Perry Calls Fed Shutdown Of Gun Show “Harassment”

Kurt Nimmo
Prison Planet.com
Monday, January 25, 2010

In the video below, Texas governor Rick Perry talks with Richard Reeves about the close down of the Texas Gun Shows.

Perry claims to be an advocate states’ right and has told us he is opposed to the federal government meddling in local affairs and yet he has little to say about the BATFE colluding with the Austin Police to shut down what was in fact an entirely legal gun show. Perry tells Reeves he thinks it was wrong for the feds to have leaned on the property owner HEB and forced Darwin Boedeker of Texas Gun Shows out of business.

Instead of defending a business owner against illegal federal intrusion (under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution) the governor tells Boedeker he should find another venue. Rick Perry does not address the behavior off the Austin Police or the absurd allegation parroted by the local media that citizens need paperwork to sell firearms in the state. Texas does not have a law requiring such paperwork and that is why the APD leaned on HEB in order to get the business shut down.

In response to a question by Reeves, Perry explains that if Mr. Boedecker moves his business to another venue and the police shut him down again he will consider it harassment. He does not specify what he will do if this happens.

He claims there is a lot of “he said, she said” involved in the dispute and he does not know what the facts are. The facts in the case are evident and not difficult to understand.

Is it possible the governor of Texas is ignorant of the laws in his state and also the Commerce Clause under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution? In addition, is it possible Perry is ignorant of the terms under the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986? The law states that individuals “not engaged in the business” of dealing firearms, or who only make “occasional” sales within their state of residence (including parking lots) are not subjected to federal regulation. The law makes it obvious (in addition to the Commerce Clause) that the federal government has no jurisdiction in Texas or anywhere else when it comes to gun sales between private individuals who are not registered gun dealers.


It should be obvious by now that the BATFE colluded with the Austin cops to violate the law and target Darwin Boedeker. It is Rick Perry’s responsibility to protect his constituents from such federal racketeering.

The Austin Police are using color of law to deny Texans their right to buy and sell firearms. They have used the local media to spin the issue and disingenuously claim that the police are only interested in preventing illegal aliens and felons from purchasing firearms.

In fact, the law in Texas does not state that it is the responsibility of the seller to discover if a buyer is a criminal or from Mexico or any other country. The APD, at the behest of the federal government and the radical anti-Second Amendment Obama administration and the Justice Department under the leadership of the notorious gun-grabber Eric Holder, is engaged in Mafia-like criminal behavior.

Darwin Boedeker and Texas Gun Shows did not commit any crimes. The private and legal buying and selling of firearms allegedly taking place in the parking lot outside the venue is legal under Texas law and certainly not the responsibility of Boedeker and Texas Gun Shows. The “public nuisance” aspect of the APD complaint about gun sales is a red herring designed to divert attention from the real issue — the federal government’s attempt to shut down gun shows across the nation and keep relentless pressure on the Second Amendment and law-abiding Americans.

Perry’s neglect and cavalier comments need to become an election issue. He obviously does not feel that the state of Texas should protect its citizens from a wanton and predatory federal government determined to disarm the American public and deny them their right to own firearms under the Second Amendment.

The people of Texas only have one viable candidate for governor — Debra Medina, who is a staunch defender of the Second Amendment and the Bill of Rights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnuSexCdkN4&feature=player_embedded