BATF

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms: A law-enforcement and regulatory agency of the federal government. The BATF is alleged to have abused its power in dealing with lawful gun owners, using needlessly excessive force, wrongfully confiscating legal firearms, and violating the Fourth Amendment right of the people to be secure in their persons and their homes against unreasonable searches and seizures. A Congressman from Michigan aptly described BATF as "jackbooted American fascists" (see the Congressional Record for February 1995, at www.gpoaccess.gov).

The BATF and FBI were responsible for the raid on the Branch Davidian complex that sadly resulted in the Waco Texas Massacre.

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gun problem

A problem characterized by the misuse of guns by nefarious individuals. Certain politicians who wish to appear 'tough on crime' have attempted to address this problem by ineffective and unconstitutional legislation that infringes on the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

To really address the problem of gun violence, we must look at the root causes: criminal gangs; abuse of drugs; the 'war on drugs' (which is as ineffective as the prohibition of alcohol was in the 1920s and in fact is largely responsible for many criminal gangs); inadequate programs for integrating released prisoners back into society (in the absence of which, said prisoners instead go back to selling drugs as the only means of making a living); poor education (esp. lack of discipline in inner-city schools); decay of the nuclear family; et cetera.

Brad: We need to ban handguns to address the gun problem!

Joe: No, banning handguns would only disarm law-abiding individuals, and thereby wrongly deprive them of their inherent, inalienable right to defend life and liberty. And it's unconstitutional, to boot.

Brad: But how else can we stop urban violence?

Joe: Trying to stop urban gun violence by banning guns is like trying to treat a poisonous snake bite by applying a bandage. We must address the root cause, not the surface symptoms.

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Posse Comitatus

In English common law, the power of a county sheriff to enlist able-bodied citizens of the county to help him in the pursuit and arrest of a felon.

"Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both." (Title 18, Section 1385 of the United States Code)

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