Reports indicate that Georgia Dim-ocrats are planning some interesting gun control bills for the next session. I have questions.
Spoiler: Rep Sandra Scott is a Dim-ocrat, from the Atlanta area (District 76). Yes, you can expect stupidity.
Georgia Democrats Plan Gun Control Push in Legislature’s Next Session
Lawmakers plan to introduce bills similar to House bills 962 and 971, which did not advance during this year’s session and would require owners to report lost or stolen firearms and require firearm dealers to furnish gun locks in all retail firearm sales.
Right off, I see a problem. The previous HB 971 (also sponsored by Scott), which this new legislation would seemingly mirror, was rather more than a requirement that firearms dealer provide locks. It was a “secure storage” requirement for gun owners. I’ve noted that other attempts at “safe storage” (i.e.- useless for defense) laws have been fairly carefully written since Heller (2008), which tossed the requirement that firearms be “unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock.” The cleverer laws impose liability on a gun owner if an unauthorized person accesses and misuses a firearm. Scott’s 971 would have made “improper” storage a misdemeanor criminal offense whether or not a firearm is accessed, much less if it’s used.
This year’s Bruen ruling also comes into play with this unsafe storage requirement. In that case, the Supreme Court decided that gun control laws must be evaluated, not under intermediate scrutiny (“does it serve a perceived governmental need”) or strict scrutiny (“does it even work”), but under a general historical tradition test that begins with a presumption that Second Amendment rights must be protected.
How exactly does Scott justify so-called “secure storage” of firearms and mandatory reporting of lost or stolen firearms with BRUEN? A few quick searches don’t reveal any general historical tradition of requiring that firearms be stored in an unusable state.
From there, Scott descends into sheer stupidity, or lunacy; you decide.
State Rep. Sandra Scott, D-Rex, said lawmakers are also eying legislation that would prevent Glock owners from turning the guns into automatic weapons.
26 U.S. Code § 5861(a) and 18 U.S. Code § 922(a)(4)make it a felony for any unlicensed person to manufacture (or convert) a machinegun. The Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986 prohibited virtually all manufacture or transfer of mew machineguns. Georgia Code § 16-11-122 and § 16-11-123 likewise already ban possession of machineguns not federally licensed and taxed. Thus, it is, and has been for decades, unlawful for Glock, or any other firearm, owners to covert their firearms into machineguns.
What is the purpose of a new, redundant law outlawing that which is already outlawed, eh, Scott?
She did know this, right? Perhaps her proposed bill will address the issue of criminals who are already ignoring Georgia and federal law.
Ready for more legislative dumbassery?
“We really need to be trying to come up with a way that will restrict kids from being able to go in and purchase weapons…”
“Go in and purchase” suggests that she is speaking of “kids” (minors) purchasing firearms in gun stores. Raise your hands if you see the issue here.
18 U.S. Code § 922 makes it unlawful, a felony, for those under 18 to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer (and makes it a crime for a dealer to make such a sale). How did Scott miss that? It isn’t something new.
Georgia Code § 16-11-132 makes it unlawful for minor to even possess handguns, with certain exceptions for specified sporting activities under supervision, another long standing restriction that seems to have escaped the Dim-wit’s notice.
I brought these issues to Rep. Scott’s attention. To her credit, and unlike most pols, she actually replied.
Thanks for the information. I will have the legislation reviewed because I am concerned..
It seems to me that the proper time to “review” proposed legislation is before it’s filed or publicly announced, not after people publicly ridicule her ignorance. So forgive me if I think she’s more “concerned” with being outed as a fool (too late!), rather than constitutionality and redundancy.
Sadly, Scott appears to be running unopposed in her solidly Dim district; so there’s no opponent to tip off as to her legislative incompetence.
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