IMHO, the regulation was primarily to set the precedent for national registration. The BATF is already maintaining a national database of information on the forms that are required when two handguns are sold to an individual within a week. This data base is claimed to be “grandfathered” into current law and not subject to the congressional ban on a national registration database.
Adding a reporting requirement for semiautomatic rifles is a logical step in the process to expand the existing database and erode congressional support for the ban on national registration.
I agree, that the new reg is another cut, in the death of 1000 cuts.
It needs to be rescinded.