Many have speculated that Operation Fast and Furious (a Federal program to waive firearms regulations and let straw purchasers bring thousands of guns across the border into Mexico with little or no tracking) was the first leg of a plan to increase firearms violence to the point where people would demand "more gun regulation".
Concern over the massive gunrunning schems, and the deaths of hundreds of Mexican citizens and Americans such as Border Patrol agent Brian Terry with guns purchased through the Fast and Furious program, is reaching a fever pitch. But there is no overt evidence connecting Fast and Furious to President Obama's new push to restrict people from hunting and target shooting and bringing firearms onto public land, open range etc.
The government has been treating firearms as horrible things that no one in their right mind should ever touch, much less own; and has been remaining comparatively silent on the roles privately-owned firearms have played in preventing crimes and protecting people. After decades of badmouthing, the Federal government is now announcing that the reason they are starting to ban guns from open range and other public lands, is because people are worried or scared of them.
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http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/...general-holder
Obama Pushing Shooters Off Public Lands
November 16, 2011
Gun owners who have historically been able to use public lands for target practice would be barred from potentially millions of acres under new rules drafted by the Interior Department, the first major move by the Obama administration to impose limits on firearms.
Officials say the administration is concerned about the potential clash between gun owners and encroaching urban populations who like to use same land for hiking and dog walking.
"It's not so much a safety issue. It's a social conflict issue," said Frank Jenks, a natural resource specialist with Interior's Bureau of Land Management, which oversees 245 million acres. He adds that urbanites "freak out" when they hear shooting on public lands.
If the draft policy is finally approved, some public access to Bureau lands to hunters would also be limited, potentially reducing areas deer, elk, and bear hunters can use in the West.
Conservationists and hunting groups, however, are mounting a fight. One elite group of conservationists that advises Interior and Agriculture is already pushing BLM to junk the regulations, claiming that shooters are being held to a much higher safety standard than other users of public lands, such as ATV riders.
"They are just trying to make it so difficult for recreational shooters," said Gary Kania, vice president of the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation. His group is one of several, including the National Wildlife Foundation, Cabela's and Ducks Unlimited, on the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council fighting the new rules. During a two-day meeting ending this afternoon, they are drafting their own changes to the BLM rules.
"What we probably are going to be looking forward to is a reversal," said Kania. Asked about how to handle people who freak out when they hear shots on public lands, Kania said, "I don't know how to quanitify 'freaking out,'" and noted that he's seen people panicing when fly fishing in float tubes but nobody wants to ban then from rivers.
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Originally Posted by Little-Acorn
Many have speculated that Operation Fast and Furious (a Federal program to waive firearms regulations and let straw purchasers bring thousands of guns across the border into Mexico with little or no tracking) was the first leg of a plan to increase firearms violence to the point where people would demand "more gun regulation".
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