They Come For the Ammo: New Bill Would Require Background Checks for “Explosive Materials”

Never one to let a crisis go to waste, Senator Harry Reid has introduced a new bill that would require background checks for anyone purchasing “explosive materials” or “powders” commonly used to manufacture ammunition and fireworks.

The Boston bombers utilized black powder sourced from common fireworks to manufacture the bombs that left 3 people dead and scores wounded in the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since September 11th.

Senator Frank Lautenberg, who wrote the bill, claims the incident in Boston, “shows that background checks are needed for explosive materials.”

“It defies common sense that anyone, even a terrorist, can walk into a store in America and buy explosive powders without a background check or any questions asked.”

“Requiring a background check for an explosives permit is a small price to pay to ensure the safety of our communities.”

The purchase of black powder in amounts over 50 pounds already requires a background check, but the new bill would lower the thresholds and will also include “smokeless powders,” which are used for the production of ammunition.

The move by Reid and Lautenberg, who both supported President Obama’s failed comprehensive national gun control overhaul last month, has Second Amendment advocates concerned. According to The Truth About Guns the language of the bill, which is yet to be made available, may place stringent restrictions on the purchase of certain quantities of ammunition:

Depending on the bill’s language, it would include not only loose gunpowder (such as that used by handloaders) but could also cover standard ammunition cartridges.

Lautenberg and Reid are trying to label these propellants as “explosives” in the wake of the Boston bombings and use that tragedy to limit general access to ammunition and reloading components . . .

It’s a back door way to make gun ownership more difficult and possibly put smaller local ammunition manufacturers out of business.

Because a potential terrorist could conceivably take apart ammunition and use the propellant to manufacture a bomb, ammunition purchases containing enough powder to exceed the new threshold set forth by the bill will likely require a federal background check, similar to purchasing a firearm.

Reid and Lautenberg will also give the Attorney General power to forbid the sale of explosive powders to anyone who is believed to be purchasing it for the purpose of terrorism, a term that has been broadly defined in contemporary America to include anyone who may have second amendment oriented views, reads survival literature, home schools their kids, prefers precious metals over centrally printed Federal Reserve notes, or expresses a fear of big government.

The bill may never make it past committee, but it introduces a dangerous new strategy that shifts the gun-control focus away from firearms and targets gun accessories, magazines, and ammunition.

Hat tip Steve Quayle

Delivered by The Daily Sheeple

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Contributed by Mac Slavo of www.SHTFplan.com.

When it hits the fan, don’t say we didn’t warn you. Mac Slavo is the editor of SHTFplan.com, a resource hub for alternative news, contrarian commentary and strategies that you can take to protect yourself from the coming global paradigm shift.

The Daily Sheeple

They Come For the Ammo: New Bill Would Require Background Checks for “Explosive Materials”

Investigators Discover NRA Materials in Newtown Killer"s House

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Shortly after the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, police investigators seized a large arsenal of weapons from the killer’s home, according to search warrants made public on Thursday. That the home of Adam Lanza and his mother, Nancy, contained an array of powerful handguns and rifles is no surprise, but the documents reveal an even darker picture than previously known to the public: Investigators also found a cache of knives, samurai swords, 1,600 rounds of ammunition, a military uniform, and news clippings about prior mass murders in the United States and abroad.

They also discovered materials from the National Rifle Association.

• Investigators Discover NRA Materials in Newtown Killer’s House



• Gunmakers and the NRA Bet Big on Silencers. What Could Go Wrong?



• EXCLUSIVE: Unmasking the NRA’s Inner Circle



• Meet the NRA’s Board of Directors



• The NRA Myth of Arming the Good Guys



• How Republicans and the NRA Kneecapped the ATF



• Does the NRA Really Have 4 Million Members?



• How the NRA and Its Allies Helped Spread a Radical Gun Law Nationwide

See our full special report on gun laws and the rise of mass shootings in America.

In addition to the stockpile of weaponry, the home contained a certificate from the NRA bearing Adam Lanza’s name, a NRA guide to shooting, and training manuals for various firearms, including the Bushmaster that Lanza used to carry out the slaughter. The CEO of the company that sells Bushmaster rifles sits on a powerful committee inside the NRA, as we first reported in January.

For the NRA, which has been highly effective with its messaging in the gun debate over the years, the news is a blow. The new details begin to disarm the gun group’s strategy to divert attention from the highly lethal weapons Lanza used by focusing on him as just another deranged criminal with no connection to “good guys with guns.” In his audacious speech a week after the Newtown massacre, NRA spokesman Wayne LaPierre talked of “genuine monsters” lurking across America, of “people so deranged, so evil, so possessed by voices and driven by demons that no sane person can possibly ever comprehend them.” He continued: “They walk among us every day. And does anybody really believe that the next Adam Lanza isn’t planning his attack on a school he’s already identified at this very moment?”

Now we know that “next Adam Lanza” may well have NRA certification and know-how at his fingertips.

The NRA’s response on Thursday seemed telling: flat-out denial, with some defensive kick to it. “There is no record of a member relationship between Newtown killer Adam Lanza, nor between Nancy Lanza, A. Lanza or N. Lanza with the National Rifle Association,” it said in a statement. “Reporting to the contrary is reckless, false and defamatory.”

Since the NRA makes virtually no information available to the public about its inner workings or the membership it claims, naturally we’ll have to take the group’s word against that of Connecticut law enforcement officials and the FBI. (And if that seems reasonable, the NRA also has a fantasy about “gun-free zones” they’d like to sell you on.)

Details in the newly released documents also underscore why Lanza was capable of such terrible carnage on December 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary. The military-style assault rifle and 30-round magazines he used—defended by the NRA as tools of hunting and sport—allowed him to unleash 154 bullets in less than five minutes. These were the same type of powerful weapons used in numerous other mass shootings, which the White House and some Democrats in Congress now seek to outlaw.

The news came on a day when President Obama appeared at the White House with Newtown families and other mass-shooting victims to once again demand action from Congress. (Though the president’s focus is now on passing universal background checks, with political prospects dimmer for legislation banning assault weapons or high-capacity magazines.) The anguish is still fresh in Newtown and well beyond, the president said, pushing back on the notion that the emotional impact of the tragedy has started to fade:

It’s been barely a hundred days since 20 innocent children and six brave educators were taken from us by gun violence, including Grace McDonnell and Lauren Russo and Jesse Lewis, whose families are here today. That agony burns deep in the families of thousands, thousands of Americans stolen from our lives by a bullet from a gun over these last 100 days, including Hadiya Pendleton, who was killed on her way to school less than two months ago, and whose mom is also here today, everything they lived for and hoped for taken away in an instant.

The president didn’t mention the NRA or its allies, but he took direct aim at their argument against universal background checks, a policy he noted has extraordinary public support, with 90 percent of Americans—including an overwhelming majority of gun owners—behind it. “What we’re proposing is not radical, it’s not taking away anybody’s gun rights,” he said. “It’s something that, if we are serious, we will do it. Now is the time to turn that heartbreak into something real.”

Watch his full remarks, followed by the long list of weapons found in Lanza’s home, below the video clip:

Here are highlights from the search warrants showing the stockpile of weapons found in the Lanza home:

 

 

 

 

See the full documents here.

Politics | Mother Jones

Investigators Discover NRA Materials in Newtown Killer"s House

Investigators Discover NRA Materials in Newtown Killer"s House

Tweet

Shortly after the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, police investigators seized a large arsenal of weapons from the killer’s home, according to search warrants made public on Thursday. That the home of Adam Lanza and his mother Nancy contained an array of powerful handguns and rifles is no surprise, but the documents reveal an even darker picture than previously known to the public: Investigators also found a cache of knives, Samurai swords, 1,600 rounds of ammunition, a military uniform, and news clippings about prior mass murders in the United States and abroad.

They also discovered links to the National Rifle Association.

• Gunmakers and the NRA Bet Big on Silencers. What Could Go Wrong?



• EXCLUSIVE: Unmasking the NRA’s Inner Circle



• Meet the NRA’s Board of Directors



• The NRA Myth of Arming the Good Guys



• How Republicans and the NRA Kneecapped the ATF



• Does the NRA Really Have 4 Million Members?



• How the NRA and Its Allies Helped Spread a Radical Gun Law Nationwide

See our full special report on gun laws and the rise of mass shootings in America.

In addition to the pile of weaponry, the home contained a certificate from the NRA bearing Adam Lanza’s name, a NRA guide to shooting, and training manuals for various firearms, including the Bushmaster that Lanza used to carry out the slaughter. The CEO of the company that sells Bushmaster rifles sits on a powerful committee inside the NRA, as we first reported in January.

For the NRA, which has been highly effective with its messaging in the gun debate over the years, the news is a blow. The new details begin to disarm the gun group’s strategy to divert attention from the highly lethal weapons Lanza used by focusing on him as just another deranged criminal with no connection to “good guys with guns.” In his audacious speech a week after the Newtown massacre, NRA spokesman Wayne LaPierre talked of “genuine monsters” lurking across America, of “people so deranged, so evil, so possessed by voices and driven by demons that no sane person can possibly ever comprehend them.” He continued: “They walk among us every day. And does anybody really believe that the next Adam Lanza isn’t planning his attack on a school he’s already identified at this very moment?”

Now we know that “next Adam Lanza” may well have NRA certification and know-how at his fingertips.

The NRA’s response on Thursday seemed telling: flat-out denial, with some defensive kick to it. “There is no record of a member relationship between Newtown killer Adam Lanza, nor between Nancy Lanza, A. Lanza or N. Lanza with the National Rifle Association,” it said in a statement. “Reporting to the contrary is reckless, false and defamatory.”

Since the NRA makes virtually no information available to the public about its inner workings or its alleged membership, naturally we’ll have to take the group’s word against that of Connecticut law enforcement officials.

Details in the newly released documents also underscore why Lanza was capable of such terrible carnage on December 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary. The military-style assault rifle and 30-round magazines he used—defended by the NRA as tools of hunting and sport—allowed him to unleash 154 bullets in less than five minutes. These were the same type of highly lethal firearms used in numerous other mass shootings, which the White House and Democrats in Congress seek to outlaw.

The news came on a day when President Obama appeared at the White House with Newtown families and other mass shooting victims to once again demand action from Congress. (Though the president’s focus is now on passing universal background checks, with political prospects dimmer for legislation banning assault weapons or high-capacity magazines.) The anguish is still fresh in Newtown and well beyond, the president said, pushing back on the notion that the emotional impact of the tragedy has started to fade:

It’s been barely a hundred days since 20 innocent children and six brave educators were taken from us by gun violence, including Grace McDonnell and Lauren Russo and Jesse Lewis, whose families are here today. That agony burns deep in the families of thousands, thousands of Americans stolen from our lives by a bullet from a gun over these last 100 days, including Hadiya Pendleton, who was killed on her way to school less than two months ago, and whose mom is also here today, everything they lived for and hoped for taken away in an instant.

The president didn’t mention the NRA or its allies, but he took direct aim at their argument against universal background checks, a policy he noted has extraordinary public support, with 90 percent of Americans—including an overwhelming majority of gun owners—behind it. “What we’re proposing is not radical, it’s not taking away anybody’s gun rights. It’s something that, if we are serious, we will do it. Now is the time to turn that heartbreak into something real.” Watch his full remarks:

Politics | Mother Jones

Investigators Discover NRA Materials in Newtown Killer"s House