United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- The State Department recently announced it will be denying approval for applications to import firearms and ammunition from Russia. In a release, NRA-ILA has called the ban an “overreach by President Biden on his crusade against law-abiding American gun owners” and has vowed to review “all political, legislative, and legal options to fight this new policy.”
Let’s be very clear: The track records of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Second Amendment issues are so that that there is no rational basis to give this move by the Biden-Harris regime any benefit of the doubt. This import ban, like other import bans that stem from either statutory or legislative action (including the “sporting purposes” test and the “point system” for handguns), is an assault on the Second Amendment.
This is a big deal because often, imported firearms can be much more affordable than those manufactured domestically. In fact, affordable firearms, particularly affordable handguns, have often been targets of anti-Second Amendment extremists, as NRA-ILA has documented.
Let’s face it, the present situation in places like Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia, and other big cities is practically crying for the people caught in the worst parts of those cities to have affordable self-defense tools available. Second Amendment supporters can argue the relative merits of a Glock 19 versus Springfield Armory’s XDM in 9mm, and that debate will be probably more intractable than the attacks on our freedoms carried out by the anti-Second Amendment extremists.
In addition, there is a good case to be made that a strong domestic firearm and ammunition industry is important, and not just on Second Amendment grounds, but also on the grounds of national security. It should also be noted that Russia and China are places that do not exactly respect the full panoply of human rights. Those two countries are also undeniably geopolitical foes of the United States.
That being said, the fact of the matter is that a cheap Easter European semiauto pistol (say a Makarov) that a person can afford does far more for their personal protection than another pistol that someone is saving up to buy. This is not to denigrate companies like Hi-Point and Phoenix Arms, which make affordable semi-automatic firearms in the United States, but there has been a long history of importing firearms for lawful purposes, including self-defense. But do we want to have imported firearms undercut domestic firearms manufacturers? But do we want to wipe out ways for those on very limited budgets to protect themselves? These are questions that Second Amendment supporters will have to address, one way or the other.
Here’s the bottom line: The Second Amendment does not only apply to those firearms produced in the United States, it also applies to imported firearms as well. Not all questions surrounding Second Amendment issues have clear answers, though. With that being said, Second Amendment supporters can and should make informed decisions as to what imported firearms they buy. In addition, they should work to defeat anti-Second Amendment extremists in federal, state, and local offices via 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.