NOW THAT THE ELECTION IS OVER
By John Brown
At the writing of this article the candidates are running neck and neck for the Commander in Chief, the President of the United States of America. No matter what direction you explore, the backgrounds of these two gentlemen concerning the future of the gun industry is not looking good. If you take a look at the last four years of our President it looks and feels like ATF is winding up for the second four year term of tighter controls and less of an ear to what anyone in the industry wants. Many of us are calling this the calm before the storm in many ways. If Obama wins the election we will have an unleashing of the full wrath of the Justice Department and the few remaining friends that the industry has built in the last ten years will certainly take a back seat to stay out of harms way. I can’t say that I blame them for running out the rest of their time and staying below the radar screen. These are troubling times to say the least.
If you go back and take a look at both candidates’ records, we are certainly way off course for the kind of care sportsman and gun enthusiasts received under a Roosevelt or a Reagan administration. All of the major support organizations that are working hard to protect your rights are working around the clock to keep a close watch on every seat in congress. Every day we are watching all aspects of the behavior that we see coming from congress and ATF. What you have to watch on the ATF front are the continuous flow of decisions now in the form of letters that sneak underneath the radar and then pose themselves as forthcoming regulations. We all know if a letter has already been sent to someone out there with a conclusion, it’s almost certainly too late to do anything about it. I look at the letters that are sent to individuals and I have to shake my head in disbelief. First and foremost I often wonder why in the world someone would even ask a question like that, and secondly when the answer comes to the individual, it is almost certainly an “OMG.” Oh My Gosh, I can’t believe that we are now stuck with that opinion. Careful what you ask, you may be astounded by the answer.
There are dozens of other channels that are available to you to get answers that you need and it won’t come to you in a letter that will soon end a privilege that you once had. Our Rights are under enough attack without whittling down the regulatory “Privileges” we seem to live with today.
With whatever candidate that is coming to us in 2013 you have to ask yourself the question, “What is the best venue for me to make certain that I have good representation on the hill?” With 2013 in the wind you better believe that if you want your money to work for you it will gain the most interest in one the organizations that best supports your interests. No matter if Title One firearms is your hobby, where the NRA is at its best, or you are in importer/exporter and the F.A.I.R. Trade Group best serves your needs, or it’s supporting the NFA industry and community and you want to give your support to the NFATCA, you will soon need to pick one and give it your best efforts. No matter which candidate ends up in the oval office the track record and what each of the candidates want, it is not to continue to let you and me to buy “Assault Rifles” and the like. Putting a permanent assault weapons ban in place and taking on this portion of the industry has been a primary objective of not only the Democrats in this country but a larger part of the liberal party line. There is only one reason why so many people are buying so furiously today; they are deathly afraid that they won’t be able to buy it again, in the next four years. The truth of the matter is no matter who is in the White House; both candidates have a history of staunch gun control. It is a great time to buy.
No matter what you collect or what you buy, there is an organization designed specifically for your needs to protect your rights. As each day passes, put yourself in a smart position and join an organization that will protect your rights and have the time and the funds to stand up for you at every angle, no matter who is in the White House.
We at the NFATCA will be there for you today and the day after and each and every day after that, looking out for your NFA rights. We will be reaching into our 9th year supporting the NFA community and our numbers continue to grow and our board members continue to grow more powerful in supporting you.
No matter how difficult times may get in the communication game with ATF you can bet on one thing for certain: We will continue to listen to our membership and provide you with a support that is unique, only because we believe that working closely within the ranks of ATF is the only way to enjoy success. Believe it or not a lot of our brethren at ATF enjoy shooting as much as any one of our members. Working together and better understanding one another’s needs is paramount to our continued success under either candidate. It was with continued cooperation and working together that we are able to produce the NFA Handbook, and the Firearms Technology Handbook. If you think anyone could put together such resources without working closely with ATF, you are dreaming. Having and keeping a good relationship internally is more important today than ever, regardless of who is in the White House. The method that we have always used in our eight-year history is “Power Through Experience.”
So for whatever administration we must endure over the next four years, make certain that you support the NFATCA or whatever organization you feel will best benefit from your financial and personal commitment. We are all working to protect all of our best interests in supporting the 2nd amendment. For more information contact us at www.nfatca.org.
| This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V17N1 (March 2013) |
