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Gonzalez v. Omaha Suit Prods Omaha To Make Changes

October 6, 2011 by 2 Comments

The City of Omaha, Nebraska was sued late last month by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association on behalf of permanent legal alien Armando Pliego Gonzalez. As a result, the City of Omaha is proposing changes to their firearms regulations regarding registration.

Andy Allen of NFOA thinks the Omaha proposals fall far short of what is required under state and federal law. He released this statement regarding the proposals:

Omaha, NE, October 5, 2011– Andreas Allen, President of the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association (NFOA), welcomes the chance to address the issues that Omaha has with its firearms laws; however, the City’s proposal falls short of their stated goal of “making the Omaha Ordinances consistent with State and Federal laws”. Other than addressing the current lawsuit on legal resident aliens, the only inconsistency to State and Federal laws the City has attempted to reconcile in this proposal is creating a registration exemption for the Nebraska Concealed Handgun Permit Act. Consequently, in 2009 the Nebraska Legislature had already declared Omaha’s registration null and void for Nebraska Concealed Handgun Permit holders.

If this was a serious attempt to reconcile City, State, and Federal law, then the City should have started with their definition of a “Concealable Firearm.” Unlike Omaha’s definition of “a firearm having a barrel less than 18 inches in length,” the rest of the State and Nation define a “Concealable Firearm” to have a barrel less that 16 inches and be designed to be operated with one hand. This simple definition difference in Omaha places many common 16-inch barrel rifles into the category of a “Concealable Firearm,” and even though the Omaha Police Department does not register these rifles, a resident in possession of one of these common target or sporting rifles could be found in violation of Omaha’s registration requirements. There is also no mention of removing the obsolete requirement for a written permit from the Chief of Police to purchase a “Concealable Firearm,” even though the process for receiving such a permit has long been removed from the City’s ordinances.

“Any well thought out attempt to correct Omaha’s firearms ordinances should start with removing these unenforced portions of the law. The City’s proposal falls short of their stated goal and the only real effect it would have is creating a fifty percent increase in what many Omaha Police Officers and firearms owners call the ‘Omaha Gun Tax,'”said NFOA President Andy Allen. “Should the City decide they truly want to ‘make the Omaha Ordinances consistent with State and Federal laws’, then the NFOA is willing to assist the City in fixing the inconsistencies in Omaha’s firearms ordinances.”

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Moving The Deck Chairs On The Titanic

October 6, 2011 by

The new Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm, and Explosives announced a reshuffling of headquarters staff in a press release today. There are some demotions such as William Hoover and Mark Chait and a lot of lateral transfers.

ATF Acting Director Jones Announces New Staff Assignments

WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Acting Director B. Todd Jones today announced key staff changes aimed at refocusing the bureau’s direction on its core mission.

“I have assembled a team to move ATF forward in its mission to fight violent crime and protect the American people, and to ensure that an experienced and strong staff is in place to implement that mission,” Jones said. In addition, he thanked all newly reassigned ATF officials for their service and praised their flexibility and willingness to take on the tasks at hand.

Jones was appointed by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder recently to lead ATF following the departure of former Acting Director Kenneth Melson. The leadership change followed the reassignment of several other ATF officials within the agency following concerns raised about Operation Fast and Furious, a firearms trafficking investigation out of Phoenix now under review by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). While today’s changes are geared toward refocusing ATF under a new acting director, additional staff reassignments may be warranted at the conclusion of the OIG’s report.

Under the changes announced today by Jones, ATF executive staff will be reassigned as follows:

  • Thomas Brandon will become Deputy Director. He most recently served as Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Phoenix Field Division. Prior to that assignment he was the Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Detroit Field Division from January 2008 to August 2011.
  • W. Larry Ford will become Assistant Director of the Office of Field Operations. He most recently served as the Assistant Director of the Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information. Prior to that assignment he was the Assistant Director of the Office of Public and Governmental Affairs from December 2004 to August 2010.
  • Gregory Gant will become the Assistant Director of the Office of Public and Governmental Affairs. Most recently he was assigned to the Office of Public and Governmental Affairs as the Deputy Assistant Director. Prior to that he was the Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Atlanta Field Division from August 2008 to August 2011.
  • James McDermond will return to Assistant Director of the Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information, the position he held before most recently serving as Assistant Director of the Office of Public and Governmental Affairs. He was the prior Assistant Director of the Office of Strategic Intelligence from 2004 to August 2010.
  • Julie Torres will become the Assistant Director of the Office of Professional Responsibility and Security Operations. She most recently served as Deputy Assistant Director of the Office of Field Operations – East Region. Prior to that she was the Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Miami Field Division April 2004 to June 2008.
  • Theresa Stoop will become the Assistant Director of the Office of Human Resources and Professional Development. She most recently served at Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Baltimore Field Division from November 2008 to September 2011. She had also served as Chief of Staff for a prior ATF director.
  • Mark Potter will become the Assistant Director of the Office of Management. He most recently served as Deputy Assistant Director of the Office of Field Operations – West Region. Prior to that he was the Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Philadelphia Field Division March 2003 to July 2011.
  • William Hoover will become Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Washington Field Division. He had served as Deputy Director from May 2009 to September 2011. Prior to that he was the Assistant Director of the Office of Field Operations.
  • Mark Chait will become special agent in charge of the ATF Baltimore Field Division. He had served as assistant director of the Office of Field Operations from May 2009 to September 2011. Prior to that he was deputy assistant director of the Office of Field Operations – Central Region.
  • Vivian Michalic will become the Deputy Assistant Director of the Office of Management and will remain the Chief Financial Officer for ATF. She was the Assistant Director of the Office of Management from September 2010 to September 2011, and had served previously as the Chief of Staff for a prior ATF director.
  • Melanie Stinnett will become Deputy Chief Counsel of ATF. Most recently she served as Assistant Director of the Office of Professional Responsibility and Security Operations. Prior to that she was Assistant Director of the Office of Management and chief financial officer from January 2006 to May 2010.

Not all of these choices are being received with happiness at CleanUpATF.org. For example, whistleblower Special Agent Vincent Cefalu had this to say about Larry Ford, the new Asst. Dir. of the Office of Field Operations.

He has to know that W. Call me Larry Ford was run out of PGA because no one on the hill would talk to him and his credibility is shot in Congress. Factor in his multiple signed lies to Congressional inquiries, and the fact that he was THE Assistant Director of Intel at the MOST critical stages of Fast and Furious and didn’t utter a peep.

UPDATE: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released a statement on the reshuffling last night.

“The reassignments are positive, especially in the case of Tom Brandon who I hope can help lead this agency out of its troubles. But, I caution that rearranging the chairs on the deck, won’t make Fast and Furious go away. I also question the timing of this announcement. There is a lot of effort at the Justice Department to spin the fact that the Attorney General was less than candid before the House Judiciary Committee, and what better way to make that go away than a bureaucratic shuffle. There are a lot of questions that remain to be answered and actions that need to be explained.”

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Blaze Orange Requirements In North Carolina

October 6, 2011 by 4 Comments

Hunting seasons for various game animals have or are about to open in North Carolina. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is running a campaign called Home from the Hunt which reminds hunters of the blaze orange requirements while hunting.

RALEIGH, N.C. – The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s Home From The Hunt safety campaign is reminding hunters of blaze orange requirements (also known as hunter orange, fluorescent orange or 10-mile cloth).

In North Carolina, hunters are required to wear a cap or hat of blaze orange color, or wear an outer garment such as a shirt or game vest in blaze orange that is visible from all sides, when hunting bear, feral hogs, deer, rabbit, squirrel, grouse, pheasant or quail with a firearm. Hunters also are required to wear blaze orange while hunting with a bow on Sunday during the muzzleloader or gun season.

The campaign also recommends anyone spending time outdoors in areas that see hunting activity to consider wearing blaze orange. Blaze orange clothing stands out against an outdoor background and studies have proven it increases visibility of the wearer in low light situations.

“Blaze orange signals ‘caution’ to the viewer,” said Travis Casper, assistant hunter education coordinator for North Carolina. “Wearing blaze orange is an important step for safety, because it alerts others to your presence with an instantaneous recognition.”

Blaze orange can also be helpful in locating someone lost or injured.

In North Carolina, all first-time hunting license buyers must successfully complete a Hunter Education Course, offered free across the state. Go to www.ncwildlife.org to consult the online version of the 2011-2012 N.C. Inland Fishing, Hunting and Trapping Regulations Digest or call 919-707-0031 for more information.

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You Can Fool Some Of The People All Of The Time…

October 6, 2011 by

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

The above quote come from President Abraham Lincoln. I seem to remember back in January 2009 there were some foolish people who compared Obama to Lincoln. What a difference two and a half years make.

Today we have Obama’s Press Secretary Jay Carney being asked about Attorney General Eric Holder and Operation Fast and Furious. His dissembling answer to the press makes me wonder if Carney is trying to outdo former Press Secretary Robert Gibbs in evasive smarminess.

From the White House transcript:

Q There have been calls for a general counsel to investigate whether or not the Attorney General perjured himself when testifying about Fast and Furious. Does the President have a reaction?

MR. CARNEY: Well, there has been one call — and I think it’s a biannual call for a special counsel by this particular congressman. Once every six months we hear something similar. And the fact is, the Attorney General’s testimony to both the House and the Senate was consistent and truthful.

He said in both March and May of this year that he became aware of the questionable tactics employed in the Fast and Furious operation in early 2011, when ATF agents first raised them publicly. And he then asked the Inspector General’s Office to investigate the matter, demonstrating how seriously he took them.

Q The question in May was when did he first hear about Fast and Furious? Not the questionable tactics, but when did he first hear of the program?

MR. CARNEY: Look, the Attorney General’s testimony was consistent and truthful. And calls for special counsels, which seem to be a regular occurrence, do not change that fact.

And when the Attorney General learned about the questionable tactics, he asked the Inspector General’s Office to investigate the matter.

Yes.

Another report came back to this topic and it includes references to Eric Schultz’s hissy fit with screaming and cursing aimed at CBS Investigative Report Sharyl Attkisson.

Q Thanks, Jay. I want to go back to Fast and Furious because what you said the Attorney General said is not what he said. He said, quote — and this is in May of this year — “I’m not sure of the exact date but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.” Now these documents that Jake was referring to say that he was actually told the first time about this July 2010 and October of 2010 —

MR. CARNEY: Well, you’re suggesting — first of all, I would refer you to the Department of Justice that is handling this.

Q He’s the President’s Attorney General, so —

MR. CARNEY: Yes, and the President believes he’s an excellent Attorney General and has great confidence in him, and we absolutely know that the testimony he gave was consistent and truthful. And —

Q So how does he have confidence in him if he’s a year off on what —

MR. CARNEY: If a piece of paper in a document that’s many, many pages long contained a phrase that discussed nothing about the tactics that are at issue here, I think what we’re talking about —

Q But he didn’t talk about — I just want to be clear. In his quote he never said tactics. He said —

MR. CARNEY: Ed, the Attorney General’s testimony —

Q — the first time he heard about it —

MR. CARNEY: — was consistent and truthful.

Q — and in the document, in July, he heard about it.

MR. CARNEY: Consistent and truthful.

Q Okay, but you’re not addressing the fact that he was not talking about questionable tactics.

MR. CARNEY: I think I just did.

Q In his quote in May, he said, “The first time I heard about it was a few weeks ago.”

MR. CARNEY: The issue here is not the name, it’s what happened and the questionable tactics. When he heard that, as testified, he asked the Inspector General’s Office to investigate it aggressively, and he has cooperated with — the Department of Justice has cooperated with the congressional investigation. So what he’s testified to is consistent and truthful, and his cooperation — both the fact that he believes it was a problem that needed to be investigated is demonstrated by the action he took, and the department has cooperated with the Congress as it looks into the matter.

Q So to clear up any confusion, when was the first time the President —

MR. CARNEY: Again, I —

Q No, no, not the Attorney General. When was the first time the President heard about this program?

MR. CARNEY: Well, as he said in public, in a press conference, he heard about it when he read about it. And that was sometime earlier this year. I think the press conference was in El Salvador when he was on that trip, and he referenced having heard about it recently. I don’t have a specific day.

Q Okay. And Sheryl Atkinson of CBS News is saying that a few days ago, I believe, a White House official and a Justice Department official was yelling and screaming at her — she’s been reporting about this for some time — about this whole story.

You were a reporter once. When government officials start yelling at you, sometimes it’s because they’re getting defensive, right? Why would they be yelling at her?

MR. CARNEY: First of all, I have no insight into the conversations she may or may not have had. Second of all, I know that you guys are all hard-bitten, veteran journalists and probably don’t complain when you have tough conversations with your sources sometimes. Again, this is just generally speaking.

I don’t know about it. I think it’s —

Q But she’s a credible reporter. When you say, “I’m not sure what conversations she had,” I mean, she said this on the record that she was yelled at and screamed at. Why would the administration be yelling at her about this story? I don’t —

MR. CARNEY: Again, I take issue with the report. I don’t know that it’s true. I’m just — what I think is that I know you are tough enough to handle an extra decibel or two in a phone conversation. I’m not sure that that happened here, but it’s a surprising complaint.

As I said yesterday, the response of Tracy Schmaler and Eric Schultz reminded me of a fear-biting dog. It lashes out because it is scared and it appears they are acting in exactly the same manner.

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Sharyl Attkisson Report On Operation Wide Receiver

October 5, 2011 by 1 Comment

Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News had a report this morning on The Early Show about an earlier ATF operation called Operation Wide Receiver. It was run out the ATF’s Tucson office. The operation which began during the Bush administration also involved gun walking and Mexican drug cartels.

Kurt Hofmann, the St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner, does an excellent job in analyzing the differences between Operation Wide Receiver and Operation Fast and Furious. While they both involved ATF, Mexican drug cartels, and gun walking, Kurt notes some important differences.

Well, for one, four or five years ago, we didn’t have the administration (from the President on down), the mass media, and “gun control” advocates incessantly claiming that, “[Some variable, but invariably wildly inflated] percentage of seized Mexican crime guns come from the U.S.,” imposing on us the moral imperative to “strengthen” our “weak gun laws.”

We didn’t have a requirement in the southwest border states to report multiple long gun sales–a requirement for which “walked” guns ouf of “Operation Fast and Furious” were used as justification. Nor did we have guns “walked” from Indiana to Chicago used to attempt to impose extra reporting requirements on and Indiana gun dealer.

At this point, we don’t seem to have any evidence that earlier “gunwalking” involved the FBI, the DEA, DHS, the State Department, the IRS, and even the White House Security Council.

 Kurt is correct that this should be investigated as well. He is also very correct in saying that the signs of failure of Operation Wide Receiver were known by 2009 and that it should have been a warning about going ahead with Operation Fast and Furious.

Jim Shepherd of the Outdoor Wire was writing about this failed program back in June and I had a post on it then. You can compare the newest story with what we knew in June.

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Issa On AC360 With Anderson Cooper

October 5, 2011 by

The first correction I would make to Anderson Cooper’s intro is that this was not a botched gun sting. You can also see the damage control coming out of the Justice Department in Cooper’s questions. That said, he played it straight without any “gotcha” questions for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA).

Mike Vanderboegh has posted a transcript of Rep. Issa’s comments to Cooper here.

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Quote Of The Day

October 5, 2011 by

Investors Business Daily is taking a hard line on Eric Holder and his perjurious testimony given to the House Judiciary Committee regarding when he first knew of Operation Fast and Furious. In an editorial published this evening entitled “Indict Eric Holder”, they concluded:

As Issa told radio talk show host Laura Ingraham last month: “We have a paper trail of so many people knowing that the only way the attorney general didn’t know is he made sure he didn’t want to know. … But if you don’t want to know something of this sort, then you shouldn’t have the job he has.”

We’d go a step further. Baseball star Roger Clemens was equally vehement when he told a House committee in 2008: “Let me be clear. I have never taken steroids or HGH.” Clemens was indicted for lying to Congress.

The same should go for Eric Holder.

And I would add that IBD is correct.

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House Judiciary Committee Chair Calls For Special Prosecutor

October 4, 2011 by

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is calling for a Special Prosecutor to investigate whether the statements made by Attorney General Eric Holder in response to a question by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)were false.

Washington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) today called for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate whether comments made by Attorney General Eric Holder during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in May 2011 were truthful. In a letter to President Obama, Chairman Smith expressed concern that Members of Congress may have been misled by the Attorney General’s response to a question regarding his knowledge of the Fast and Furious program. The Attorney General stated that the first time he had heard of the program was in the weeks leading up to the May 2011 hearing. But documents released on Friday night raise significant questions about the truthfulness of the Attorney General’s testimony.

Chairman Smith: “The Department’s consistent response to Congress has been that Operation Fast and Furious was a discrete law enforcement effort largely isolated to the ATF office in Phoenix. These documents appear to undermine this claim and bring into question statements made by Attorney General Holder to this Committee.

“Allegations that senior Justice Department officials may have intentionally misled Members of Congress are extremely troubling and must be addressed by an independent and objective special counsel. I urge you to appoint a special counsel who will investigate these allegations as soon as possible.”

The full letter from Smith to Obama can be found here.

Ed Morrissey at Hotair.com speculates that Obama will defy Congress and protect Holder rather than have a Special Prosecutor running wild amongst the emerging scandals of his “clean” administration.

Now Obama has to decide whether to defy Congress and create a precedent for protecting appointees who willfully mislead Congress, or submit to a special prosecutor that could run wild on his administration. I’m going to guess that Obama will defy the House, but that may not last very long, especially with Darrell Issa probing Solyndra and other potential scandals.

Fox News is also on this story. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) met with Holder on January 31st in Grassley’s office. At that time, Grassley gave him a letter with details on the investigation into Operation Fast and Furious. Grassley, saying he isn’t a lawyer, won’t speculate on whether Holder perjured himself but did add:

“But I can tell you this. They’re doing everything they can, in a fast and furious way, to cover up all the evidence or stonewalling us. But here’s the issue, if he didn’t perjure himself and didn’t know about it, the best way that they can help us, Congressman Issa and me, is to just issue all the documents that we ask for and those documents will prove one way or the other right or wrong.”