In case you missed it over the weekend, President Biden signed into law the bipartisan “Safer Communities Act.”
The first major, federal gun-control package in nearly three decades, it does all of the following and more:
- Incentivizes states to adopt confiscatory “red flag” schemes
- Expands background checks for adults under 21 which may create delays
- Makes changes to the definition of FFL, those “engaged in the business” of buying and selling firearms
- Broadens “gun trafficking” offenses that could ensnare unsuspecting citizens
“While this bill doesn’t do everything I want, it does include actions I’ve long called for that are going to save lives,” Biden said on Saturday before putting pen to paper.
“Today, we say more than enough. We say more than enough,” he added. “At a time when it seems impossible to get anything done in Washington, we are doing something consequential.”
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The National Rifle Association was sharp in its criticism of the legislation.
“The NRA cannot and will not support senseless gun control measures that some in Congress have already said is just a first step that ‘paves the way’ for additional gun control that will only infringe on the rights of the law-abiding,” the organization said in a statement obtained by GunsAmerica.
“These measures were hastily jammed through with ambiguous language and overbroad definitions to appease gun control supporters in Congress,” it continued. “Behind the façade and the contrived talking points of safety, school security and mental health, this is a gun control bill. That’s why the NRA strongly opposed it.”
The Safer Communities Act cleared the Senate on Thursday by a vote of 65-33. All the Democrats supported the legislation along with 15 Republicans:
- Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
- Sen. John Cornyn of Texas
- Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri
- Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina
- Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia
- Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
- Sen. Susan Collins of Maine
- Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa
- Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
- Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio
- Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah
- Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina
- Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania
- Sen. Todd Young of Indiana
Like the NRA, the Firearms Policy Coalition also fears that the Biden administration may try to use this momentum to push through other, more draconian measures. For example, bans on modern sporting rifles and standard capacity magazines.
Compromise is a losing strategy.
— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) June 28, 2022
“Fuck you. No.” is the only acceptable response to these tyrants. pic.twitter.com/xJe9qaJtKz
Right now, at this very moment, it doesn’t appear that there is much of an appetite in Washington to do more on the gun control front. However, that’s no reason to let our guard down. As the saying goes, eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.