Using the astroturf “gun violence awareness day” as a platform to launch their latest attack on guns and gun owners, Democrats today introduced two new bills that would severely restrict and possibly eliminate the ability for Americans to purchase firearms. The two bills in question are the “Handgun Trigger Safety Act,” which would require that any gun sold in the United States MUST include a “smart gun” trigger lock that would only allow “authorized users” to fire the gun, and a “Gun Research Safety Bill” that would funnel money to the CDC to provide studies to support more gun control. There’s just one problem . . .
There are no “smart guns” on the market, and the technology to make the required functions work doesn’t exist either. The only smart gun that might have been available for sale is still vaporware, and hasn’t been delivered to customers. In other words, if this bill goes into effect (5 years after passage), it would immediately outlaw the sale of any handgun in the United States, regardless of whether technology has caught up to the Hollywood-fueled fever dreams of the legislators. The argument they’re making is that the technology will eventually become available, but New Jersey made that same argument and smart guns still aren’t available for sale.
Mandating that all firearms use technology that is still “science fiction” is, quite possibly, proof that the sponsors of the bill have completely lost touch with reality. The Democrats responsible in this case are — surprise! — Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.).
It looks like the legislation was introduced as a way to show their constituents that Congress is “doing something” about the “scourge of gun violence.” That should definitely earn the politicians in question brownie points with their Democratic base. But the problem is that this same legislation that plays so well in their individual constituencies is a disaster for the Democratic party on the national stage.
Going into another election year, trying to make the claim that Democrats don’t want to impose more gun control — if they have any intention of keeping up that pretense — will be nearly impossible with proposals like this hanging over the candidate’s heads. As a result, we could see this pushing more undecided voters off the fence and towards the Republican candidates instead.
Oh, and BTW, zero chance this even gets out of committee. FYI.
[h/t The Hill]