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April 21, 2005

Grow and Candy Don't Mix

Doug Grow is writing about guns.

Hide your valuables.

Doug Grow's column today claims that Minnesota is a "candy store for terrorists".

Another way of putting that would be "place where the Constitution hasn't been completely suspended."

The shopping trip Jerry Dhennin and Penny Sinner took on Saturday turned out to be very successful.

Dhennin, a retired Anoka County sheriff's deputy, and Sinner, a University of Minnesota grad student in public health, proved that you can buy just about anything you want in Minnesota.

The two went on a "shopping trip" on behalf of Citizens for a Supine "Safer" Minnesota, an astroturf group led by a Saint Paul anti-gun hysteric, Rebecca Thoman, which Grow refers to as "an organization devoted to sane gun restrictions". Either Grow is completely ignorant of Rebecca Thoman, or being willfully obtuse; that, or "Sane" means "absolute" in Doug Grow's world; Rebecca Thoman and her checkbook group want nothing short of a civilian gun ban, in the long run; seeing that gun control is a stiff at the polls, they're keeping their language moderate for now.

Says Grow, the two...:

were out to buy an assault rifle. Citizens for a Safer Minnesota wanted the rifle for a couple of reasons: 1) to show how available these weapons are; 2) to use the weapon as visual evidence about why it wasn't such a good idea for the feds to allow a limited ban on assault weapons to fade away in 2004.

Dhennin and Sinner had no particular weapon in mind when they went to the Education Building at the State Fairgrounds for the Minnesota Weapons Collectors Association gun show.

"A candy store for terrorists," is how Dhennin, a hunter and gun lover, [There it is, right on schedule! The left, since the days of Clinton and Wellstone, has done its damnedest to drive a wedge between hunters and owners of "ugly guns". It's pretty much de rigeur to make sure you have someone who calls themselves a hunter on board when you're writing an anti-gun screed; it's sort of like having a red-shirt guy along on Star Trek when Spock, Kirk and McCoy beamed down. - Ed.] described the weaponry available at the show.

Dhennin has been dismayed at the proliferation of assault rifles since the demise of the tepid federal ban.

"I go to these shows all the time," he said. "I'm alarmed at all of the new stuff I'm seeing. Assault rifles and handguns are out of control. I go to these shows looking for antiques. You could say I'm a gun nut. But there are gun nuts and then there are real gun nuts."

Er, yeah.

At the beginning of the piece, Grow said the two's "mission" was to "show how available these weapons are; 2) to use the weapon as visual evidence about why it wasn't such a good idea for the feds to allow a limited ban on assault weapons to fade away in 2004." What they got was a legal rifle and a legal book, and a slur at gun owners with a yen to own "ugly guns".

That's all.

Now, perhaps Grow or his two subjects could let us know if any actual crimes have been carried out by gun nuts, real or otherwise (BATF charges designed to trip up gun owners don't count).

I'll wait. I mean, I've been waiting a long time.

Here's a question for you; when the President, John Ashcroft and Tom Ridge talk about measures that actually affect terrorism but might, tangentially, possibly affect the fringes of our civil liberties, the left howls like a monkey that's gotten its testicles caught in a C-clamp (and I'll defend their right to do it!). But now, Doug Grow -the very model of a Minnesota soft-lefty - is crying "terror" (although, as we'll see later, speciously). Ironic, no?

Dhennin and Sinner didn't merely want to buy an assault rifle. They wanted to see whether they could make their purchase with no questions asked.

Licensed gun dealers must do a background check before selling customers assault rifles or handguns.

Private dealers, though, apparently don't need to bother with messy red tape. [Remember this bit here]

Dhennin and Sinner approached a so-called private dealer who was displaying a Ruger Mini 14, a .223-caliber rifle, with a fold-up stock, pistol grip and magazines with a 30-round capacity. (According to a video, a expert can go through four magazines -- 120 rounds -- in 45 seconds with this weapon.)

According to the two, the conversation with the private dealer went like this:

Dhennin: "Gotta tell you right off, ain't no way I'll pass a background check."

Dealer: "Don't worry about it."

Sinner still is surprised by the dealer's laid-back attitude.

So let us get this straight; the gun dealer broke no laws in selling a legal firearm that is involved in an infinitesimal proportion of crimes (vastly less than, oddly enough, the highly-regulated handguns!).
"He didn't ask for a name, no ID, nothing," she said.
He followed the law.
Dhennin negotiated the price down from $550 to $500 before making the purchase and moving on to what Dhennin described, tongue-in-cheek, as the gun show "library." This was a display area filled with pamphlets and literature about weaponry.

Sinner and "the librarian" had this conversation:

Sinner: "Is there a book about how to set a Ruger Mini 14 on full automatic." (Selling fully automatic assault rifles is still illegal.)

Librarian: "We can't display them but if you want one, I can dig it out."

Sinner: "Please do."

The librarian found the book -- a 52-page pamphlet on how to convert the rifle to fully automatic -- and sent Sinner and Dhennin on their way with a little warning.

"Don't be flashing this around on your way out," he said.

Again...well, let's let Doug continue:
Were any current laws violated during this shopping trip?

I called the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. I was referred to the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

I called the BCA. I was referred to the attorney general's office.

I called the AG's office, which pointed out that licensing issues regarding guns are a federal matter. I was referred to the federal Bureau of Alchohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Were any laws broken when Sinner and Dhennin bought their assault rifle?

Short answer: Nope.

Well, then, there's your answer.

Let's ask and answer some more questions for Doug Grow:

  • Would it be a First Amendment violation, or even a restraint of trade, to bar someone from publishing a guide to converting firearms to full-automatic? Of course.
  • Is it easy or cheap to do (in the case of the Mini-14)? Not really.
  • If you are not a competent gunsmith, will any law-abiding gunsmith do the job? Hell no.
  • If you were to actually convert the rifle to selective-fire (semi and full-automatic - a criterion for a real "assault rifle"), and the BATF gets wind of it by any means, fair or foul, are you looking at serious time? Oh, sweet Lordy, yes, you are going down for a long, long time.
  • Do you - and by "you" I mean Doug Grow, Rebecca Thoman, members of Citizens for a Supine "Safer" Minnesota, the Minnesota left, and anyone who takes Doug Grow seriously when he's writing about things touchier than snow removal complaints - suppose that terrorists have other, much safer "candy stores" for their weapons than a gun show, which is crawling with law enforcement? Say, rogue nations with huge stockpiles of real assault rifles, and money to get them through our porous borders, safely and predictably, rather than buying varmint rifles like the Mini-14, finding a competent (and reliably discreet) gunsmith, and converting it into a jury-rigged substitute for the real thing?
Grow, and Thoman, may or may not be ignorant of the actual applicable law. It's for damn sure they want you to be, though.
A postscript: There was an effort by state Sen. Satveer Chaudhary, DFL-Fridley, to have the Legislature adopt gun restrictions similar to those lost when the feds all but gave up on the idea of bans on assault weapons. But Chaudhary's bill has never received a committee hearing. It's expected to die of apathy this session.
Die of apathy?

It should be killed with malice. It's a worthless law in search of a non-problem, done by a grandstanding politician trying to suck up to an ignorant mass of voters.

Posted by Mitch at April 21, 2005 12:14 PM | TrackBack
Comments

Follow the money: Go to the following link and Search by Individual for a Donar with the name Dhennin

http://www.publicintegrity.org/527/db.aspx?act=main

Posted by: Alfred Fingulin at April 21, 2005 12:15 PM

I'm always amazed at the number of people who will spout asinine opinions about gun laws, despite not knowing what the laws are. The ATF has reference guides that cover state and federal regulations available for download, but how many people look at them and read them? Apparently, only the folks that own guns and want to remain in compliance with the law.

I also note, btw, that "so-called private dealers" aren't required to do a background check, but can still go to jail for knowingly transferring a firearm to a prohibited person. I wouldn't sell anything to a guy who told me he couldn't pass a background check.

Posted by: t at April 22, 2005 01:17 PM
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