Gabby Giffords Husband Mark Kelly Buys AR-15 & .45. But There's A Rub.

[twyacht]

http://www.examiner.com/article/mark-kelly-s-story-on-ar-15-purchase-prompts-skeptical-open-letter


Mark Kelly’s story on AR-15 purchase prompts skeptical open letter

    Mark Kelly
    March 12, 2013
    By: David Codrea

Is Mark Kelly filling out the ATF Form 4473 truthfully?

Dear Capt. Kelly,

Houston, we have a problem: Your story makes no sense.

You’re against rifles like the semiautomatic AR-15, which look like weapons of war, when you know full well the military doesn’t use them, but instead uses the select fire-capable M16. Yet you go to a dealer to buy a .45, a sidearm, which was actually, in your words, “designed for the military.” I’m not following your logic here.

You say as you were leaving the gun store, you noticed a used AR-15 and bought that, too. You then complain about your background check, and use that to attack private sales which don’t undergo background checks. I’m not following your logic here.

You say you have not taken possession of the gun yet, but when you do will turn it over to the Tucson Police. Why? If you wanted to buy them a gun, you could have just given them the money. If you wanted to prove how easy undocumented sales are, you could have bought one privately and taken possession of it instead of going through the trouble of proving you’re not a prohibited person. I’m not following your logic here.

The most troubling thing is, you didn’t “admit” that was your intent until after your purchase had been reported by alternative media and people were commenting on what appears to be hypocrisy of the highest order, compounded with implausible excuse-making. You then told CNN that making a Facebook announcement was something you and your “people” had a plan for, but you didn’t know when, like it’s some kind of big decision you have to consult a team on. I’m not following your logic here.

You’re a trained combat pilot and astronaut. If anyone should be an unquestionable example of unerring logic and straight reporting, it’s you.

I see from comments on related articles and your own Facebook page that people are skeptical, and dismissing your story as disingenuous damage control. And it hasn’t been helped by a new video interview released this morning by USA Today (one of those ethical Gannett newspapers!) which does its best to give you cover, beginning with the title “Mark Kelly buys assault weapon to make a point,” but ends up failing miserably in that goal, and actually makes things worse, if you can believe it -- and why wouldn’t we?

“Gabby Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly, announced that he bought an assault weapon to make a point about gun control,’ the video caption explains. “He plans to sell it over state lines."

That’s reiterated in the video voice-over narration, which then says you “will eventually turn it over to police.” How, if you sell it? And why, all of a sudden, are we getting a totally different story here? I’m not following the logic here.

Then, in one of those “Authorized Journalist”/"legitimate media” moments that drops the jaw of a mere #justablogger like me, the announcer says “Kelly and his wife are gun owners and say they support the First Amendment.”

I kid you not.

Here’s the thing, Captain: 18 U.S.C. § 922 (a) states “It shall be unlawful … for any person … except a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer, to engage in the business of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in firearms, or in the course of such business to ship, transport, or receive any firearm in interstate or foreign commerce.”

And if you were really planning to do that, there's this little matter of section 11.a. on the ATF Form 4473 ...

Were you planning to break federal law to make the case for new ones? I’m not following your logic.

Actually, I’m just not buying your story. And based on what I’m seeing, neither is anyone else, especially anti-gun liars with an agenda pretending that they do in order to give you cover.

Also see: "Background check bill bogged down by backlash" by Dave Workman.

http://www.examiner.com/article/mark-kelly-s-story-on-ar-15-purchase-prompts-skeptical-open-letter

*****

Interesting.