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A new Axios report shows state lawmakers passed more pro-firearm industry bills over the past 12 months than gun control measures. That’s reflective of the efforts of NSSF’s Government Relations – State Affairs team working relentlessly to promote, protect and preserve the firearm industry from gun control efforts that seek to hobble and even destroy it.

According to the Axios report, more than 1,700 firearm-related bills have been introduced in state legislatures since last May, following the Uvalde, Texas, tragedy. Ninety-three of those bills were passed by legislatures and signed into law. Of those, 56 percent “expanded access to firearms or benefited the firearms industry by allowing manufacturing in the state or protecting them from liability lawsuits.” On the flip side, nearly 44 percent of the bills “restricted access to firearms or supported victims/potential victims in gun-related cases.”

Some states have been tougher than others. Several states like Washington, Oregon, California, Illinois, New York and Connecticut have supermajorities that skew toward gun control. Other states, like Arizona, Nevada and Virginia are slim majorities or split between the parties controlling one side of the legislature or the other. Still, other states like Florida moved aggressively to protect the firearm industry.

(AP Photo/Matt York)

NSSF’s Government Relations team didn’t take any state for granted – as either completely for the firearm industry or against it. Nothing was – or is – taken for granted.

Firearm Industry Financial Firewall

Firearm industry victories focused on the ability of lawful firearm businesses to remain operational and providing the means to exercise Second Amendment rights.

Beginning under President Barack Obama’s Operation Choke Point, financial industry and banking and payment service providers throttled lawful firearm businesses using their services simply because they were a disfavored industry. Those efforts continue in the private sector but states are fighting back by prohibiting and penalizing financial institutions from operating that way.

Several states adopted NSSF-supported Financial Industry Nondiscrimination (FIND) Act laws that bar state governments from entering into contracts with companies that benefit from taxpayer dollars while also instituting “woke” Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) and antigun discriminatory policies on those taxpayers. These include Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota and West Virginia.

Several legislatures have passed – and governors have signed into law – laws that prohibit the use of a firearm retailer-specific Merchant Category Code (MCC) by credit card companies to track lawful sales and possibly lead to backdoor gun control and firearm ownership lists by government agencies. Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed this law, as did Montana’s Gov. Greg Gianforte and North Dakota’s Gov. Doug Burgum. West Virginia’s Gov. Jim Justice, Mississippi’s Gov. Tate Reeves and Idaho’s Gov. Brad Little have signed laws barring the use of a MCC on firearm purchases earlier this year.

Similar legislative efforts are ongoing on the federal level in Washington, D.C.

Bad Bills Doomed

Some firearm industry victories are preventing bad gun control laws from taking root. That’s the case for Nevada’s Gov. Joe Lombardo, who was faced with that prospect less than six months into his term as governor.

In that instance, Gov. Lombardo stood strong for Nevadans’ Constitutional rights and vetoed three significant gun control bills. Those bills included implementing an age-based gun ban on adults over the age of 18 years old; instituting restrictive limits where law-abiding gun owners could carry their legally-permitted concealed firearms; and expanding the definitions of individuals who would be prohibited from purchasing and possessing firearms.

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In Texas, an age-based gun ban passed out of a House of Representatives committee only to fail to receive a vote by the full chamber. Texas law recognizes the right of law-abiding 18 year olds to purchase long guns since the 1960s. Numerous other pieces of legislation failed to gain approval in states from west to east, including mandating gun owners purchase liability insurance, mandatory firearm storage in the home, excise taxes on ammunition purchases and more.

The work continues. As some states wrap up, others are getting ramped up. Others stay in session year-round, requiring constant vigilance against industry-damaging legislation. That is vital to supporting customers who want to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Voters have spoken in support of their Second Amendment rights to purchase and possess commonly-owned firearms.

NSSF has been reminding elected officials why they’ve been elected to represent the will of their constituents.

 

Larry Keane is SVP for Government and Public Affairs, Assistant Secretary and General Counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

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33 COMMENTS

      • “humankind is evil.”

        It just so happens, on that note, look what just dropped at the Zero Hedge :

        “AI-Controlled Drone Goes Rogue, “Kills” Human Operator In Simulated US Air Force Test”

        “We were training it in simulation to identify and target a SAM threat. And then the operator would say ‘yes, kill that threat,’” Hamilton said.

        “The system started realizing that while they did identify the threat, at times, the human operator would tell it not to kill that threat, but it got its points by killing that threat.

        “So what did it do? It killed the operator,” he continued.

        “It killed the operator because that person was keeping it from accomplishing its objective.”

        ‘Skynet’, indeed… 😉

        https://www.zerohedge.com/military/ai-controlled-drone-goes-rogue-kills-human-operator-simulated-us-air-force-test

        • I just heard on the radio that was a discussion of what could happen, and that it didn’t actually happen. Apparently it went viral on social media.

        • S­t­a­r­t w­o­r­k­i­n­g f­r­o­m h­o­m­e! G­r­e­a­t w­o­r­k f­o­r-E­v­er, ­S­t­a­y a­t H­o­m­e M­o­m­s O­R a­n­y­o­n­e n­e­e­d­s­ a­n e­x­t­r­a nhj i­n­c­o­m­e. G­e­t s­t­a­r­t­e­d. Y­o­u o­n­l­y n­e­e­d­ a computer a­n­d a reliable c­o­m­p­u­t­e­r c­o­n­n­e­c­t­i­o­n­ s­o d­o­n’t g­e­t l­a­t­e t­r­y……. https://payincashh.blogspot.com

        • it didn’t actually happen. it was a ‘thought experiment’ ‘simulation’ and it got mis-quoted (the AF Col who was talking about it got mis quoted) on Twitter and news outlets picked it up from there.

          most news outlets have retracted.

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  1. Iowa is a prime example of this. 20 years ago the state had some of the most restrictive firearms laws in the nation. Now after the Voters removed Democrats from any semblance of governmental control. Iowa has become 1 of the leaders in 2nd Amendment Rights for it’s citizens.

    • “Iowa is a prime example of this. 20 years ago the state had some of the most restrictive firearms laws in the nation.”

      What was the driver of that?

      I don’t immediately associate Iowa with Leftist Marxist-Fascist scum, I imagine endless acres of farmland…

      • Shows what you know. 20 years ago Iowa was a bastion of Liberal Democrat Politicians and their policies. Jesus Christ couldn’t get elected savior if he had run as a Republican.

        • “Shows what you know.”

          I didn’t.

          That’s *why* I asked. Thanks for the enlightenment.

          There’s a growing wave of actual commonsense in places like Iowa, it appears… 🙂

  2. “NSSF has been reminding elected officials”

    How about suggesting they READ/Follow the Constitution = means must revoke NFA and GCA

  3. hear that freight train sound
    thats the pendulum
    finally swinging back the other way
    i personally cant wait
    until much of the gca and nfa
    is finally ruled unconstitutional
    and theyre duly relegated to the dustbin of history
    where theyve always always belonged

    • neither party will support easy access to automatic weapons…1986 proved that…and what party was in power?….yep…

  4. Each and every law abiding citizen has the absolute right to own, possess, and carry a firearm. In spite of what the Leftist control freaks want you be believe and / or accept.

  5. It’s just an observation I have noticed over the past 25 or 35 years. It’s Republicans who are more often quoting the founding documents of this country. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, The Federalist Papers. But the Democrats are not known for quoting The Federalist Papers, or any of the founding documents. Does that make the Republicans perfect? No it does not.
    But it does make them in general, better than the Democrats.

    And much to the hatred of Libertarians, Liberals on the Left. it’s been Republican leadership that has gotten permit-less carry in more than half the country.

    Those that are complaining about not getting their way on everything, have in turn, “picked up their Marbles and went home”. Those individuals have accomplished nothing. We lost our rights incrementally. And we are getting our rights back incrementally. And that is how our political system works.
    President Reagan was correct. Teach your children what it means to be a free people. So they can pass it on to the next generation.

    Get control of your local school boards. Put rifle teams and 2A education back into the school systems.

  6. For what it’s worth, I see the trend of red states increasing civil rights, and blue states continuing to INTENTIONALLY enact gun laws that they know won’t pass Bruen scrutiny, as simply hastening the day of the National Divorce. You don’t get to vote on my inherent rights. There was a time, in America, when slavery probably would have won a national plebiscite. My rights are not up for negotiation, or vote, but Leftist/fascists still think they are the “smart ones”, and know “what’s best for everyone”. Heh!

    • Lamp, Is a “National Divorce” even possible anymore? Though many believe it is, and I agree, I question whether it’s possible, and believe the Civil War ended the possibility of it ever happening again.
      The States are more interconnected now than they were in 1861, and that makes separation even more difficult. Geographically, it’s a problem, as such a divorce would resemble a checkerboard of secessioned territory, though the Midwest and the South would be the largest Geographical area. It would split the country into three or more areas, depending upon the view of the checkerboard. Some States, on both sides would be surrounded in certain areas, making coopsrative defense from hostility difficult and problematic.
      In many ways, the Civil War ended the State Sovereignty v Federal argument, as much of the post Rebellion legislation passed with the intent to prevent future division.
      I very much agree that a National Divorce may be needed, but I question whether it’s a feasible solution anymore.
      Either way, the threat of another Civil War continues at a pace and appears inevitable at this point. The Left and the Right are more divided now over multiple issues than they were in 1860/1861, and it’s just a question of what will be the Fort Sumter trigger.
      Abhorrent as the thought of firing on fellow Americans may be, it may well be necessary to put it aside, and do what’s required to end the Federal Government’s descent into Tyranny.

      • No marriage is perfect, and neither is any divorce.

        The red states should strengthen their positions as much as is possible, to become Constitutional sanctuary states as much as is possible.

        Sequestering the blue urban areas (politically, not physically) within the red states should also be a priority — as much as is possible.

      • counties moving from one state to another is a real possibility…states like California could easily break-up into separate entities

  7. A professional football player and his money was the major player in Ks getting its constitutional carry law passed.
    $$$$$$$” it can get anything done with America , right Mr. Soros, like wars in foreign countries, right Mr Soros.
    The anti Christ

  8. How many of our 2A rights did Redflag Larry Keane and his pack of Fudds at the NSSF horse-trade away “for” us today?

  9. Well…
    The gun industry does NOT make law so the idea presented is meaningless.

    If they did then there would not be any anti-gun laws anywhere in this country. The fact that Democrats are passing gun control laws all over the place is a very clear message in itself. It tells me that the laws are NOT made by the gun industry.

    This entire thing is so ridiculous.

  10. At the same time formerly moderate states like Michigan and Minnesota had Democrat dominated state governments begin to pass gun control laws affecting millions of citizens in areas traditionally viewed as rural. That along with outright irrational and intentional criminalization of gun ownership in states like Washington, Oregon, Illinois, and New Jerse signal serious legal attacks on average everyday U.S. citizens civil rights and point to the dark intentions of progressives in future years. While permitless carry spread to more conservative states, more modern sporting rifle bans, red flag laws and magazine restrictions were enacted in liberal states. Left unchecked these attacks may spread. The 2nd Amendment community has to come up with a more effective strategy on these areas in the future.

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