Posted on 11/11/2016 3:37:40 PM PST by PROCON
President Obama told the country that elections have consequences, and 2016 will emphasize this point. Donald Trump will be the next president, and Republicans will retain control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, albeit with a slimmer margin. More than that, the GOP controls thirty-one governorships, with two more likely, and the party has made gains in state legislatures. If that latter fact lasts past 2020, Republicans will redraw the district maps after the census, potentially solidifying control of the U.S. House. And if they can get their act together, they also stand in good chance of replacing two Supreme Court justices even beyond someone to take the seat vacated by Scalia.
This political reality holds a variety of consequences in store, but since we’re focused on guns here, let’s consider what the next steps should be in the protection of gun rights and the expansion of their exercise.
The first thing — and the easiest to do — is to secure national reciprocity for carry licenses. This has been attempted several times, only to falter in committees and be denied a vote in the Senate. Since constitutional carry is the newest wave in the states, a national bill will have to include a provision that recognizes any state-issued ID for residents who aren’t required to have a special license to exercise their right to carry. Given the Obergefell decision that legalized same-sex marriages and required all states to honor any state’s marriage license, the precedent is set for other official documents to get the same treatment. And after a little while, we could have any such document count for carry reciprocity.
Then come regulations of the ATF. Trump has promised to gut the Environmental Protection Agency, despite the necessary function of that part of the government. But the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is a clumsy collection of things that have in many cases only the vaguest relationship to each other — beyond being objectionable to various people and easy subjects for those who like to meddle. If we must defund any department of the government, the one that should — as the joke goes — be a convenience store is an obvious choice.
After that, there is a list of laws and parts of laws that deserve to be repealed: the Hughes Amendment to the Firearm Owners Protection Act that barred ordinary Americans from owning full-auto guns made after 1986, the Gun Control Act of 1968 that makes importing interesting foreign guns — and the original .380 Glock models — such a challenge, among other burdens, and the National Firearms Act of 1934 that made screw-on hearing protection, a fun switch, and an easily portable barrel expensive choices.
Beyond all of those things, there is the bigger concern of making states like California and New York respect the Second Amendment. The ballot measure that passed on Tuesday in California that bans standard-capacity magazines outright and imposes a background check requirement for ammunition purchases illustrates the violations that gun control advocates get up to when they’re not reminded regularly about what the Constitution permits.
I’ve routinely reminded the junior senator from my state, Tom Cotton, that he ran on protecting gun rights, so far to little effect, since I’m one person. This election looks like a victory for gun rights, but that will be true only if each one of us drives the message home day after day with our representatives in government. It’s only with this kind of vigilance that we will win.
Lower prices.
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Do you think lower gun and ammo prices are coming with a gun friendly administration?
You mean higher prices. Odumbo was the greatest gun salesman ever. Now there’s no pressure from him or Hitlery..
Big ol’ bookmark.
If we had such a right affirmed in Maryland I am certain crime against individuals would be reduced.
Yes, prices will go lower because there won’t be any panic buying and greedy price-gouging dealers. I’m hoping for a glut of .22 LR ammo at reasonable prices after so much hoarding and gouging. Much more importantly, our 2nd Amendment rights will be protected with GOP control of the government.
Early Wednesday morning I mounted a diving expedition. In a giant stroke of luck I was able to recover all of the firearms I lost in that tragic boating accident 8 long years ago.
They were well-oiled when they went overboard and are in remarkeaby good condition considering how long they were submerged. In fact, I think they’ll be as good as new once I spend the weekend thoroughly cleaning a relubricating them.
Hallelujah! What a stroke of luck :-)
It will give us 4 years to stock up on firearms.
Sales should be steady because we all know that nobody knows what’s going to happen at the end of it.
Better to stock up now, while the getting is good.
Thanks Procon, California needs a major kick in the rear! A waiting period on ammo? How will that stop crime? This kind of crap needs to be stopped right now and unequivocally.
Stop the 2nd Amendment destroyers!
“Lower prices.” <-—— That, plus I hope after the Court is squared away, laws like the ammo nonsense in CA and laws that prohibit private transfer among family members will be rules unconstitutional.
Manufacturers and sellers will keep prices as high as possible to compensate for the drop-off in demand, and people have become so accustomed to paying through the nose that they won't think much of it.
That said, four years is a pretty brief period of time. Don't get complacent and don't think you don't have to keep *stuff* in quantity anymore...Look upon Trump's term as breathing room, nothing more.
yes.
“Prices will never go back to pre-08 levels.”
I didn’t say how low, but LOWER.
I predict the drop will be minimal, if it happens at all.
“much hoarding”
I plead guilty.
When things started to look like it was going to turn bad, I stocked up on 22LR each and every week for several months.
Recently, I inventoried my stock and was surprised to find that I had collected nearly 8,000 rounds of just 22LR. Well, that realization caused me to finally buy a Ruger LR Takedown rifle and SR22 LR pistol. I am loving these guns. It turns out that the most I paid for all of those rounds was about $6 for each box of 550 rounds.
Presently, we are buying boxes of 50 CCI range rounds for $4.95.
I am also good with 5.56/223 and shotgun rounds, but not as well stocked as the 22LR.
If the ammo prices come down, you better buy quickly, because I will hoard as much as my budget and wife will allow. ;>)
BTW....I found a way to easily justify buying guns to my wife—I just tell her that the guns are hers. ;>)
Let’s make .22 cheap again!
Yep, these retrieval magnets are available from many retailers for $30 or less and will lift 150+ pounds. Should be just the ticket, along with a drum of WD-40.
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