Perceptions About the New Gun Control Laws | Peter Palivos, Attorney

The topic of gun control is a heavily-debated issue on both sides of the political spectrum. Depending on how a person chooses their information, they might only hear one side of the measures being taken to keep people safe while also protecting their rights.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is a conservative-leaning organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in the firearms industry. The organization has more than 8,000 members consisting of firearm manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, as well as owners of shooting ranges and sportsmen’s clubs. They have been very verbal recently about potential changes coming in 2021 in the campaign on gun control. Among these are a hypothesized expansive tax and gun ban scheme that could affect roughly 150 million ammunition magazines as well as 20 million rifles. According to an analysis performed by the conservative political site, the Washington Free Beacon, the tax portion of the proposal could cost upwards of $34 billion. All of this is speculation from a conservative perspective.

According to these ring-wing media sources, Joe Biden has signaled an interest in banning sales of AR-15s, among other types of firearms, and halting the sale of ammunition magazines capable of containing more than 10 rounds. This is not confirmed. Conservatives believe that the plan also provides for the possibility of paying individuals to surrender guns they already lawfully own and mandate registration of any guns that are not turned over pursuant to the initiative. In actuality, the voluntary gun buyback programs have been around since the 1990s and they allow gun owners to opt for trading in their firearms in exchange for vouchers that can be redeemed for cash or other items of value, such as tickets to sporting events.

The main issue is how to protect the right of Americans while also the responsibilities. The Bill of Rights was written expressly for that reason, to remind people that there can be no rights without responsibility. Regardless of the plan that will be put forth in the coming year, history dictates that it seems certain that it will face significant opposition from Republicans. Given the current political divide characterizing much of the country, the road to imposing additional gun control measures on a federal level is sure to be fraught with obstacles.

Originally published at https://peterpalivos.org.