We all knew it was only a matter of time before the Biden administration would move to crack down on gun owners. But it came quicker than many expected. With Biden’s announcement yesterday of new actions to restrict gun ownership, he has already done more than President Obama did to harm gun owners, and will likely easily surpass the damage done by President Trump’s ill thought out bump stock ban.
There are two key items of concern for gun owners that will impact them within the next few months, both related to Biden’s new executive orders. Both of them will negatively affect millions of gun owners throughout the country.
The first executive order Biden plans to introduce would instruct the Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue a rule within 30 days to limit or prohibit access to so-called “ghost guns.” What this really means is that the Biden administration wants to crack down on Americans’ ability to build their own firearms.
Building firearms at home has been an American custom, but its recent popularity grew out of the draconian restrictions imposed by the 1994 assault weapons ban. With commercial options limited, and spare parts kits flowing cheaply from Europe in the aftermath of the Cold War, American gun owners and enthusiasts were able to build semi-automatic AK-pattern and FAL rifles at insanely low prices. Parts kits could be had for under $100, and receiver flats for AKs were $20 or less. For $150 plus the price of tooling, you could build yourself a replica Warsaw Pact AK.
Eventually the craze spread to the AR-15 world, and with the development of “80%” receivers, i.e. receivers that weren’t legally considered firearms because they required significant amounts of final machining by the end user in order to fit a fire control group and fire a cartridge, home-built firearms took off in popularity.
Today you can build Glock-type pistols, 1911-style pistols, AR-15 rifles, FAL rifles, AKM-pattern rifles, and dozens of others with readily available parts and tools. Home building of firearms has become a hobby for thousands of shooters, giving them the opportunity to learn vital machining skills and providing them with another outlet for their time along with a useful and rewarding hobby.
Successive gun control efforts such as ATF’s “barrel ban” in 2005 have forced home builders to become even more skilled at home building. And with the prospect of a federal ban on 80% receivers, more enthusiasts are beginning to learn 3D printing and build CNC routers such as the Ghost Gunner in order to further defy the government’s attempts to ban their right to build guns at home.
The devil will be in the details on this executive order, whether it treats 80% receivers as firearms outright, or if it merely bans the sale of firearms build kits, in which 80% receivers, parts,and tools are packaged together. Either way, gun owners are going to get shafted.
The other executive order Biden plans to issue will direct DOJ to determine whether firearms equipped with pistol braces can be considered short-barreled rifles (SBRs) and thus subject to registration under the National Firearms Act. This is another one that could harm millions of gun owners who have thus far complied with firearms laws and could now see their pistols unilaterally declared to be contraband SBRs.
Rifle-caliber pistols have become incredibly popular in recent years. While they may have disadvantages in not being equipped with a buttstock, their portability and ease of travel across state lines have made them very popular with many shooters and hunters. Losing the ability to build or possess braced pistols would be a major blow to the 2nd Amendment.
It’s important to remember that these are just the first of what could be many executive orders that target gun ownership. God only knows just what other actions Biden has up his sleeve, but don’t be surprised to see some of the most draconian proposals in decades proposed by Biden. The left’s disdain for anyone who disagrees with them is no longer hidden, it’s out in the open, and the left wants to ensure that its opposition is disarmed.
There’s no more give and take when it comes to gun control, everything that Biden proposes from here on out will be take, take, take. And once these actions are taken, we won’t be getting those rights back. We’re playing for keeps this time, and gun owners need to recognize that. Sitting back and remaining apathetic won’t cut it. If you want to retain your right to keep and bear arms, you need to do everything in your power to fight Biden’s unconstitutional gun grabs.
