Neal Knox Report Schumer’s Sting Bill By Neal Knox     WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 20)--Charles Schumer, long the leading anti-gunner in the House, and now the Junior Senator from New York, this week introduced a bill that will demonstrate how he intends to use the much-broader Senate rules to give gun owners fits.     The bill, S. 637, appears rather innocuous. It would require Internet Web sites which advertise firearms to be registered with BATF, and require all purchases to be made through a licensed dealer – which has been required on interstate sales for 30 years.      With an indignant roll of the drums, dutifully trumpeted by the press, Schumer called the Internet a “weapons bazaar.”     The same could be said about most of the newspapers in the country because they run classified ads from individuals offering to sell or buy guns.     We all watch such ads, and those on our club bulletin boards, or even at the supermarket, looking for a red-hot bargain or something we “must have.” And some of them are law enforcement sting operations.     There are a lot of obscure gun laws. And few are so little known as the prohibition against private sales or transfers to non-residents, or private purchases out of state.     No matter how much we dislike such laws, and not matter how convinced we are that they are unconstitutional, to fail to comply with all Federal gun laws is absolutely stupid. But some folks are going to get hung up by their thumbs-–particularly with Bill Clinton promising during today’s radio address to throw the book at “illegal gun trafficking.”     You can bet your last bullet that the BATF, and possibly other law enforcement agencies, are already watching those World Wide Web sites closely-–if not advertising guns at bargain basement prices in an effort to entrap the unwary. (So many cops are posing on the Internet as horny 13-year-old girls and purveyors of pedophile porn that they must regularly entrap each other.)     Schumer’s bill would make interstate gun buyer stings easier, while ratcheting up one more level of control over firearms sales. But he wouldn’t dare demand registration of local newspapers which sell classified ads offering guns.     There’s little or no chance that Schumer’s S. 637 would survive hearings, or get anywhere as a stand-alone bill, but bills are already moving to restrict or prohibit gambling and liquor sales over the Internet. When those bills hit the Senate floor, Schumer will almost certainly introduce S.657 as a “germane” amendment, and get a vote without a hearing or more than an hour’s debate. (In the House, he would have had to get approval of the Speaker-controlled Rules Committee.)     That’s precisely how Sen. Dianne Feinstein attached the “assault weapons” ban in 1994, and Sen. Frank Lautenberg passed the “domestic violence” misdemeanor gun ban in 1996.     Our folks get angry because pro-gun Senators – most of them Republicans--don’t use their ability to offer positive amendments. It’s because, unlike Democrats, Republicans don’t want to propose an amendment unless they are sure it will win.     That’s why the Republican leadership, and even NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre personally, tried to convince now-Presidential Candidate Bob Smith (R-N.H.) not to introduce his amendment to prevent the FBI from keeping records of “Instant Check” gun purchases. Only 40 or so Senators wanted to vote for it-–but 69 did!     Schumer thinks that a vote on S. 657 is a winner-–even if it doesn’t pass. He knows that squishy Republicans don’t want to be fried in the press for “allowing internet gun bazaars,” and that gunowners will fry them if they vote to tighten gun laws.     Of course, Feinstein thought her “assault weapon” ban was a winner, as the opinion polls claimed-–and the law passed, but it cost the Democrats their majority, as Bill Clinton acknowledged in January 1995.     Republican leaders seldom consider the political benefits of hard votes in favor of gun owners-–like last year’s Smith Amendment.     They just don’t play Hardball Politics-–which is why the GOP is likely to lose control of both Houses next year unless they start giving gun owners a reason for vote for them.     Republicans could learn a lot from Mr. Schumer. ---     You can help support Neal Knox’s work in behalf of the Second Amendment, including these reports, through a contribution in any amount to Neal Knox Associates, 7771 Sudley Rd. No. 44, Manassas, VA 20109. You’ll also receive the bi-monthly Hard Corps Report. (Visit our Web page at http://www.NealKnox.com) You can read an up-to-the minute version of the Knox Report at www.shotgunnews.