Firearm import ban is a bad idea

I see that Congressman Eliot Engel has the troubled U.S. economy in mind, and wants to jealously guard the U.S. market for semi-automatic, detachable magazine fed rifles.

Congressman Eliot Engel, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, wrote a letter signed by 53 Members of Congress urging President Obama to “return to enforcement of the law banning imports of assault weapons, which was previously enforced during the administrations of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.” The letter was also led by Congressman Michael Castle (R-DE) and Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY).

While I appreciate Congressman Engel's concern for our domestic firearms manufacturers and their employees, economists seem fairly united in opposition to heavy-handed protectionist policies like that--especially during a deep, global recession. We simply cannot afford a trade war on top of all the other economic problems.

What--that's not what this is about?

Sorry about that--was in the mood for some silliness.

I also have good news (that I should have noticed and reported before). Anthony G. Martin (of the Liberty Sphere, with its great gun rights resource, the daily Second Amendment News Roundup), has joined the Examiner.com team. Not a Gun Rights Examiner, as David and I are, he is the Columbia Conservative Examiner. I hope it will be a daily read for anyone who comes here regularly. Today, in fact, he writes about a bizarre new twist on "gun buy-backs"--for some reason, that program has me thinking of this song.