New bill: One arrest to take away 2nd Amendment rights

[JacobG18]

Get collared years ago on a bogus drug charge because the oregano in your back pocket looked like was a bag of weed? Or maybe a judge back in 2006 dropped those charges because you were able to provide proof for that Adderall prescription? Under proposed legislation, it will not matter if you were innocent all along or even proven innocent by a court of law.

Either way, you can forget about buying a gun.

The Fix Gun Checks Act of 2011 would greatly expand the definition of those legally prohibited from owning firearms to include anyone who’s ever been arrested — even if never convicted or found guilty — for drug possession within a five-year period. The legislation is certainly troubling for those who want a “common sense” debate about drug decriminalization. And it would seem fears that any new national gun-control legislation would be used to limit the gun-rights of law-abiding citizens is at least partially justified.

Sponsored by New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer and introduced earlier this month, the expanded background checks bill includes a “clarification of the definition of drug abusers and drug addicts who are prohibited from possessing firearms.” Under Schumer’s bill, the definition of a “drug abuser” would include anyone with “an arrest for the use or possession of a controlled substance within the past 5 years.”

Current federal law already specifies that two kinds of drug users can be barred from owning a gun: (1) Those who have been convicted of possessing or using a controlled substance in the past year and (2) Anyone who has had multiple drug arrests in the past five years, including one within a year of applying for a firearm, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The rules surrounding what “inference” the federal government can make about a current “drug user” are complicated. Add to that regulations stating who is prohibited from owning a firearm; a cumbersome background check system; and inter-departmental communication and, suddenly, the combination of firearms and drugs becomes a confusing bureaucratic mess of regulations and codes.

But the “arrest” language of Schumer’s bill and a clarification from the ATF indicate that a greater number of innocent Americans would be barred from owning a gun if the Senate bill becomes law.

“Under the definition of ‘unlawful user’ … an inference of current use could be drawn if the one arrest resulted in a conviction for use or possession of a controlled substance within the past year,” the ATF told the The Daily Caller.

To clear up any confusion, Schumer’s bill would expand that “inference” to say: if you’ve ever been arrested for any kind of drug use or possession in the past five year, you can be denied the lawful possession of a firearm.

The bill’s definition of an “unlawful user” also includes anyone arrested for drug paraphernalia within the past five years if the paraphernalia is found have traces of a drug, and those who make an “admission” to using or possessing a controlled substance in the past five years. The meaning of “admission,” however, is not defined.

Schumer’s office was unavailable for comment. One thing is clear, though: the senator’s legislation would prohibit a lot more innocent-until-proven-guilty people from possessing firearms.

A little more than 1,600,000 people were arrested in 2009 on drug violations, according to statistic from the Federal Bureau of Investigations. About half of those people were arrested on marijuana charges, with simple drug possession — rather than sale or manufacturing — accounting for nine-tenths of those collars, according to Reason magazine. It’s those last set of figures that could very well rally two groups most people might consider odd bed-fellows: pot-smokers and firearms enthusiasts.



Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/03/23/ne...#ixzz1HQM3bq00

[acptulsa]

Innocent until Briefly Presumed Guilty.

So the cop says he smells something on your breath, he slaps the cuffs on, and five minutes later the ATF has knocked your door off the hinges. Sounds like a perfect world--if you're the SPLC.

[Icymudpuppy]

Why does the SPLC support keeping poor black people down? I don't get it..

[Pericles]

Why does the SPLC support keeping poor black people down? I don't get it..

Sure you do. It is all about appealing to the donor base. Poverty is very rewarding to those who make a living from it.

[jct74]

Wow, just read the whole article (there are 2 pages). I don't really know much about guns or gun laws, but that is the most messed-up piece of gun legislation I have ever heard of. Get wrongfully accused of a minor drug crime or admit to having smoked pot and you can't buy a gun for 5 years. Unbelievable.

[Dr.3D]

Wow, just read the whole article (there are 2 pages). I don't really know much about guns or gun laws, but that is the most messed-up piece of gun legislation I have ever heard of. Get wrongfully accused of a minor drug crime or admit to having smoked pot and you can't buy a gun for 5 years. Unbelievable.

Again, laws such as this one, won't stop anybody from getting a gun. It will only make more "criminals".

[kahless]

Schumer wants to expand the draconian laws of NY to the rest of the country. I remember the application here asking things like "have you ever been to family court", "have you ever pleaded guilty or no contest" and "have you ever been prescribed an anti-depressent".

They treat anyone that applies for a pistol permit here like a criminal. You have to get in-state character references that have known you for 2 years that must not be relatives. Then letters of approval from all whom live with you. Then fill the application out in triplicate and get it notarized. You then make an appointment with the local sheriff to get finger printed, digital signature and photographed, like you are a criminal. Then you apply and they give a date for a firearms safety couse which you must take and you pay $150. Hopefully after waiting 4 months you will a pistol permit.