COMING FOR GRAMPA'S SHOTGUN

A local state representative by the name of Steve Santarsiero has promised to introduced legislation mandating background checks via a federally licensed firearm dealer for all firearms purchases in Pennsylvania.  I can hear all the cows lowing their agreement this this seemingly recondite measure.

As in so many other steps in the drive to disarm the public, this bill will be a restraint in search of a problem.  Why?  Pennsylvania already prohibits personal transfer of handguns except through gun dealers using background checks.  As everyone knows, handguns account for the vast majority of criminal gun use in PA and around the country.

Therefore, the sole effect of this proposed law will be to inconvenience long gun owners.  Is this the assemblyman's herd loyalty to his parties hatred for traditional American culture?  How else to explain his willingness to impose a cost on the age old ritual of handing down hunting rifles and shotguns from one generation to another.  What is the overriding interest of the state in my desire to trade my goose gun for a varmint rifle?  Is society less safe after I sell my grandfathers rifle to a collector?  Of course not.  But liberals will feel like they have done something.  And if we let them, they will be doing that something to the rest of us.

The President recently said that American gun owners are under an illusion that he and his party want to disarm the public.  As usual, he blames the NRA for spreading this illusion.  But as we can see from the above proposed legislation, there is no illusion.  The instinct of the left in America is to restrict second amendment rights where ever possible, with or without any no nexus with crime prevention.

Perhaps the Assemblyman would reply that so called assault rifles would also be covered.  Fair point, but these weapons are used in such a tiny number of crimes that to inconvenience so many for such a pointless exercise just reinforces the impression that the drive is to restrict our rights. These military style rifles (carbines really) are so common among shooters now that there is simply no way of tracking them in any event.

This last point is also important. The drive to disarm the country by the left is carried on under such a cloud of ignorance that the meddlers don't even have a very good grasp of what they are doing. Senator Feinstein and others have displayed their ignorance of firearms technology so many times as to be confidence proof.  Like the above mentioned proto-law, the iron law of unintended consequences gives way to that of titanium.