New Gun Control Regulations

Forty Nine states have open or concealed carry laws. And yet Obama wants to impose new regulations unauthorized by law. All this because the government sent a LOT of guns to Mexico. I'm sure this is not a vote getter for Obama. I wonder if he is going to run in 2012?

Gun industry representatives said they would file lawsuits Wednesday challenging new gun-control measures by the Obama administration, an effort the nation's top lawyer vowed to "vigorously oppose."

The Justice Department, facing growing questions over Operation Fast and Furious, a controversial sting targeting Mexican drug cartels and American gunrunners, announced last month that it would begin requiring firearms dealers along the nation’s Southwest border to report multiple sales of certain semi-automatic rifles. The department said such rifles are "highly sought after by dangerous drug trafficking organizations," and the new measures would help "detect and disrupt" weapons trafficking networks.

I think if we could get the government to stop shipping guns to Mexico it might have a much more significant effect.

You Are Required To Buy A Musket

Bet ya didn't know that. Well it must be true because a few Federal lawyers say so.

The attorney generals’ suit argues that the federal government can’t force people to buy a product merely because they are U.S. citizens. But federal attorneys say Congress can regulate interstate commerce and has imposed laws for more than 200 years requiring men to buy muskets and ammunition, for example.

Who knew?

Shouldn't there be a tax break or something for such purposes? We do have ∅bama doing his best to stimulate gun and ammunition sales. Which I guess is the best we can hope for under the current administration.

Maybe the next administration will start fining people who don't own a firearm. I can't wait. The only way to opt out would be to be convicted of a felony. I see a lot of possibilities here. If it wasn't such a stupid idea. And totally unsupported by any facts.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Dropping Boxes Of Ammo And Small Arms

I had been thinking of doing a piece on the small arms trade in Gaza when commenter mdmhvonpa nudged me along with this comment to Vengeance:

Hatfields and McCoys ... swell. Perhaps we should just start dropping boxes of ammo and small arms into 'Palestine' to hurry this up.

We have a better deal going than that. They are paying for the stuff.

RAMALLAH - A loud siren wails in the main street of Ramallah as the ambulance races to the nearby hospital. The casualty inside the vehicle is a teenage Palestinian who received two bullets to his chest during clashes among rival armed militia.

In a separate incident, a number of disgruntled armed young men showered the Daraghmeh store with scores of bullets in Ramallah’s commercial district. The fire engulfed the store’s interior, resulting in losses totaling USD 450,000.

At the entrance of a well-established restaurant in the city, a big sign reads “No hand guns allowed on the premises.”

As ammunition is readily available through black market middlemen, the sounds of bullets are heard frequently across the city. In a Pavlovian response, the citizens of Ramallah run into hiding as soon as the bullets start flying, their daily life controlled by the will of the gunmen.

So what is the market like?

“In the West Bank, the weapon pipeline is the Israeli gangs. They sell their weapons to Palestinian counterparts, who in return sell them to armed groups and private customers,” the officer says.

The Israeli army spokesman replies that “this accusation is baseless.” Israel has expressed its concerns over the issue of weapon smuggling several times during meetings with Palestinian officials, he adds.

Selling weapons in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is an extremely lucrative business, because of the amount of cash they generate.

“This business is flourishing due to internal clashes; it’s simply a matter of supply and demand,” says Hamdi Al- Ashgar, owner of a jewelry store in the middle of the Gaza Strip.

“To purchase a weapon, all one has to show is interest. Arms merchants are ready to provide you with whatever you want: M16s, hunting rifles, bullets, Kalashnikovs, mortars and spare parts,” Al-Ashgar adds.”

Prices have gone down and nowadays owning a gun in the Palestinian areas is not anymore the sole privilege of the armed groups.

“You can have the famous Kalashnikov for USD 1,500, and a Chinese-made rifle for USD 1,000. While digging a tunnel in Gaza costs USD 100,000, renting one could climb up to USD 10,000 per a day,” Ashgar says.

In the Gaza Strip, nearly four out of five people are armed, whereas in the West Bank two out of five are armed with different kind of rifles and pistols, according to an officer of the Preventive Security Forces, on condition of anonymity.

I did a little searching and found a Kalashnikov for $335. Considerably below the prices charged in Gaza. Good profit indeed.

The Israelis must have trouble at those anti-smuggling meetings keeping a straight face while denouncing the smuggling.

With prices pretty much standardized there has to be a lot of competition in the market. Figuring out how much it costs to keep the civil war going is pretty much a job for accountants.

Muhammad is a young journalist working for a local radio station affiliated with Fatah. In recent weeks, he's gotten several death threats.

"In a place like Gaza, that sort of menace isn't to be taken lightly, so the station's security guards and staff are armed with hand grenades and machine guns.”

Muhammad says he carries a handgun and keeps an AK-47 assault rifle at home.

“In such a lawless context, it's normal for journalists to carry guns," he explains. "Some accuse us of pouring gasoline on the fire and fueling the confrontations between Fatah and Hamas. But I am broadcasting the problems of my society and the Palestinian street.”

In Gaza, the arms are coming from all over the world, being transported through the desert to Egypt and to Gaza through the tunnels in Rafah.

After the Israelis pulled out from the Gaza Strip, the number of tunnels for smuggling weapons and other contraband has more than doubled, evolving into an underground maze clawed out of Gaza’s soft soil.

The largely unhindered weapons influx also heightens the threat of civil war, instability, and tribalism.

There are usually about 20 tunnels in use at any one time along the border.

It is my opinion that American and Israeli policy for the Palestinians is for the time being: civil war, instability, and tribalism.

When they have had enough they will either leave or ask the Israelis to rule over them.

Cross Posted at Classical Values