License Plates of AMERICANS Attending Gun Show Reportedly Scanned By Feds

More good news about our intrusive government.

You know how gun owners are constantly griping that they���re treated like criminals, even though not only is gun ownership not a crime, but the right to keep���and bear���firearms is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution?

Well, this story, courtesy of McClatchyDC, sure isn���t going to do anything to assuage their feelings on the subject.

McClatchy is reporting on a Wall Street Journal story that says agents from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) drove around the parking lot of a 2010 gun show in Del Mar, California and scanned the license plates of the cars, even though there was no evidence that any of the attendees had done anything illegal at the event.

Here is an excerpt from an email, one of many reviewed by the Journal, sent by an ICE investigator to another area agency:
���We would like to see if you can support an outbound guns/ammo operation on (redacted) at the Crossroads (Del Mar) Gun Show. We would like to deploy license plate readers.���

Well, that sure seems straightforward.

The Journal reported that staff members there have seen emails that confirm cops cruised the gun show parking lot, scanning attendee license plates. When pursued on this, an ICE spokeswoman admitted, yes, ���vehicle data��� was grabbed at the show.
The paper further said that nothing they reviewed indicates that anything illegal was going on at the gun show.

Although law enforcement agencies have the legal right to gather information on cars, the sort of ���mass��� collection of data that was evidently taking place here violates the Constitution, according to some privacy experts.

In addition to the fact it���s just wrong.

Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large