As the Supreme Court considers the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) regulatory authority, the alliance between the Biden administration and Everytown for Gun Safety amplifies the misguided voice speaking in favor of expansive gun control measures. Both the Biden administration and aligned groups ostensibly advocate for public safety while targeting the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) with relentless fervor. Their true motivations, however, are far from sincere.
The PLCAA is a vital safeguard designed to minimize public nuisance lawsuits that threaten to bankrupt law-abiding businesses within the firearm industry. This legislation – passed on a bipartisan basis in 2005 – prevents individuals and groups from suing firearm manufacturers and sellers for the criminal misuse of their legally sold products. Despite repeated affirmations of the PLCAA's constitutionality, Everytown persists in its assault on this legislation. Now, Everytown’s former lobbyist Rob Wilcox staffs The White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, with direct access to President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly made false claims of PLCAA. Ironically, even Attorney General Merrick Garland has testified to PLCAA’s constitutionality. Nonetheless, Everytown remains undeterred in its constant crusade.
It should be noted that Everytown is seeking to dismantle legitimate protection against baseless litigation that other industries enjoy as well. Everytown’s tactics constitute what former Clinton administration Secretary of Labor Robert Reich aptly termed "regulation through litigation" to circumvent legislation and impose gun control through court-ordered settlements.
Everytown’s advocacy activities, bankrolled by wealthy special interests, are masked in the veneer of “public safety,” yet the organization’s agenda is singular in its focus of restricting the Second Amendment. They overlook the overwhelming number of law-abiding citizens from all backgrounds who choose to exercise their right to own firearms for reasons that include self-protection, sport shooting, and hunting.
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In contrast, the firearms industry, via the NSSF – The Firearm Industry Trade Association, is actively engaged in genuine efforts to promote firearm safety and responsibility through long-running programs like Real Solutions. Safer Communities®. This umbrella of programs includes various initiatives that balance the necessary comprehensive approach to firearm safety with the need to uphold Americans' Second Amendment rights.
For example, Project ChildSafe®, a nationwide program launched in 1999, distributes free firearm safety kits to gun owners nationwide and provides firearms responsibility education. By partnering with more than 15,000 law enforcement agencies, Project ChildSafe has distributed more than 41 million safety kits, each containing vital information on securely storing firearms when they are not in use to prevent unauthorized access. The kits include a firearm locking device so gun owners can immediately practice secure storage.
Other dedicated campaigns from the industry are as diverse as they are effective. They include proven programs to strengthen the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS); partnering for over 25 years with ATF to educate firearm retailers on how to detect and prevent illegal straw purchases and warn the public that it’s a serious crime, and more recently working directly with the ATF on Operation Secure Store® to reduce firearms theft from federally licensed retailers. In addition to these vital programs, NSSF works directly with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to provide resources and support to those in need and we are proud to bring our expertise to these various and genuine public safety efforts. NSSF is the true voice of gun safety.
While the firearm industry spends millions on collaborative, evidence-based safety programs and partnerships with lawmakers and law enforcement, Everytown remains dedicated to a purely anti-Second Amendment agenda. Make no mistake, left to run its course and dismantle a bipartisan consensus like the PLCAA, Everytown’s agenda would run roughshod on our civil liberties and kneecap an industry that provides the means for Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights and makes the firearms our police and military need to safeguard our communities and nation.
Joe Bartozzi is the President and CEO of NSSF, The Firearm Industry Trade Association.
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