Second Amendment issues might not be as heavily reported as they once were when Barack Obama declared war on gun rights. The Heller, McDonald, and Bruen decisions have answered many vital issues concerning the right to carry and ownership. That still hasn’t stopped liberals from trying to chip away at the Bill of Rights. California banned carry rights almost a week before a federal appeals court slapped it down. A judge also struck down another California bill that required background checks for ammunition purchases.
Private sales are also an overblown issue for anti-gun liberals, as they see them as a homegrown ‘Bakaara Market’ for wannabe mass shooters. It’s also part of their erroneous gun show loophole narrative. Most private sales are among family members, and they constitute a small fraction of all gun transfers, but that hasn’t stopped Biden’s ATF from drafting a rule that would essentially ban these transfers (via NY Post):
The whistleblowers say the rule is being drafted by Senior Policy Counsel Eric Epstein, who worked as the Phoenix Field Office's Division Counsel during Operation Wide Received (a precursor of Operation Fast and Furious).
— Tristan Leavitt (@tristanleavitt) January 31, 2024
It would also circumvent the separation of powers in the Constitution, which grants “all legislative Powers” to Congress while requiring that the President “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” https://t.co/TinZVyN3HK
— Tristan Leavitt (@tristanleavitt) January 31, 2024
But like Biden's student debt bailout plan, such a sweeping rule seems almost certain to be struck down in the courts. It's thus hard to view it as anything other than a cynical pay to energize his base in a presidential election year.
— Tristan Leavitt (@tristanleavitt) January 31, 2024
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The lessons of the Ruby Ridge and Waco standoffs should make clear that attempting to enforce such an expansive regulation could endanger countless ATF field agents who are forced to serve as the face of the Biden Administration in enforcing this against private firearms owners.
— Tristan Leavitt (@tristanleavitt) January 31, 2024
This morning @EMPOWR_us sent a FOIA request to DOJ and ATF requesting Epstein’s emails discussing any ban of private sales, as well as communications between ATF and DOJ on the topic. The text of the letter is below. 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/haVxNaA3kv
— Tristan Leavitt (@tristanleavitt) January 31, 2024
A watchdog group is demanding documents from the Biden administration after whistleblowers alleged that a regulation is under development that would effectively ban private gun sales.
The group, Empower Oversight, said Wednesday that two sources have claimed that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is preparing to propose a rule requiring background checks for most or all gun sales.
President Biden has campaigned for stricter gun laws and in August proposed a regulation to clarify that people who “repetitively” sell guns must register as federally licensed gun dealers subject to background checks.
The revised rule purportedly being crafted by the ATF would be even broader, Empower Oversight president Tristan Leavitt said in a series of posts on X.
Empower Oversight “has learned through whistleblowers within ATF that at the direction of the White House, ATF has drafted a 1,300-page document to justify a rule effectively banning the private sale of firearms,” Leavitt wrote.
“The whistleblowers say the rule is being drafted by Senior Policy Counsel Eric Epstein, who worked as the Phoenix Field Office’s Division Counsel during Operation Wide Receiver (a precursor of Operation Fast and Furious).”
There doesn’t appear to be a grandfather clause or exemption for family transfers. Private sales are legal and not a contributing factor to the mess cities like Chicago are facing concerning gun crime, all of which are almost exclusively gang-related. As with anything, we must remain vigilant, even on our side.
Some Republican governors, like Rick Scott (now a US Senator) in Florida and Phil Scott in Vermont—no relation, passed horrific new laws in 2018 after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Both states raised the age to purchase any firearm to 21—Vermont went further and banned so-called high-capacity magazines. Vermont Scott was an A-rated politician by the National Rifle Association.
As for carry rights, legal challenges to the justifiable need clauses for concealed carry permits in many blue, anti-gun states can and should continue to be filed, thanks to Bruen. State-based assault weapons bans should also be targeted, but the Supreme Court reverts to neutral mode once landmark rulings are handed down, especially on gun rights, as we’ve seen in the past. We saw that after the Heller and McDonald decisions, numerous petitions for oral arguments concerning the provisions for carry permits in ‘may issue’ states were rejected for years.
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