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Gun Show License Plate Scans A 'Civil Rights Outrage,' SAF Wants Probe
In case you have been living under a rock, one of the biggest infringements to the rights of law abiding gun owners and citizens potentially interested in legally becoming gun owners, has been the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's effort to record the license plate information of the patrons. The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), along with others has called this a trampling of our civil rights what it is—an outrage. The SAF is now taking the next step by calling for a probe by the House Oversight Committee. Here is the full release from the SAF.
About .7% of criminals reported buying the gun used in a crime at a show by the government's own accounting, but that is not enough to stop it from infringing on your Constitutional rights.
The Second Amendment Foundation today is calling for a probe by the House Oversight Committee on an effort by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to record license plate information on all cars belonging to gun show customers in Southern California, calling the project a "civil rights outrage."
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that federal agents apparently persuaded local police officers in 2010 to scan those license plates, ostensibly to detect possible gun smuggling. But SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb said the effort appears to have been "one more gun control affront launched during the Obama administration."
"Attending a gun show is not a criminal activity," Gottlieb observed. "American citizens engaged in a perfectly legal activity should not have to worry about the government monitoring their exercise of various civil rights, including freedom of association and the right to keep and bear arms.
"Instead of worrying about people attending gun shows," he continued, "maybe the same attention could have been paid to criminals walking guns across the border under the Fast and Furious fiasco. Oh, wait, that was a debacle created by government agents, also during the Obama administration.
"Unless there is clear evidence of criminal activity," Gottlieb stated, "it is none of the government's business who comes and goes at a lawfully-operated gun show. This kind of snooping should require a court order, and unless some illegal activity was detected, all license plate information gathered during this effort should be destroyed, and Congress should determine how it may have been used, or misused.
"We think this revelation by the Wall Street Journal raises enough questions that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform should launch an inquiry," he said. "If this kind of monitoring dealt with any activity other than a gun show, you can bet the liberal media would be screaming. The Obama administration and its media cheerleaders should understand that gun owners have privacy rights, too."