This is TTAG’s weekly roundup of legal and legislative news affecting guns, the gun business and gun owners’ rights. For a deeper dive into the topics discussed here, check out this week in gun rights at FPC.
Gun industry is essential, according to the feds
This is something many of us have known, and even some jurisdictions have recognized, but on Saturday the federal government finally came around and added gun companies to the list of “essential” businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.
This will have a direct impact on some jurisdictions that have been referencing the DHS guidelines directly for their lists of essential businesses, and indirectly in other jurisdictions.
Firearms Policy Coalition is suing EVERYONE
Where to start. This week has been wild, especially for us at the FPC. The past couple of weeks have seen a significant increase in “stay-at-home” and “shelter-in-place” orders across the country.
Those orders often included verbiage which prevents small-business owners like many gun shop proprietors from selling their wares to law-abiding individuals. Individuals who most assuredly consider a mechanism to defend their lives “essential.”
It’s clear that tyrants are having no problem doing their work from home. But we patriots can too, and I expect we can do it better.
Many of those emergency orders are probably copypasta, but let’s be clear: whether the prohibition of firearms sales was accidental or intentional means nothing. The right of the people to keep and bear arms necessitates the ability to freely acquire firearms, as it’s difficult to “keep” or “bear” what you can’t get your hands on in the first place.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re the Governor of California, Lord-Emperor of the People’s Republic of New York, or the three-county state of Delaware. We’re paying attention. That’s why the FPC has set up this hotline for people, anywhere in the country, who have had their rights violated, to let us know.
So far, FPC has launched suits against New Jersey, the State of California, Los Angeles county, the Bay Area, Wake County, NC, with much, more to come.
It’s very difficult to track the municipal violations. That’s why I’m asking for help. If you’re a law abiding person, over the age of 21, who wants to get a gun, or wants to sell guns, and are being prevented from doing so due to a COVID19-related government action, please get in touch with us.
International gun purchases are increasing due to COVID19 concerns
By now everyone is aware that guns and ammo are flying off the shelves across America. What many people probably didn’t anticipate was that the same thing would happen in America’s northern suburb as well as places across the pond like Hungary.
What does it all mean? People are concerned for their safety everywhere, and rightly so. Unfortunately, it also means that in places like Canada, where supply chains are especially strained due to excessive governmental interloping, many would-be owners are going to find that they’re unable to purchase a gun in the near future, and that they will have to ride out the pandemic with whatever they have.
Unintentional firearms fatalities reached lowest levels ever
You’ll shoot your eye out, kid. Or maybe not, says the National Shooting Sports Foundation. They’re reporting that unintentional firearms fatalities have reached their lowest level ever, despite melodramatic claims that the recent surge in firearms sales will result in a significant increase in firearms-related harm.
In fact, the National Safety Council reported that in 2018, there were only 458 accidental firearms fatalities, constituting less than 1% of all recorded fatalities that year.
What’s the trick, you ask? It’s safe handling and maintaining “positive control” over your firearms. Responsible gun owners understand when, how, or if it’s safe to leave their firearms unattended.
Given the huge increase in firearms purchases in recent weeks it’s especially important to pass this kind of knowledge on to others who may be first-time gun owners.
The feds have lost their guns…again
Fidelity. Bravery. Integrity (plus poor chain of custody for firearms and anything else valuable). These are the things the FBI and certain other organizations under the DOJ are known for.
So it should come as no surprise that between September 2016 and July 2019, 38 special-agents werepunished for losing 45 government-issued firearms. I’m not sure if they lost their guns breakdancing, but hey, at least it wasn’t 449 like last time.
Georgia lawmaker uses COVID-19 as cover for pushing massive federal gun legislation
Everybody is talking about legislation centered around paychecks for the masses, bailouts, and the willingness of the political mainstream to play the fiddle while America burns. But what too few are talking about is H.R. 5717, which would fundamentally alter, if not eliminate, the right to Keep and Bear Arms.
Brought to you by Representative Hank Johnson (D – Georgia), the same galaxy brain genius who thinks you can tip over the island of Guam, some of H.R. 5717’s more authoritarian features include a national gun registry, gun rationing, magazine and semi-automatic firearm bans, and much, much more.
That’s why we’re fighting tooth and nail against this bill and its companion, S. 3254. If you’d like to help, stop by our website and help us stop H.R. 5717.