Well, I wrote my senator, Russ Feingold, about how CNN illegally or at least portrayed an illegal activity of flying to another state, purchasing a .50 caliber rifle from a private seller and then flew back to their state to show the "destructive power" of the .50 caliber "super evil assault sniper" rifle.

I had completely forgot about it until I got this letter from Russ Feingold yesterday:

Dear Newhunter, Enclosed is a reply I have recieved from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms regarding your concerns about a CNN report and the acquisition of a .50 caliber rifle. I hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to contact me again if I can be of further assistance with this or any other matter. Sincerely, Russel D. Feingold United States Senator

And here is the ATF's letter included with the letter from Feingold.

Dear Senator Feingold: This is in response to your letter dated March 25, 2005, on behalf of your consituent, Mr. Newbhunter, who expressed concerns about a CNN report involving the acquisition of a .50 caliber rifle. Specifically, your constituent questioned the legality of the purchase and/or transfer of the rifle. We apologize for the delay in our response. Based on the information provided, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) reviewed the circumstance to determine if violations of Federal firearms laws had occured. Due to the provisions of the Privacy Act, we are not able to disclose the results of our investigative efforts. ATF appreciates recieving information from concerned citizens and diligently scrutinizes alleged violations for validity and evidence necessary to establish the elements of proof required for submitting charges to the United States Attorney's Offices. We hope this information proves helpful in responding to your constituent. Please let me know if we may be of further assistance. Sincerely yours, Signed Carl J. Truscott Director

So, in other words. We know that the CNN reporter broke the law, but because it was an anti-gun piece and they were merely trying to mislead people into believing that somehow .50 caliber rifles are more evil than other caliber rifles, and because this piece was specificaly designed to help ban .50 caliber rifles we decided to turn our backs and pretend that nothing happened.

ETA: Somehow I'm finding it a little difficult to believe that the ATF is intersted in upholding personal privacy.

That Russ is pretty unpredictable.

Thanks for writing the letter though!

Hard to believe that commie even followed up on it.

Good on you, and good on your senator.  Too bad about ATF and CNN, but I guess it is par for the course.

Quoted: That Russ is pretty unpredictable.

Sure is. Voted against the gun liability bill this year. Voted for it last year. Must be gearing up for the presidency in 2008 and taking lessons from Kerry.

Russ Feingold, 2008 - "I voted for the gun liability law before I voted against it."

So what part of the Privacy Act does this fall under?

Quoted: So what part of the Privacy Act does this fall under?

The "None of your business peon" section

Quoted: So, in other words. We know that the CNN reporter broke the law, but because it was an anti-gun piece and they were merely trying to mislead people into believing that somehow .50 caliber rifles are more evil than other caliber rifles, and because this piece was specificaly designed to help ban .50 caliber rifles we decided to turn our backs and pretend that nothing happened.

What? How do you get that? Sounds to me that they have begun an investication into the purchase. What do you want, them to write back and say "We've reviewed the case, found them to have broken the law, stormed their building, set the files ablaze, and shot their dogs?"

Be careful what you wish for. The seller is also prohibited from transferring a firearm in a private transaction to a non-resident of his state. Currently the ATF does not usually pursue technical violations of the '68 GCA with non-licensees. You are in effect requesting them to take a more active role in these type of transactions.

Quoted: Good on you, and good on your senator.  Too bad about ATF and CNN, but I guess it is par for the course.

+1, and Director Truscott spelled "receive" incorrectly.

You can bet that CNN has their best lawyers on it.  Hopefully, CNN will spend millions of dollars in lawyers fees and it will teach them a lesson to never do it again.  But I seriously doubt that anyone will go to jail for it.  To me the biggest crime is the lie that they made to the people.

I am shocked and appauled that they aren't doing something about this.

Quoted: What do you want, them to write back and say "We've reviewed the case, found them to have broken the law, stormed their building, set the files ablaze, and shot their dogs?"

Well, yeah.    Is that a problem?

This can't be true.


Our good friends BoreSighted and Quien have told us that the guys at the ATF are great ... gun-nuts just like us.

I can't believe they would do such a thing.