<< Again, the BATF did not impose a ban on military vehicle imports. It is a
freeze,........
Then lets say imports are not banned to till further notice, they are frozen
till further notice. I kinda like the word "banned" as opposed to "frozen"
so I took editorial license.
>>>.........and it was ordered by the Department of State. The BATF is
following orders as per federal law.
My investigation says (talking with both State and BATF) that the BATF is
actually reacting to a memo from State, not the law per se. The law in
question was a treaty involving US mfg. vehicles, not foreign made vehicles.
This is an important distinction for a legal argument! However, the request
was felt to be so honoris or burdensome, the BATF (in my humble thinking)
overreacted and exceeded their authority by refusing to process the required
import "Form 6" for all SME classed mil-vehs, both foreign and domestic and
therein is the problem.
The semi-hidden agenda: (and there always is) This was an opportunity for
the BATF to address their long standing concerns that such mil-vehicles (SME
boats, planes, armor and parts thereof) pose a threat to public safety.
At present there are no controls as to who gets to import such vehicles and
they (BATF, not State) wished to address this concern in a new "Form 6."
This idea is attributed to the director of the BATF as related to me by our
MVPA Club President. And it was later the publicly stated reason for the
formation of an ad hoc committee to reinvent the Form 6 with criteria to
identify credible owners from lunatics or felons.
>>Earl Tucker is organizing for a law suit. This could take not only years,
but decades. >>
100% correct and with that, I hope that will be the end of the who, what when
and where. The fact we need to focus on is government has done it and we are
ALL worse off for it. Now we need to find out where we are on this thing and
stay vigilant. Thats all I am asking at this point. We need to stay up on
this one and if necessary ....focus our energies on behalf of those MVPA
members who would like to continue their armor hobby and in some cases import
occupation.
It would be fantastic if we could finally resolve the treaty issue with an
amendment to allow those old mil-vehs of US origin to finally come home, but
that is only my hope, not a likely prospect.
Some of our members have been dealt a bad hand and ultimately it will affect
the MVPA as a whole. Historic preservation suffers and a lack of mil-veh
variety affects public attendance at our events. Armor has been a real crowd
pleaser.
If this freeze turns to a permanent ban, the government has succeeded in a
dictatorial manner to effect yet another area of US citizens property rights
while escaping the light of due process in a public forum.
I find this lack of "due process" particularly offensive and reason enough to
keep this issue before the membership for a sensible resolution. If I have a
hidden agenda it is that and my concern for due process. I am not personally
intending on importing mil-boats, jets, helicopters or armor ever again, but
I am obviously sympathetic for those who are, like Earl Tucker and many other
of our friends/members.
Thanks for taking the time and trouble to read this "old news" .. Jack
Keep em rollin.......
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