Tag: police state

The ATF is Changing Gun Definitions, Turning Legal Gun Owners Into Felons, Literally Overnight

What if government agents could, by declaration, make you into a criminal? What if, without legislative change, bureaucrats could decide that what was legal yesterday is a felony today? What if we were governed not by law, but by arbitrary statements telling us what we may or may not do?

Unfortunately, those questions are not merely hypothetical—thanks to recent abuses of power by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), millions of American gun owners are facing them head-on. Even if you hate guns, you should be deeply concerned by the arbitrary power wielded by the ATF against your fellow Americans. If an unchecked executive agency can run roughshod over any of our rights with impunity, all of our rights are in danger.

Recently, the firearms manufacturer Q, LLC shared disturbing news with its customers: the ATF had declared the delightfully-named and popular “Honey Badger” pistol to be a “short-barreled rifle” (SBR). This determination subjects the firearm to special restrictions under the National Firearms Act (NFA). As a consequence of the ATF’s decision, customers who had purchased the Honey Badger have suddenly found themselves in felonious possession of a now-illegal firearm that they had legally acquired and legally owned.

The ATF’s determination is arbitrary. It is inconsistent with both federal law and prior ATF statements. Substantially similar firearms continue to be sold legally, as they have been for years. Instead of explaining what makes the Honey Badger different from those firearms, the ATF vaguely alluded to “objective design features,” offering no further explanation as to what those features are or why they lead the ATF to determine that the Honey Badger is an SBR.

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Secret Facial Recognition Program Could Cover Every State

America’s law enforcement has been secretly using a facial recognition program that can be used to ID activists and protesters.The first-ever acknowledgement of the program was recently revealed by the Washington Post.

“The court documents are believed to be the first public acknowledgment that authorities used the controversial technology in connection with the widely criticized sweep of largely peaceful protesters ahead of a photo op by President Trump.”

What makes this so troubling are two things. One, it appears to be used by law enforcement nationwide.

As the Washington Post explains, “the case is one of a growing number nationwide in which authorities have turned to facial recognition software to help identify protesters accused of violence.”

And two, this secret law enforcement facial recognition database contains images of at least 1.4 million Americans.

“The case also provides the first detailed look at a powerful new regional facial recognition system that officials said has been used more than 12,000 times since 2019 and contains a database of 1.4 million people but operates almost entirely outside the public view. Fourteen local and federal agencies have access.”

The name of this new facial recognition program is called the “National Capital Region Facial Recognition Investigative Leads System” (NCRFRILS).

A thousand law enforcement agencies could have access to a billion public records.

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