What's Ahead For Gun Owners This Week

AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

It’s shaping up to be a busy week for Second Amendment supporters, and there are several things to watch for in the coming days. 

• Democrats are pushing for the end of the filibuster (duh) ahead of several votes in the House on gun control. Most of these bills are dead letters in the Senate and the House Hoplophobes know it.

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As our own Cam Edwards writes:

Gun control activists and anti-gun politicians know that their priorities don’t have the support of 60 members of the Senate, so expect a big push to change parliamentary procedures, scrap the filibuster, or attempt to ram through gun control by attaching it to a budget bill or other “must pass” piece of legislation if the gun control bills slated to be heard in the House next week are sent to the Senate for approval. At the moment, gun owners should be contacting their Representatives and urging them to reject these new gun control proposals, but they might want to keep their Senator’s office on speed dial as well, because we’re likely going to have a fight over the filibuster and gun control in the weeks ahead.

• Iowa is moving one step closer to, as Tom Knighton puts it “The Holy Grail” of gun bills.

DES MOINES — Legislation to ease some gun restrictions and make Iowa the 19th state to adopt a permit-less constitutional carry approach drew cheers Monday from advocates as striking a blow for freedom, while critics called it an effort to unravel Iowa’s gun safety laws.

House Study Bill 254, which cleared a House Public Safety subcommittee by a 2-1 vote, would eliminate the need for Iowans age 21 or older to obtain a government permit to acquire or carry a firearm.

• Meanwhile, in a state that is otherwise paradise, Hawaii is once again moving toward more gun control and less freedom.

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Senate Bill 301 expands Hawaii’s current ban on “assault pistols” to include commonly owned rifles and shotguns that contain certain features. Additionally, the bill bans all magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds unless the magazine has been permanently altered. 

Senate Bill 523 imposes further limits on the purchase of ammunition by requiring proof of registration for the caliber sought and licensing of ammunition retailers. Under this legislation, a registered firearm owner may apply to add additional calibers to a firearm registration as well as designate an alternate for ammunition purchasing privileges. 

House Bill 251 and Senate Bill 307 prohibit the manufacture, possession, sale, barter, trade, gift, transfer, or acquisition of any firearm or rifle with the “capacity to fire ammunition of fifty caliber or higher.”

• However, my home state of Kansas, which has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the nation, is moving rapidly to free things up even more.

Kansas recently passed House Bill 2058 first proposed by our Attorney General Derek Schmidt, which seeks to recognize all out-of-state concealed carry permits, and allow those who have been licensed to carry a firearm in any state to do so in Kansas.  

This legislation recognizes that visitors to Kansas should not be left defenseless simply by crossing a state line.  As amended, HB 2058 allows individuals who are 18 to 20 years of age to apply for a Kansas concealed carry permit, and also authorizes the attorney general to issue an alternative license to carry a concealed handgun to qualified applicants during a declared state of disaster emergency.

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This bill is likely to be vetoed by extreme leftist governor Laura Kelly, but fortunately for gun owners, the GOP has supermajorities in both houses, and Kelly has so antagonized the legislature that they are likely to override almost anything she tries to kill.

These are just a few of the issues that we’re watching this week. Obviously the biggest threat is the potential for gun control to start moving in Congress, so if you haven’t contacted your representative yet, now would be a great time to do so.

 

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