As I am sure we have all heard, or will soon hear, the Governor of Oklahoma, Frank Keating, is being considered for a position in the U.S. Treasury Dept that would place him in a position to oversee certain LE agencies. These agencies includes U.S. Customs, the U.S. Secret Service, but also includes our favorite agency, the BATF. Another person being considered for this is the Governor of Montana, though his credentials are not as good for the position as Gov. Keating's. I worked for many years back in the 1980's to get CC legislation passed in Oklahoma going so far as to write an original version in 1985. I left the state, but Senator Frank Sherdan continued the fight and got it passed. Gov. Keating signed the legislation and is considered pro-gun. Gov. Keating was very disturbed after the bombing of the federal building in OKC. When it was suggested that it was related to the incident at Waco and AG Janet Reno said, 'Nobody cares about Waco anymore.' He was furious. He is from the old FBI and many of those retired agents, my father included, are not happy with the way the agencies have become political pawns of politicians. I intend to discuss his feelings on the 2nd Amendment and a reversal of some of the BATF's new 'interpretations' of the law that has seen the reclassification of some 12ga shotguns as destructive devices, the end of importation of Chinese made arms, the end of the reimportation of U.S. made firearms and parts, and the end of the importation of replacement parts of foreign manufacture. There is another VERY important issue, the crime report analysis that is due to be submitted regarding the effectiveness of the Brady Anti-Crime Act of 1994. That report is due prior to Congress voting on a continuence of the Act in 2004 and will be conducted by the AG with input from the BATF. Also at stake is the current trend of harrassment of FFL holders as well as a policy putting some non-FFL holders who sell at gun shows in a catch-22 position and potentially in violation of the law. I also hope to obtain some documentation to show that some current high level people within BATF fought for Gore to win the presidential election using company equipment and labor paid for by taxpayers. The FBI never held BATF in high regard anyway, unlike the Secret Service and U.S. Marshalls Service, and this could go a long way toward cleaning house if not the abolishment of the agency as we know it as Regan had suggested. I will find out if Gov. Keating is worthy of our support and report it here. He may need our help, if not he and President Elect Bush need our strong input to see that changes to the way the Clinton BATF has been running things for the last eight years comes to an immediate and abrupt stop. Gov. Keating is currently in Bosnia and will return tomorrow, he is suppose to call me next Thursday while I am back in Austin. So what if I told them that I wanted to discuss a possible presidential appointment and I happen to live in Austin, it's the truth. The fact that he knows my father can't hurt either. If Gov. Keating is as strong a supporter of the 2nd Amendment as he has been in the past we need to do something about it. If it turns out that he isn't then we need to do something about that as well.
If any of you have any other specific issues, short of calling for criminal investigation of agency personel, please post here so that I will be able to bring it up in our conversation. Thanks guys, we might really be able to pull off a major coup with this, especially since Clinton is giving the NRA credit for the Bush win and Democrats are complaining to their leadership to drop the gun issue. I think that if agency 'interpretation' can be changed as a first step without creating to much of a stink, that a reversal of some of Slick's executive orders may fly as well. If that happens, and the general public remains apethetic, we could actually see Brady die in 2004. Baby steps. Help me out, these appointments are CRITICAL.
If any of you have any other specific issues, short of calling for criminal investigation of agency personel, please post here so that I will be able to bring it up in our conversation. Thanks guys, we might really be able to pull off a major coup with this, especially since Clinton is giving the NRA credit for the Bush win and Democrats are complaining to their leadership to drop the gun issue. I think that if agency 'interpretation' can be changed as a first step without creating to much of a stink, that a reversal of some of Slick's executive orders may fly as well. If that happens, and the general public remains apethetic, we could actually see Brady die in 2004. Baby steps. Help me out, these appointments are CRITICAL.