Gun owners nervous about gun control being the first official act of the Obama presidency seem to have led to a surge in gun sales since the election. I’m not entirely convinced that an immediate rush is necessary, but I do have a black rifle just waiting to be delivered. Better safe than sorry. The most important thing to remember is that new gun control measures will not magically appear in the law books on January 20. The laws will have to be proposed, and we will have the chance to fight them.
I believe that little will be done in 2009. Any proposed gun control legislation is going to see fierce opposition from groups like the NRA, GOA, JPFO. State firearms groups like BFA, PAFOA and VCDL work on the state level to oppose gun control. If you aren’t a member of one of these organizations, you should give joining up serious consideration. I have a feeling that the last thing the Obama administration needs is a full scale battle royale over guns with an economic atom bomb ready to go off. Every gun owner needs to do their part to make sure we are ready to give them that fight. Gun control measures will probably start to crop up once the economy begins rebounding. Below are possible gun control measures and a measure of how likely I believe each to be on a ten point scale. Ten is most likely, one is least likely.
- A renewal of the “Assault Weapons Ban” will be proposed. Some form of ban on the sale and transfer of mean looking black rifles will be proposed and given serious consideration. The 1994 ban classified guns as “assault rifles” based on features that made them look “mean.” I’ll be looking for some sort of similar ban in 2010 that does the same thing, along with restrictions on transferring banned guns purchased before the ban.
How likely? 8
- Restricting private sales of firearms. The “gun show loophole” as it is sometimes called allows private citizens to transfer firearms to one another without going through a dealer. The gun banners have been barking mad about this one for a long time. It’s a good bet that even the “pro gun” democrats will back this one.
How likely? 9
- Concealed Carry Ban. Obama comes from a state that allows no form carry, open or concealed. As a state senator, he supported legislation to ban concealed carry in all 50 states in the past. With 48 states allowing citizens to carry handguns in some form or another, It’s not clear if he would support or propose such a ban as President. The threat does still exist.
How likely? 4
- Mandating imaginary technology. Proposals to mandate microstamping firing pins and putting serial numbers on individual bullets have been proposed in quite a few states already. The fact that the technology to do these things does not exist in a way that is economical doesn’t matter to the people proposing it. They are proposals that sound reasonable to the common person, but will only succeed in punishing law abiding gun owners.
How likely? 4
- Restricting ammunition. Chris Rock put this one out there ten years ago. Tax the heck out of the bullets, and gun violence ends. Sounds foolproof to me.
How likely? 6
- Total ban. This is the most extreme idea. There are those out there that would love to see nothing less than a total ban on civilian ownership of firearms in the United States. The support for this kind of measure doesn’t seem widespread enough to succeed. The proposal of a total ban could however lead to a compromise that leads to other measures.
How likely? 1
No matter how likely or unlikely any of these proposals happen to be, they are all unacceptable. Every single one of them infringes on our right to keep and bear arms, and each and every one of them needs to be stopped.
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Gun control is called using both hands you left wing loony numbnuts.
i think that gun control should always be imposed at all times to reduce violence..-’