already in place in the kind of crime capitals where people like Michael Bloomberg live. Why isn\u2019t that enough for them? Why do they want to impose such police-state conditions on the honest folks of the wide-open American West? What do they know or care about conditions here -\u2013 in the lowest-crime region in the country?<\/p>\n

According to Forbes magazine, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is the 13th richest person in the WORLD, with a net worth of $27 billion. There\u2019s nothing wrong with that, per se. But this is a power-mad, nanny-state fruitcake. He didn\u2019t think the two-term limit for New York mayors should apply to him, so he spread some money around till the city\u2019s other politicians finally allowed him to serve a third term. During that \u201cextended\u201d term of office, he banned or attempted to ban:<\/p>\n

Smoking in bars and restaurants (which has since infected Nevada via a similar funded-from-outside campaign, which is one reason our foreign tourists have disappeared, putting us in a decade-long recession — 2003); trans-fats in restaurants (2006); non-fuel efficient cabs (2007); so-called \u201cgreenhouse gas emissions\u201d (2007); chain restaurant menus without calorie counts (2008); sales of \u201cflavored\u201d tobacco products (2009); \u201chigh\u201d sodium levels in processed foods (2010); smoking in all \u201cpublic spaces\u201d including parks and beaches (2011); No. 4 and No. 6 \u201cheavy\u201d heating oils (driving up the cost of heating an already vastly expensive New York home or apartment \u2013 but why would Michael Bloomberg care? (2011); sodas larger than 16 ounces (2012); and in 2013 alone: new cabs that aren\u2018t Nissan NV200s; cigarette sales to those under 21; smoking E-cigarettes in \u201cpublic spaces\u201d; cigarettes displayed in view of customers; Styrofoam packaging of single food items, organic waste from landfills, and \u201cloud\u201d headphones. <\/p>\n

And you want to give this nanny-state control freak a foothold in destroying our liberties, here in Nevada?<\/p>\n

How to donate<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even the National Rifle Association \u2013 with which I have plenty of differences, since they think most gun control laws are \u201cOK,\u201d says:<\/p>\n

\u201cQuestion 1 does nothing to prevent criminals from obtaining firearms. Criminals will continue to break the law and acquire firearms where they do now: the black market, straw purchasers, theft and illicit sources such as drug dealers. According to the Department of Justice, 77 percent of criminals in state prison for firearm crimes get firearms through theft, on the black market, \u2018on the street,\u2019 or from family members and friends. Less than one percent get firearms from dealers or non-dealers at gun shows.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"gunquotes_06\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Washoe County Sheriff Chuck Allen says: \u201cQuestion 1 gun control initiative would make criminals out of law-abiding citizens, tax already scarce law enforcement resources, while doing nothing to stop criminals or make us any safer. I will fight to protect our freedom and stop the \u2018Californication\u2019 of Nevada gun rights by outside groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim Wheeler, R-39, majority whip of the Nevada State Assembly, wrote in a column in the Nevada Appeal: \u201cIf Question 1 was to pass on the November ballot, Nevada\u2019s laws on private gun transfers would be as, or even more restrictive, than those in California! . . . Even a military member who stores his guns with his family while deployed overseas could be in violation. Failure to abide by all the new government rules and mandates could land you in jail and facing hefty fines. . . .<\/p>\n

\u201cThe principal goal of Question 1 is to make legal gun ownership more onerous, burdensome and expensive for Nevada\u2019s law-abiding citizens. Remember, gun control is not about guns. It\u2019s about control.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s listed as being in support of this abomination? It\u2019s quite a cast of characters. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson, who swore before assuming the office he\u2019d review every police shooting in Las Vegas . . . and then proceeded to rubber-stamp every one of them as okey-dokey, including the police homicides of the unarmed Trevor Cole and Iraq war veteran Stanley Gibson! Casino moguls Steve and Elaine Wynn have signed on to try and further disarm us (Wynn resorts has donated $50,000 \u2013 more in a single contribution than the $42,000 opponents have raised overall!), as has former Democrat mayor Jan Jones, who famously told the late Carol Pappas she\u2019d \u201dhad her property long enough, time to give someone else a turn\u201d when seizing the Pappas block to facilitate her Neo-Flopolis downtown redevelopment scheme, at the behest of the downtown casino bosses.<\/p>\n

\"th\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Former state-socialist congresswoman Shelley Berkley (and here we thought we’d gotten rid of her), who told me Democrats were going to \u201cseal the southern border,\u201d is on the List of Infamy. (When I asked her if they planned to use land mines and machine guns, she look at me like I was crazy and said \u201cNo one’s talking about THAT!” So what do lying socialists mean when they say they\u2019re going to \u201cseal the border\u201d? That they only plan to let in ANOTHER 11 million illegals?)<\/p>\n

Steven Horsford, the cashiered one-term Democratic congressman and semi-moron who told me (in a formal newspaper endorsement interview -\u2013 I have witnesses) that he believes the Secretary of the Interior mails monthly \u201csubsidy checks\u201d to America\u2019s oil companies, is on the list of supporters, along with cashiered Democratic state senator Justin Jones and Richard Perkins, who somehow got away for years with double-dipping as the Henderson Chief of Police (executive branch) and Speaker of the Nevada Assembly (legislative branch, barred by the Nevada Constitution from simultaneously holding any paid executive branch position.)<\/p>\n

The list of supporters also includes Rory Reid, son of somebody with a similar name who\u2019s lived for decades in a fancy hotel in Washington, D.C. What a surprise!<\/p>\n

Those fighting this loathsome attempt to impose the draconian gun laws of the crime-ridden hellholes of New York City and Washington and Los Angeles and Chicago on peaceful, freedom-loving Nevada are woefully underfunded, compared to their out-of-state, fascist opponents.<\/p>\n

To help spread the truth about Question One, you can donate online at
\nhttp:\/\/nevadansforstategunrights.org\/donate\/<\/a> (though the online route requires you to give out your phone number, for some reason), or by mailing a check to Nevadans for State Gun Rights, 140 Washington St., Suite 150, Reno, NV 89503.<\/p>\n

Tell them Vin sent you.<\/p>\n

\"Benjamin<\/a>

Benjamin Lesczynski, 8, of New York, takes a sip of a “Big Gulp” while protesting the proposed “soda-ban,” that New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has suggested, outside City Hall in New York July 9, 2012. REUTERS\/Andrew Burton<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nevada voters — along with Nevada gun owners who can still register to vote by Oct. 8 if they\u2019d like to preserve what\u2019s left of their gun rights (and who knows, maybe even vote against Hillary Clinton\u2019s \u201cAustralian Plan\u201d to confiscate and destroy all the semi-automatic firearms in the country) — may not have noticed, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[63,8,12,5,78,22,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2016-election","category-2nd-amendment","category-common-defense","category-elections","category-individual-liberty","category-media","category-nevada"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pWqFl-Vw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3566"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3685,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3566\/revisions\/3685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}