Front Sight, Press

Chairman-elect Obama has found a way to keep his election promise that he won’t take our guns away: he’ll hire an Attorney General to do it for him. His recent selection of Eric Holder to be the Attorney General of the new administration, once again points to the profound anti-gun attitude of the new administration.

In a Justice Department briefing on March 3, 2000, Holder said the following:

“We know that there is not one simple answer, and we know that there is nothing we can do that will prevent every single crime or act of violence. But we also know that there are some common-sense things that we can do and that we must do. And so I want to add my voice to those who are calling on Congress to finally — to finally — pass these very common-sense gun measures:

• First, to require child safety locks for all handguns that are sold.
• Second, to ban violent juveniles from ever having the ability to own guns.
• Third, to pass the president’s handgun licensing proposal, which requires safety certification for all handgun purchasers.
• Fourth, to support research in smart gun technology which can limit a gun’s use to its authorized owner.
• And finally, to close the gun show loophole by requiring a background check for all gun purchases at gun shows.

Every day that goes by, about 12, 13 more children in this country die from gun violence. We need these common-sense measures, and we need them now.”

“Q Mr. Holder, there was some discussion earlier about changing tactics because, after every one of these shootings, there doesn’t seem to be any move in Congress to reach any compromise here. How can you change those tactics? What have you considered doing differently? It hasn’t worked.

MR. HOLDER: Well — I mean, I think we have to, you know, keep pressing ahead. We have to understand that, although we have not been successful with regard to some of the measures that I have talked about, we have enacted a pretty significant amount of legislation since 1993: The Brady law is now a really effective piece of our law that was passed while President Clinton has been in office. There have been a variety of other things that we have accomplished — the assault weapons ban.

We have gotten — we have been, I think, fairly successful but not as successful as I would have liked.

And so, I think we continue to press the case. We have the president, as he was out today, using the bully pulpit to talk about need for more gun measures for his licensing proposal. People like myself, the attorney general, Secretary Cuomo — you know, all out there talking about the need for these kinds of things.

And frankly, I think we’re reaching the American people. I mean, I think all the polls tend to show that people agree with the positions that we have taken. Somehow, convincing a sufficient number of people in Congress to do what I consider the right thing we have not been as successful at, but we’ll continue to try.”

“Q Has there been any kind of study done on how many — if that were to happen, how many lives would be lost by someone not being able to defend themselves fast enough, say if a burglar comes into the house? I mean, is there a balance between lives lost — lost reaction time versus children’s lives saved, for example?

MR. HOLDER: Yeah, you know, actually there’s something floating around in my mind about something that I read about that. I’m not exactly sure where I’ve read that or what study that I’ve seen. But I don’t think — I’m not sure that is actually factually a legitimate concern. But I think that the numbers — for whatever reason, I’m remembering, tend to show that the benefits of these gun control measures far outweigh the costs that might be paid that you’ve talked about.”

Source: DOJ

From Dave Kopel on the Volokh Conspiracy:

As Deputy Attorney General, Holder was a strong supporter of restrictive gun control. He advocated federal licensing of handgun owners, a three day waiting period on handgun sales, rationing handgun sales to no more than one per month, banning possession of handguns and so-called "assault weapons" (cosmetically incorrect guns) by anyone under age of 21, a gun show restriction bill that would have given the federal government the power to shut down all gun shows, national gun registration, and mandatory prison sentences for trivial offenses (e.g., giving your son an heirloom handgun for Christmas, if he were two weeks shy of his 21st birthday). He also promoted the factoid that "Every day that goes by, about 12, 13 more children in this country die from gun violence"–a statistic is true only if one counts 18-year-old gangsters who shoot each other as "children."(Sources: Holder testimony before House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Crime, May 27,1999; Holder Weekly Briefing, May 20, 2000. One of the bills that Holder endorsed is detailed in my 1999 Issue Paper "Unfair and Unconstitutional.")

After 9/11, he penned a Washington Post op-ed, "Keeping Guns Away From Terrorists" arguing that a new law should give "the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms a record of every firearm sale." He also stated that prospective gun buyers should be checked against the secret "watch lists" compiled by various government entities. (In an Issue Paper on the watch list proposal, I quote a FBI spokesman stating that there is no cause to deny gun ownership to someone simply because she is on the FBI list.)

After the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the D.C. handgun ban and self-defense ban were unconstitutional in 2007, Holder complained that the decision "opens the door to more people having more access to guns and putting guns on the streets."

Source: The Volokh Conspiracy

Update:

News reports are telling us that Obama has picked two more gun-hostile politicians, Gov. Janet Napolitano, of Arizona for secretary of homeland security, and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for secretary of labor. It also looks like the Hildabeast is going to be Secretary of State. Groan.