Firearms Sales

September 11, 2001 changed the history of our nation.  We as Americans came under terrorist attack.  This was not a last minute, haphazard, hope it works, shot in the dark by the haters of American freedoms.  The assault on the United States was not a high tech brilliant strategic blueprint but a simple plan.  Germ warfare?  No, razor blades.  Nuclear devices?  No, cardboard box cutters.  The latest in full-automatic weaponry?  No, empty threats of a make believe bomb.

A few Americans (approximately 10%) have been so bent on disarming the U. S. for the last eight years they have blinded the middle ground, 80% of its citizens, of factions in this angry world who hate you and me, only because we are American citizens.  More and more restrictions have been placed on the honest gun owner, and potential owners, all the while leaving it wide open for any foreigner type terrorist to openly purchase a firearm.  Don’t believe me?  Then let me educate you.

Working in the firearms retail area I have seen untold changes in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) requirements for gun purchases.  We at the gunshop have always accepted the new changes in the purchasing procedures and done our best to explain all of it to the gun buyers.  Rearranging the questions and even adding new questions to the ‘yellow form’ have kept us on our toes almost in fear ‘big brother’ would come crashing down on us.  More and more shackles have been placed on our Second Amendment rights as citizens of America.  Maybe I, like all of you, are just a little volatile right now, waiting to drop the hammer on terrorism worldwide, but I have noticed a larger problem.  Did you know that any person who is not an American citizen can buy firearms easier than someone who is?  According to BATF’s from # ATF F 4473 (5300.9) if you have an Alien Registration Number and ‘proof’ that you have lived in Arizona for 90 days and pass the background check you can walk out with any number of weaponry!  Let’s focus on each point of problem here:

1.   Alien Registration Number - how bogus is this?  How hard is it to create or fake an ID card?  When people come across the borders into the USA it is a well known fact that names are changed, out of convenience or because of criminal background.  Right now in this city you can go to certain parts and purchase a whole new identification.  This packet includes a social security number and birth certificate.  All of this for less than $50.

2.   Proof of Residency - how brainless is this?  The 4473 form requires proof like a mortgage or rent receipt, any utility bill or credit card statement in the purchasers name older than 90 days.  That’s it, 90 days!  Just about any office supply store carries stacks of rental agreement forms where you write in the date and name!  Do you see the light?

3.   Background Check - Pollyanna, Pollyanna, wake up!  If the ID is fake and the proof of residency ink is still wet?  The Department of Public Safety does their job well, but no one checks into the background information of the would be buyer in their own home land!  So what is the check on?  That’s right it could be on a person, or persons, that has only existed for about a day.  Terrorists could easily outfit an army in a 24 hour period if they didn’t mind ‘bending’ a few American laws.

It is my hard core, firm belief that owning a firearm is a privilege and right of every American Citizen.  There is a responsibility of being an American citizen and freedom should be earned by those who wish to share in its blessings.  No matter what part of the world freedom loving people come from, after they have applied and passed the citizenship requirements then, and ONLY then, should there be a right to bear arms.

How many terrorists have been given the right to own firearms, I don’t know.  But rest assured the next time some fanatic tries to take my right of ownership from me there will be an even tougher fight!  Make your voice heard, go out next time and VOTE, join the NRA, become aware that America is at war!

Check out Sportsman’s Watch to log your views on this topic.

Gary
Shooting Editor

Shooting@azod.com