H R 4676

On July 23rd, proposed bill HR4676 (the Modern Firearms Safety Act) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and referred to its Judiciary Committee.

The bill’s official summary of purpose reads: “To prohibit the imposition of requirements that handguns have certain features generally absent from firearms in common use, and to restore the civil and natural rights of Americans in States hostile to liberty, and for other purposes.“

“States hostile to liberty” sounds like it is describing New York State!  (And California, Massachusetts, Illinois, etc.)

HR4676 would preempt any requirements that exceed those imposed by Federal statute.  It would make it illegal for any state or political subdivision to pass a law or regulation which mandates: “any design feature, functionality, safety mechanism, or performance standard that is not required by Federal statute.”  (Emphasis added.) 

It won’t stop NY State from passing these laws but they would be immediately voided by any reasonable court since the wording is very clear.

In particular this law would ban state laws requiring microstamping, among other things.  (Microstamping is not required by federal law.)

Why is this law necessary?  The bill explains: “State and local governmental requirements for handgun design that mandate features not ordinarily present on the affected models:

limit the selection of handguns available to law-abiding citizens in these jurisdictions;

artificially inflate the price of constitutionally protected arms;

present safety concerns by altering the intended design and function of the affected models;

violate the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States;

pose an unacceptable restraint on interstate commerce.“

That last comment is necessary since Congress – not the states - regulates interstate commerce.  This should prevent any challenges based on the 10th Amendment.  

As usual, any proposed bill that is good for 2A has Claudia Tenney as a cosponsor and this one is especially good for New York gun owners.

We are done playing defense and this bill definitely puts us on the offense and is well worth your time in contacting your Representative and encouraging their support of it.