http://www.fortmilltimes.com/…

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is dumping the “Always Think Forfeiture” motto it’s used for more than a decade to help combat crime.

U.S. Rep. Bill Sali, R-Idaho, and others complained that multipurpose tools engraved with the slogan could be seen as encouragement to seize property, including guns, of law-abiding citizens.

The pocket tools were to be given to federal, state and local law-enforcement agents participating in the agency’s asset forfeiture training programs, as a reminder of one way to disrupt or dismantle criminal organizations.

None of the engraved tools, stored in the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., have so far been distributed. And now they won’t be, at least until the engravings have been removed.

The agency will no longer use the slogan on materials given out during its training programs, said Robert Browning, chief of ATF public affairs in Washington, D.C., adding it was never intended to undermine lawful gun rights.

Sali had said that the ATF “through its engraved motto, sends a message that these rights are secondary to the government’s apparent goal to ‘always’ seek forfeit of private property.”

The tools also included the words “ATF - Asset Forfeiture.”

Sali’s outrage over the customized pocket tools is just the latest incident in which the ATF has been in the crosshairs of Idaho’s gun-rights lawmakers. U.S. Sens. Larry Craig and Mike Crapo placed separate holds on President Bush’s 2007 nomination of federal prosecutor Michael Sullivan to lead the agency, saying the ATF was being too tough with gun dealers, including a Twin Falls shop that was stripped of its license.

The ATF had revoked the gun dealer license at Red’s Trading Post in Twin Falls after record-keeping violations. A U.S. District Court judge then stayed sanctions after finding the agency had record-keeping problems of its own. That case is ongoing. Sullivan still hasn’t been confirmed to lead the ATF.

By law, the agency can seize firearms, ammunition, explosives, alcohol, tobacco, money and certain real property if such items are involved in breaking the law. Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies rely on asset forfeiture to break up criminal activity, on the contention some groups would continue to operate if the only thing officers could do was lock some leaders in prison.

ATF has used the “Always Think Forfeiture” slogan for more than a decade on materials for training classes it conducts across the United States to increase awareness for officers about forfeiture laws. This is the first time a complaint has been lodged, the agency said.

“We’ve had it brought to our attention from several different congressional members,” Browning said. “In hindsight, we certainly would not have used this slogan if we knew that it would cause so much concern among the public. Nothing in this program is intended to deprive the rights of law-abiding gun owners.”

Sali, who said a constituent brought the engraved tools to his attention, said he’s drafting legislation to prevent the agency from using similar slogans in future training campaigns.

“I’d hate to put a time on it,” Sali spokesman Wayne Hoffman said of the proposed bill. “It’s something we just started. It’s one of the congressman’s priorities.”

It’s a nice gesture but it’s not like they will stop using asset forfeiture just because they stop using the slogan. These people are above the law and will continue to steal from people as they desire.

Like how they make it out to be that primarily it’s gun owners effected by this? That means a good portion of the public who are anti-gun won’t pick up on the seriousness of this “tool.” Though if we throw in this story I’d bet those same people would get a bit upset but then the anti-immigrant, pro drug war crowd wouldn’t care.

http://www.libertyforall.net/…

“Three young people with promising futures are slaughtered, and a fourth one brutally shot in the face by a gang of thugs that allegedly included an illegal alien, and all Gov. Corzine and Mayor Booker can do in response is come up with a multi-level scheme to punish law-abiding gun owners,” observed SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. “That’s not simply disappointing, it is reprehensible.

“If there was ever a more clear-cut illustration of the anti-gun mindset among liberal Democrats, I have not seen it,” he continued. “Corzine, Booker and others of their bent will blather all day and night about providing sanctuary to illegal aliens, and the need to crack down on street crime, but who do they invariably target for tough justice? Law-abiding gun owners who had nothing to do with this crime, or any other crime, and the worst part of it is, they know it.”

Among the proposals floated by Corzine and Booker are local ordinances requiring the registration of all firearms in Newark, and the establishment of so-called “gun courts.” Another proposal is to require gun owners, who are themselves victimized when a criminal steals their firearm, to report the gun theft immediately or be held responsible. Booker also wants to ban gun sales in residential areas or near schools, even though there are no licensed firearms dealers in the entire city.

“First Booker plans to spend millions on surveillance cameras so cops can watch crimes being committed, rather than prevent those crimes,” Gottlieb said, “and now he and Corzine want to punish gun owners who are unfortunate enough to become crime victims, themselves, probably as an alternative to actually catching burglars and other real criminals and putting them behind bars. This is not simply an insult to every law-abiding firearms owner in New Jersey, who must already have a license, it is also an insult to the memories of those three young murder victims.

I’ve commented on all these topics before. Cameras only move crime. If you want to stop crime you have to end the prohibition of some drugs, end the regressive tax systems, end the welfare state, end the laws which hold people down or allow them to make something of themselves. As for the gun theft law… it’s both conceptually and practically flawed and has been shown not to work. Even the enforcers (police) of similar laws in other jurisdictions have said it’s useless. The registration requirement would be a step closer to prohibition and makes it easier for government knocking on your door asking for your arms. It’s bad enough NJ requires a special permit just to be able to purchase a handgun.