Anti-gun liberals are having fits of hysteria over the contents of a “White Paper” authored by a top official at the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that was not meant for public distribution, but was obtained and exposed by The Washington Post.
Titled “Options to Reduce or Modify Firearms Regulations,” the 11-page report, authored by ATF Associate Deputy Director Ronald Turk, includes recommendations for reviewing its “sporting purpose” philosophy, and relaxing regulations for silencers (aka “suppressors”).
Here’s one excerpt that has the gun prohibition lobby fuming:
“Reissue a New Sporting Purpose Study: Since the sunset of the Assault Weapons ban in 2004, the use of AR-15s, AK-style, and similar rifles now commonly referred to as ‘modern sporting rifles’ has increased exponentially in sport shooting. These firearm types are now standard for hunting activities. ATF could re-examine its almost 20-year-old study to bring it up to date with the sport shooting landscape of today, which is vastly different than what it was years ago. Action shooting sports and organizations such as 3 Gun and the United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) have also drastically expanded in recent years. Restriction on imports serves questionable public safety interests, as these rifles are already generally legally available for manufacture and ownership in the United States. Low cost foreign made firearms are also still imported and converted into ‘non-sporting’ configurations. These restrictions have placed many limitations on importers, while at the same time imposing a heavy workload on ATF’s Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division. ATF’s Imports Branch also possesses a list of firearms approved for import but has not made this list public. Lists such as this can be made available to the public so that the importing community does not have to guess as to what the standard for importation is. Many concerns from the firearms industry could be re-examined through the publication of a new Sporting Purpose Study along with an updated Imports Branch Guide.”
Anti-gunners do not want a new look at “sporting purposes.” They want to ban modern sporting rifles.
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Another recommendation is to ease regulations on silencers (aka “suppressors”). Gun prohibitionists have pulled out all the stops to demonize these devices, claiming among other things that they help people shoot faster. They also claim that the noise from gunshots is a “safety feature” that lets people know when guns are fired in their vicinity.
The White Paper is just that, a series of 16 recommendations that are open to discussion. For anti-gunners, those are discussions they do not care to have.
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