We all saw the rumblings of this for years. Democrats want to destroy the Second Amendment, create gun registries, and eventually confiscate firearms. It won’t happen in a couple of years, of course. This is the long game. Emboldened by their state-level victories in Vermont and Florida, in which the anti-gun Left was able to increase the age to purchase all firearms to 21. In Vermont, they even got Republican (and at the time pro-NRA) Gov. Phil Scott to sign off on magazine limits. As you all know, 18 years of age was the minimum for a long gun. In these states, it’s no longer the case. It’s grossly unconstitutional and yes, the National Rifle Association is involved in legal action in Florida to get it tossed. That could take years, however.
So, with juice flowing through the anti-Second Amendment crowd, why not push for a state-based gun registry law? They already suckered two Republican governors; why not try something deep in gun-friendly territory. Pennsylvania is a hunting state and home to a lot of NRA members. This is quite the aggressive move (via WGNO):
House Bill 768, or the Firearm Registration Act, was proposed on Friday by Representative Angel Cruz (D-Philadelphia), Representative Mary Isaacson (D-Philadelphia), and Representative Mary Jo Daley (D-Montgomery).
In the Co-Sponsorship memoranda of the bill, the primary sponsor, Rep. Cruz, says:
"In this world of instant information, we can't go an hour without hearing on the news or social media about crime, injury, or death involving firearms. Pew Research Center reports that almost half of Americans personally know someone who has been shot, with 40,000 gun-related deaths reported in 2017. Six in ten Americans believe that our nation’s gun laws are not strict enough, and it’s time something be done to address this problem.
I am proposing the creation of a firearm registration within the Pennsylvania State Police. Upon application and approval, firearm owners will be given a registration certificate, valid for one year, for each registered firearm they own. A registration certificate will only be issued to individuals who are eligible to possess a firearm under Federal and State law, who have never been convicted of a crime of violence and have not been convicted of a crime relating to the use, possession, or sale of any dangerous drug within five years prior to the application. This PSP database will aid all law enforcement officials with investigations and with tracking missing or stolen firearms."
The bill would require Pennsylvanians seeking to do anything with a gun, whether that be own, possess, sell or transfer, to apply for gun registration through State Police.
It would make exceptions in cases such as collector items, antiques or duty weapons.
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I just love the carve-outs. For Democrats, only the police and the military can own guns. They’re the only ones who can be trusted. Only people who are part of the institutional groundwork for establishing an authoritarian state can only own firearms. We’ve seen this movie before. And in states like Colorado, they’ve even had something of a test run.
In Boulder, the city has outlaws so-called assault weapons, but have grandfathered in those residents who live in the area and already own AR-15s. These owners do have to get a certificate from the local sheriff’s office, however, but no one has done it en masse. There is no paper trail or database per se, but if this doesn’t sound like a mock gun registry, I don’t know what is. Reportedly, even pro-gun Democrats in the area are defying the ordinance.
In Pennsylvania, there’s already opposition to the gun registry bill. Republicans control both houses of the state legislature, but there could be some squishes, especially those who represent suburban, moderate counties, like around the collar counties of Philadelphia that we may need to watch.
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