gflight's Link
“The bill, originally introduced by Ron Paul in 2007, repeals the Gun-Free School Zones Act (GFSZA) of 1990, which makes it ‘unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.’ In 1995, the Supreme Court held the GFSZA unconstitutional, which prompted Congress to amend the bill in 1996.
I remember the whining here that Ron Paul never passed anything as an excuse. Then Cruz who passed a bunch of things was whined about as not mattering. So all you whining subjects who love your Government handouts better than our Constitution may see a Ron Paul bill actually passed. So you can go ahead and start whining about the repeal of gun free zones....
House Bill Would Disband Scandal-Plagued ATF
Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner has just reintroduced legislation to disband the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), folding their duties into other federal law enforcement agencies and ending a national nightmare.
Today, Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner reintroduced the ATF Elimination Act, legislation that would dissolve the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and merge its exclusive duties into existing federal agencies.
Additionally, the Act calls for an immediate hiring freeze at the agency and requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to eliminate and reduce duplicative functions and waste, as well as report to Congress with a detailed plan on how the transition will take place. Further, it would transfer enforcement of firearms, explosives and arson laws to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products would be transferred to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
Under this bill, the DEA and FBI would be required to submit to Congress a plan for winding down the affairs of the ATF after no more than 180 days, and field offices, along with other buildings and assets of the ATF, would be transferred to the FBI. It would have one year to report excess property to the General Services Administration (GSA).
Congressman Sensenbrenner: “Despite our country being trillions of dollars in debt, government spending continues to rise. Common sense budgeting solutions are necessary, and the ATF Elimination Act is one measure we can take to reduce spending, redundancy, and practice responsible governance. The ATF is a scandal-ridden, largely duplicative agency that has been branded by failure and lacks a clear mission. It is plagued by backlogs, funding gaps, hiring challenges, and a lack of leadership. These facts make it a logical place to begin draining the swamp and acting in the best interest of the American taxpayer.”
“F Troop” has long been the red-headed stepchild of federal law enforcement, passed around from Treasury, to Justice, back to Treasury, and finally back to Justice. The ATF has been routinely accused of incompetence, abusive prosecution, corruption, and has been responsible for a number of major controversies, including the Ruby Ridge siege, the Branch Davidian siege, and the smuggling of weapons to the Sinaloa drug cartel under Operation Fast and Furious and other alleged gun-running operations in other states that have never been adequately investigated.
And the Hearing Protection Act:
Hearing Protection Act has been reintroduced and a great explanation article
Hearing Protection Act has been reintroduced and a great explanation article The Hearing Protection Act has been reintroduced!
In a nutshell, it removes suppressors from regulation under the NFA. It was added originally due to the request of the U.S. Forestry Service to combat POACHING! For those that do not know, suppressors are currently regulated like a NFA-registered firearm - like a short barrel rifle or machine gun, even though it is essentially just a muffler.
The current process is extensive and includes background checks, fingerprints, passport-style photo, local law enforcement notification, and pay for a $200 tax stamp. You essentially go to your dealer, purchase the item (yes, it has to be there), file all your paperwork and WAIT....and WAIT....and WAIT. The wait currently is quite long -- 6 months is a good turn-around, however current purchases are being estimated around a year to possibly longer as the ATF has yet to process any applications from July under their 41F regulation changes.
I don't smoke, but other than that, it sounds like my kind of club! Is there an initiation fee?
Chaffetz Wants To Relocate Federal Agencies Away From Washington, D.C.
Four of the five richest counties in the U.S. are Washington, D.C. suburbs — Loudoun, Fairfax and Arlington in Virginia and Howard in Maryland — so it is unsurprising that many Americans question the federal government taking money to prop up far-off elites?
One solution to the federal government being too expensive and out-of-touch is moving parts of it away from Washington, D.C., according to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason Chaffetz.
The Utah Republican explained that computers and other technologies mean there’s no reason that a federal agency headquarters must be physically located in D.C., instead of areas with much lower living costs.
Housing prices in D.C. are among the highest in the country thanks in great part to the large number of high-paying government jobs putting upward pressure on real estate supply and demand.
Meanwhile, high-speed internet, telecommuting, video conferencing, Amazon home delivery — and soon — virtual reality and self-driving cars, are making it less essential for most workers to be physically tied to any one area, according to Chaffetz.
A Department of Agriculture relocated to Kansas could, for example, pay lower salaries to its employees without lowering their standard of living. They might have a 5,000 square foot house with a pool instead of a studio apartment in D.C., and with less congestion to boot.
And federal regulators would be more likely to see and experience the impact of their actions, much as members of Congress spend time in their home districts and listen to their constituents. In the Department of Agriculture example, officials living and working in Kansas might understand farming better than those in urban Washington, D.C.
The newly-relocated jobs would provide an economic boost in areas that actually need them. Federal taxes would more likely be spent in communities from which they are collected. The D.C. metro area has a median household income of $93,000 and an average commute of 35 minutes, according to the Census Bureau. The median household income in the U.S. is $56,000, and lower in many areas.
“Housing federal agencies in a city with one of the highest median incomes in the United States is not only expensive, but keeps federal bureaucrats in an economic and political bubble that offers a distorted view of the realities facing this country,” Chaffetz said.
Chaffetz introduced his proposal as a legislative resolution rather than a mandate on the executive branch because it expresses “the sense of the House of Representatives that offices attached to the seat of government should not be required to exercise their offices in the District of Columbia.”
President-elect Donald Trump said he wants to reduce federal spending. Compensation is a major expense of any workforce, so Chaffetz’s plan is a way to achieve that goal. The resolution directs agency heads “to recommend appropriate alternate locations throughout the United States to which their respective agency or military department can be relocated.”
Agencies could be relocated to decaying inner-cities and jobs-scarce rural areas. Republicans could get behind the savings, while lawmakers from both parties could take credit for the resulting economic development that benefits their constituents.
Relocating federal agencies might even make conservative voters more sympathetic to the federal government if they no longer believed their tax dollars were going to elitist liberals in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., residents might benefit from more affordable housing as demand decreases.
Certainly we would not even seeing these sorts of legislation and suggestions had Hillary won the Presidency. Aside from the naysayer(s) that seek to find some negatives to torpedo Trump, there is a lot of movement seen everywhere for the correction in the course of our country.
Moving as much government as possible (the parts that cannot be dismantled) out of D.C. seems like a good idea to me.
Good read and input.
The Rock
We can't have that.
Bureaucrats living in places in flyover country and being forced to live and interact with the rubes, the bitter clingers and the unwashed masses? We can't have that!
What are you thinking?
Can you imagine Flaming Queens transferring to Spearfish South Dakota ?
I think 1400 FPS will stop them far better. And permanently.
I don't agree with the reasoning behind the suppressor classification, but I'm wondering if we might be cutting off our nose to spite our face, so to speak, on this item? I would indeed never be in support of such legislation if it were not already on the books. It is simply an infringement on law-abiding citizens rights, however I do believe it has some effect in regards to the supposed intent relating to poaching.
