Is gun owner licensing and firearm registration coming to America?
If Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) gets her way, the answer is unequivocally YES, and she’ll ban .50 calibre ammunition, US standard-capacity magazines and a wide swath of semi-automatic firearms while she’s at it.
On January 4, 2021, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) introduced H.R. 127 – gratuitously titled the “Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act” – which will, if passed, establish a licensing system for all firearm owners before they can possess firearms or ammunition, as well as force those gun owners to register all their firearms.
For good measure, H.R. 127 would also prohibit the possession of certain ammunition and magazines.
- Section 3 (a) (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess ammunition that is 0.50 caliber or greater.
- Section 3 (a) (2) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess a large capacity ammunition feeding device.
National Shooting Sports Foundation Public Affairs Director Mark Oliva called the move a ‘tremendous blunder.’
“A national firearm registry is against federal law. Even Rep. Jackson-Lee’s home state of Texas refuses to consider a registry because of the Orwellian gun control incursions on Second Amendment rights. An examination of the bloated and expensive failure of Canada’s attempt at a national registry demonstrates the tremendous blunder this would be.”
Alan Gottlieb, Chairman of the Citizens Committee For The Right To Keep And Bear Arms (CCRKBA), called the bill an ‘abomination’.
“Over the years we’ve seen some astonishingly bad legislation originate on Capitol Hill, but this one takes the term ‘abomination’ to an entirely new level. One look at this bill and you wonder whether Congresswoman Jackson Lee ever heard of the Bill of Rights, which includes the Second Amendment.
“H.R. 127 is a constitutionally-challenged monstrosity. It ignores the fact that the Second Amendment protects a fundamental right to keep and bear arms, not some strictly-regulated government privilege. Government cannot require a psychological evaluation to exercise a right enumerated in the Constitution.”
I can’t imagine how this abomination could become law in America, let alone pass a constitutional challenge in the unlikely event it does.
Then again, I never believed North America would willingly surrender so many of our precious rights and freedoms because of a bad flu season either.
Bottom Line?
Our American friends could be in for some even darker days ahead.
Violation of Privacy Rights
Should H.R. 127 become law, gun owners can kiss their privacy rights goodbye, as this firearm owner licensing and gun registration database would be, by law, publicly accessible.
932 (b)(3) The Attorney General shall make the contents of the database accessible to all members of the public, all Federal, State, and local law enforcement authorities, all branches of the United States Armed Forces, and all State and local governments, as defined by the Bureau.
Mandatory Psych Eval and Liability Insurance
In order to be granted permission to possess firearms and ammunition (a firearms licence), American gun owners would be required to be:
- 21 years old
- pass a National Instant Criminal Background Check
- Undergo and pass a psychological evaluation
- pay $800 for government-issued firearm insurance “that insures the person against liability for losses and damages resulting from the use of any firearm by the person during the 1-year period that begins with the date the policy is issued.”
The devil is in the details, as we’re so often reminded, and the psych eval mandated by this bill is no different. Your psych evaluation would only be valid if:
- the evaluation is conducted in compliance with such standards as shall be established by the Attorney General;
- the evaluation is conducted by a licensed psychologist approved by the Attorney General;
- as deemed necessary by the licensed psychologist involved, the evaluation included a psychological evaluation of other members of the household in which the individual resides; and
- as part of the psychological evaluation, the licensed psychologist interviewed any spouse of the individual, any former spouse of the individual, and at least 2 other persons who are a member of the family of, or an associate of, the individual to further determine the state of the mental, emotional, and relational stability of the individual in relation to firearms.
Government defines the test. Government approves the ‘evaluator’. Government-approved evaluators interview your spouse, past spouse and ‘at least’ two others before rendering their verdict.
How would any of this survive a court challenge given the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment basically outlaws all of it?
The Uglier Details
H.R. 127 defines “large capacity magazine” as:
- “The term ‘large capacity ammunition feeding device’ means a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device that has a capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition, but does not include an attached tubular device designed to accept, and capable of operating only with, .22 caliber rimfire ammunition.”
The penalties contained in this bill are severe.
- “(11) (A) Whoever knowingly violates section 922(dd)(1) shall be fined not less than $50,000 and not more than $100,000, imprisoned not less than 10 years and not more than 20 years, or both.
- “(B) Whoever knowingly violates section 922(dd)(2) shall be fined not less than $10,000 and not more than $25,000, imprisoned not less than 1 year and not more than 5 years, or both.”
Callie McHardy says
Although we deal with idiocy & irrational thinking on an ongoing basis, it still shocks me how many idiots are out there. Perhaps I’m one of them if I’m still being shocked. ?
Christopher di Armani says
LOL I hear you, Callie. Some days I feel the same.
Terry close says
For the next two years until hopefully the republicans take back house or senate or both the states are in for a real shit storm. If turdeau gets back in North America could be finished.
Lynn Cournoyer says
Maybe they should apply all these rules to politicians before they are allowed to run for office. Do a psychological evaluation on them to see if they are fit to run for office. Something tells me a lot would fail. Could be an uprising in Texas,
Gerry Kirkham. says
Hi Christopher, I read the whole thing when it was issued around the latter part of January. My thoughts at the time were that any bill this involved and this well laid out, would take months at least, to be created, so this was on a shelf somewhere waiting for the Biden fraudulent win. One correction I note (I think) is that the $800 fee is for the annual license. The forced mandated annual insurance is extra and separate.
I honestly cannot see this ever passing and becoming law, however, the tactic is always the same, a big grab attempt at changing firearms law, so that even if they only advance their agenda with 10 or 15 percent of it, they have gained another step forward. For now, probably ammunition and capacity controls, another nail in the coffin of firearms ownership.
I think the current liberal government here in Canada uses the similar tactics. That aside, this has never been about firearms safety, it’s about control, you cannot control or coerce an armed citizenry, and without that control they cannot advance the grand socialist agenda.
We also need to remember it’s not about us, they don’t care one whit about us, it’s about them and their corrupted quest for power and greed. It’s about money and control, it always has been, and as long as they can get theirs, we can all go fly a kite.
Christopher di Armani says
So true, Gerry. If this was about public safety, Bill Blair would fix our broken Firearm Prohibition Order system. But he won’t because, as you point out, it’s about control and power and nothing else. They sicken me.
Arie Intveld says
I can think of at least 75 million American patriots who might take tactical exception to H.R. 127, if necessary. Is Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) inciting a civil war? If so, that is the very definition of sedition.
Gun-grabbing goes hand-in-hand with egregious, cowardly governmental policies. The only way the elites can enact these policies is at the end of a gun. They rather that you not have the ability to shoot back. Elites are too cowardly to ever venture out onto a level playing field.
H.R. 127, and the national firearm registry it calls for, has been authored by sociopaths, and it shows. If H.R. 127 is enacted, the new American national firearms registry database will be PUBLIC DOMAIN. Are you insane? Yeah … rhetorical question, I know.
Wouldn’t it be far more expedient to provide the name/address/firearm inventory of every American gun owner directly to BLM, Antifa, Extinction Rebellion and the gangbangers? Here’s where all the guns are stashed … now you kids go ’em.
“The society that separates scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.” ~Thucydides