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Letter Re: The Pending Federal "Assault Weapons" Ban (H.R. 1022)
Jim,
Have you read through this
bill?
The way things seem to be going/looking, is that 4-shot/capacity turnbolts will
be all that'll be "allowed". Yes; I am scared.
Any thoughts/comments/advice/assurances?- Ben L.
JWR Replies: The H.R. 1022 bill scares me, too. Paragraph
(L)
is the nasty catch-all. That paragraph leaves the determination
of what constitutes an "Assault Weapons" up to the arbitrary
whim of the Attorney General (AG)--a political appointee. (Remember
Janet Reno?) The real weasel phrase in paragraph (L) is
"...and a firearm shall not be determined to be particularly suitable
for sporting purposes solely because the firearm is suitable
for use in a sporting event." That phrase is the "back door" that
they leave open for banning M1As and
virtually any other model that the AG deems
sufficiently ugly or "evil" looking. The NRA warns
us that this law would also "begin
backdoor registration of guns, by requiring private sales of banned
guns, frames,
receivers
and parts
to be conducted through licensed dealers." In case this law ever
morphs into a more draconian
mandatory registration or confiscation law,
I recommend that all American "black gun" gun owners look
seriously
at
buying
a few "sporting" semi-auto
such as a Valmet Hunter, Galil Hadar, HK SL6
(or 660), SL7 (or 770). Also consider FN-49s, which have a fixed 10
round magazine and no
pistol grip. Ditto for M1
Garands, which use a 8 round en bloc clip.
You should also show foresight and look beyond this
particular piece of pending legislation. In the event of eventual "worst
case" legislation--e.g. universal
registration or confiscation of all
modern
firearms--you
should
hedge your bets by
buying a few pre-1899 cartridge guns. (Such as those sold by The
Pre-1899 Specialist.)
The only saving graces of the proposed ban are
that it only affects new manufacture and
importation. That
still leaves a lot of existing ("grandfathered")
guns and full capacity magazines.
If it passes, I predict that this law's effect will be much like the 1986
machinegun freeze.
And
you've
seen what has happened
to the prices of Class 3 guns. The law of supply and demand
is inescapable. Prices went up a lot during the 1994-to-2004
Federal ban. This time, prices will surely skyrocket even more, since this is a much wider-reaching law. My advice: Stock up, especially
on magazines. Buy at least a dozen for each of your guns. Buy hundreds,
if you can afford them. Again, based on the experience of the 1994-2004
ban and the 1986 Federal machinegun "freeze", I expect
magazine prices to at least triple.
If you can, buy lots of extras, even for models that you don't own,
to
use for barter.
Buy a mix of mostly
commonplace
magazines (like HK91, FAL,
and AR,
and M14),
and a few exotic ones (like Glock
33 round, Galil, SIG,
Valmet, et cetera.)
There may come a day when practically no amount of cash will
buy you a pre-ban semi-auto or detachable magazine, but trades will
still be considered.
Prices are still reasonable, because the full implications of this
pending legislation have not yet registered with average American
gun owner. For example, the last that I heard,
TAPCO was still
selling alloy 20 round HK91 magazines
(that also fit CETMEs)
at 50 pieces for
$50.
I think that in a couple of years such prices will seem like a
dream. BTW,
be sure to buy only factory original or original military contract
magazines.
Avoid all
of the
after-market junk.
The only other suggestion that I can make is: call, e-mail,
and FAX your congressman frequently about this bill or any similar
legislation. H.R. 1022 is blatantly
unconstitutional legislation,
plain and simple. And the only two
assurances that I can make are: 1.) Regardless of whether or not this
bill passes, the guns and magazines that
you
buy in the
next
six
months
will
likely
gain
much
more value
than any money you put in the bank, and 2.) You can trust in God's
providence.
