In a press conference held outside NRA Headquarters in Fairfax, Va., earlier this week, Democrat presidential hopeful Rep. Eric "Duke Nukem" Swalwell outlined his gun control wishlist to a crowd of 18 supporters. Swalwell is currently polling at 0 percent in national polls.
In his plan, the California Democrat reiterated that, if elected president, he will ban and buy back "military-style semiautomatic assault weapons," with the exception of storing them at shooting ranges and hunting clubs. As he has said before, Swalwell's plan states they will criminally prosecute any person caught defying the buyback, including the possibility of jail time.
It's unclear why, if semiautomatic "assault weapons" are so dangerous, they'd be allowed to be used by civilians at shooting ranges or gun clubs. If the purpose for that exception is for shooting competitions, then it's unclear how someone would be able to transport their Scary Black Rifles to a different shooting range for competitions.
Unveiled today, Swalwell's plan also includes:
- A 48-hour cooling-off period between the time a person purchases a firearm and the time they take possession of it.
California requires a 10-day "cooling-off" period, would this federal law supersede more stringent state laws? Don't bet on it.
- Implement background checks for all firearm and ammunition purchases.
Universal background checks for firearms purchases is a standard Democrat request. California is set to extend this background check regime to ammunition beginning July 1. It is unlikely this will have any affect on gun crime.
- Require that liability insurance be purchased before a person can buy, trade, or otherwise receive a firearm.
Ah yes, making it more expensive to exercise your 2nd Amendment rights. Of course, Democrats have also characterized this sort of insurance, when voluntarily purchased by law-abiding gun owners as "murder insurance." It's so hard to keep up.
- Create a national firearm registry that is linked to individual firearms, and require that all purchases, transfers, and donations of firearms be mandatorily registered.
A nationwide gun registry. Is anyone surprised?
- Prohibit individuals from purchasing more than one handgun per 30-day period.
There's no evidence that this has ever reduced crime in any way, shape or form.
- Prohibit the online sale of ammunition.
This likely goes hand-in-hand with the ammunition background checks, but even California's imminent law has exceptions for individuals who've already gone through background checks.
- Ban and buy back bump stocks, large-capacity magazines that are capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition, and silencers.
Bump stocks are already illegal. Silencers don't do what idiots like Swalwell think they do. And regarding the supposed safety benefits of limiting magazine size, please check out this video.
- Prohibit individuals from hoarding ammunition in quantities exceeding 200 rounds per caliber or gauge.
More than 200 rounds is "hoarding?" This once again demonstrates that Swalwell had never spent much time at a shooting range or ever taken a class on firearms use. Both of those activities commonly require more than the 200 rounds Swalwell would allow.
- Repealing the Protection for Lawful Commerce in Guns Act.
As we've discussed before here at Restricted Arms, this is nothing more than an effort to repeal the 2nd Amendment by putting gun manufacturers out of business with frivolous lawsuits.
- Prohibit states from arming teachers.
Again, despite all evidence to the contrary, Swalwell and his ilk believe that gun-free zones actually make people safer.
Swalwell will not win the Democratic nomination, but his proposals are indicative of what Democrats as a whole would like our gun laws to look like, and it isn't pretty.
