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HR 45 -- Gun Rights Licensing Test
Illinois congressman Bobby Rush, from Obama's home state and with a voting record on gun ownership as bad as Obama's, introduced a bill on the first day of the 111th Congress that shows what we can expect. If we don't defeat this bill, and others expected to follow it, gun owners will lose guns and the industry will suffer harm beyond description.
Under HR 45, if you can't pass a complex test written by the U.S. Attorney General (described in detail below), pay the tax, give up fingerprints and a biometric-capable photo of yourself (that can be turned into a digital facial-recognition number and used as a de facto national ID), every gun you own will become contraband and subject to confiscation, while you stand trial before imprisonment. You'd think Bobby, a former black panther, would know better.
The Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show is the biggest meeting of gun, ammo and accessory companies in the world, open only to the trade (nearly 50,000 people attended this year). Miles and miles of aisles, it's exhausting (and astounding!). Commerce was so robust Jan. 15 - 18 at SHOT this year there was little time to waste on a tiny concern like the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. That's SOP at SHOT, a discussion for another day. At SHOT the focus is to sell more product, open more accounts, introduce new designs, make marketing plans and party at night. Were you at the monster Glock bash? What a band... and the food! The fact that the entire industry is based on a fragile 27-word line written on parchment two centuries ago is lost in the shuffle. And for the huge police and military segment, with their own acres of floor space at the Orlando show, it simply doesn't matter at all. The gun-rights community sees this as hopelessly shortsighted of course, and the firearms industry sees it as business as usual. They're both right. Let me tell you where the two sides meet -- at HR 45, the proposed bill that requires you to pass a test to have gun rights. Complete details below. Will a reduction of gun rights affect the gun business? You betcha. Most intriguing new piece of gear at the SHOT Show this year, in my opinion -- a bayonet for handguns. How did we overlook this essential extra for so many years? Gunfighting rule #62:
When you're out of ammo, it's better to swing a blade than an empty gun.
It comes with a sheath, but how would you holster the thing? Fits any standard rail, attaches without tools, blade by Ka-Bar.
Your rights will have an expiration date, and if you screw up and miss it, you'll be in the same mess as people who can't pass the test. Can you say "unconstitutional"? Do you think these "gun bigots" care?
Now that the Supreme Court has made it clear in the Heller case that government can't ban guns, the Brady's have stopped saying they want to ban guns. So the virtually treasonous Bobby Rush bill doesn't ban guns, it bans gun owners, maybe by the millions. How many gun owners read poorly or don't test well? How many can't explain local, state and federal gun laws? They'd become prohibited possessors under HR 45. Are there any limits to what the AG can put on the test? The bill doesn't mention any -- it gives the AG a free hand to include anything.
Had enough? HR 45 has an innocent-looking line that says 'strike the second sentence of 18 USC 926(a)'. That's the line that says the federal government cannot make a central registry of gun owners.
The anti-rights people have to repeal that line, because Bobby's bill flat-out creates a central gun registry. Every gun owner must be registered to keep on possessing the guns they already own, and any transfer of any kind must be registered as well. The mark of the beast is upon us, to apply a metaphor.
See the bill for yourself (click "Bill Number" and enter "HR 45"):
http://thomas.loc.gov
Read the gun-ban list the antis have already published:
http://www.gunlaws.com/GunLawUpdate3.htm
Get a book on how you can be more effectively politically:
http://www.gunlaws.com/books3.htm
Here's my detailed analysis of the bill, in plain English.
HR 45
The bill starts with a statement of purpose that says: " because the intrastate and interstate trafficking of firearms are so commingled, full regulation of interstate commerce requires the incidental regulation of intrastate commerce." Basically, this eliminates the Tenth Amendment and the Interstate Commerce Clause. The Constitution can't legally be amended by statute. Is that enough to seek Mr. Rush's removal from office? I won't bore you with the other "purposes" which are as bad or worse.
Only "qualifying firearms" are affected. That means any handgun, or any semi-auto firearm that has a removable magazine (what they call a " detachable ammunition feeding device").
After the bill becomes law (IF it becomes law), it's illegal for you to have or get those firearms, even if you already own them, without a special federal license. There are grace periods up to two years to register yourself once the law is passed.
Do you see how clever this is? You cold-dead-fingers guys can keep your guns if you like, refuse to register yourselves, and then you're subject to arrest on the spot. If you go anywhere with your guns -- to the range, a store, a gunsmith, a friend's house, hunting, competition -- and you're spotted, you go straight to jail. If you're already on a list (can anyone say "carry permit" or "hunting license"?) and you don't sign up, well, just connect those dots. Where does the cold-dead-fingers part come into play? I'll bet the ranges will start requiring you to show your papers before you can hit the line.
To get the license you must "submit to the Attorney General" (they chose that phrase right by golly): a passport-type photo, identifying info, any name you have ever used or ever been known by (I have nicknames, pen names, stage names, omitting any presumably violates the statute) a thumbprint, certification that any firearms will be "safely" stored and out of possession of people under 18, authorization to give up any mental health records, and a certificate that you passed a government-run test.
The test must include knowledge of: safe storage, safe handling, use of firearms at home, the risks of firearms at home, local state and federal legal requirements for firearms, reporting requirements for firearms, and ANY other subjects the AG decides are appropriate. You date and sign the submission, making it perjury if your info is inaccurate.