Because the Second Amendment protects the right to both keep and bear arms, there's a third thing implied. You can't keep or bear guns if you're unable to acquire them in some manner.
In Colorado, where they've been attacking building firearms at home, they're also going after the gun stores with new rules.
You see, it's not enough to have mountains of regulations that everyone has to follow. Colorado also wants to make it even more difficult for them to stay open
The Colorado Senate on Tuesday gave final approval to a bill adding more regulations to gun stores operating in the state.
House Bill 26-1126, titled “Requirements for Firearms Dealers,” was approved on its third reading in a 20 to 15 vote, sending it to Gov. Jared Polis' desk to be signed into law.
The bill directs the Department of Revenue to adopt new security rules for gun dealers, which must adopt the measures and submit a plan to the state by Oct. 1 next year. It would also require gun dealers to keep an electronic record of firearm transfers and would allow the state to fine gun dealers up to $75,000 for some violations.
Republicans and gun rights groups argue the legislation is part of a larger effort by Democrats to chip away at Second Amendment rights and make it harder and more expensive to buy firearms. Democrats control both houses of the General Assembly, Colorado's legislature, and the governor is a Democrat.
“This bill is presented as a modest dealer regulation,” Sen. Lynda Zamora Wilson, R-El Paso County, said before the bill passed. “It is in fact a multi-pronged assault on the constitutional rights of Colorado’s law-abiding gun owners and the small business owners who serve them.”
“It builds – without using the work[sic] – a functional firearm registry accessible to state agencies without warrant or cause,” she added. “It imposes compliance costs that will drive small dealers out of business and reduce access to lawful firearm purchases.”
All of this will increase costs for everyone, but the only stores that can really handle it are the larger chain retailers. Small mom and pop stores operate on shoestring budgets far more often than most people realize. They'll be on the hook for this entire digital system, and yeah, it'll work as a firearm registry that can be accessed whenever anyone wants access.
It'll also create privacy problems since it's not like data breaches aren't common enough in this day and age. Hell, France just had one where gun owner data was stolen. California's seen plenty of problems with its gun-related databases as well. Colorado is just creating an opportunity for hackers, and anyone with half a brain can see that.
Meanwhile, where do criminals get guns? Mostly from black market sales. Some of those are from what are essentially straw purchases, but rather than buying for a specific person, it's purchased with the intent to sell them to someone who can't lawfully buy one.
Most of them are stolen, though, and many other criminals get their guns from their own thefts, so this electronic nonsense isn't going to stop criminals from getting guns. It's just about raising the everyday costs of firearms and/or putting small retailers out of business. It'll also impact those who mostly handle transfers for people, what some call kitchen table dealers.
Then again, that's probably the point.
