With less than an hour to read a bill that was over 80-pages that pertained to gun control in America, surprisingly, not only did the Democrats back the new measures but 14 Republican Senators supported it as well. Being rushed through the Senate and currently sitting in the House of Representatives, gun rights organizations like The Reloads warned about the new problems that would be presented if the bill was to pass.
According to their report, the Reload [1] wrote, “The package extends current prohibitions on gun sales to those who have disqualifying juvenile records and those convicted of misdemeanor violent crimes against ‘dating partners.’ The bill also includes a new background check process for those 18 to 20 years old, funding for ‘Red Flag’ laws or other state crisis intervention programs, the reclassification of who must obtain federal gun dealing licenses, and several other proposals.”
A report by the Firearms Policy Coalition [2] detailed some of the problems Americans will face. They included:
Red Flag Laws
- Incentivizes local disarmament proceedings, of which many states currently employ secret ex-parte hearings.
- Calls only for standards equivalent only to civil court.
- For all the bluster in the measure about protecting due process and the constitutional rights of the subjects of the hearings during the “appropriate phase,” it implies that states will still be able to hold secret ex-parte hearings to deprive the People of their rights.
- Entitles the subject to an attorney “at the appropriate phase,” but it must be at the subject’s expense.
Private Sales
- Expands the definition of “engaged in the business” by striking “with the principal objective of livelihood and profit” in the current definition and replacing it with “to predominantly earn a profit.”
- This confusion could lead to new and successful prosecutions of private sellers who may fall under the broad and vague definition of “engaged in business” and therefore the need to be licensed.
New Misdemeanor Firearms Prohibitions
- By expanding the definition of a prohibiting misdemeanor domestic violence in such a vague, broad, and subjective way it invites confusion, and potential firearms prohibitions.
Transfers and Straw Purchases
- Prohibits the government from arming drug cartels, unless the government exercises more oversight on said drug cartels, thus allowing the free flow of arms to these cartels to continue in perpetuity.
Employer Background Checks
- Allows all employers to ask for a firearms background check prior to employment or during current employment, regardless of its connection to job duties.
In a separate statement [3], the FBC warned, “The proposal seeks to chill the right to keep and bear arms by incentivizing local disarmament proceedings, of which many states currently employ secret ex-parte hearings, massive penalties and enhancements reminiscent of the mass incarceration of the so-called war on drugs, naked discrimination against young adults, and an aggressive assault on peaceable conduct. Should this package be adopted, it will result in the imprisonment, injury, and death of peaceable people.”