by Many in the gun rights community have been coming up with our wish lists now that Donald Trump has been elected President. Given the support from the NRA, other gun rights organizations, and the gun culture was critical in his win, it’s payback time.
Among the things I’ve been hoping for is national concealed carry reciprocity, removal of suppressors from the NFA through passage of the Hearing Protection Act, overturning previous executive orders by Presidents George H. W. Bush and Barack Obama, and the elimination of the sporting use test from the Gun Control Act of 1968. This is in addition to appointing judges and justices that will will uphold and expand Heller and McDonald. Of course that is just a start.
Well it looks like President-elect Trump (has a nice ring to it!) has beat us to the punch on national reciprocity and the elimination of gun free zones on military bases.
From a position paper released today:
GUN AND MAGAZINE BANS. Gun and magazine bans are a total failure. That’s been
proven every time it’s been tried. Opponents of gun rights try to come up with scary
sounding phrases like “assault weapons”, “military-style weapons” and “high capacity
magazines” to confuse people. What they’re really talking about are popular semiautomatic
rifles and standard magazines that are owned by tens of millions of
Americans. Law-abiding people should be allowed to own the firearm of their choice.
The government has no business dictating what types of firearms good, honest people
are allowed to own.
BACKGROUND CHECKS. There has been a national background check system in
place since 1998. Every time a person buys a gun from a federally licensed gun dealer
– which is the overwhelming majority of all gun purchases – they go through a federal
background check. Study after study has shown that very few criminals are stupid
enough to try and pass a background check – they get their guns from friends/family
members or by stealing them. So the overwhelming majority of people who go through
background checks are law-abiding gun owners. When the system was created, gun
owners were promised that it would be instant, accurate and fair. Unfortunately, that
isn’t the case today. Too many states are failing to put criminal and mental health
records into the system – and it should go without saying that a system’s only going to
be as effective as the records that are put into it. What we need to do is fix the system
we have and make it work as intended. What we don’t need to do is expand a broken
system.
NATIONAL RIGHT TO CARRY. The right of self-defense doesn’t stop at the end of
your driveway. That’s why I have a concealed carry permit and why tens of millions of
Americans do too. That permit should be valid in all 50 states. A driver’s license works
in every state, so it’s common sense that a concealed carry permit should work in every
state. If we can do that for driving – which is a privilege, not a right – then surely we can
do that for concealed carry, which is a right, not a privilege.
MILITARY BASES AND RECRUITING CENTERS. Banning our military from carrying
firearms on bases and at recruiting centers is ridiculous. We train our military how to
safely and responsibly use firearms, but our current policies leave them defenseless. To
make America great again, we need a strong military. To have a strong military, we
need to allow them to defend themselves.
The position paper also notes that Trump himself has a concealed carry permit.
This is a great way to end the week!
I don't want 'payback time'. Haven't we had enough of that already? What I want is one who will do, nay, insist, on doing the right thing. By the right thing I mean original intent.
This is a great start and really good to hear. I would have liked to have seen him mention that of the thousands of background checks that have been rejected since '08, virtually none of them have been prosecuted by the Obama regime, but that's a minor nitpick.
Let's hope he comes through with it…
Magazine bans at the Federal level ain't happening. At the state level, they are alive and well. There needs to be prosecutions of state official for conspiracy to deny civil rights.