H.R. 2159 is yet another grab for guns by the government

The men who made our system of government understood that individuals could not be trusted with too much power, and by separating power into executive, legislative and judicial branches created a clockwork mechanism of checks and balances. Representative Peter King of New York seeks to unbalance the system our constitution created by shifting the balance of power to the executive branch and at the same time making it easier to block gun ownership. The snappy title to H.R. 2159 is "Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2009". Who wouldn't vote for that? This bill seeks to add verbiage to the federal laws on US Code 18, section 922 which deals with unlawful acts when dealing with firearms by licensed FFL dealers. It adds words that have the effect of making Attorney General Eric Holder the final arbiter of whether or not anyone can pass the Instant Background Check and buy a gun. The meat of it says:

"The Attorney General may determine that an applicant for a firearm permit which would qualify for an exemption under section 922(t) is known (or appropriately suspected) to be or have been engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or related to terrorism, or providing material support thereof, and the Attorney General has a reasonable belief that the applicant may use a firearm in connection with terrorism.;" (Emphasis Added)

Lists of suspicious people are being created by Homeland Security left and right (pardon the pun). Remember that they briefly said a Ron Paul bumper sticker was an early indicator of a domestic terrorist, and that returning vets were at risk of being recruited for their skills and experience. Recently, demonstrating in front of your local courthouse was defined as low level terrorism on a Department of Defense exam. Imagine the lists that will come out of the 4th of July Tea Parties! Any one of them, in the hands of the Attorney General could blackball you for buying a gun if your name is on it. You won't even know how or why your name was blacklisted.

Fight it in court? Maybe, but the government can "prove" their charge with redacted documents or simply claim national security and win. H.R. 2159 also provides:

(1) in the 1st sentence of paragraph (1), by inserting ‘, except that if the denial or revocation is pursuant to subsection (d)(1)(H) or (e)(3), then any information on which the Attorney General relied for this determination may be withheld from the petitioner if the Attorney General determines that disclosure of the information would likely compromise national security’ before the period; and(2) in paragraph (3), by inserting after the 3rd sentence the following: ‘With respect to any information withheld from the aggrieved party under paragraph (1), the United States may submit, and the court may rely on, summaries or redacted versions of documents containing information the disclosure of which the Attorney General has determined would likely compromise national security.’. (Emphasis Added)

and: "The court shall not consider the full, undisclosed documents in deciding whether the Attorney General’s determination satisfies the requirements of section 922A or 922B.’." That is, even the judge is not allowed to see the un-redacted documents and form his own opinion.

Nobody knows who all is on "The List" but Eric Holder and whoever adds to and maintains the list of "potential terrorists". This makes the office of the Attorney General the ultimate gatekeeper of who gets to own a gun or not, and nobody knows how they got on a list that denies them their rights, or how to get off. Even the courts can't help. Shoot down H.R. 2159 with a barrage of letters, e-mails, and phone calls to your representatives in Congress. Do it right now!