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Big battles on American civil right to bear arms looming on Capitol Hill, observes United States gun law expert
Washington, DC
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Gun rights expert John M. Snyder released the following column today:
With political forces in the Nation's Capital almost evenly split, the ongoing legislative battle over the individual Second Amendment civil right of law-abiding American citizens to keep and bear arms shows signs of heating up soon in Congress.
Since there are more outspoken advocates of restrictive gun control in positions of legislative authority in the 110th Congress than there were in the 109th Congress, gun rights advocates expect a more concerted effort to push restrictive proposals.
The gun control lobby seems to have coalesced around a proposal put forth by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York. Surprisingly and disturbingly for gun rights advocates, Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, a former NRA Director, has joined with McCarthy as an original cosponsor of her bill, H.R. 297.
Although publicly promoted by its advocates as a fairly innocuous attempt to update and clean up the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), H.R. 297, the proposed NICS Improvement Act of 2007, actually contains elements that have led reliable gun rights advocates to oppose it.
One of the major criticisms of H.R. 297 is that, if it became law, the records of individuals who were never convicted of an offense preventing them from obtaining a firearm but had been arrested for such an offense would be included in NICS. This would make them legally unable to purchase a firearm, even if they were never convicted of the crime for which they were arrested.
In other words, H.R. 297 would make the so-called attempt to improve NICS a legal instrument of injustice. McCarthy, Dingell and their supporters may try to persuade some alleged gun rights advocates that if they accept H.R. 297, they will have nothing further to worry about regarding gun control legislation during the 110th Congress. It would be interesting to see what fools get suckered in by this line of argument. True blue Second Amendment supporters will not. They will stand on principle and hold their ground.
If McCarthy, Dingell and the gun grabbers ever got their feet in the door with this obvious legislative injustice, there's no telling what restrictive gun control advocates might try to include in a legislative package. One of the most likely proposals would be a reinstitution of the Clinton era so-called ban on so-called "assault weapons" These misnamed "assault weapons" actually were semiautomatic firearms used by an untold number of law-abiding Americans. The ban was allowed to sunset, or expire, during the previous Congress.
There is some speculation that the new anti-gun Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, may, with Dingell's blessing, try to circumvent the ordinary congressional committee process and bring H.R. 297 directly to the floor. If that happens, pro-gun forces in the House would really have a battle royal on their hands, but they would know they have the support of an untold number of their fellow citizens from around the country.
With political forces in the Nation's Capital almost evenly split, the ongoing legislative battle over the individual Second Amendment civil right of law-abiding American citizens to keep and bear arms shows signs of heating up soon in Congress.
Since there are more outspoken advocates of restrictive gun control in positions of legislative authority in the 110th Congress than there were in the 109th Congress, gun rights advocates expect a more concerted effort to push restrictive proposals.
The gun control lobby seems to have coalesced around a proposal put forth by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York. Surprisingly and disturbingly for gun rights advocates, Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, a former NRA Director, has joined with McCarthy as an original cosponsor of her bill, H.R. 297.
Although publicly promoted by its advocates as a fairly innocuous attempt to update and clean up the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), H.R. 297, the proposed NICS Improvement Act of 2007, actually contains elements that have led reliable gun rights advocates to oppose it.
One of the major criticisms of H.R. 297 is that, if it became law, the records of individuals who were never convicted of an offense preventing them from obtaining a firearm but had been arrested for such an offense would be included in NICS. This would make them legally unable to purchase a firearm, even if they were never convicted of the crime for which they were arrested.
In other words, H.R. 297 would make the so-called attempt to improve NICS a legal instrument of injustice. McCarthy, Dingell and their supporters may try to persuade some alleged gun rights advocates that if they accept H.R. 297, they will have nothing further to worry about regarding gun control legislation during the 110th Congress. It would be interesting to see what fools get suckered in by this line of argument. True blue Second Amendment supporters will not. They will stand on principle and hold their ground.
If McCarthy, Dingell and the gun grabbers ever got their feet in the door with this obvious legislative injustice, there's no telling what restrictive gun control advocates might try to include in a legislative package. One of the most likely proposals would be a reinstitution of the Clinton era so-called ban on so-called "assault weapons" These misnamed "assault weapons" actually were semiautomatic firearms used by an untold number of law-abiding Americans. The ban was allowed to sunset, or expire, during the previous Congress.
There is some speculation that the new anti-gun Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, may, with Dingell's blessing, try to circumvent the ordinary congressional committee process and bring H.R. 297 directly to the floor. If that happens, pro-gun forces in the House would really have a battle royal on their hands, but they would know they have the support of an untold number of their fellow citizens from around the country.
John M. Snyder
Manager
Telum Associates, LLC
Arlington, VA
202-326-5259
