Big Red Car here on the verge of the SOU (State of the Union) speech by the President. The guy gives a damn good speech, right?
Harry Truman is famously said to have uttered: “I’d rather be President than be right.”
Haha, dear readers, Harry actually said, “I’d rather be right than President.”
Sorry, that was the Big Red Car spoofing y’all. Won’t happen again.
President Truman also said, “You have to know the facts.”
Our current President, must subscribe to the first form because the other day he told some whoppers in regard to the gun control/confiscation/demonization debate.
Internet sales of guns according to the President v reality
The President said that a criminal could go on the Internet and buy a gun in complete anonymity and with no background check.
WRONG!
1. If you buy a gun on the Internet you first have to identify yourself to the gun seller.
2. Then the gun seller has to deliver the gun to an FFL (Federal Firearms License) holder in your state.
3. That FFL has to conduct a background check just like you had walked into his store to buy that gun.
This has been the law for forever. Forever! Go to a gun sale site and check for yourself.
Here is a typical shipping instruction from such a gun sale site, Gun Broker Dot Com.
- Firearms may only be shipped to a licensed dealer (FFL Holder) – If you are not a licensed dealer, you must make arrangements with a dealer in your state to receive the firearm and transfer it to you. We maintain a list of transfer dealers willing to do transfers.
The President was, essentially, full of crap. This is very simple stuff and he doesn’t know it.
I expect my President to know this stuff. Why doesn’t he? Who is advising him? How can he be this freakin’ wrong and expect to be taken seriously.
Who exactly is the ATF, Big Red Car and what do they do?
The President gave a long winded answer at the Town Hall Summit (handpicked audience in conjunction with CNN, spoon fed, pre-approved questions, boring!) on gun control/confiscation/demonization the other day and said that the good folks at the ATF are “a law enforcement agency working under the FBI that is doing enormous work in going after criminals and drug cartels, and have a pretty dangerous job, so it’s not as if doing background checks or auditing gun sales is all that they’re doing.”
Here are the actual facts:
1. The ATF is under the Department of Justice, not the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The President was just WRONG.
2. The ATF has nothing to do with background investigations. The President was just WRONG.
3. Background investigations are conducted by the FBI using their NICS system. National Instant Criminal Background Check is a database of folks used to identify shitheads with criminal backgrounds who should not, under the law, be allowed to own guns.
4. The ATF has nothing to do with the NICS. It is run by the FBI. The ATF does not conduct background checks. They are conducted by the FBI.
5. Again, the main proponent of gun control/confiscation/demonization was WRONG.
Should we expect the President to know what he’s talking about?
What is the status of funding for the ATF, Big Red Car?
The President implied that the evil Republicans had shorn the sheep of ATF funding to the nub and that if only the evil Republicans hadn’t taken away all their funding, this problem would be handled.
1. In fact, the ATF had a budget of less than a billion dollars when President Obama came into office in 2008 and today has a budget of $1.1 billion. The budget for the ATF has gone UP not down.
2. Note to President, the Democrats controlled the levers of power in the Congress for your first two years and you didn’t ask for more money even then. Sheesh!
3. The evil Republicans approved exactly what the President asked for except for 2013 when they approved $1.1 billion when the President asked for $1.15 billion.
4. The evil Republicans have given this administration exactly what they have asked for.
Oh, those evil Republicans. [Hey, let’s demonize the Republicans even if it isn’t true. Good way to unite the country behind the serious issue of gun regulation, no? Yeah, this could work — said NOBODY ever.]
What does this all mean, Big Red Car?
What this means, dear reader, is that the debate is not going anywhere when the leading proponent of gun control/confiscation/demonization has no clue as to the actual facts, spreads inaccuracies (lies in other latitudes but we’re trying to behave ourselves today), and doesn’t know the facts himself.
Should we expect more from our President? Should we expect him to know the facts? Should we expect him to be advised by people who know what they’re talking about? Should we expect a fair debate based on facts?
Of course we should. And, dear reader, this subject is going nowhere until that happens. Sorry.
On this subject, like many others, this President simply doesn’t have a command of the facts, the subject matter, reality. And he is not even remotely embarrassed at his own ineptitude and that may be the real story, y’all.
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car. Be good to someone who will be surprised and confused by your goodness. Sow some happiness cause we desperately need it.
