What Does President Obama Want to do About Guns?

There is a lot of FUD, fear, uncertainty, and doubt, flying around out there about what the Democrats are going to do to restrict gun rights. One Democrat in particular, President Obama, has at least laid out his agenda on the White House web site. Under the Urban Policy Section we find this:

Address Gun Violence in Cities: Obama and Biden would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent.

Lets break this apart point by point:

"would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment"

I have not delved into the intricacies of this issue, and a quick check seems to bring up contradictory views from both the NRA, and from Mayors Against Illegal Guns, so I won't comment on this further, except to say that any responsible gun owner should not be against preventing illegal access to firearms.

"favor commonsense measures"

Until we see more, it is impossible to say what "commonsense measures" are, except for the specific proposals in this policy. Possible laws might be microstamping requirements, ammunition serializing, and increased regulation of ammunition sales.

"support closing the gun show loophole"

I took me a long time for understand what this issue was, because in California the so-called gun show loophole has already been closed. What this means is that Obama wants are gun transfers to require a background check of the recipient, even for private party transfers.

"and making guns in this country childproof"

I can foresee two possible results from this. Short term this might inspire a national safe storage law to prevent child access. Long term this might cause a requirement that only owner-authorized handguns be sold.

There are two problems with these measures. First, the Heller decision makes draconian storage laws unconstitutional, and just recently Heller was cited by the defense in a case involving handgun storage which resulted in charges being dismissed. I read about it at Chaos in Motion. Second, owner-authorized handgun technology is not even close to being ready for production, and may never actually be used in products for liability reasons, as explained Owner Authorized Handguns: A Workshop Summary.

"support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent"

Good luck with that, because it requires legislation from Congress, and at the moment Congress does not want to touch gun control issues. Additionally, 65 Democrats are on record opposing a renewed assault weapon ban. And finally, an assault weapon ban would be federal law, meaning that it would have to pass constitution muster, thanks to the Heller decision. It is possible that an assault weapon ban would be found unconstitutional because the 2nd Amendment has been found to protect the right to own firearms that "are in common use at the time", and there is a pretty good case to be made that nationally, AK-47 and AR-15 rifles are in common use.

So, even though there is a lot of fear about increased gun legislation, Obama's policy goals do not seem to have a realistic chance of becomming law. Between political factors and legal reality, the traditional tools of gun control seem limited. They, the anti-gun advocates, are going to have to think of something else to attain their goals.

Gun Legislation Roundup - 111th Congress

Too often on gun-right forums there is an excess of emotion, and a deficit of information. The reaction to H.R. 45 is a case in point. While that legislation is a potential threat to gun rights in most of the United States (I live in California, where a system much like the one proposed in H.R. 45 is already in effect), it is not the only firearms related legislation being proposed.

The following is a listing from Congress' Website Thomas in which the word "firearms" is present:

H.R.17 : To protect the right to obtain firearms for security, and to use firearms in defense of self, family, or home, and to provide for the enforcement of such right. Cosponsors (8)

H.R.45 : To provide for the implementation of a system of licensing for purchasers of certain firearms and for a record of sale system for those firearms, and for other purposes. Cosponsors (None)

H.R.197 : To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide a national standard in accordance with which nonresidents of a State may carry concealed firearms in the State. Cosponsors (12)

H.R.256 : To enhance Federal enforcement of hate crimes, and for other purposes. Cosponsors (None)

H.R.257 : To prevent children's access to firearms. Cosponsors (None)

H.R.265 : To target cocaine kingpins and address sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. Cosponsors (15)

H.R.442 : To provide an amnesty period during which veterans and their family members can register certain firearms in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, and for other purposes. Cosponsors (9)

H.R.495 : To authorize additional resources to identify and eliminate illicit sources of firearms smuggled into Mexico for use by violent drug trafficking organizations, and for other purposes. Cosponsors (4)

H.R.623 : To provide for greater judicial discretion in sentencing for certain firearms offenses committed in exceptional circumstances. Cosponsors (None)

H.R.675 : To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide police officers, criminal investigators, and game law enforcement officers of the Department of Defense with authority to execute warrants, make arrests, and carry firearms. Cosponsors (None)

H.R.1074 : To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to update certain procedures applicable to commerce in firearms and remove certain Federal restrictions on interstate firearms transactions. Cosponsors (None)

S.205 : A bill to authorize additional resources to identify and eliminate illicit sources of firearms smuggled into Mexico for use by violent drug trafficking organizations, and for other purposes. Cosponsors (6)

S.371 : A bill to amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to allow citizens who have concealed carry permits from the State in which they reside to carry concealed firearms in another State that grants concealed carry permits, if the individual complies with the laws of the State. Cosponsors (17)

Note the number of cosponsors for the various bills. H.R. 45 has none. H.R. 45 was introduced in the previous Congress as well, and it never got out of committee then either. Without cosponsors, a bill has virtually no chance of becoming law.

However, look at two bills attempting to regularize some kind of national right to carry concealed weapons, S.371 and H.R. 197, which have 17 and 12 cosponsors respectively. It would seem that not all is doom and gloom with gun rights in the current Congress.

I encourage all who care about gun rights, or any other type of issue before Congress, to use Thomas to track the content and progress of legislation that is of concern. We don't have to take anyone's word for anything. We can see the raw data and decide for ourselves, and then contact our representatives to let them know where we stand on the issues.

"Yes We Can!"

Sorry, couldn't resist.