> ALERT FROM JEWS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FIREARMS OWNERSHIP
> America's Aggressive Civil Rights Organization
>
> February 9, 2006
>
> JPFO ALERT: Congressional Hearings on the BATFE
>
> In August of 2005, participants at gun shows in Virginia
> were shocked to discover that while they were purchasing
> perfectly legal firearms, BATFE agents visited their homes
> and their neighbors' homes, asking questions like, "Do
> you know your spouse/neighbor is buying a gun? How do you
> feel about that?" (1) Agents obtained the residence
> information from purchase forms that buyers are required to
> fill out ... a clear violation of federal law.
>
> Now, seven months later, the U.S. House Judiciary
> Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security will
> hold an oversight hearing to investigate apparent
> wrongdoing by BATFE. The hearings will be held on February
> 15, at 4:00 p.m. While we applaud the fact that _someone_
> is looking into the issue, we remain skeptical as to the
> outcome.
>
> For one, the hearing is being chaired by James M.
> Sensenbrenner. Despite the (R) after his name,
> Sensenbrenner has shown multiple times that he is no

> ALERT FROM JEWS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FIREARMS OWNERSHIP
> America's Aggressive Civil Rights Organization
>
> February 9, 2006
>
> JPFO ALERT: Congressional Hearings on the BATFE
>
> In August of 2005, participants at gun shows in Virginia
> were shocked to discover that while they were purchasing
> perfectly legal firearms, BATFE agents visited their homes
> and their neighbors' homes, asking questions like, "Do
> you know your spouse/neighbor is buying a gun? How do you
> feel about that?" (1) Agents obtained the residence
> information from purchase forms that buyers are required to
> fill out ... a clear violation of federal law.
>
> Now, seven months later, the U.S. House Judiciary
> Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security will
> hold an oversight hearing to investigate apparent
> wrongdoing by BATFE. The hearings will be held on February
> 15, at 4:00 p.m. While we applaud the fact that _someone_
> is looking into the issue, we remain skeptical as to the
> outcome.
>
> For one, the hearing is being chaired by James M.
> Sensenbrenner. Despite the (R) after his name,
> Sensenbrenner has shown multiple times that he is no friend
> of gun owners. Author of the Real ID Act (2), Sensenbrenner
> vigorously defended the BATFE after the John Glover
> travesty (3). Not content with that, he has also refused to
> allow HR 1603 -- the "Fairness in Firearms Testing" bill
> (4) -- out of the _same_ committee now conducting these
> hearings! With Sensenbrenner's record of support for the
> State over the individual, how impartial can the hearings
> be? That it was scheduled for 4pm -- too late for it to be
> part of the evening news -- is equally telling. Are gun
> owners being set up for betrayal yet again?
>
> There's no dispute that the Virginia incidents were
> completely unacceptable violations of individuals' rights
> (as well as violations of federal law!). But we must ask,
> what about all of the innocent gun owners currently rotting
> in prison or left financially destitute as a direct result
> of BATFE's capricious and arbitrary actions (5)? Will the
> hearings address those who are falsely accused based on
> dubious informant tips, set up by "experts" who don't
> bother to examine the firearm in question (6), and
> convicted on the subjective opinion of those same "experts"
> (7)?
>
> The BATFE has been known as a rogue agency for decades, yet
> no one -- neither Democrat nor Republican -- has
> attempted to rein them in. The few investigations into this
> organization have netted at most a slap on the wrist. Why?
> Because they are useful to those who wish to gather and
> maintain power. A police state, after all, must have its
> police force.
>
> We must continue to educate everyone -- even those who
> neither own nor like firearms -- about the dangerous power
> of the BATFE, and the precedent it sets. If one agency can
> arbitrarily decide whether an object is "legal" (without
> any standards or documented testing procedures), than ANY
> agency can. After all, if the BATFE can decide a shoestring
> is a machine gun (8), what is to prevent the DEA from
> declaring your greenhouse a "drug manufacturing plant"?
>
> This issue affects all Americans, regardless of political
> affiliation. Please, please take a moment to join our "Boot
> the BATFE" campaign at www.jpfo.org/bootbatfe.htm .
> We must continue to make noise about this issue and demand
> our representatives do whatever it takes to put the BATFE
> genie back in its bottle.
>
> With all of the documented abuses the BATFE has indulged
> in, there is NO excuse for defending this agency gone mad.
> Anyone who defends, condones, or apologizes for the BATFE
> is either willfully ignorant ... or maliciously power-
> hungry. Boot them out of your lives, and tell them why. The
> American people have tolerated this monstrosity for far too
> long.
>
> - The Liberty Crew
>
> (1) "BATFE Sinks to New Low in Richmond"
> tinyurl.com/cz324
friend
> of gun owners. Author of the Real ID Act (2), Sensenbrenner
> vigorously defended the BATFE after the John Glover
> travesty (3). Not content with that, he has also refused to
> allow HR 1603 -- the "Fairness in Firearms Testing" bill
> (4) -- out of the _same_ committee now conducting these
> hearings! With Sensenbrenner's record of support for the
> State over the individual, how impartial can the hearings
> be? That it was scheduled for 4pm -- too late for it to be
> part of the evening news -- is equally telling. Are gun
> owners being set up for betrayal yet again?
>
> There's no dispute that the Virginia incidents were
> completely unacceptable violations of individuals' rights
> (as well as violations of federal law!). But we must ask,
> what about all of the innocent gun owners currently rotting
> in prison or left financially destitute as a direct result
> of BATFE's capricious and arbitrary actions (5)? Will the
> hearings address those who are falsely accused based on
> dubious informant tips, set up by "experts" who don't
> bother to examine the firearm in question (6), and
> convicted on the subjective opinion of those same "experts"
> (7)?
>
> The BATFE has been known as a rogue agency for decades, yet
> no one -- neither Democrat nor Republican -- has
> attempted to rein them in. The few investigations into this
> organization have netted at most a slap on the wrist. Why?
> Because they are useful to those who wish to gather and
> maintain power. A police state, after all, must have its
> police force.
>
> We must continue to educate everyone -- even those who
> neither own nor like firearms -- about the dangerous power
> of the BATFE, and the precedent it sets. If one agency can
> arbitrarily decide whether an object is "legal" (without
> any standards or documented testing procedures), than ANY
> agency can. After all, if the BATFE can decide a shoestring
> is a machine gun (8), what is to prevent the DEA from
> declaring your greenhouse a "drug manufacturing plant"?
>
> This issue affects all Americans, regardless of political
> affiliation. Please, please take a moment to join our "Boot
> the BATFE" campaign at www.jpfo.org/bootbatfe.htm .
> We must continue to make noise about this issue and demand
> our representatives do whatever it takes to put the BATFE
> genie back in its bottle.
>
> With all of the documented abuses the BATFE has indulged
> in, there is NO excuse for defending this agency gone mad.
> Anyone who defends, condones, or apologizes for the BATFE
> is either willfully ignorant ... or maliciously power-
> hungry. Boot them out of your lives, and tell them why. The
> American people have tolerated this monstrosity for far too
> long.
>
> - The Liberty Crew
>
> (1) "BATFE Sinks to New Low in Richmond"
> tinyurl.com/cz324