Gun Control Humor?

Ongoing efforts to impose “gun control” on law-abiding Americans are not funny.

However, there is a touch of ridiculous humor in some of the legislation proposed by liberals and anti-gunners to gut the Second Amendment.

Bearing Arms reported on a new U.S. House bill.

Literally named the “Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act of 2023,” the measure was filed in Congress by U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, a New Jersey Democrat. For reference, Coleman was endorsed for office last fall by national anti-gun groups including billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown organization.

“The Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act is one step in the right direction to slowing the proliferation of guns and ammunition,” Watson Coleman said in a statement. Controlling ammo supply for purchase indeed would make sense to anti-gunners.

The proposal would establish the licensing of ammunition dealers who then would be required to confirm the identity of customers seeking to purchase ammo by verifying a valid photo I.D. in person. As such, it would place a prohibition on the current widespread practice of buying ammo online and having it shipped directly to the customer’s door.

These licensed vendors also would have to report any ammo sale totaling 1,000 rounds or more. As some Gun Talk readers know, California already has gone this way, requiring anyone in the state attempting to buy ammo online to have it shipped to a FFL dealer, and pay that dealer a fee for processing the transaction along with a background check.

Fortunately, the House has a Republican majority now, so this “Sales Act” bill should die quickly, but with any gun-control advocacy, we always should expect the unexpected. As an example, take a look at the ongoing anti-Second Amendment legislation in Minnesota.

Bearing Arms noted that gun owners in Minnesota soon may have to submit to psychological and physical examinations before they’re able to lawfully purchase a firearm, at least if the sponsors of SF 1723 get their way. That bill has a long list of restrictions on firearms.

The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus describes the new legislation as something that “essentially repeals” the right to keep and bear arms in the state by imposing new regulations and restrictions on almost every aspect of the right to keep and bear arms.

On a lighter note in the U.S. House, the AR-15 could be the national gun of the U.S. in a bill that Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL) introduced, describing it as a counterattack to gun control.

American Military News reported, “If a specific firearm is synonymous with the term ‘Americana,’ then it would be the AR-15,” Moore said while announcing the bill at an Alabama gun shop.

He said the bill would send an important “message that we will meet every attack on any of our constitutional rights. Second Amendment rights are worth protecting and must not be infringed,” he said.

I doubt there will be much more news about this bill, that does have other Republican cosponsors. Moore correctly added that, “One rule to remember: any government that would take away one right would take away them all.”

Sadly, gun-control efforts focus on firearms causing crime and violence, not criminals. States with some of the most restrictive gun laws, such as Illinois, testify with grim statistics as to how ineffective those laws are in “controlling” criminals who use firearms.

Ammoland wrote that Democrats are continuing to push their war on guns—unveiling their four-bill agenda in Colorado as they have done in Michigan, Minnesota, Washington and elsewhere.  An even bigger fight is brewing between Chicago and Atlanta—both run by Democrats—over which city will be safer to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

The convention battle is heating up “with a new claim from Illinois that Georgia’s lenient open-carry gun laws — already an issue with several public events in Atlanta — could make security a nightmare.” Georgia approved Constitutional carry in April 2022, so perhaps another issue?

If we look at the numbers. Atlanta reported 170 homicides in 2022, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said. While that number is alarming, it doesn’t come close to Chicago’s body count last year, and Illinois Democrats know it. As reported by station WTTW, Chicago police data says there were 695 murders during calendar year 2022.

I suppose four times the murder rate in Chicago is an Illinois definition of “safety.” There somehow has to be some “gun control” humor here.  Does “seek and ye shall find” apply?

In our efforts to Stay safe, be prepared, humor, if indeed there is any, is hard to uncover in attacks on our Constitutional rights. ~ Mike

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Mike Sampson
Mike now calls Northwestern Arkansas home, but has lived and worked in several states and internationally. He has been an independent contractor and consultant since 2006 specializing in risk management, emergency management and training. In addition to work as a law-enforcement planner and technical writer with the Boise, Idaho, Police Department, he has experience in journalism, crop and animal agriculture, dryland farming for 20 years in western Kansas, plant and animal diseases, pandemic influenza, agroterrorism, bioterrorism, food safety and healthcare marketing.

He has a journalism degree from the University of Missouri and has newspaper and agency writing and editing experience. At Washington State University in Pullman, he earned a master’s degree emphasizing adult education and communications.

While living in Lander, WY, Mike provided photographic coverage of the One-Shot Antelope Hunt for three years, and got to meet and accompany folks such as Chuck Yeager, Carroll Shelby, Buzz Aldrin, Dale Robertson and Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf on their hunts. He also worked as an outfitter’s guide.

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