United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- While all the talk has been on gun bans – particularly in light of the Miller v. Bonta case – but let’s keep in mind that there are many attacks on our Second Amendment rights that could come aside from gun bans. One of the biggest avenues will be efforts to push licensing and registration.
Now, anti-Second Amendment extremists have long wanted licensing and registration. Take a look at statements Lyndon Baines Johnson made on two occasions during the passage and signing of the Gun Control Act of 1968. Already this year, we have covered various licensing and registration schemes, from bad pieces of legislation like the Handgun Purchaser Licensing Act to abominations like the Sabika Sheikh Firearms Licensing and Registration Act.
Falling in between these two bad bills is one from Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), who has introduced HR 3740, the Handgun Licensing and Registration Act of 2021. This bill, while not as intrusive as the Sabika Sheikh Firearms Licensing and Registration Act, still is quite ugly for those who wish to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
Her legislation would impose a federal license – unless a state had already set up its own version. However, it would require the fingerprinting of anyone who wanted to exercise their rights, a photo, and the longest term for the license would be five years. In addition, every handgun gets registered.
Incidentally, there is no provision for carrying firearms. Privacy protections are also non-existent – something that should be kept in mind when one thinks about how well the IRS has protected private tax data. In addition, there is no timeframe for the licensing process, meaning there could be endless waits. Ask Carol Bowne about that process. Being from New Jersey, Coleman cannot pretend that she does not know about what New Jersey’s laws did to Bowne, so it means that she couldn’t care less if others are killed waiting for permission to exercise their Second Amendment rights. There’s a host of other reasons to distrust the Biden-Harris regime with any new powers.
Let’s get one thing straight – the Second Amendment protects an individual right to own firearms.
These licensing schemes, with or without registration, are intended to be a way to reduce the number of people who exercise those rights by creating more and more hoops for people to jump through.
It goes without saying that Second Amendment supporters should contact their Senators and Representative to politely urge that they oppose this legislation. They also need to work to ensure that anti-Second Amendment extremists at the federal, state, and local level are defeated at the ballot box as soon as possible.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
