Gun control, bans and confiscation
Since the tragic shooting at a Florida high school last month, lawmakers have sought to strip the Second Amendment rights of young adults. By doing so, lawmakers have also accomplished something the firearms industry has struggled with for year—getting the next generation involved in the fight for the Second Amendment.
Whether you believe the anti gunners are uninformed, misinformed, or simply dishonest brokers of the facts, there are still a few gun control myths that are mind boggling to the point you’d wonder how they can even exist at all. In this top 5 list, The Shooter’s Log will cover the ones we considered the wackiest, however, you are free to disagree or pile on a few favorites of your own.
While it is still pending a committee referral, Hawaii Senator Karl Rhoads’ (D) SB 2046 would make it a crime to own, manufacture, possess, sell, barter, trade, gift, transfer, or acquire a firearm accessory that can be used to increase the gun’s rate of fire. Such accessories include competition triggers, muzzle brakes, and ergonomic changes, all of which are modifications that law-abiding gun owners commonly make to their firearms.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., as well as Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii commissioned a Government Accountability Office report to look into how online private dealers might be selling guns to people not allowed to have them. The results were not what they likely expected as almost no one took the bait, refusing to sell or buy illegally. Read the full story here.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) anticipates issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would interpret the statutory definition of “machinegun” in the National Firearms Act of 1934 and Gun Control Act of 1968 to clarify whether certain devices, commonly known as “bump fire” stocks, fall within that definition. Before doing so, the DOJ and ATF need to gather information and comments from the public and industry regarding the nature and scope of the market for these devices.
On February 16, 2016, Alton C. Franklin filed suit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He contended that a prohibition against his ability to acquire or possess firearms because of a brief involuntary commitment in 2002, was unconstitutional. With a partial summary judgment in his favor, and a re-submission in January of 2017, Mr Franklin prevailed. The law was not struck as unconstitutional, directly. Rather, the Pennsylvania law was ruled to be insufficient to meet the Constitutional requirements of the Federal law.
Every federally licensed firearms retailer (FFL) is required by law to run a background check through NICS before transferring a firearm to an individual, whether the transaction is happening in a store, at a gun show, or online. While the merits of of background checks can be debated, so long as the system is in place, most believe it should include the records that disqualify individuals from buying a firearm—criminal and mental health records that prohibit an individual from owning a firearm. Here’s why is the National Shooting Sports Foundation spearheading FixNICS.
It’s comforting to know that California’s law-abiding gun owners will continue to be put under a magnifying glass to satisfy a political agenda that demonizes them while not accomplishing any true measure of safety. Meanwhile, criminals who openly victimize the Golden State’s citizens won’t have to worry about carrying that gun to commit their crimes. Gov. Brown says they no longer have to do the added time.
We have all seen surveys that claim gun owners support a proposal based on a couple of pieces such as these when in fact the anti gun forces are proposing something much more insidious. Chicago’s latest Gun Trace report may be just such as a strategy, but that is for the reader’s to decide. Here is the reading and analysis from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).
“My case is up for review sometime between February and April,” says Mr. Nichols, “This ruling will have a major affect on gun rights for the United States of America.”