Friday, August 10, 2007

"Y" and "N"

Here are some questions I'd like to see put to BATFU DIO Richard Van Loan under oath:

Q: Form 4473 states that "The information you provide will be used to determine whether you are prohibited under law from receiving a firearm." Is any other purpose for completing it stated on the form?

Q: You cite as a violation that firearm purchase forms were found that had "Y" and "N" entered instead of "Yes" and "No". What difference does that make?

Q: If the only stated intent of the form is to determine if a person is "prohibited...from receiving a firearm," can you cite one instance where a gun has been sold to such a person by a licensed dealer for no other reason than BECAUSE "Y" and "N" were accepted in lieu of "Yes" and "No"?

Q: Question 13 of Form 4473 has check boxes for "Yes", "No" and "Not Applicable". As it's not specified on the form, would an "X" instead of a check mark be a violation, and if so, has a dealer ever been found in noncompliance for accepting it? If not, we're back to the question: What difference does it make?

Q: Form 4473 states that a false statement on the form is "a crime punishable as a felony." Would a prohibited person who wrote "Y" or "N" when they should have given opposite answers be exempted from such charges? If not, what difference does it make?

Q: Is it fair to say that entering "Y" or "N" instead of "Yes" of "No" makes NO DIFFERENCE in terms of determining whether a person is "prohibited under law from receiving a firearm" or the government's ability to prosecute a person for making false statements on Form 4473? If so, hasn't the stated intent of the form been accomplished regardless of whether a letter or a word has been entered on the form?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why judges don't dismiss such cases right of the bat.

It appears to be so obvious: Y or N yes or no YES or NO is all the same.

Kent McManigal said...

Because the purpose is to prevent the gun purchase from taking place and give a later excuse to kill the purchaser or seller.

Anonymous said...

Better yet, why don't they just put check boxes in place for all the yes/no questions on the form?

Anonymous said...

What Kent said.

Just _maybe_ it is only so they can find the purchaser later and merely confiscate the gun; but the people they send to do it will certainly be willing to do the killing part.