In a semi-ideal world, House Republicans would be on the side of gun owners. They'd push pro-gun bills while anti-gun Democrats work against them. There would probably be the odd exceptions on either side, but the generalization would hold up for the most part. 

But, unfortunately, as I often say, we don't live in an ideal world. We live in this one.

In this one, Republicans took two significant pieces of pro-gun legislation and decided to just reduce the NFA tax stamp on suppressors to zero, and nothing else.

Don't get me wrong, it moves the needle a little bit closer to liberty, but it's so ridiculously minor that it's laughable, and House Republicans did this. No short-barrelled rifles and suppressors removed from the NFA list where they don't belong, just an elimination of the $200 fee to get a suppressor.

Then they have the cajones to post this on X.

We need to get Americans off the sidelines.

— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) May 13, 2025

Are you freaking kidding me?

You want Americans off the sidelines, but you do absolutely nothing that you were elected to do. President Donald Trump won both the electoral vote and the popular vote, something Republican candidates haven't done in quite some time, and he guided you all to control over both chambers of Congress, and what do you do?

Nothing.

You could have handed us legitimate Second Amendment wins. 

Not only could they have gutted the NFA, but there are national reciprocity and national concealed carry bills out there. Picking one of them and backing that was an option, too, but they've done nothing there.

Others are pointing out how they failed to codify the DOGE cuts, which is certainly something, but not what we talk about here.

House Republicans want Americans off the sidelines, but they're not giving us Americans what we wanted from the House Republicans. They're not our masters, who simply decide what should be important to us or what we should care about. They're supposed to listen to us, not dictate.

And they haven't.

If they want Americans off the sidelines, then they need to give Americans either something to rally around or something to oppose. Those are the options. You can't just will activism into existence.

But the supposedly pro-gun Party has given us nothing to rally around. They've done nothing at all to protect our Second Amendment rights.

"They eliminate the fee for suppressors, though," some dipstick might say.

Step off with that. I still have to get permission from law enforcement, still have to go through all of the hoops with the ATF, and wait for them to give me the go-ahead to actually take possession of a safety device.

The $200 fee was an annoyance, sure, but it was far from the only obstacle.

If there's good news, it's that the fight isn't completely over. From GOA's X account:

🚨UPDATE: House Republicans are FEELING THE PRESSURE from gun owners. They know @WaysandMeansGOP:

❌Compromised on the Hearing Protection Act
❌Compromised the SHORT Act
❌ Kept the $200 suppressor "making" tax

Keep up the pressure until they gut the NFA!

— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) May 14, 2025

It's good they're feeling the pressure.

If they don't capitulate, it's vital that every member of that committee who refuses to vote to advance these issues faces a primary battle they have no hope of winning.

We need to make Republicans scared for their jobs again.

They want us off the sidelines? They better be careful what they ask for, because they just might get it. Good and hard.