Stop Dangerous ID

On January 21, 2009, at 1:00 pm, a coalition of 10 organizations from across Virginia will rally at the Virginia State Capital Bell Tower, 910 Capital Street, Richmond, VA 23219 in support of legislation to stop the implementation of Dangerous ID, the so-called Real ID Act of 2005. John Tate, President, will speak on behalf of Campaign for Liberty.

At least three pieces of legislation are being introduced in the 2009 Session of the Virginia General Assembly to stop the implementation of the federal mandate to come into compliance with the Real ID Act by the beginning of next year.

Similar legislation went no where last year but lobbying efforts will gain momentum as grassroots organizations take the news of the bills to the districts across the state. We are certain to shake things up in local politics with upcoming state elections on the horizon.

Leaders of the opposition consider the "REAL ID Act of 2005" to be a bad law passed under false pretenses. It was rejected three separate times by the U.S. Senate, and was only passed because it was buried in a larger bill containing disaster relief and funding for Iraq military operations. The Senate didn't want it, and the American people don't want it either. But the majority leadership in Congress imposed it on us, and so now we have to fight to get it stopped in Virginia.

Opponents fear the creation of a centralized federal database containing personal information about all Americans. Decisions about the exact nature and scope of this program will be made by Homeland Security bureaucrats in the Executive Branch. It seems inevitable that biometric information and electronic tracking tags will be included at some point. No one intends a bad use for this system today, but it is inevitable that it will be used in bad ways in the future.

There are valid concerns with regard to security of the citizen’s personal information due to the number of databases that would be storing personal information by the federal government and shared between the states across the country as part of standard procedure within Motor Vehicle Administrations in the states, and as enabled by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Neither the Federal Government nor the states can control access, which under International law includes data sharing even with Canada and Mexico. No one can know who is getting into those data bases and for what purpose.

According to the DHS, "Real ID is a nationwide effort intended to prevent terrorism, reduce fraud, and improve the reliability and accuracy of identification documents that State governments issue." Yet it does nothing to prevent terrorists and other criminals from fraudulently obtaining a "Real ID" by forging the required documents. In fact, with multiple on-line, federated databases shared across multiple organizations and federal and state agencies, it will become much easier.

Many good arguments can be made against this Dangerous ID, but they all reduce to one overpowering truth. The more information government has the less it seems to know. The more power government has the less it seems able to accomplish. Big Government doesn't work. The federal government needs to do less in order to accomplish more. Small government is focused government. We need smaller government, not a massive new federal identification system.

Please plan to attend and tell your Virginia legislators to stand up to Congress and Homeland Security to keep federal bureaucrats from hijacking your state driver’s license for their national citizen control scheme.

Please log in to RSVP here, or email your RSVP to me at donna.holt@campaignforliberty.com.

Gun Owners: Prepare for the New Reality of DANGEROUS ID – The So-Called Real Scheme

Here is your future:

You walk into a gun store, fill out your 4473, and show your government ID just as you now do. But instead of looking at your license and taking down some information, the clerk runs the license (which is likely to contain a Spy Chip (i.e. RFID - radio-frequency ID chip) through a scanner. Your purchase is instantly recorded in your state drivers’ license registry. The federal government isn’t currently allowed to keep a gun registry. But no problem; the Dangerous ID Act of 2005 gives them an open door into your state records.

Complete information on every firearm you buy will be instantly available to every police officer (and possibly every government employee, store clerk, or computer hacker) you ever encounter. You’ll be an instant criminal suspect every time you deal with someone who has access to the database.

Just as travelers are encouraged to get background checks and give fingerprints to avoid some of the worst excesses of TSA screening, gun owners will be encouraged to get background checks and give whatever biometric ID the Department of Homeland Security requires. This will be sold as a “benefit,” ensuring you’ll never again experience an “instant-check” delay. In fact, Congress, the ATF, or the FBI might even “mandate” 5-day or 15-day delays for anyone not enrolled in the “Trusted Firearms Buyer” program.

The private purchase “loophole” will be closed, so that all gun buyers must make tractable purchases. (The ultimate goal is for every purchase of every kind to be track able.) Buying ammo? The store scans your national ID card and — bingo! — your purchase is registered in the state database.

The federal government or state governments can now also _effectively_ legislate limits on the amount or kind of ammunition you’re “allowed” to purchase. Try to buy more and the database instantly rejects you. The federal government or state governments can now also effectively legislate limits on the number of guns you may own. Try to buy more, and the database rejects you.

Eventually — after the federal government “discovers” the obvious, that national ID won’t stop either illegal immigration or terrorism — the old attack on “evil guns” will resume.

When they want your .50 BMG they’ll know just where to find it (because the Dangerous ID act says your home address must be revealed). When they want your evil “scoped sniper rifle” (you know, the one you hunt deer with), they’ll know just how to get it. Ditto with you “Saturday Night Special” or your “semi-auto rifle.”

If you don’t surrender your guns, well, then the Department of Homeland Security will cut off your driving “privilege,” as well as your right to escape the growing police state via plane.

You will be a prisoner in your own home, in your own country. Or you’ll be forced to function as an outlaw, operating and living a precarious existence beneath the government radar.