What’s in Biden’s Scheme?
Let’s take the tenets one at a time and we’ll see if Harris has to break any tie votes in the Senate.
“The Justice Department, within 30 days, will issue a proposed rule to help stop the proliferation of ‘ghost guns.’ We are experiencing a growing problem: criminals are buying kits containing nearly all of the components and directions for finishing a firearm within as little as 30 minutes and using these firearms to commit crimes. When these firearms turn up at crime scenes, they often cannot be traced by law enforcement due to the lack of a serial number. The Justice Department will issue a proposed rule to help stop the proliferation of these firearms.”
No “ghost gun” was used in Boulder, Atlanta or Las Vegas, or any other high-profile mass shooting in recent memory. Criminals don’t buy kits to build crime guns. According to several gun rights activists and various research, criminals acquire working guns via illicit means, including driving vehicles through the doors of gun shops and grabbing every firearm they can carry before speeding away. Biden-Harris appear determined to eliminate the time-honored tradition of home gunsmithing with this action.
“The Justice Department, within 60 days, will issue a proposed rule to make clear when a device marketed as a stabilizing brace effectively turns a pistol into a short-barreled rifle (SBR) subject to the requirements of the National Firearms Act. The alleged shooter in the Boulder tragedy last month appears to have used a pistol with an arm brace, which can make a firearm more stable and accurate while still being concealable.”
Braces for AR15-type pistols have been used by disabled shooters and others, legitimately, since they were first introduced. Insider knows of only two shooting incidents in which such a device was used: Dayton in 2019 and Boulder last month.
Some people may use them like a shoulder stock, but that’s not what the brace was designed for, and shooters who do it may be pushing a legal line. This “proposed rule” is carefully worded to “make clear” when the brace turns a pistol into an SBR; that is, when how it is used makes that sudden leap.
If someone doesn’t use the stabilizing brace in a way for which it was not designed, then no harm, no foul — presumably. But don’t count on it. Anti-gunners like to paint with a broad brush.
“The Justice Department, within 60 days, will publish model “red flag” legislation for states. Red flag laws allow family members or law enforcement to petition for a court order temporarily barring people in crisis from accessing firearms if they present a danger to themselves or others. The President urges Congress to pass an appropriate national “red flag” law, as well as legislation incentivizing states to pass “red flag” laws of their own. In the interim, the Justice Department’s published model legislation will make it easier for states that want to adopt red flag laws to do so.”
Two major concerns surfaced immediately, and they’re the same arguments against adoption of such laws by state legislatures. Critics assert red flag laws are allegedly ripe for abuse by angry ex-intimate partners, rotten neighbors and battling siblings. There is also worry about “due process.” The argument has merit, as nobody’s rights should be lost without due process.