By Tanya Metaksa
What’s New—The Ongoing War on Second Amendment Rights; Alabama: HB289/SB281 are awaiting votes in their respective Houses;Colorado: HB24-1292, the “assault weapons” ban, passed in the House, and HB24-1270, mandates the purchase of liability insurance before purchasing and carrying a firearm in the state, has passed second reading; Iowa: HF2586, HF2556, and HF2464 are on their way to Governor Kim Reynolds; Maine: LD1696, nullifying the PLCAA, was defeated. Three other bills are awaiting Governor Mills’ signature; Maryland: List of bills that passed and failed in the legislature; Minnesota: SF4312, mandatory storage requirements, and SF5153, a bill with unclear language to ban certain triggers, are awaiting action on the Senate floor; Nebraska: The Nebraska legislature has adjourned. The Education Package was signed into law by Governor Pillen; New Mexico: Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is at it again: Announces a special session of the legislature for “public safety” issues beginning July 18.
The Ongoing War on Second Amendment Rights
Last week we covered the final publication of the new rule concerning federally licensed firearms dealers that goes into effect on May 12. The BATFE has had an interesting history in the past 40 years of changing the so-called definition of a Federally licensed firearms dealer without changing the law. According to BATFE’s latest information, the number of dealers registered with ATF from 1975 to 1992 went from 146,429 in 1975 to the high point in 1992 of 248,155.
Then during the Clinton Administration Congress passed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, which not only included the required waiting period that morphed into a mandatory background check before the purchase of a firearm, but it also increased the FFL license fee from $30 to $200. Within three years, the number of FFLs was reduced by more than half—246,984 in 1994 and 79,285 in 1997. I remember friends who had voluntarily given up their FFLs to avoid the hassle of ATF harassment and inspections.
On Sept. 11, 2021, during the first year of the George W. Bush presidency, terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center in New York City, attacked the Pentagon, and changed America forever. One of the first major policy initiatives after 9-11, was the creation of the Department of Homeland Security through the Homeland Security Act of 2002. That law also transferred ATF to the Department of Justice, thus becoming a part of the main enforcement agency of the government. Between 2000 and 2020 the number of FFLs fluctuated between 47,000 to 59,000 per year with 2020 (the last year of the current report) having a total of 52,799.
Now Biden has gone back to the Bill Clinton playbook of attacking gun owners and firearms dealers. During the last two decades of the twentieth century, ATF’s abuse of its regulatory and enforcement powers became the subject of congressional hearings and media articles. For a time ATF’s revocation rate for first-time violations stopped growing. However, when Biden became president the climate changed drastically. After a failed attempt to have David Chipman, a lobbyist for Giffords, installed as ATF Director, President Biden nominated Steven Dettelbach who was confirmed in July 2022. With his own man as ATF Director Biden ramped up his campaign to go after FFLs. He strongly encouraged a “zero tolerance” approach by ATF against FFLs by seeking to turn violations or clerical errors into license revocations. Inspectors were expected to seek immediate revocations even in the case of dealers who had years of perfect compliance, which led to lawsuits such as Kiloton v. ATF. In addition, Dettelbach began creating new agency rules on such things as firearms storage, the definition of frame or receiver, pistol braces, and finally the current “definition of engaged in the business.” According to thereload.com, describing the latter proposed rule,“President Biden himself said the rule doesn’t go as far as he would like. He urged Congress to force all used gun sales to be done through licensed dealers.”
Biden’s war on gun owners, firearms dealers, and the Second Amendment keeps expanding. On April 20, 2024, the White House posted a tweet on X (formerly known as Twitter) saying, BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS.
Politics-2024
Missouri: Governor’s race: On X (formerly known as Twitter) Democrat candidate for governor, Crystal Quade, who is currently Minority Leader in the House, posted:
“I’m a gun owner, but it’s time we take action to prevent gun violence. I’m proud to be a Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate.”
Firearms Industry and War Consequences (slightly off-topic)
Yes, this column deals with firearms, primarily legislative activity. However, it is interesting that Jeff Childers Coffee & Covid on the substack app includes the following information:
“First, on April 11th, several Ukrainian drones struck an ammunition factory in Russia…
“Then, four and six days following Ukraine’s strike on the Russian ammo plant, two ammunition factories — one in the United States and one in Britain, both producing artillery shells for Ukraine, both within two days of each other — ‘accidentally’ burst into flames, purely coincidentally, nothing to see here, no conspiracies, it happens all the time. From the Sun: “Reports: Fire breaks out at Scranton plant producing shells for Ukraine. The UK Express: “South Wales explosion: Firefighters rush to BAE systems military weapons factory.”
Although these targeted ammunition factories primarily manufacture artillery shells going to Ukraine, regular civilian ammo prices have never bounced back from the price escalation over a decade ago, and as NSSF just recently reported: “The total economic impact of the firearm and ammunition industry in the United States increased from $19.1 billion in 2008 to $90.05 billion in 2023, a 371 percent increase, while the total number of full-time equivalent jobs rose from approximately 166,000 to over 384,437, a 131 percent increase in that period, according to a report released by the NSSF, The Firearm Industry Trade Association.”
State Legislation and local communities
States that are in session: Arizona, Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Vermont
Alabama: HB389/SB281, Prohibiting the use of firearm-specific-merchant category codes by payment processors for firearms, ammunition, and components, have passed their respective committees and are now going to the floor of the respective houses.
Colorado: The following bills are on the move: HB24-1349, an 11% additional excise tax on the sale of firearms, accessories, and ammunition to be placed on the ballot this fall, and HB24-1353, adding another permitting system for FFLs, passed the House Appropriations Committee and are awaiting a vote on the House floor. SB24-131, which has passed the Senate is before the House Appropriations Committee. This bill expands Colorado’s “sensitive places.”
Iowa: HF2586, allowing school staff to carry on campus with additional training, HF2556, enhances Iowa’s firearms preemption statute, and HF2464, Prohibiting the use of firearm-specific-merchant category codes by payment processors for firearms, ammunition, and components, are on their way to Governor Kim Reynolds.
Kentucky: The Kentucky legislature has adjourned.
Louisiana: SB419, designating the entire French Quarter of New Orleans as a so-called “gun-free zone” for those who do not have a concealed carry permit is before the Senate Local and Municipal Affairs Committee with no movement this week.
Maine: LD1696, nullifying the PLCAA, was defeated first in the Senate and then in the House on April 15. The vote in the House was 71-69 to accept the Senate vote that defeated the bill. The bills that passed and are awaiting Governor Janet Mills’ signature: LD2224, a Universal Background Check bill, similar to the proposal that was voted down in the past elections; LD2086, redefines machine guns to include semi-automatic firearms by adding parts; and LD2238, adding a 3-day waiting period.
Maryland: Last week we mentioned that the legislature had adjourned, however, we failed to add the following bills that have been passed by the legislature: SB2, creating a “handgun qualified purchase card” and a handgun transfer registry, SB475, creating a Center for Firearm Violence Prevention and Intervention, SB488. an anti-firearms industry lawsuit bill, HB810, banning Glock switches, but SB784, a firearms sales and use tax on firearms and firearms accessories, failed.
Massachusetts: H.4139, includes all the gun control bills that have been introduced, and a committee of 6 Senators and Representatives will sit in a “private conference” to write a final version of the bill. For further information visit GOAL.
Minnesota: SF4312, mandatory storage requirements, and SF5153, a bill with unclear language to ban certain triggers, are awaiting action on the Senate floor.
Nebraska: The Nebraska legislature has adjourned. The Education Package was signed into law by Governor Pillen.
New Mexico: Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is at it again: Announces a special session of the legislature for “public safety” issues beginning July 18.
