Joe Biden Coming For Your Guns So He Can Do Hitler Stuff, Probably

'Hitler stuff' = including home care in jobs bill.

President Joe Biden will very shortly be announcing a bunch of steps he's taking to address gun violence, including finally nominating someone to actually run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). That alone is a big honkin' deal, since the agency hasn't had a Senate-confirmed director since 2015, mostly due to the eternal political wrangling over guns. In addition to nominating former ATF agent David Chipman, who currently serves as an advisor to the gun control group Giffords, Biden will announce a few measures he can move forward through executive action, even as he urges Congress to strengthen background checks for gun purchases. (The House already voted to beef up background checks, but the Senate is sitting around with its thumb up its ass because what if even the simplest possible regulation on guns is too much?)

So how exactly is Biden setting the stage for America to become a totalitarian dictatorship today? Don't forget, genocide is the inevitable result of all gun regulations — just look at how Australia is now starving the kulaks and Great Britain is sending everyone with glasses to the Killing Fields. Or maybe gun regulation = tyranny is a bullshit talking point, we can never remember.

Without congressional action, there can't be any substantial change in gun laws, but Biden can do some stuff on the executive branch side of things. 

For starters, Biden will sign a few executive orders. One will direct the Justice Department to propose a rule to crack down on the proliferation of so-called "ghost guns," which are firearms built from parts people buy online or at gun shows, and assemble themselves. We're not talking about crappy zip guns, either: These are pretty much the same as pistols or semi-automatic rifles you'd get at a gun shop, but because the parts are carefully tailored to conform with existing laws, they're legal but untraceable. That's quite the marketing point for those selling the things, including one lucky retailer that grabbed the URL "Ghost Guns Dot Com," which is emblazoned with this charming logo:

Such parts purchases are also not subject to existing background check laws, either, so there's no telling how many people who shouldn't be allowed to buy guns simply skirt the checks and build their very own arsenals.

In addition, Biden will have the DOJ issue a new rule "to make clear when a device marketed as a stabilizing brace effectively turns a pistol into a short-barreled rifle," which would make such weapons subject to the fairly strict licensing requirements of theNational Firearms Act. Currently, you need a federal license and have to pass a rigorous background check to legally own a sawed-off shotgun or rifle, because in olden times the government didn't permit such things.

But crafty arms manufacturers figured out you could make a pistol out of the same basic components as those in the AR-15 and other semiauto rifles, and then add a "stabilizer brace" that rests against the forearm. So now you have a quick-firing "pistol" that performs like an assault rifle, voila!

Video screenshot 

The shooter in the Boulder massacre — you remember that, don't you? — managed to kill 10 people with a similar "pistol."

Number three-o: While he's also asking Congress to pass a national "red flag law" that would allow courts to issue an order to keep guns away from someone who is threatening others or themselves, Biden is also directing the Justice Department to develop a model red flag law for states, so they can have model legislation that will make it easier to adopt their own laws right away.

Another order will have the DOJ compile an annual report on gun trafficking, to examine how legally purchased firearms make their way into the black market. ATF issued a report on trafficking in 2000, but not since, and as the White House's fact sheet notes, the data in that report helped law enforcement crack down on trafficking, but policy needs to be guided by more up-to-date information on how illegal guns get to criminals.

In addition to all those incremental steps against guns, Biden also seeks to build up investments in "evidence-based community violence interventions," to prevent people from picking up a gun and acting violently in the first place. There's funding in the American Jobs Plan for such programs (we'd say "reducing violence" is good for infrastructure!), and there are plenty of other ways federal agencies can promote community violence interventions, too.

And finally, there's filling the top job at ATF, which has had only acting directors since the last confirmed director stepped down in 2015. Biden's nominee, David Chipman, has quite the résumé! 

During his time as a senior policy adviser with Giffords, he spent considerable effort pushing for greater regulation and enforcement on ghost guns, changes to the background check system and measures to reduce the trafficking of illegal firearms.

Chipman spent 25 years as an agent at the ATF, where he worked on stopping a trafficking ring that sent illegal firearms from Virginia to New York, and served on the ATF's SWAT team. Chipman is a gun owner.

He is an explosives expert and was among the team involved in investigating the Oklahoma City bombing and the first World Trade Center bombing. He also was involved in investigating a series of church bombings in Alabama in the 1990s. He retired from the ATF in 2012.

In other words, he's a jackbooted federal thug who clearly hates freedom!

Yr Wonkette is glad to see that Biden is moving forward with steps that should at least bring some sanity to some of our firearms regulations, even as Congress keeps ignoring the gun problem. And we welcome any visitors who may show up in our comments to call us commies and explain that gun laws simply don't work, and don't we even know that "AR" stands for "Awesome Rifle" and the "15" part is how many bullets it can shoot when you pull the shooty-finger part once, from a "clip." We read that in a "magazine."

There, that'll give them something to feel superior about.

[ White House fact sheet / AP / Brady United ]

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