Hillary, the Brady Campaign, and the real gun control agenda - Thomas Lifson

by Thomas Lifson

Stunning archival research from the Clinton library reveals the true goal behind “commonsense gun safety regulation.

The true goals of the Brady Center, formerly known as Handgun Control, Incorporated, have been exposed thanks to archival research in the Clinton Library undertaken by Dave Hardy.  Brady is a very important nonprofit organization, which has worked closely with anti-gun politicians to achieve its ultimate goal: the end of private firearms ownership and the abrogation of the Second Amendment.

Brady’s current vehicle is Hillary Clinton, who just accepted Brady’s Mario M. Cuomo Visionary Award for her leadership on gun control.

Brady Center president Dan Gross (left) and New York governor (and New York SAFE Act author) Andrew Cuomo (right) flank the presidential candidate.

Hardy’s work, appearing in America’s First Freedom (published by the NRA), is lengthy and worth a thorough read by all who care about protecting the Bill of Rights, and who fear the prospect of a disarmed citizenry.

Brady examined the lobbying of the Clinton White House by the Brady Campaign.  But first he notes the way the Brady Campaign and its predecessor feigned a false agenda:

The Brady Campaign has long claimed that its agenda is limited. Just some “reasonable, common-sense” gun restrictions—no need for anyone to worry about confiscation or onerous regulations. Brady officials would prefer that no gun owner read the words of its former chairman Nelson “Pete” Shields—the man who put the organization on the political map. In the July 26, 1976, issue of The New Yorker, Shields gave an interview and summed up the group’s program. Saying that for now his organization would have to accept that half a loaf is better than none, and that for now he’d “be happy to take just a slice,” he explained: 

“Our ultimate goal—total control of handguns in the United States—is going to take time. My estimate is from seven to 10 years. The first problem is to slow down the increasing number of handguns sold in this country. The second problem is to get handguns registered. And the final problem is to make the possession of all handguns and all handgun ammunition—except for the military, policemen, licensed security guards, licensed sporting clubs, and licensed gun collectors—totally illegal.” 

With the Clinton administration taking over the White House, Brady saw its chance:

A September 1993 letter sent by Richard Aborn of the Brady Campaign to Howard Paster, head of Clinton’s White House Office of Legislative Affairs, showed the opening of the White House door. It begins, “Dear Howard: In preparation for the possibility of Sarah, Jim and I meeting with the president, we thought the White House might want to consider signing some additional presidential directives. ... I’d be happy to discuss these with you and would like to discuss with you the actual meeting with the president.” 
Paster forwarded the letter, and its attached list of ideas, to the White House Domestic Policy Council with a handwritten note asking to be notified “ASAP” if any were usable ideas. He added, “The president’s focus on violent crime makes anti-gun directives logical.” The Domestic Policy Council’s reply was essentially that some of the ideas were not legally doable, and they were already working on the rest. 
From that point on, the archives show, anti-gunners had exceptional access to the White House, and used it to the fullest. In fact, the files of President Clinton’s Domestic Policy Council read like the archives of the Brady Campaign. 
The White House files were filled with Brady Campaign/Handgun Control Inc.’s legislative plans. A memo stamped “confidential—do not circulate” (with the label set out by images of skulls and crossbones) outlined Brady’s real agenda. 
It began with a list of what Brady wanted from the Clinton administration. The list was long, but mostly quite predictable: licensing requirements and registration for handgun ownership, a ban on “assault rifles,” “one-gun-a-month,” a seven-day waiting period, and stiff increases in fees (to $1,000 per year) for FFLs. 
Even that would not be enough to please the Brady Campaign, though. Its memo added some proposals that (until now) have never seen the light of day. 
Brady also asked for a federal requirement of a special “arsenal license” for any gun owner who possessed 20 guns or 1,000 rounds of ammunition. (The White House copy has a handwritten note: “all guns.”) The memo described the arsenal license’s requirements as “similar to the requirements for a machine gun license,” including the requirement for police approval, since “anyone who has an arsenal is a danger to society.” In this scenario, two bricks of .22s would be enough for a gun owner to be treated as a public menace. 
Brady also asked that each component of a handgun, including the “barrel, stock, receiver, any part of the action, or ammunition magazines” be treated as if they were the receiver. “Buyers would need a license, sellers would need an FFL, and interstate sales would be illegal,” Brady explained. Replacing the grips or a firing pin spring, or purchasing an extra magazine, would actually require a 4473. Apparently they consider handguns to be that dangerous! 

That these plans didn’t achieve their goal is due to one thing: the American voters in midterm elections.  Bill Clinton later wrote in his autobiography:

On November 8, we got the living daylights beat out of us, losing eight Senate seats and 44 House seats, the largest defeat for our party since 1946. … The NRA had a great night. They beat both Speaker Tom Foley and Jack Brooks, two of the ablest members of Congress, who had warned me this would happen. … The gun lobby claimed to have defeated 19 of the 24 members on its hit list. They did at least that much damage, and could rightly claim to have made [Newt] Gingrich the House Speaker.

Fast-forward to 2017, and another Clinton, this one less given to compromise, is seeking the presidency, and using gun control as a prime issue in her campaign against far-left socialist Senator Bernie Sanders.  We are hearing the same catchphrase of “commonsense gun safety” deployed.  Make no mistake: Brady’s goals haven’t changed, and neither have Hillary’s.

Read the whole thing.

Hat tip: Clarice Feldman

Thomas Lifson

Source: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/01/hillary_the_brady_campaign_and_the_real_gun_control_agenda.html

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.