I’m not overly surprised to find that a lot of gun control advocates don’t actually know what the laws really and truly are.
After all, many of them get their knowledge from other activists who talk about how you can just buy a gun at a gun show without a background check or how you can just buy one off the internet, only for neither of those to really be true.
It’s normally not a problem, either. It’s an annoyance as they insist that things that aren’t legal actually are, but that’s not the same as saying it’s a problem.
When they decide to “destroy” firearms and potentially turn them into short-barrel weapons, though, we’re getting into that category. It’s even worse when they also violate firearm transfer laws they pushed for. That’s where a New Mexico gun control group is right now.
And the investigation into that continues.
[San Juan County Sheriff Shane] Ferrari warned that the actions of NMPGV activists may have constituted unlawful firearms sales, as they handed out gift cards in exchange for the firearms they collected.
“Reviewing the law I do not see where they are exempt from having to undergo a background check and are required to like anyone else. A sale is taking place (gift cards $100 and up), it is advertised as a purchase and called a ‘buy back,’” Mr. Ferrari wrote.
As word began to circulate that NMPGV’s actions may have involved unlawful firearm transfers, the group posted on social media insisting there had been no actual firearms transfers because NMPGV activists had simply dismantled the firearms “onsite” at each home they visited.
…
Mr. Ferrari said images NMPGV shared of firearms they collected may show that the firearms were not properly dismantled, as defined by federal law.
“I know how many times a receiver needs to be cut to be considered destroyed,” he wrote.
NMPGV subsequently criticized Mr. Ferrari for focusing so critically on their efforts to collect and dismantle firearms.
“It is tragic to see Sherif [sic] Ferrari care more about 9 destroyed guns than the safety of his community from gun violence,” the gun control group wrote in a Dec. 20 post on X.
It seems Ferrari understands what the problem here is. It seems he’s acknowledged that the evidence is pretty clear that they broke at least some laws in the process and because the firearms weren’t destroyed properly, they were still guns when NMPGV took possession of them.
That raises the question of why hasn’t there been some kind of action yet? If everything is that cut-and-dried, then why hasn’t Ferrari moved forward.
My guess–and this is only a guess here–is that NMPGV isn’t exactly forthcoming with which of its members were part of this operation, for one thing. It’s pretty clear that they don’t think they laws should apply to them because their cause is so pure or whatever. Look at that last quote, even. They’re not disposing of guns correctly and taking possession of guns in spite of the gun control law they advocated for and think they should get a pass.
They bring up nine guns, but would they advocate for leniency for a gun owner who illegally transferred nine of his own guns to someone else? Or would they want to lower the boom on him?
We all know the answer.
So my guess is that NMPGV isn’t exactly cooperating with Ferrari’s investigation, protecting its members. Which likely means they’ll need court orders to access records and all of that to try and get any answers.
But my sincere hope is that yes, those responsible for this are brought to justice.
After all, gun control groups shouldn’t get a pass for breaking the law and far too many anti-gunners have gotten just that over the years. It’s time that should end.
