By David Codrea
USA – -(Ammoland.com)- The “Uniform Firearms Transfer Compact” bill, HB2524, has passed in the Arizona House and been assigned to Senate committees for consideration. The bill, per those championing it, provides a unique way to thwart the billionaire-funded Bloomberg juggernaut as it attempts to roll over and crush grassroots resistance.
“HB 2524 provides our best opportunity to derail the coming Bloomberg financed ballot measure to establish gun owner registration in Arizona before it happens,” Arizona Citizens Defense League explained in a recent alert to supporters. “The passage of HB 2524 would establish an interstate compact that restricts member states from enacting firearms transfer requirements greater than existing federal law. In essence, this would create a ceiling that state law could not exceed.
“Current federal law has few limitations on intrastate private party firearm transfers between non-prohibited possessors,” the alert elaborated. “Compacts between states supersede individual state law. An example of an interstate compact is the uniform recognition of our drivers’ licenses. Once HB 2524 is enacted in Arizona and at least one other state becomes a party to the compact, a subsequent state law, or even a ballot measure, cannot override it.”
Obviously, that would mean the compact would need to be entered into with another state in order to thwart Bloomberg’s efforts in Arizona. And it presupposes gun rights advocates continue to beat back attempts to end private sales at the federal level.
Meanwhile, the Bloomberg machine continues to advance, with the immediate threat being in Nevada. Again, local activists are adapting with creative defenses: The grassroots group Nevadans for State Gun Rights is urging the Republican Party of Nevada to include its statement against Bloomberg infringements in the party platform. If you think about it, there’s no legitimate reason for the state GOP not to do that.
Meanwhile, gun rights defenders everywhere have their job cut out correcting public perceptions on what the gun-grabbers really mean by “universal background checks.” That’s especially true in light of poll numbers that show many voters who don’t know any better swallowing the lies.
AzCDL has posted a good informational resource to expose how what’s being promoted will not stop criminals, and is really “bait and switch,” with the real goals being registration and ultimately confiscation. That’s confirmed by no less an authority than the National Institute of Justice “Summary of Select Firearm Violence. Prevention Strategies,” that concluded:
Effectiveness depends on the ability to reduce straw purchasing, requiring gun registration…
What about current “protections,” like making sure funding is denied in ATF’s budget to create a gun owner database? That could change with a change in majority – something some are determined to make happen with “outside the border” thinking. For the present, ATF also claims records when FFLs close down, and there have been disturbing reports of inspectors illegally scanning gun owner information.
There’s one other sure way to tell what the antis are really after is not “background checks.” If the point is just to make sure prohibited persons don’t get guns – an impossible task, but humor them for a moment – then the Blind Identification Database System (BIDS) would provide a way to flag prohibited persons but not record transactions by those who are cleared. But that’s not what they want, and the special interests would fight it tooth and nail if someone in Congress ever introduced it to replace NRA-favored NICS.
“The passage of HB 2524 is critical,” AzCDL continued in its warning. “Under Arizona’s Constitution, as long as the petition signature gathering process is successful, a measure will appear on the ballot. The Legislature cannot prevent it. Once passed, a ballot measure is essentially permanent. The Legislature cannot override it.
“Bloomberg funded anti-rights groups are exploiting this weakness in several state constitutions,” the alert concluded. “They spent over $10 Million on the passage of a ballot measure in Washington in 2014. In 2015 they succeeded in meeting the petition signature gathering requirements in Nevada and Maine. As a result, they will see gun owner registration schemes on their 2016 ballots. They will come to Arizona. HB 2524 is the way to stop them.”
For now, Arizona gun owners interested in frustrating the Bloomberg machine need to contact their representatives and let them know their support is expected if they expect yours. And gun owners in other states should get their representatives on board with this novel idea.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating / defending the RKBA and a long-time gun rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament.
He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and also posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.