Last month, we talked about the future of gun rights and what to expect coming down the proverbial pipe. When I wrote that column, I had to rely strictly on the president’s stated platform and existing positions held by current and former anti-gun elected officials and the promises they’ve made to their supporters.. Well, the cards are on the table now folks. Some of them anyway. In just the first two months of 2021, no less than seventeen anti-gun bills have been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives; I haven’t even begun to read the Senate introductions.
Some of these bills overlap in scope, with representatives no doubt jockeying for recognition as a ‘strong advocate for common sense gun laws’. Quite honestly, it is a shameful act of pandering that is wasting taxpayer dollars in an attempt to infringe on the constitutional liberties of law-abiding, gun-owning United States citizens – again. For the purposes of brevity, I’ll just discuss the most egregious of them and what it means to you if passed into law.
H.R.1454 – To amend title 18, United States Code, to require firearm assembly kits to be considered to be firearms.
While not as far reaching as then candidate Biden’s platform position of banning all online sales of firearm parts kits, this bill is just as bad. The meteoric rise of the modern sporting rifle among gun enthusiasts was in part due to the availability parts kits and upgrades on rifles with a modular platform. Want a crisper trigger in your AR? You could by a Geissele kit and make your rifle run like a dream. Perhaps you wanted to upgrade your classic 1911 .45ACP with a beavertail grip, skeletonized trigger and improved barrel bushing? You could easily find many options to choose from. In both cases, you could have these parts shipped right to your door. If this bill passes, you’ll most likely need a National Instant Criminal Background Check to buy them.
H.R.1207 – To require face-to-face purchases of ammunition, to require licensing of ammunition dealers, and to require reporting regarding bulk purchases of ammunition.
The intent of this bill is to suppress your desire and ability to buy ammunition. This bill directly coincides with President Biden’s promise to end all sales of ammunition online. It places another undue burden on sporting goods retailers, creates more bureaucratic red tape to wade through and will severely diminish the free market economy in the firearms and ammunition industries. The very idea that buying ammunition in bulk quantities is suspicious and is an indicator of nefarious intentions that must be monitored is outrageous. It is also completely arbitrary.
H.R.1004 – To prohibit the sale of a firearm to, and the purchase of a firearm by, a person who is not covered by appropriate liability insurance coverage.
Of the three bills I picked from the pile to talk about, this one is by far the most ambitious and overreaching. The title of the bill says it all. If passed, you will be required under penalty of law to obtain an insurance policy to buy a firearm. Are insurance companies on board with this? Will there be separate requirements based on the type of firearm or number of firearms owned? And, here is the kicker – you would need to verify that a person you are transferring any firearm to has the required insurance policy. Do you remember the pressure exerted on financial institutions that provided services to firearm and ammunition manufacturers several years ago? Both Citigroup and Bank of America imposed restrictions on the firearms industry in the form of declining loans and store-branded credit cards to retailers. Do you think insurance companies, especially those led by folks with anti-gun sympathies, will even offer an affordable gun owner liability policy? I think not. And without that policy, you’ve already bought your last gun.