Thanks as always to Bacon Time, The Other McCain and Pirate’s Cove for the Rule Five links!
There’s a bill in the House to remove short-barreled rifles (SBRs) from regulation under the 1943 National Firearms Act, instead they would be regulated as any other rifle. Excerpt:
The National Firearms Act (NFA) List is kind of a major pain. In particular, when it comes to barrel length. The law creates an arbitrary limit where a firearm with a barrel length of X is fine, but X-1 mm is illegal. It’s stupid. Yet, it’s the law.
Of course, criminals think nothing of shortening the barrel of a shotgun without blinking an eye. Others don’t hesitate to slap a short-barreled upper receiver on their ARs–upper receivers that are perfectly legal on a pistol AR, I should add.
As per usual, the only people impacted by a law like this are the law-abiding citizens who have to jump through unnecessary hoops to get a short-barreled weapon.
Now, a bill has been introduced that would address that issue.
The bill, entitled the “Home Defense and Competitive Shooting Act,” was introduced to the U.S. House this week by Rep. Roger Marshall. The Kansas Republican argues that SBRs have been overregulated since 1934 and that needs to change.
“Opponents of the Home Defense and Competitive Shooting Act want to use bureaucracy and regulations to obstruct citizens attempting to exercise their God-given right to keep and bear arms,” said Marshall in a statement issued by his office. “The firearms addressed in this bill are commonly used for hunting, personal defense, and competitive shooting.”
…
The measure has the support of gun rights groups to include the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America. It has been listed as H.R. 5289 and has 16 co-sponsors, all Republicans.
Of course this bill will go nowhere; it’s pure kabuki theater, nothing more. As long as Wile E. Pelosi is Speaker, the chances of this seeing the light of day are precisely zero.
Now if the Republicans take back the House in the 2020 elections, on the other hand, well then the odds of this bill seeing the light of day are precisely… zero.
The GOP are great on these kinds of bills when they are in the minority. They are great on campaigning on pro-Second Amendment issues. But when they actually have the chance to do something… Well, remember CCW reciprocity? The Hearing Safety Protection Act that would have removed suppressors from NFA regulations? Where did those go?
The ratchet only turns one way, True Believers, and it ain’t in the direction of liberty. The GOP are better than the Dems on this issue – but only just.
