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A Nail in the Coffin for Texas Gun Shows and Private Citizens

January 15, 2010 was the date that the Austin Police Department and the ATF drove the first nail into Texas gun shows. Darwin Boedeker, owner of Texas Gun Shows, inc., was requested to attend a special meeting at an Austin Police Department location concerning the operation of his gun show. Attending the meeting were representatives of the leasing company that leases the building as well as a representative of H.E.B. the food giant, which owns the property. The Austin Police Department and the ATF issued directives to Boedeker including eliminating all sales of guns by non-FFL Dealers (private citizens), although there is no law preventing private sales by citizens.

Austin Police say they have numerous violation on record in the past when SAXET Gun Shows operated their gun shows at the same location. It was stated that these numerous violations included a number of gun sales to undocumented immigrants (illegal aliens). Although Austin, Texas is a Sanctuary City that seems to welcome illegal aliens into their society, they do not want them to be armed. Boedeker felt that the APD and ATF used intimidation and threats rather than law to force him to comply with their suggestions and recommendations. H.E.B. officials have banned gun shows at this location in the future. If Darwin is unable to locate another facility to lease, Gun Shows in Austin, Texas will be a "thing of the past".

Many believe that this was an unconstitutional attack on their personal freedoms. What this did actually was to drive gun sales back into neighborhoods and in dark alleys as well as create racial profiling by sellers in the future.

"All they are doing is keeping the honest man from being able to do what is afforded to him by the Constitution," Boedeker said. "We have a right to buy and sell firearms as citizens of America, as legal, law-abiding citizens. That right is being infringed on us."

The Obama administration is widely known to desire a gun-free America so one must wonder if this was a Washington directive in Austin, perhaps Texas' most liberal city. Although both Federal and State law permit the private sale of firearms unless the seller knows the buyer is prohibited from purchasing a weapon, which, of course, includes being a convicted felon or an illegal alien, the recommendations, suggestions and intimidation threats by APD and the ATF seem to have overridden the law in this instance. It has been reported to TEXCHM that these same techniques have been applied by ATF agents recently to private Texas sellers as well.

If there is a true problem at gun shows, a common sense solution needs to be defined, rather than law enforcement creating their own polices that infringe on the rights of private citizens. It would seem to us here at TEXCHM that the operators of gun shows could very easily obtain Federal Firearms Licenses and simply require all sales of guns to be cleared with background checks and the proper paperwork before the weapon left the building. This would require a little effort on the part of gun show operators and sellers, but would eliminate the oppressive and unconstitutional infringements on private citizens. Typical of bureaucrat mentality, the actions of Austin and Federal Law Enforcement has served to place more distance between Law Enforcement and the citizens. It would seen that our State and Federal Government have drifted far from the philosophy of Government of the People; By the People.

We need to be concerned that this recent event in Austin is the beginning of the end for the future of gun shows in Texas. On Tuesday, December 15, 2009, 218 years after the Second Amendment was adopted by the Congress of the United States of America and passed by the States, the head of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence was in San Antonio, Texas to push for background checks at Texas Gun Shows, claiming that Licensed Gun Dealers are required to obtain a background check on an individual purchasing a firearm but not required by Private Citizens. Recently, one of their employees, Colin Goddard, has invaded the privacy of Texas citizens by sneaking his video camera into Texas gun shows and filming voyeur style footage of law abiding Texas Dealers at their gun show booths. His total disregard for the gun show regulations forbidding cameras is no shock, as these people will do anything legal or illegal to further their cause in their war on gun owners. They claim that a law abiding private citizen selling his or her own guns at a gun show is an irresponsible act and it should be against the law.

So, my fine CHL friends and Second Amendment supporters, the war has started and the first bombardments against gun owner' freedoms seem to be directed at Gun Shows. What can you do about it; contact your State lawmakers and voice your complaints. Darwin Boedeker can be contacted through his website: www.texasgunshows.net. Please contact Darwin and give him your support.

What concerns us here at TEXCHM are the reasons behind the actions of the APD and ATF. If what we are hearing is true, that the reason they did what they did was to stop gun sales to illegial aliens and to stem the flow of guns into Mexico, then why don't they eliminate the illegal aliens, rather than give them sanctuary and further infringe on the rights of Texas citizens. If the system that our government has in place to secure our borders is not working, then it seems only reasonable that they do something about it; NOW! In comparasion, if a few guns, and I mean a few, are sold to illegial aliens that should have never been able to enter our State or Country in the first place. then the problem is mute compared to the threat of ONE TERRIOST that is allowed to cross out borders and live in our country. Truthfully, we don't think that this has anything to do with it. We believe that the ultimate goal is to stop the Gun Shows, and if they can stop Gun Shows in Texas, they feel they can stop them anywhere.