Taken from the thefireingline.com (credit where credit is due)... Thanks F4GIB
November 16, 2002
[b]BATF Fighting Proposal to Import Old Weapons[/b]
By JEFF GERTH and RICHARD W. STEVENSON (NY Times)
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 - The federal gun control bureau is strongly opposing a proposal to let gun sellers and owners import as many as two million World War II era infantry weapons that were made in the United States and exported to the world's armies decades ago [Hakims, FN 49's, K-98's, M-48's and FAL's are OK but Garands are not???].
The objections from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms come as the State Department is considering the proposal, which is being pressed by a trade association that lobbies for gun importers. The bureau says the idea, which would lift a 50-year-old ban, would [b][i]flood the market with outdated but deadly weapons that could fall into the hands of criminals and would be hard
to regulate.[/i][/b]
A letter from the firearms bureau, part of the Treasury Department, warned that the change would prevent it from [b][i]stopping the criminal use of
"particularly dangerous" old guns: pistols that are readily concealed and carbines and Garand rifles, which can be easily converted into automatic weapons[/i][/b] [a lie]. Moreover, the letter warned, the carbine and [b][i]Garand can fire bullets
capable of piercing the soft body armor worn by police officers[/i][/b] [so can ANY deer rifle].
The weapons, exported to Asia, South America and countries elsewhere and still available around the world, have generally not been allowed back into the United States, though there is a legal exception that permits the import of
equipment classified as "curio or relics."
The State Department, which by law regulates trade in United States defense equipment, is weighing a proposal made last year by the Firearms Importers'
Roundtable Trade Group, which is led by a top dealer in and collector of machine-gun parts and accessories. The group, set up in the wake of import restrictions by the Clinton administration, argues that the imports would be used by collectors, in shooting competitions or for other legitimate purposes.
A briefing paper prepared by the firearm importers says the guns "are not crime guns" or "weapons of choice among criminals," an argument based on the
group's analysis of crime reports by the firearms bureau [this is true].
[i][b]But the bureau warned that the change could allow as many as two million weapons, many of them able to shoot the deadlier kinds of bullets [another lie, FMJ is less deadly that hunting soft-points], to enter the private commercial market legally for the first time. The bureau cited a recent report of its own that found that 7,243 American-made weapons intended for military use had been used in crimes, even though it was unlawful to re-import most if not all of them.[/i][/b]
John P. Malone, the assistant director for firearms and explosives at the bureau, cited this statistic two months ago when he wrote the State
Department to oppose the proposal.
A department spokesman declined to discuss the proposal, saying it was still under review.
"It is a matter of interagency discussion, and it would be inappropriate to comment," the spokesman said on the condition of anonymity.
At issue are rifles and handguns sold to United States allies more than 50 years ago. The potential universe, a 1998 federal report says, includes more than 950,000 Garand rifles, more than 1.2 million M-1 carbines and nearly
300,000 M-1911 pistols. A firearms expert who supports the policy change estimates the market at 1.5 million, but says many of them may not be capable of being fired. * * *
The firearms trade group says "there will not be millions of guns flooding the marketplace" because "market forces will control what is imported" and there would be "unusually lengthy" reviews by the firearms bureau and the State Department. The group also says buyers would be subject to the "same requirements that apply when purchasing other firearms," like background checks.
But Mr. Malone, in his letter to the State Department, said the group's proposal "would open the United States commercial market to potentially 2.5 million new weapons" which "A.T.F. generally has no authority to control [absolutely false, the same resale restrictions apply to all guns]."
Mr. Malone's letter was provided by an official opposed to the policy change. * * *
On June 27, 2001, Mr. Steen's group petitioned the State Department to "lift the import restrictions historically imposed on `obsolete and historic U.S. military small arms, ammunition, and demilitarized equipment,' " according to
Mr. Malone's letter.
The trade group's lawyer is Mark Barnes, a leading firearms lobbyist in Washington. Mr. Barnes provided a copy of the trade group's background paper - which echoes its 2001 proposal - but Mr. Steen declined to be interviewed for this article.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the proposal sat idle, but more recently the trade group has met with State Department officials, including once late last summer, a person who attended said.
On Sept. 10, Mr. Malone wrote to Lincoln P. Bloomfield Jr., the assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, saying that the proposal would "undo over 50 years of established policy governing the transfer and import of these weapons."
Surplus military firearms have been banned from import under federal gun control laws [a provision requested and supported by guess who ... Smith & Wesson]. But in 1984, the Gun Control Act was amended to create an exception: firearms classified as "curio or relics," which include weapons and ammunition more than 50 years old.
Since 1949 there have been strict limits on the ability of foreign governments to distribute equipment they receive under United States military assistance programs. In 1987, the State Department restated its general ban on the
initial retransfer of United States military weapons, but created an exception.
Foreign governments could sell to private entities if they could show "significant public interest," including guarantees that the equipment would
be used for its intended purpose, such as being placed on "static display in a museum and demilitarized," Mr. Malone's letter said.
Mr. Steen's group maintains that the State Department has interpreted the law
too narrowly and should approve as "the rule, rather than the exception," imports of United States military equipment. [end of cut & paste]
[red]I guess we now have an idea of what Ashcroft meant when he said that the 2nd. Amendment is an individual right, but that it is subject to restrictions in the case of firearms that are "[i]particularly suitable for criminal purposes."[/i]
I swear... the BATF letter reads like it was written by Sarah Brady herself (lies, exaggerations, fear mongering). Remember folks... the ATF is NOT your friend, nor are they some impartial Gov. agency that is "just doing their job". They OBVIOUSLY have an agenda, and it is NOT in our best interest!!!
If they feel this way about obsolete, overweight 60 year old long guns that fire a very popular deer cartridge, imagine what they think of your AR!!![/red]