Are Stricter Gun Laws in the Works?
Vermont –-(Ammoland.com)- There is strong sentiment rising in the gun community that the Arizona shooting rampage will be used as leverage for the Obama Administration to push for stricter gun laws.
Certainly if New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg had his way, those laws would already be in place.
According to anti-gun activists like Bloomberg, 34 people are killed each day across America by firearms.
“Thirty-four people killed yesterday; 34 people killed today; 34 people killed tomorrow,” Bloomberg told MSNBC last week. “Every day, bigger than Virginia Tech — and nobody cares.”
To help support his agenda, Bloomberg recently released the results of an investigation revealing that in January, unlicensed dealers at a gun show in Phoenix sold firearms illegally. Two undercover investigators, hired by New York City, were able to purchase firearms from two dealers at the event. The buyers even tried to push the boundaries of the law by revealing they “probably couldn’t pass” a background check.
Unlicensed gun vendors are prohibited from selling firearms if they “know” or have “reason to believe” the buyer is banned from possessing a gun.
After the results of the investigation were released, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs dodged the question of whether or not the Obama Administration would be seeking stricter gun control laws.
“We believe that there are reasons that federal laws are on the books,” Gibbs said, “and the need … to strongly adhere to and follow existing law is important not just in the purchase of weapons, but throughout our civil life.”
Gibb’s then left the podium and refused to answer a follow-up question.
What does this mean for gun owners?
Over the past two years the Obama Administration has shied away from stricter gun control policies, knowing they would be difficult, if not impossible, to change. This was reinforced in February of 2009, when Attorney General Eric Holder promoted a return of the assault-weapons ban, which had expired five years earlier. Sixty-five House Democrats wrote to the White House condemning the proposal.
These philosophies appear to be changing in the wake of the Arizona rampage. The 16 Democrats on the Judiciary Committee recently sent a letter that urged Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) to stage gun-safety hearings in response to the Tucson shootings.
Only time will tell what the second half of President Obama’s term will bring concerning gun control legislation. Second Amendment advocates should view recent events as a sign they need to remain vigilant in their efforts, or they risk seeing all the accomplishments of the previous 10 years washed away in an anti-gun tide.
Kyle Scanlon is the editor of Outdoors Magazine. Email him at [email protected].
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