We’ve finally gotten a look at Chuck Shumer’s proposed mandatory background check bill, and the truth is that this thing is ridiculous. The bill is overly broad, has some crazy penalties, and cracks the door WIDE open for government abuse. The full text of the bill is here, and since it’s in that terrible bill-speak legalese, I’ll try to summarize it for you . . .
The main provision of the bill is that any transfer of a firearm, no matter how fleeting, needs to go through an FFL and the transferee needs to have a background check performed through the NICS system. There are some exceptions, but they aren’t very good ones. Page 11 starts off the meat and potatoes for those following along at home.
In order to qualify for an exception to the rule of all transfers going through an FFL, the following requirements must be met:
- The temporary transfer takes place at the owner’s house
- The gun can’t be moved from the property
- The transfer must last less than 7 days
There’s also a poorly worded exception for hunting and “sporting purposes,” as well as gifts to family members. What that means is if you go on a trip for more than 7 days and leave your guns at home unattended with a roommate, its now a felony under this law. And if I’m reading this right, this applies if you leave your guns with your spouse, but don’t transfer them as a gift.
There’s also no exception for lending guns to friends for the afternoon on the range. I regularly loan out my older competition guns to friends who want to compete in local matches, as the guns can be expensive and its easier to figure out if competition shooting is right for you if you can give it a try. Under this new bill, that would be illegal.
It also appears that it would be illegal to hand a firearm to someone other than the owner, effectively killing range trips with friends.
I quote from the bill the definition of “transfer” includes:
shall include a sale, gift, loan, return from pawn or consignment, or other disposition
Broad much? The only exception appears to be handing a gun to a potential buyer to evaluate and lending guns at a shooting range but ONLY IF:
at a shooting range located in or on premises owned or occupied by a duly incorporated organization organized for conservation purposes or to foster proficiency in firearms and the firearm is, at all times, kept within the premises of the shooting range;
So, only facilities where the stated purpose in the incorporation documents is conservation (hunting) or firearms proficiency. And if you’re shooting on your own private property, or on BLM land, ANY lending of guns EVEN IN THE PRESENCE OF THE OWNER for recreational shooting would be illegal.
As one of the provisions designed to “alleviate the fears” of the gun-owning public, it looks like there’s a provision in here that permanently sets the price of all FFL transfer fees to the same amount. That number will be set by the Attorney General, which these days is still Eric Holder. The current speculation is that this FFL fee will be used to do what the NFA tax was originally designed to do — make buying or transferring a gun so expensive that almost no one can do it.
In addition to the transfer requirements, it also makes it a federal felony to fail to report a lost or stolen firearm. If the gun isn’t reported to the authorities within 24 hours, that’s a 5-year stretch in a federal pokey you just earned yourself.
The bill also specifically removes the ability for people with state permits to skip the NICS check. Currently in Texas, those with a concealed handgun license can purchase a gun without a NICS check as they’ve already passed a more stringent background check than NICS provides. This puts more strain on the FFL as well as the NICS system.
As written, this bill is a trainwreck. It creates felons out of people who may not have been aware that their roommate (on their month long trip through Asia) even owned a firearm, much less that there was one in the house. It allows the government to regulate the price of background checks, enacting a mandatory fee (read tax) to be paid every time you want to exercise a right guaranteed by the Second Amendment, and lets the government set the fee at whatever level they choose with no recourse. It also creates de facto registration through the NICS checks as well as the paperwork preservation requirements already in place.
You don’t have to pay a fee to vote, as the supreme court ruled that unconstitutional. But for Chuck Shumer, its okay to charge a fee to exercise your Second Amendment right. And he’ll tell you how much to pay.
At least his side’s being honest about their real intentions this time. This bill is clearly designed to gut firearms rights.
I will FLAME DELETE my self at this point…
Not much I can add on this that doesn’t use colorful colloquialisms for idiots, and depot rulers. I am above that I keep telling myself.
I am going to scream now, be back later!!!
Our founding fathers would be shooting by now…
Somehow that seems less than fair as the minority Aldi’s robber got a little over 1 year for armed robbery with a sawed off shotgun. In other words, chuck you fu.k, Randy
The bill needs to be shot down.
i think the worse it is, the better. i guess.
Call your Senators and say NO to this madness.
Sadly, for some of us, Schumer is our senator.
“whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it”
I’m a little thick…can someone illuminate me as to how this de facto registration? I’m honestly just curious.
It’s registration BECAUSE – the only way to enforce a law like this is to have every gun in the nation attached to a human being.
Otherwise, how would you enforce it? There are millions of firearms in free states that do not require registration upon purchasing that can be privately sold, given away or lost without reporting to anyone… so if I have a rifle that the government doesn’t know I have, how do they prove that I sold it to anyone without a first doing the mandatory background check?
Nothing surprises me, that being said Shumer is a Jew and as a Jew one would think he would be the total opposite of what he is, considering their history.
Some of us live by the creed “never again” – See http://www.jpfo.org. I do have to say that I would be hard pressed to prevent the blue shirts from taking my “brother” Schumer away…
I am all for stopping the infringement of rights, but by actually reading this bill… it does none of what you mention, it provides for hunting, competition and range purposes, it says nothing about leaving a gun at home, while a roommate is there. in that case you are still ‘in possession’ of the firearm, its says 24 hours after you learn of its loss, not 24 hours from the time it went missing…and pretty much everything you said is wrong, WE ARE NEVER GOING TO WIN A BATTLE OF WITS WITH MISINFORMATION!!!
Agreed… After reading the bill text, at face value, it MAY not be quite as bad as the OP suggests…
Leaving your gun at home for more than 7 days isn’t a transfer as defined by the bill, so as long as you aren’t selling it, gifting it, loaning it, transferring it as property to your roommate before you go, it shouldn’t apply.
It would not apply if you lend your gun to a friend at a range or shooting competition as long as he gives it back to you before leaving the range. Although you would have to go with them, but wouldn’t you anyway?
It also makes an exception if you lend the gun to someone on the property around your home (that’s “curtilage”… had to look it up), but only for 7 days.
So maybe the good news we’ll have an excuse to get our .22 back from Cousin Eddie who’s been plinking from his RV parked in our front yard for the past week — sorry Eddie, after 7 days we have to get the Feds involved.
The only way this makes sense is that there are so many poison pills that he knows this won’t pass which is what he wants. Hey, he tried, right?
Otherwise there is no way this is enforceable unless your Gestapo just ordered 1.6 billion rounds of ammo. Oh, wait…
The doors and glass of a standard automobile will not shield your opponent from a .308 Winchester round at most practical distances.
+1. Add a cinder block wall to the above.
Great history. I think the US Army looked at switching to .270 Winchester between the wars, and it would have been the better choice (IMO).
So I field strip a glock, drop everything except the barrel into gunk, put it back to gether and it still works. Since you keep the barrel clean, just what does this prove?
It proves you lack a sense of humor.
You’re probably right.
Well the firing pin could have gotten glunked up in the channel, the spring could have also gotten too sticky, the trigger mechanism, same thing… the question is… would it kill the easter bunny?
Has anyone noticed that the Jews are at the forefront of the gun grab?
Alan Gottlieb and Alan Gura are on the other side, and they are not alone. I wouldn’t worry about ethnicity and religion in these matters – gun grabbers come from all over, as do defenders of the 2nd Amendment rights.
hey, nobody notices that Israelis round up Palestinians into ghettos either.
The “at a shooting range located in or on premises owned or occupied by a duly incorporated organization organized for conservation purposes or to foster proficiency in firearms ” text is VERBATIM, exactly the same, as the wonderful UBC bill (HB-1229) (Go look at it for yourself!) that just passed here in Colorado.
I *knew* our reps didn’t write these bills themselves out here! This seals it. Are you a state legislator that knows nothing about firearms? Need a bill written? Talk to Chuck!
Colorado was certainly the “test state” for this one. Expect mag cap language to come up next… Say it with me folks, “Readily Convertible.”
You think team obama was there to go skiing and eat Rocky Mountain Oysters? Everything they touch they destroy. The poll in CO are following orders and not thinking for themselves or listening to the people they are suppose to serve.
are you more of a vanilla guy?
And as soon as it doesn’t cost any of them votes, they jump on the band wagon to. DO SOME RESEARCH INTO IT, I HAVE. NEED HELP? READ THE JEWISH TALMUD AND THE PROTOCOLS OF THE LEARNED ELDERS OF ZION… AND EDUCATE YOURSELVES
I’ll admit that too many of my brethren suffer from hoplophobia. My guess is that it is partly due to the victimhood culture that is reinforced through our heritage. But like another poster said, Gura and Gottlieb have done more good for our cause than all of the bad legislations banners have put together combined. You may want to educate yourself as to how the Russians put together that garbage of a racist document to justify the pogroms they so wanted to effectuate.
I’ve never understood how the story of Israel has been spun into one of victimhood. It’s a history lesson that ecapsulates the “bondage > spiritual faith > courage > liberty > abundance > selfishness > complacency > apathy > dependency > bondage” civilizational cycle quite vividly with an empasis on “spiritual faith” and faltering therefrom leading to the back side of the cycle. To hear God tell it, the same folks who might be victims would also be the victors, as they did it to themselves by turning their backs on Him, only to lose everything and turn back to Him, and those former blessings slowly restored. For those not so religiously inclined, you could capture the essence of the cycle by folks turning their backs on decency, civic virtue and even fundamental physical truths such as math. So it’s more a story of triumph over our common human frailty and perseverance than victimhood.
http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_copybook.htm
Getting hard to find news Dan?
Leaving the 2nd Amendment to the side for a moment, what exactly is the Federal nexus or interest here? Do they think that the Commerce Clause stretches to cover purely in-state transactions between private parties?
Do they think that the Commerce Clause stretches to cover purely in-state transactions between private parties?
I think you need to do some reading on the Commerce Clause. Look up Wickard v. Filburn and then get back to me.
I might not have liked how the Obamacare case turned out, but it does plan a Commerce Clause flag. I guess we’ll see.
Maybe the surgeons can give him (Hollingsworth) the fragments. It may not be everything Stevens had but with what some people charge for ammo now… just sayin.
You should see his epic Christmas fruitcake jammed chock full in the receiver of Ak47. Of coarse it fired SA.
I am really not a fan of ken onions, i think his knives are ugly but the swindle is sooo pretty, what an exception.
Let’s make it clear: no amount of paper work will allow a UK subject to own an AR-15 as we know it. What they can own is a “straight-pull” model, which is effectively, a bolt-action rifle. This is no secret to anyone familiar with the UK shooting scene. A bolt-action AR-15 is not an AR-15 in my book.
I would just like to point out that this passed Judiciary 10-8 along party lines earlier today. It will now see a floor vote in the Senate.
The kid gets the Appleseed suppressed 10/22.
The wife gets the Marlin Lever gun with 44 specials.
I grab the AR-15.
With my luck, when the balloon goes up I will be out of pocket 3 hours from home at some damn quilt shop hop.
Anyone still support “universal” background checks???
Well, apparently Manchin doesn’t support it anymore.
Just checked Thomas, and Schumer introduced this with no co-sponsors.
The only thing that the old guy did REALLY wrong was talk to the cops.
“I’m in shock and I can’t talk”
Y’know, this kinda reminds me of Eric Dorismond, a guy the NYPD perforated because he said “no” to drugs.
The OP is lucky that he’s sill breathing.
I live in North MS and there is no ammo other than cheap ineffective rounds of .45, .22 short, and the occasional turkey round for 20 and 12 gauge (sorry- we’ve been out of 00 buckshot for some time). This is what happens when you elect anti-gun liberals to office. They say they’re making us ‘safer’ but I think the only way to stay safe is to use firearms as a ‘deterrent’ for crime. Once they come to take my guns, two things will be true. 1)I will not die with any rounds left and 2)I will die. My rights are more important to me than my life. Take a stand and show Washington that the American people will not bow down and take their laws with no voice. We are the army of law-abiding citizens who will protect this country when our government fails to do so. Welcome to America. Where do you want it?
“The crazier it gets” is really a gamble.
Odds are that it wont get passed, but if it does, youre royally f^cked.
here’s a idea: mandatory sentencing to a federal prison for introducing bills that violate the constitution…
sound radical? now you protectionists know what its like!
This would’ve been a whole lot more awesome had he dunked that glock in gasoline…shaking my head on this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBJPCSb-rI8
hee hee
Why must people continue to make Glock torture test videos?
We get it, they work in sand, mud, rain, snow, sleet, sunny weather, when it’s slightly foggy out, and if you drop it in a vat of chocolate.
A few issues to consider:
1) Jason above is wrong. He is not being lawyerly enough. The bill defines a “transfer” as many things, including a loan. In addition, a temporary loan does not run afoul of the bill if it occurs only (a) at a range that is incorporated and organized for (i) conservation purposes or (ii) to foster proficiency in firearms non-profit shooting competitions and (c) hunting related outings. The other posters are correct, you can’t loan out a firearm to someone without you being there if it’s not for hunting, or if the range’s incorporation documents don’t relate to conservation or firearm proficiency.
2) the 24-hour reporting requirement may be in contravention of the holding in Haynes v. U.S. In that case, the court held that a felon cannot be required to register a firearm, as that would go against his constitutional right against self-incrimination – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haynes_v._United_States. The way this law is written, it requires you to report a stolen firearm within 24-hour of your discovery of that fact. If you fail to do so, you are now a felon. The government can’t require you to incriminate yourself.
I’m very much a noob so I defer to those with experience. But in a home defense situation for me it seems wisest to grab gun grab kids and hunker down while calling 911. I can move in dark in my own house and if needed set the small handheld surefire on the floor dresser or bed pointed at door while taking cover in another dark corner with kids close and under more cover. Seems to me if you cant hit a man sized target st 7 yds either hand the first need is more practice until you can.
27 words written over 220 years ago recognized our natural right to protect ourselves and our Country. Now, politicians hide behind pages and pages of wording, to try and take that away. No matter how much text they put in legalese on documents, “Shall not be infringed” will trump it all.
Interesting thread. I’ve been very concerned about +P in my 1955 (2nd generation, I think) Cobra. Firstly, because the FBI load could stretch the alloy frame, and secondly, because the recoil could cause me to throw rounds. My solution is this: the first three rounds are Federal 110 grain Hydra-Shok, and the last three are Remington 158 grain LHP +P. I figure I can hopefully place the first three shots well. If I can’t, I can dump the FBI load into an attacker at probably closer range. It’s my bet that the Cobra can handle that. I would be very grateful to hear any opinions of this strategy.
That sounds like a good one to me. That would make it one of the 500 to 1,000 good ones that happen each year.
Doesn’t the fact that your nation-wide network of tipsters isn’t coming up with 25 or 30 a day make you think. It does me.
Well, nothing has changed in Warwick, Rhode Island. Last night I went before the Committee on Public Safety to be interviewed about my application for a concealed carry permit. Within a couple of minutes it was eminently clear that the committee had NO intention of approving my request. I was told to “avoid dangerous situations” “modify my behavior” and “call the police” if threatened. I was also all but accused of trumping up the letter of need I had written to support my request. I was then given the opportunity to withdraw my application but, perhaps foolishly, wanted the Committee on record as having denied the request in the event I decide to seek legal redress.
I am a physician, an honorably discharged Air Force officer well versed in firearms and do not have so much as a traffic ticket on my record. If I can’t be trusted with a firearm in the City of Warwick (a “shall” issue city BTW) I wonder who DOES qualify.
Does this qualify as Food-porn, or Gun-porn?
If George Zimmerman had a phaser set on stun, he’d be a free man today but I really have to wonder what’s wrong with someone who would pay $40-60K for a fake, imaginary rifle…
There are two registered democrats in our offices. One is a multiple gun owner. One is not.
So, 50% of Democrats are gun owners. See, I can offer support for my craptastic views too.
t’s funny how the democrats just assume that all gun owners are republicans. I know a few democrats who are very unhappy with what the liberals are spouting about gun owners.
He’s about 20 years too early. If current demographic trends hold,that cartoon might actually come true.The categories of voters increasing in population are the same groups most likely to vote Democrat.
Whatever happened to the good old days when you hung your rifle on a rifle rack mounted on the wall?