Hey, I Support Commonsense Gun Laws

The cult of personality known as Giffords is making an effort to get gun owners onboard with their organization. They are calling it Gun Owners for Safety. I think you even get a fancy t-shirt like the one below.

THIS 👏

You can be for the Second Amendment AND for gun safety. It’s not a binary choice. Text GUN OWNER to 34131 to join Giffords #GunOwnersForSafety. pic.twitter.com/Gt060bthOP

— Giffords (@GiffordsCourage) August 20, 2022

I think when you get down to it that I and most of my readers do actually support commonsense gun laws.

Here are some of the commonsense gun laws I could and would support:

Removal of suppressors from the NFA.

Unlike with the Hearing Protection Act, I would make them available over the counter without any Form 4473 or NICS check. Protecting a person’s hearing is about safety which is why OSHA has so many rules for business and industry about hearing protection.

Removal of short barrel rifles and short barrel shotguns from the NFA.

These firearms were included in the NFA only by accident as the original intention was to ban handguns and the Roosevelt Administration wanted to make sure you could not claim your handgun was a rifle. From a safety aspect, it makes use of either more ergonomic within the confines of a home.

Overturning the Hughes Amendment

Modern firearms are made with better materials, can withstand higher pressures, and have more safety features than many of the old firearms. It only makes sense from that standpoint to allow the registration of machine guns made after 1986. While collectors stand to lose some residual value of their existing pre-1986 machine guns, the rest of us would now have access to modern firearms.

Federal tax credit for gun safes and safe rooms

If I can get a tax credit for buying an electric vehicle due to “climate change”, I don’t see why a similar tax credit should not be given for purchasing a gun safe or building a safe room in my house. The gun prohibitionists want “safe storage” laws so make them pay for it. This Federal tax credit would be funded with a 20% excise tax on all donations to any gun control group or related PACs.

Nationwide Reciprocity

This is a no-brainer. If you have a carry permit in your home state or your home state has permitless carry, then all other states would have to recognize your status while carrying in their state. They give full faith and credit to your driver’s license so why not your carry status. Ideally, all states would allow permitless carry but I’ll leave that for another day.

Federal Support for FASTER type programs nationwide

The states of Ohio and Colorado have excellent firearms training programs for teachers and other school personnel. An armed and trained teacher, administrator, custodian, or other school employee is going to be on the scene immediately unlike an outside police force. It should be noted the shooting qualification standards to pass these programs is higher than for sworn law enforcement. Funding to pay for this program would come from shifting money already allocated to support red flag programs in the states to the Department of Education.

Firearms Safety Training for all students

Just as some states have hunter safety training as part of the middle and/or high school curriculum, so too should states implement firearms safety training. The goal would not be to make the student into a shooter but rather to train them how to properly handle a loaded firearm.

I could keep going and going. Feel free to offer your own suggestions on commonsense gun laws in the comments. I’d love to read them.