The National Rifle
Association leadership looks out at Capitol Hill, scanning the new
Republican-controlled Congress, and sees opportunity.
The NRA has declared the
new House and Senate a decidedly pro-Second Amendment Congress and the pro-gun
group’s top priority is the passage of a law that would expand concealed-carry
provisions to the entire nation, regardless of state laws declaring otherwise.
types carrying pistols on the streets in states where concealed-carry is
currently severely restricted.
Gun safety advocates have
to wonder, how long before the push for expansion of concealed-carry might lead
to a federal law allowing another NRA hot-button topic: open-carry provisions
across state lines.
A demonstration of
open-carry rights in Michigan this past week resulted in Lamphere High School
in Madison Heights going into lockdown mode twice after a man loitered outside
with a rifle strapped to his shoulder.
Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act reintroduced last month
by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) would stick to the immediate issue by allowing
people with concealed carry permits in one state to carry their guns into
other states.
Under the new Congress, the debate has shifted from universal background
checks, with a flurry of bills going down to defeat after the 2012 Newtown
school massacre – despite overwhelming public support – to a push for more
deadly weaponry.
NRA flexed its muscle this past week, pressuring the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to shelve a plan that would have prohibited the
sale of certain types of armor-piercing bullets used in high-powered AR-15
rifles.
The NRA and other gun groups stepped forward with an aggressive misinformation
campaign that led the ATF to back down.
The ATF bullet ban proposed in February was pulled back Tuesday after the
agency was overwhelmed with nearly 90,000 public comments, the “vast
majority” of which were negative, officials said.
The move angered congressional Democrats and gun control advocates, who
responded with appeals urging the agency to revive the proposal.
would a civilian need to walk the streets with a handgun chambered with
military-grade, armor-piercing ammunition?’” asked Jonathan Hutson, a spokesman
for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
traditionally been used in AR-15 “hunting rifles,” but can also be fired from handguns.
The ATF retreat came despite a federal law passed nearly 30 years ago, during
the Reagan administration, which banned armor piercing bullets for the public.
The reason for that statute was obvious: these bullets are a danger to police
because they can pierce body armor and are more easily concealed by criminals
in handguns.
As for the outrage
expressed by gun enthusiasts that said the proposed ban was the first step by
the Obama administration to render AR-15s useless, the ATF pointed out
there are no fewer than 168 other types of bullets that would still be allowed
for use in AR-15 rifles.
The NRA may have also
scored another subtle victory in this process. Quite a few news reports about the proposed
bullet ban have routinely referred to the AR-15, a menacing rifle styled after
military weaponry, as “AR-15
hunting rifles.”
Where did that language
come from? One of the most effective arguments put forward by gun control
groups in arguing for a ban on assault weapons and semi-automatic assault-style
weapons, such as the highly popular AR-15, was that many hunters and
outdoorsmen have said they see no purpose in using this type of heavy weaponry
for hunting.
“AR-15 hunting rifles” a common phrase across America, they will have succeeded
beyond all expectations.
