Well, Do you punk?The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives this past week issued a press report on a ‘bust’ in Arizona over illegal firearms trafficking. In part, here’s what our intrepid ATF had to say:

Shawn Michael Nealon, 38, of Mesa, Ariz., a federal firearms licensee and owner of Cavalry Arms Corp., was sentenced earlier this month to three years probation, 300 hours of community service, and a $10,000 fine after pleading guilty on Feb. 18 to illegal firearms sales by a federally licensed firearms dealer to an out-of-state resident.

Cavalry Arms, of Gilbert, Ariz. and holding a separate federal firearms license (FFL), was also placed on probation and fined $10,000 resulting in a loss of license to sell, manufacture, and a prohibition from possessing firearms.

Nealon sold four firearms to an out-of-state resident, knowing that the individual, at the time of sale, resided in the state of Calif. and not in the state of Ariz. Cavalry Arms also sold 36 firearms to that same individual from Calif., which included AK-47 and AR-15 type rifles, shotguns and handguns. This investigation was initiated by ATF's Los Angeles Field Division and prosecuted in the state of Ariz.

When we think of firearms trafficking, generally what comes to mind are illegal sales to individuals or criminal organizations located outside of the U.S. We generally don’t think of a firearms dealer selling a firearm to another American as trafficking. Unfortunately that is where our gun laws have taken us. Selling a firearm to an American who resides in another state is illegal in the United States.

Can you think of another legal product that is illegal for you to buy in another state? We can only think of one. How about health insurance? What a surprise! Another government regulated commodity that makes it illegal for health insurance companies in one state to sell to individuals in another state unless allowed by the government. But, at least health insurance companies can lobby for permission from politicians, which has been the primary reason why such a silly law exists in the first place. That’s another story.

In the case of guns however, a blanket ban of selling firearms to out of state residents has existed since 1968, which by any measure is not only a restriction of American’s Second Amendment rights, it is also a restriction of interstate commerce. Of course, the federal government has made a complete travesty of interstate commerce using the constitutional clause to interfere with commerce nationwide for decades.

So, while the ATF goes about the business of crowing about how it has made another bust of illegal firearms sales, American’s Second Amendment rights are once again trampled upon in the name of ‘keeping us all safe’ from each other, according to ATF’s Special Agent in Charge John Torres:

“This conviction was a good thing for all law abiding citizens of the United States, as was the sentencing. Nealon is now a felon who can no longer possess or own firearms. He cannot continue in the business of being a Federally Licensed Firearms Dealer nor can he sell firearms at gun shows. The system worked and I applaud the efforts of the ATF agents who investigated Shawn Nealon's illegal activities and the prosecutors who perfected the court case. They all had a role in keeping the citizens safe!”

I certainly feel safer knowing our government is hard at work undermining constitutional rights. It is rather frightening to read how an agency of the federal government describes this as “a good thing for all law abiding citizens.” In fact, it’s a scourge on our society as a free people that a federal government agency exists with the majority of its assets assigned to specifically restrict access to firearms. Oh, I know, but Nealon broke the law. Just because the government says it’s the law, doesn’t make it right.

The best thing that could happen to this country, to eliminate the black market of firearms, and give us our rights back, is to roll back all firearms laws prior to the Gun Control Act of 1968. In essence, to eliminate the “F” out of ATF and defund that portion of the organization’s charter.