Plan B (continued) by Tom Reynolds
Monday, SCOPE wrote about “Plan B”, the anti-gun left’s strategy to work around the 2nd Amendment with the goal of getting rid of private gun ownership. Specifically, to make the cost of owning a firearm unaffordable for most Americans. But Plan B doesn’t just stop with making firearms unaffordable.
Joe Biden is pushing - and Congressman Adam Schiff has introduced - a bill to repeal the “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act” (PLCAA). The PLCAA, “Prohibits a qualified civil liability action from being brought in any state or federal court against a manufacturer or seller of a firearm, ammunition, or a component of a firearm that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, or against a trade association of such manufacturers or sellers, for damages, punitive damages, injunctive or declaratory relief, abatement, restitution, fines, penalties, or other relief resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a firearm.” (Under PLCAA, you can’t sue a gun manufacturer just because the gun was used in a crime, any more than you can sue a car manufacturer because a car was used in a crime.)
The left is deceptive in their justification for repealing PLCAA. Assemblywoman Pat Fahy, a Democrat from Albany, echoed a common Democrat talking point, “Right now, only one industry in the United States enjoys blanket immunity from civil liability under federal law for negligence in the use of their products; the gun industry." Read her statement closely and it is flatly untrue. This law is not “blanket immunity” against all civil suits, it’s immunity against a very narrow range of civil suits; for instance, gun manufacturers can be sued if they produce a faulty product, just as any other manufacturer could be sued under the same circumstances. PLCAA was passed because the anti-gun left was trying to harass gun manufacturers out of business with nuisance law suits when a gun was used in a crime - and anti-2A judges were allowing it to happen. The cost of defending against hundreds of lawsuits would be prohibitively expensive and drive companies out of business.
There are other back door attempts to circumvent the 2nd Amendment:
HR1004 would require liability insurance to purchase a firearm. We discussed the financial impact of this on Monday in HR127. It should be noted that, thanks to the efforts of Andrew Cuomo, it is very difficult – if not impossible for most people - to get gun related liability insurance in New York State. This law would require insurance that the ordinary gun owner will not be able to purchase in NY State. (That is called “Catch 22”.) Not to mention that it would require having insurance in order to exercise a constitutional right, which sounds … unconstitutional.
HR0647 would prohibit “A Federal firearms licensee from transferring a long gun to a person who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe does not reside in…the State in which the licensee’s place of business is located”. No interstate purchases of long guns. All Cuomo and the NY City Democrats have to do is increase regulations and close down NY gun retailers to the point where there are only a few in NY State, making it extremely difficult to get a long gun.
We also have the issue of the ammunition shortage and its rising prices. It’s difficult to buy enough ammo to maintain proficiency and, as far as self-defense goes, a gun without ammunition is only a club. What is causing the ammo shortage? It’s reasonable that the initial causes of the shortage were factory shutdowns because of the China Virus and the unexpected rise in gun purchases (with related ammo purchases for the gun.) Certainly, many gun owners are buying extra ammunition - when they can get it. Manufacturers claim there is no increase in government ammo purchases causing the shortage. However, it is also being reported that the Pentagon is destroying or using up $1.2 billion in “excess” ammo. (Why not sell it?) Not to promote conspiracy theories but, whatever the cause, the Democrats’ Plan B has gotten an unexpected boost from the ammo shortage and we need to keep watch that they do not further exploit it.
HR0405 would prohibit lead ammunition being used on federal lands. If there is already a shortage of lead ammo, think about how hard it would be to buy non lead ammo.
A7771 was introduced by Democrat Assemblywoman Chantel Jackson (a Sheila Jackson Lee wannabe). Jackson proposes: requiring a person to apply for a hunting license prior to the purchase of a shotgun or rifle; requiring taking a five hour gun safety course and exam; passing a shooting range test with 90% accuracy; providing notarized proof of a passed drug test and mental health evaluation; providing proof of purchase of firearm and ammunition safe storage depositories; and passing a criminal background check.
My dad had a saying, “Ten minutes after a law is passed there are 10,000 lawyers looking for a way around it”. Certainly, that is the case following the Supreme Court decisions of “Heller” and “McDonald”. The above are a few examples of those efforts. The left’s “Holy Grail” is no private gun ownership and they will not let something like the Constitution or the Supreme Court stand in their way.
