ALERT: Obama to Issue “Gag Order” on Guns
June 26, 2015 By Colleen Conley
Screen Shot 2015-06-26 at 12.11.59 PM
In an unprecedented move against the First and Second Amendments, President Barack Obama will effectively issue a “gag order” on information available on the internet regarding firearms.
He plans to carry this out through the retooling of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which regulates technical data on ammo and firearms, such as design, development and production information.
While ITAR hasn’t been much cause for concern in the past, Obama has become infamous for utilizing existing regulatory bodies to overstep his bounds, and that of Congress, in his bid to crush our Constitutional rights.
In their current form, the ITAR do not (as a rule) regulate technical data that are in what the regulations call the “public domain.” Essentially, this means data “which is published and which is generally accessible or available to the public” through a variety of specified means. These include “at libraries open to the public or from which the public can obtain documents.” Many have read this provision to include material that is posted on publicly available websites, since most public libraries these days make Internet access available to their patrons. The ITAR, however, were originally promulgated in the days before the Internet. Some State Department officials now insist that anything published online in a generally-accessible location has essentially been “exported,” as it would be accessible to foreign nationals both in the U.S. and overseas.
With the new proposal published on June 3, the State Department claims to be “clarifying” the rules concerning “technical data” posted online or otherwise “released” into the “public domain.” To the contrary, however, the proposal would institute a massive new prior restraint on free speech. This is because all such releases would require the “authorization” of the government before they occurred. The cumbersome and time-consuming process of obtaining such authorizations, moreover, would make online communication about certain technical aspects of firearms and ammunition essentially impossible.
Penalties for violations are severe and for each violation could include up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million. Civil penalties can also be assessed. Each unauthorized “export,” including to subsequent countries or foreign nationals, is also treated as a separate violation.
How does this translate into real life? Gunsmiths, manufacturers, and do-it-yourselfers could all find themselves muzzled under the rule and unable to distribute or obtain the information they rely on to conduct their business via constraints on the internet.
If this sound like government control of Free Speech, that’s because that is exactly to what it amounts. Stalin and Lenin would be so proud of our Comrade-in-Chief. Sign the Tea Party petition HERE to demand that our Congressional leaders stand up to this blatant disregard for our Constitutional rights.
June 26, 2015 By Colleen Conley
Screen Shot 2015-06-26 at 12.11.59 PM
In an unprecedented move against the First and Second Amendments, President Barack Obama will effectively issue a “gag order” on information available on the internet regarding firearms.
He plans to carry this out through the retooling of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which regulates technical data on ammo and firearms, such as design, development and production information.
While ITAR hasn’t been much cause for concern in the past, Obama has become infamous for utilizing existing regulatory bodies to overstep his bounds, and that of Congress, in his bid to crush our Constitutional rights.
In their current form, the ITAR do not (as a rule) regulate technical data that are in what the regulations call the “public domain.” Essentially, this means data “which is published and which is generally accessible or available to the public” through a variety of specified means. These include “at libraries open to the public or from which the public can obtain documents.” Many have read this provision to include material that is posted on publicly available websites, since most public libraries these days make Internet access available to their patrons. The ITAR, however, were originally promulgated in the days before the Internet. Some State Department officials now insist that anything published online in a generally-accessible location has essentially been “exported,” as it would be accessible to foreign nationals both in the U.S. and overseas.
With the new proposal published on June 3, the State Department claims to be “clarifying” the rules concerning “technical data” posted online or otherwise “released” into the “public domain.” To the contrary, however, the proposal would institute a massive new prior restraint on free speech. This is because all such releases would require the “authorization” of the government before they occurred. The cumbersome and time-consuming process of obtaining such authorizations, moreover, would make online communication about certain technical aspects of firearms and ammunition essentially impossible.
Penalties for violations are severe and for each violation could include up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million. Civil penalties can also be assessed. Each unauthorized “export,” including to subsequent countries or foreign nationals, is also treated as a separate violation.
How does this translate into real life? Gunsmiths, manufacturers, and do-it-yourselfers could all find themselves muzzled under the rule and unable to distribute or obtain the information they rely on to conduct their business via constraints on the internet.
If this sound like government control of Free Speech, that’s because that is exactly to what it amounts. Stalin and Lenin would be so proud of our Comrade-in-Chief. Sign the Tea Party petition HERE to demand that our Congressional leaders stand up to this blatant disregard for our Constitutional rights.
