Homeland Security claims far reaching power over your gunsSource:
Harrisburg, PA - Pennsylvania gun owners breathed a sigh of relief at the Heller vs. DC Supreme Court ruling, but the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania (LPPa) warns that major threats to gun rights still exist. One such threat is REAL ID, the federal mandate turning driver's licenses into national ID cards.
The long-term plan for REAL ID is to force its biometric ID functions on federal, state, local and private entities for all transactions. Thus, ID confirmation by a distant bureaucracy becomes permission for essential daily activities including banking, doctor visits, transit, school attendance and purchases -- including guns.
According to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) final rule handed down in January, DHS "will continue to consider additional ways in which a Real ID license can or should be used and will implement any changes to the definition of 'official purpose' or determinations regarding additional uses for Real ID consistent with applicable laws and regulatory requirements. DHS does not agree that it must seek the approval of Congress as a prerequisite to changing the definition in the future."
Do you want to risk your gun rights on the appointment of someone opposed to our second amendment rights as Secretary of Homeland Security?
"The very thought that the sale of firearms and ammunition could be stopped based on some political agenda in Washington is frightening," remarked LP Activist Mark Crowley. "We saw the disastrous consequences of such an agenda in New Orleans during Katrina when some police abandoned their posts leaving citizens defenseless and criminals armed. We must never put Pennsylvanians into a position where they can only hope that distant Washington bureaucrats will do the right thing."
“The implementation of REAL ID presents a significant threat to gun ownership in the United States of America." added Michael Robertson, LPPa Chair.
By participating in REAL ID, Pennsylvanians will be subjected to scrutiny by a host of federal agencies with every swipe of a REAL ID card. This is de facto gun registration, only worse. Once a gun buyer is identified, other information such as military service, purchases, rentals, travel, and medical history will be easily cross-referenced and subjected to interpretation. It's inevitable that politicized standards will emerge that can be used to deny Pennsylvanians the right to keep and bear arms -- everyone except violent criminals and politicians' bodyguards.
LPPa Media Relations Chair, Doug Leard, added, “A few years ago when the NICS [National InstaCheck System] computer system crashed, no one could be validated for a gun purchase. A political agenda is one thing and bureaucratic incompetence is another. When a state submits to REAL ID, it submits its citizens to the possibility of being denied not just gun purchases, but ATM cash, credit card purchases and even a critical prescription pickup. Pennsylvania must emphatically reject REAL ID."
The LPPa urges Pennsylvanians to contact their state legislators and instruct them to support state House Bill 1351 and state Senate Bill 1220. Be wary of other recently introduced legislation such as H.B. 2537 that claims to oppose REAL ID, but ignores the central issue of biometric data collection of Pennsylvanians.
Despite the Heller case, the anti-gun movement will continue to seek alternatives to eliminate our gun rights. REAL ID provides them an unguarded backdoor. Let's nail it shut in Pennsylvania.
The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in Pennsylvania and the United States. More than 200,000 people across the country are registered Libertarians, and Libertarians serve in hundreds of elected offices. Please visit www.LP.org or www.LPPA.org for more information.
Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania
3915 Union Deposit Road #223
Harrisburg, PA 17109
www.lppa.org
For Immediate Release: July 21, 2008
Contact: Doug Leard (Media Relations) or
Michael Robertson (Chair) at 1-800-R-RIGHTS / chair@lppa.org
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1 comment:
Mark,
Thank you for posting the LPPA media release "REAL ID – A very real threat to gun rights." That release was picked up by the REAL ID activists in PA, a gun-group and even the Alex Jones web site. Your blog gets around.
If possible, when you post LPPA media realeases, could you include more of the header and contact information? At least consider a, "Here's a warning from our friends at the LP of PA (www.lppa.org)" as an introduction if nothing else. I ask that not because we're publicity hogs -- for heaven's sake we're shy libertarians -- but because we sometimes get calls from our media releases. If contact information isn't right there, then the contact usually won't happen.
For example, a few months ago on a joint REAL ID media release with the Green Party, the Greens got a call from a Philly newspaper reporter who challenged one of the statements in the release. It was referred to me and I "connected-the-dots" with appropriate documentation and web links. That was a critical step in establishing credibilty. If it appears as a posting without prominent contact information, anything questionable will be considered the rantings of a wild blogger and ignored. With contact information he called, got a prompt response and maybe he'll write about it in the future.
Thanks again for posting! With Bonusgate we should have a few more things to say about the necessity of third party candidates.
Mark
From: Aaron Bolinger [mailto:discipleaaron@hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 4:14 PM
To: (PA-W1)
Subject: REAL ID – A very real threat to gun rights (Conference Call TONIGHT!)
Please note the connection with Pennsylvania. I highlighted some especially frightening text.
-----
Disciple Aaron
Bible translator-theologian
Legislative Director, NVCCA
Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator, RTR Network
www.nvcca.net
www.restoretherepublic.com
National/Regional Conference Call Every Tue. eve., 7:30 pm Eastern time
724-444-7444 (14259#)
"It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the
function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error."
United States Supreme Court - American Communications Association v. Douds
http://blacklistednews.com/?news_id=686
REAL ID – A very real threat to gun rights
Published on 22-07-2008
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By Mark Rauterkus
Homeland Security claims far reaching power over your guns
Harrisburg, PA - Pennsylvania gun owners breathed a sigh of relief at the Heller vs. DC Supreme Court ruling, but the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania (LPPa) warns that major threats to gun rights still exist. One such threat is REAL ID, the federal mandate turning driver’s licenses into national ID cards.
The long-term plan for REAL ID is to force its biometric ID functions on federal, state, local and private entities for all transactions. Thus, ID confirmation by a distant bureaucracy becomes permission for essential daily activities including banking, doctor visits, transit, school attendance and purchases — including guns.
According to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) final rule handed down in January, DHS “will continue to consider additional ways in which a Real ID license can or should be used and will implement any changes to the definition of ‘official purpose’ or determinations regarding additional uses for Real ID consistent with applicable laws and regulatory requirements. DHS does not agree that it must seek the approval of Congress as a prerequisite to changing the definition in the future.”
Do you want to risk your gun rights on the appointment of someone opposed to our second amendment rights as Secretary of Homeland Security?
“The very thought that the sale of firearms and ammunition could be stopped based on some political agenda in Washington is frightening,” remarked LP Activist Mark Crowley. “We saw the disastrous consequences of such an agenda in New Orleans during Katrina when some police abandoned their posts leaving citizens defenseless and criminals armed. We must never put Pennsylvanians into a position where they can only hope that distant Washington bureaucrats will do the right thing.”
“The implementation of REAL ID presents a significant threat to gun ownership in the United States of America.” added Michael Robertson, LPPa Chair.
By participating in REAL ID, Pennsylvanians will be subjected to scrutiny by a host of federal agencies with every swipe of a REAL ID card. This is de facto gun registration, only worse. Once a gun buyer is identified, other information such as military service, purchases, rentals, travel, and medical history will be easily cross-referenced and subjected to interpretation. It’s inevitable that politicized standards will emerge that can be used to deny Pennsylvanians the right to keep and bear arms — everyone except violent criminals and politicians’ bodyguards.
LPPa Media Relations Chair, Doug Leard, added, “A few years ago when the NICS [National InstaCheck System] computer system crashed, no one could be validated for a gun purchase. A political agenda is one thing and bureaucratic incompetence is another. When a state submits to REAL ID, it submits its citizens to the possibility of being denied not just gun purchases, but ATM cash, credit card purchases and even a critical prescription pickup. Pennsylvania must emphatically reject REAL ID.”
The LPPa urges Pennsylvanians to contact their state legislators and instruct them to support state House Bill 1351 and state Senate Bill 1220. Be wary of other recently introduced legislation such as H.B. 2537 that claims to oppose REAL ID, but ignores the central issue of biometric data collection of Pennsylvanians.
Despite the Heller case, the anti-gun movement will continue to seek alternatives to eliminate our gun rights. REAL ID provides them an unguarded backdoor. Let’s nail it shut in Pennsylvania.
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