Dear Conservative,
The Second Amendment is as American as apple pie. Throughout our history, the gun has been essential in making America what it is today. From winning our independence to winning the West, from providing food for the family to providing personal protection in a dangerous world... Guns are part of the fabric of this country.
Another American staple is the gifting of firearms. Every year, family members purchase firearms for their relatives. Friends give guns to one another. Hell, even U.S. Presidents have received guns as gifts from foreign dignitaries. Whether it is a father giving a child their first gun or the other way around, this happens almost every day.
Well, now the Supreme Court has made every single one of these gift-givers instant felons! A divided Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 that it is illegal for an individual to buy a gun with the express purpose of giving or selling it to someone else, even if both people are allowed to own guns!
In the case, Abramski v. United States, petitioner Bruce Abramski was charged after buying a gun and then selling it to a family member. Since Abramski was law enforcement, he received a discount on purchasing any Glock handgun. He bought the gun so his uncle wouldn't have to pay full price. Dishonest, yes, but there shouldn't be anything illegal about that.
Normally, you have to have to be licensed to deal in firearms, but the law allows citizens to sell their personally owned guns every now and then. Abramski claims that he owned a pistol and then decided to sell it to his uncle.
Gun control groups, on the other hand, like to call what Abramski did a "straw purchase." However, in Abramski's case, both he and his uncle were legally allowed to own a firearm. A straw purchase has always referred to an individual purchasing a firearm for someone else who wouldn't be able to pass the mandatory background check. Felons hire "straw purchasers" to buy the guns and pass the background checks instead of them.
It has always been illegal to buy a gun for someone who wasn't allowed to own one. But police have rarely extended this prohibition to family members and friends buying guns for one another. That is, until the Obama administration came into office. The White House is going after these "gifts" because it prevents the government from knowing who has a gun and who doesn't!
The result of this ruling is absolutely staggering. If fully enforced, parents may no longer be able to buy and gift firearms to their children. No more teaching children how to responsibly use firearms... No more giving grandpa a rifle in honor of his military service... The only way to get a gun in Obama's America is to buy it yourself and let the government keep a record of it!
This is why Obama reignited his push for universal background checks last week. When it is illegal to give guns as gifts to friends and neighbors, and every firearm transfer must have a background check performed, that gives the government the complete ability to track gun ownership!
A universal background check is nothing but a synonym for gun registration. The only way to ensure that a firearm transfer was done correctly, if Obama is able to change the laws how he wants, would be to maintain a registry of all gun purchases/sales. Otherwise, everyone could just claim that they performed a background check, even if they didn't. That is why gun owners are so staunchly against mandatory background checks, because they require a gun registry to be enforceable. The stupidity of this ruling means that if you buy a gun and figure out you don't like it after a day, you can sell it to friends or family members without a problem. But if you buy a gun just to give to your family/friends, then you're all of a sudden a felon.
Make no mistake... Monday's Supreme Court ruling is about more than just prohibiting the gifting of firearms. It eliminates one of the few ways for people to legally buy a gun without letting Uncle Sam know about it!
There are plenty of lawful reasons to buy a gun for someone else and it is NONE of the government's business when this lawful exchange happens! Yet, the Supreme Court's ruling in Abramski now eliminates the ability to legally buy a firearm for someone else!
This isn't about stopping crimes. This is about ensuring that the government can track everyone who purchases a firearm!
Congress must amend the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (deceptive name, huh?) to protect the rights of family members and friends to buy guns for one another. Unless we force Congress to act NOW, then this Supreme Court ruling will become the law of the land!
We cannot allow the Liberal Supreme Court Justices to ban the gifting of firearms!
Sincerely,
Joe Otto
Conservative Daily
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