As the Schumer Shutdown seems to stretch into eternity--and few of us are actually noticing all that much, relatively speaking--the truth is that there are some places where we are feeling the pinch. Particularly when it comes to exercising our right to keep and bear arms.
While the shutdown doesn't mean essential personnel are sitting at home doing nothing, who and what is considered "essential" is pretty loose. Sure, liquor stores were essential during the shutdown, but the people who help you exercise your gun rights are different, and far too many of them weren't at work.
Now, a bill hopes to fix that going forward.
Why Shutdowns Shouldn’t Shut Down Rights
Under current practice, a government shutdown does not impact every federal function equally. The FBI’s NICS has historically been treated as essential, meaning most standard background checks for firearm transfers continue to be processed. But other critical services do not fare as well. ATF often suspends or sharply reduces operations in its NFA Division, Imports Branch and Federal Firearms Licensing Center. That means suppressor transfers, short-barreled rifle and short-barreled shotgun approvals, import permits and licensing matters can grind to a halt, even when buyers and sellers have complied with every legal requirement.
The result is a government-created choke point for both individual rights and lawful commerce.
To correct this unacceptable situation, the Firearm Access During Shutdowns Act was introduced by U.S. Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), as S. 3085, and by U.S. Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.), as H.R. 5874. The Act would guarantee law-abiding Americans can continue to exercise their Second Amendment rights during a government shutdown, requiring federal agencies to continue processing firearm applications and licenses during a government shutdown.“The government shutdown has real impacts on real people, but it certainly should not compromise our constitutional rights,” Sen. Risch stated in a press release. “[During the current shutdown], Federal agencies have stopped processing firearm applications, unjustly restricting law-abiding Idahoans’ Second Amendment rights. My Firearm Access During Shutdowns Act ensures our right to lawfully bear arms is not infringed when there is a lapse in appropriations.”
“Law-abiding Americans shouldn’t lose their Second Amendment rights every time Washington fails to do its job,” Rep. Cline added in his own press release. “The Firearm Access During Shutdowns Act ensures that government dysfunction doesn’t stand in the way of lawful firearm purchases or penalize small businesses that follow the law. I’m proud to introduce this commonsense bill alongside Senator Jim Risch to ensure citizens’ rights are protected and lawful commerce continues, shutdown or not.”
This should be relatively straightforward, especially in light of the many courts across this nation that ruled that Second Amendment rights don't take a backseat during a national emergency like the pandemic. If they're essential during a plague, then why wouldn't our rights be essential when the two parties can't see eye-to-eye on how to misspend our tax dollars?
The short answer should be that they aren't.
Unfortunately, as we've seen through the Schumer Shutdown, not everyone sees it that way.
The truth is, NICS should be fully staffed no matter what, and those in the ATF who process NFA paperwork should be considered essential as well. Especially as more and more people will be filling out Form 1s for short-barreled rifles and shotguns, as well as suppressors.
It's unfortunate that I don't see this bill making it very far. While this should be a non-controversial bill, the anti-gun Democrats will do everything they can to block it from going anywhere. That's especially true in the Senate, where the filibuster is still a thing. Sure, President Trump wants the Senate to kill it and get past the shutdown, but it's there as of this writing, and I'm not ready to see it go away just yet, either, because I know what Democrats will do when they get in power the next time.
But that means that this bill will probably not happen unless the filibuster is ended, and even then, it's not guaranteed.
If the filibuster is dead, though, I could think of worse bills to take advantage of that with.
