NRA Applauds Introduction of Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act
The National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) applauds the introduction of H.R. 3668, the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act. Introduced by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), the bill will reduce burdensome regulations on America’s sportsmen, enhance access to public lands and simplify the purchasing process for firearm suppressors.
“The SHARE Act is critical legislation that will protect America’s hunters and recreational shooters and help preserve our outdoor heritage,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director, NRA-ILA. “This bill contains many important reforms to federal law that will remove unnecessary restrictions on our Second Amendment freedoms and hunting heritage.”
A key aspect of the bill is the Hearing Protection Act (HPA), which would eliminate burdensome and expensive regulations on suppressors. In addition, the bill would ensure greater protections for carrying lawfully-possessed firearms on land managed by the Army Corps of Engineers; require public lands management plans to facilitate hunting, fishing and recreational shooting; reform the outdated “sporting purposes test” that currently muddies federal gun control law regarding the importation of rifles and shotguns; and make critical reforms to the interstate transportation provisions of the Firearm Owner’s Protection Act (FOPA).
“On behalf of America’s gun owners and sportsmen, I would like to thank Rep. Duncan for introducing this important legislation. All Americans deserve access to our rich outdoor heritage and the tools that help making hunting and shooting safer,” concluded Cox.
ATF Releases 2017 Report on Firearms Commerce in the U.S.
California Ranks No. 2 in the Most NFA Registered Weapons
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) recently released the Firearms Commerce in the United States – Annual Statistical Update 2017. The report provides comparative data from as far back as 1986 for context, analyses of firearms manufacturing trends over the years, and a broad picture of the state of firearms commerce in the United States today.
The data in the 2017 report shows an estimated 43 percent increase in firearms manufacturing in the U.S. within the last five years. In 2015, the number of firearms manufactured grew to more than 9.3 million, up from the approximate 6.5 million firearms manufactured in 2011. The most recent available firearm manufacturing statistics are through calendar year 2015.
Rifles made up the bulk of the firearms manufactured at 3.6 million in 2015. Pistols were a close second at 3.5 million. The number of rifles manufactured increased 9 percent from the previous year and the number of pistols decreased slightly by approximately 2 percent.
Updated firearms import and export data is included in the report. Import data is updated through 2016 and export data through 2015. In 2016, more than 5.1 million firearms were imported into the United States showing a 30 percent increase since 2015.
The most recent export statistics show more than 343,000 firearms (an 18 percent decrease from the previous year) were exported worldwide.
The commerce report includes a state-by-state breakdown of the National Firearm Act (NFA) tax revenue information. NFA is also referred to as Title II of the federal firearms laws and was first enacted in 1934. Continue reading
Guess Which Country Just Helped Illustrate the Absurdity of US Suppressor Laws?
TN Man Convicted of Smuggling Suppressors into US Thanks to Lighter Regulation in… England(!?)
Well, this is embarrassing, as far as firearm freedoms go. It’s like having to admit that your Bugatti Veyron got beat around the track by the neighbor kid’s 1989 Honda CRX. Isn’t America supposed to be the bastion of gun rights (or, as anti-gun groups would have you believe, a violent wild west frontier straight from the bloodiest shoot-em-up flick you can find)?
Most proponents of an originalist (or any other common sense) interpretation of the United States Constitution and Bill of rights probably already feel that firearms are too heavily regulated in the US, and none are more highly regulated than Title II weapons that fall under the purview of the National Firearms Act, such as machine guns, silencers, short barreled firearms, and destructive devices. Such items are flat out illegal in a number of states and, where they are legal, ownership involves a number of hurdles, including high prices, payment of a $200 transfer tax, being finger-printed, wait times lasting the better part of a year, and federal registration of the item. “But hey, at least we don’t have European-style gun control, right?”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) recently released details of the conviction of a Tennessee man who traveled to England, where some may be surprised to find less restrictive laws, to purchase firearm silencers and smuggle them back into the US, presumably because the draconian laws in place here made them too difficult to obtain. Continue reading
Leaked BATFE White Paper Shows Senior Admin’s Position on Relaxed Regulations
The ATF’s associate deputy director, Ronald Turk – second in charge only to acting director Thomas Brandon – recently penned an internal white paper which was leaked to several media outlets, including the Washington Post, who published the letter this week.
In the letter, Turk makes a number of proposals, mainly expressing support for reducing firearms regulations by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE).
The white paper includes 16 “Points of Discussion,” including expanding licensing of “kitchen table FFLs” without a brick-and-mortar storefront, moving forward with approval for new manufacture of armor piercing ammunition, allowing interstate sales of firearms by FFLs at gun shows, expanding the permitted use of the NICS background check system by FFLS, and providing clarification on several demand letters.
Likely of more interest to many gun owners are several other suggestions that may have a more immediate impact on their firearms collections and uses.
Faux Automatic: Rapid Fire Without a Machine Gun
Before heading to SHOT Show this year, I consulted with a few other female shooters that I know to ask what they were hoping to see new this year. In general, I was surprised to find that they were actually in the same KISS school of thought that I am: something that works well, works consistently, and is not difficult to understand how it works. One thing that did surprise me was more interest in fully automatic firearms than I had expected. I have been fortunate in that I have had the opportunity, on more than one occasion, to shoot automatic weapons. If you have not experienced full-auto mag dumps yourself, to be completely honest, it is even more fun than it looks.
Fully-automatic weapons, or machine guns, are regulated under the National Firearms Act (NFA). The law basically says that the only legal machine guns for civilians are the ones that were lawfully possessed prior to May 19, 1986 and those require payment of a $200 transfer tax, lengthy approval process, and federal registration in the NFRTR. This makes for a very limited supply of weapons that are in circulation, which – as we learned about supply and demand in Economics 101 – drives the price sky high – often into the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Unless you either join the military or have some pretty cool friends, you may not get the opportunity to shoot a machine gun.
However, a shooter and their ammo (ergo, their money) are easily parted and the firearms industry has come up with some innovative ways to turn a pocket full of money into a hot, smoking pile of spent brass. Thanks to that innovation, there are some legal ways to simulate full-auto firing power. Continue reading
Firearms Industry Group Backs Sessions for AG
Firearms industry group National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has released a statement backing President-Elect Donald Trump’s pick for Attorney General.
The trade association for the firearms, ammunition and related industries, today expressed its strong support for the nomination of the U.S. Senator from Alabama as the 84th Attorney General of the United States.
“During the last eight years, through numerous attacks on our Second Amendment liberties, Senator Sessions has worked tirelessly to protect the rights of law-abiding citizens, including through his staunch support of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.” said Lawrence Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel. “We are confident that with Senator Sessions as the top law enforcement officer in the nation that our public will be safer, that criminals will be taken off the streets, that justice will be served, law enforcement priorities will take precedence over politics and the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans will be respected.”
Frankly, we here at GunLink are just excited to see someone other than anti-gun Eric Holder or Loretta Lynch filling the roll, whose duties as the head of the United States Department of justice include being at the helm of the BATFE.
