Last week Grandpa SniffyHair — who, for reasons that surely have nothing to do with dementia, frequently confuses “AFT” for “ATF” — gave yet another anti-gun speech using the backdrop of the death of two police officers in New York, a city famous for its lax gun laws. Said officers were killed last month by a prohibited possessor using a stolen firearm that apparently had a 40-round drum magazine — which qualifies it, in Bidenworld, as a “weapon of war”.
Realistically, just about anything can be used as a weapon, and in war you often can’t afford to be picky about what weapons you use, so I suppose he’s kind-of got a point there. However, given how many wars Grandpa SniffyHair has helped to start in his over half a century of eagerly suckling on the public teat, you’d think he’d at least know that the only war .45ACP Glocks with 40 round drum mags are commonly used in are gang wars.
And, at that, even most gang bangers have enough sense not to use drum mags.
Though I do hear that a Glock 17 with an autosear and a 30 round mag is pretty much standard issue in Brazil. Gotta hand it to the Brazilian mob, they know how to party.
Weapon of war or no, doesn’t seem to much matter. Rights, we’re continuously reminded by Grandpa Sniffyhair, are not absolute:
But no amendment — no amendment to the Constitution is absolute. You can’t yell crowd — you can’t
tell[yell]* “fire” in a crowded movie theater and call it freedom of speech.
Except… Yes, you can.
But those who quote Holmes might want to actually read the case where the phrase originated before using it as their main defense. If they did, they'd realize it was never binding law, and the underlying case, U.S. v. Schenck, is not only one of the most odious free speech decisions in the Court's history, but was overturned over 40 years ago.
‘Fire in a crowded theater’ is one of those common legal tropes that refuses to die but has never had any basis in actual law.
You’d think a lawyer and longtime legislator, like Grandpa SniffyHair, would know that.
Apparently not.
And then there’s Cannons. Brandon — who, rumor has it, may have been there — likes to point out that when the Second Amendment was written a private citizen couldn’t buy a cannon:
Except, of course, he’s wrong, and this isn’t even close to the first time he has made the claim and been debunked.
Not only could private citizens own cannons at the time The Second Amendment was written, you could, and people did, own a then state-of-the-art warship with a full compliment of cannons and a license from the nascent US Government to operate as a privateer.
Even more embarrassing than repeating historical claims, being corrected multiple times, and still being wrong, Brandon is apparently unaware that you can still, today, legally buy a cannon.
Oh well, I suppose it’s too much to expect The Commander In Chief of our military forces to know anything about “weapons of war” or The Chief Executive to know anything about the Constitution or laws he’s sworn to uphold.
Just as it is apparently too much to expect the agencies under him to act in any more of a consistent, logical, or legal manner than he does.
Today’s first installment of Alphabet Bois soon-to-be Series features none other than Hunter Biden.
The AFT… Err, ATF has long been very jealous of their big sister, The FBI. When the FBI got to break down journalist’s doors whilst demanding information on Ashley Biden’s diary — ‘cause doing early morning raids in search of misplaced diaries is totes on the up-and-up, a daily FBI duty dontchaknow — The ATF decided they wanted to carry some Biden water, too. So Hunter got to be the ATF’s BPC (Biden Problem Child).
Apparently the SEC, let alone the DEA, lost out, maybe they’ll get a painting for the office as a consolation prize.
Back on October 12, 2018 Hunter purchased a .38 revolver from a gun shop in Delaware. On October 23, Hallie Biden, Hunter’s brother’s widow and Hunter’s then girlfriend (Yikes!), found the firearm, put it in a shopping bag, and put it in a trash can outside a grocery store.
Given her quite likely felonious and certainly less than optimal chosen firearm disposal method, not to mention choice in boyfriend, I’m guessing Hallie isn’t exactly at risk of accidentally winning a Nobel Prize. Well, unless it’s a Nobel Peace Prize. The bar for those has been pretty darn low since Arafat, if not before.
Anywho, so Hunter finds out about Hallie’s unexpected literal trashing of his gun, loses his shit, and contacts the Delaware State Police, the Secret Service, the FBI, and later on, the ATF
You see, there was a problem. Well, lots of problems, but one in particular that I suspect Hunter was very concerned with. When you purchase a firearm from an FFL (gun shop, basically), as Hunter recently had, you have to fill out a Form 4473 and have a background check through NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System).
Question 21 part e of the 4473 reads “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or other controlled substance?” and you must check a box for yes or no. When you sign the 4473 you are attesting to the truthfulness of your answers under penalty of perjury.
In his memoirs Hunter says that in 2018 he was “smoking crack every 15 minutes”.
The gun was eventually found and turned in by a man who routinely went through trash cans in the area looking for recyclables.
Oddly, given their later amnesia, The Secret Service reportedly went to the gun store where Hunter had purchased the gun and asked the store owner to turn over the 4473. The store owner, who apparently knew a trap when he saw one, told them to bugger off. He later turned the 4473 over to the ATF, who has jurisdiction over such things.
That Hunter lied on the 4473 is pretty much a given, he almost certainly wouldn’t have been allowed to purchase the firearm otherwise. That doing so is a Felony, albeit one more typically used for leverage by law enforcement than actually directly prosecuted, is also a given. But it gets weirder.
In November of 2020, David Codrea of AmmoLand, noting the number of contradictions, conveniences, and potential felonies involved in this incident, along with the wholly inexplicable lack of curiosity about this among the mainstream press, filed FOIA requests with both The Secret Service and The ATF requesting any records involving the investigation of this incident and why or why not charges were or were not filed.
The Secret Service, prior reports of their involvement to the contrary, pulled a Sgt. Shultz and, as far as they’re concerned, that’s the end of it.
The ATF took another tact, simply telling Codrea to bugger the hell off, it was none of his business because he wasn’t a “real” journalist. He responded by asking attorney Stephen Stamboulieh to file suit to compel the release of the records. The ATF has recently responded by requesting summary dismissal of the lawsuit primarily on the grounds of a need to protect Hunter’s privacy rights.
Of all the things Hunter Biden can be said to be, someone given to privacy is not one of them.
Of all the things the ATF can be said to routinely concern itself with, the privacy of those it goes after can most assuredly not be said to be one of them.
Now I’ll grant that as Hunter Biden Scandals go this is small potatoes, but to have his dad lecture us about how we need more gun control and more invasive background checks at the same time an agency under his leadership (I use the term loosely) is letting his son and daughter-in-law skate for violating both gun laws and lying on a background check is just beyond the pale.
