Writing at The Federalist Wednesday, firearms attorney and author Ryan Cleckner identified six possible moves Joe Biden will make regarding firearms once he’s been sworn in, and none of them appears to mention taking action against dangerous criminals.
Cleckner opens his analysis with the provocative question, “Out of the myriad options a Biden administration will have to infringe on our constitutional protections, which will they choose first?”
He quickly answers with a list of six possible direct frontal attacks on law-abiding American gun owners, none of which would seem to deter the criminal misuse of firearms. Here’s his best guess:
- Banning pistol braces
- Banning homemade firearms/80 percent receivers
- Banning online firearm and ammunition sales
- Shortly after the first bans, and if he has the help of the Senate, the next gun control measures will likely be:
- Banning “assault weapons”
- Banning “high capacity” magazines
- Requiring universal background checks
Cleckner then details each one, and among his explanations for each potential anti-gun move, he observes, “Universal background checks place a government barrier around a fundamental right and will, in effect, create a national firearm registry in order for the government to enforce and verify current possession of a firearm.”
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Perhaps nothing—other than an outright ban—ignites Second Amendment activists quicker than talking about the creation of a national firearms registry. Among grassroots gun rights advocates there is a saying that cuts right to the heart of their concerns about government encroachment on personal liberties: “There are only two reasons for government to register firearms, to tax them or take them.”
As for the notion of universal background checks stopping tragedies, very little is said about the fact that many if not most of the mass shooters in recent history passed background checks. The exception might be Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook shooter who murdered his mother and took her guns, which had all been legally purchased.
A ban on online firearm and ammunition sales is also of questionable value, and Cleckner notes it “would require customers to forgo the benefits of e-commerce they enjoy for almost every other product in their lives, such as competitive pricing and product availability.”
All of these “wish list” strategies penalize honest citizens for crimes they did not commit. An observation by Amy Hunter, spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association, in a story from Fox News about a lawsuit against so-called “ghost guns” could equally apply to what Biden and his Democrat colleagues have in mind.
“The only individuals who should be held accountable for criminal acts are the criminal themselves,” Hunter said in a prepared statement.
But fighting crime does not appear to be the purpose behind Biden’s gun control scheme. Instead, everything in his gun control agenda, spelled out here, points to making it increasingly difficult for average citizens to exercise a fundamental right that is enumerated in, and ostensibly protected by, the constitution.
And this, say many gun rights activists, is why elections matter.
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