Don't federalize crimes because of unrelated weapons

I was quoted in the Odessa American newspaper Saturday regarding their new local-federal firearms task force, weighing in with a pro-Second Amendment comment:

Texas American Civil Liberties Union spokesman Scott Henson said he fears the task force will target ex-convicts [people] for firearms violations regardless of whether the circumstances pose a threat to public safety.

“One critique I’ve had has been of federalizing non-gun related crimes because the criminal owned an otherwise legal gun, sometimes hunting-oriented weaponry,” Henson said.

“Gun owners shouldn’t be automatically targeted for extra law enforcement attention unless the gun is being used as part of the criminal enterprise.

“A drug user, for example, or somebody cooking meth in their kitchen, shouldn’t be prosecuted more severely for the 12-gauge shotgun in the closet they use for bird hunting, but that kind of thing happens,” he said.