The House has a bill in committee called HR 5717 - Gun Violence Prevention and Community Safety Act of 2020. The bill proposes to do a number of things from establishing a Federal Firearms License to own firearms and ammunition, raise the minimum age to purchase a firearm, defines and bans “assault” weapons, bans “silencers” and mufflers, enforces secure gun storage orders, and levies heavy taxes on firearms and ammunition. In the end, HR 5717 is an attempt to strip away liberty, minimize the Second Amendment, and criminalize otherwise benign firearms ownership.

I am a proponent of a Federal Concealed Carry license, that would allow citizens to carry concealed firearms in all 50 states, but that is not what this bill aims to achieve. HR 5717 establishes a Federal Firearms Owner’s License (FFOL) that will be required for purchase of firearms or ammunition. To get a license, you must be 21 or older, pass a written firearms test demonstrating knowledge of applicable firearms laws, pass a hands-on test demonstrating safe use of a firearm, submit to a background check, and submit a recent photo. At that point, the government has allotted itself 40-days to determine if you can exercise your Second Amendment rights, at which point you will either be issued a license or receive a denial letter. The license would be valid for ten-years, but that is notional at best. The bill calls for the US Attorney General (AG) to conduct background checks on all FFOL holders no less than annually, meaning your license could be invalidated at any time.

The bill proposed to enact universal background checks and institute a 7-day waiting period to take possession of a firearm. Critics of “gun-control,” legislation often site universal background checks as impossible to enforce without a firearms registry. That is accurate, if there is no master list of serialized firearms and their owner’s information, it is impossible to determine if that firearm has been transferred person-to-person. This bill intends to create that registry through the Enhanced Record Keeping Requirements for firearms dealers. Dealers will be required to record the following information:

• the full name, gender, residence, and occupation of the purchaser

• a complete description of the firearm including the make, serial number and type

• the type of transfer

• the date of transfer

• and the FFOL number of the purchaser

Additionally, the bill levies taxes on the purchase of firearms or ammunition. Firearms purchases are to be taxed at 30% and ammunition purchases at 50%. Portions of the revenue generated from the taxes will be used by Secretary of Health and Human Services, “to fund research to support community violence intervention programs, with an emphasis on evidence-informed intervention strategies to reduce homicides, shootings, and group-related violence,” which is a tantamount admission that there is no evidence informing this proposed legislation.

HR 5717 goes on to define Semiautomatic “Assault” Weapons, which is a contradiction of terms, as assault weapon generally refers to a firearm with a selector switch to toggle between semiautomatic fire and either burst or full-automatic rates of fire. Your new, “assault,” weapons definitions and banned firearms are listed below.

The term ‘semiautomatic assault weapon’ means any of the following, regardless of country of manufacture or caliber of ammunition accepted:

• A semiautomatic rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any 1 of the following:

  • A pistol grip.

  • A forward grip.

  • A folding, telescoping, or detachable stock, or is otherwise foldable or adjustable in a manner that operates to reduce the length, size, or any other dimension, or otherwise enhances the concealability, of the weapon.

  • A grenade launcher.

  • A barrel shroud.

  • A threaded barrel.

• A semiautomatic rifle that has a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds, except for an attached tubular device designed to accept, and capable of operating only with, .22 caliber rimfire ammunition.

• Any part, combination of parts, component, device, attachment, or accessory that is designed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle but not convert the semiautomatic rifle into a machinegun.

• A semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any 1 of the following:

  • A threaded barrel.

  • A second pistol grip.

  • A barrel shroud.

  • The capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip.

  • A semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm.

  • A manufactured weight of 50 ounces or more when unloaded.

  • A stabilizing brace or similar component.

• A semiautomatic pistol with a fixed magazine that has the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.

• A semiautomatic shotgun that has any 1 of the following:

  • A folding, telescoping, or detachable stock.

  • A pistol grip.

  • A fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 5 rounds.

  • The ability to accept a detachable magazine.

  • A forward grip.

  • A grenade launcher.

• Any shotgun with a revolving cylinder.

• All of the following rifles, copies, duplicates, variants, or altered facsimiles with the capability of any such weapon thereof:

  • All AK types

  • All AR types

  • Barrett M107A1.

  • Barrett M82A1.

  • Beretta CX4 Storm.

  • Calico Liberty Series.

  • CETME Sporter.

  • Daewoo K–1, K–2, Max 1, Max 2, AR 100, and AR 110C.

  • Fabrique Nationale/FN Herstal FAL, LAR, 22 FNC, 308 Match, L1A1 Sporter, PS90, SCAR, and FS2000.

  • Feather Industries AT–9.

  • Galil Model AR and Model ARM.

  • Hi-Point Carbine.

  • HK–91, HK–93, HK–94, HK–PSG–1, and HK USC.

  • IWI TAVOR, Galil ACE rifle.

  • Kel-Tec Sub-2000, SU–16, and RFB.

  • SIG AMT, SIG PE–57, Sig Sauer SG 550, Sig Sauer SG 551, and SIG MCX.

  • Springfield Armory SAR–48.

  • Steyr AUG.

  • Sturm, Ruger & Co. Mini-14 Tactical Rifle M–14/20CF.

  • All Thompson rifles

  • UMAREX UZI rifle.

  • UZI Mini Carbine, UZI Model A Carbine, and UZI Model B Carbine.

  • Valmet M62S, M71S, and M78.

  • Vector Arms UZI Type.

  • Weaver Arms Nighthawk.

  • Wilkinson Arms Linda Carbine.

• All of the following pistols, copies, duplicates, variants, or altered facsimiles with the capability of any such weapon thereof:

  • All AK–47 types

  • All AR–15 types

  • Calico Liberty pistols.

  • DSA SA58 PKP FAL pistol.

  • Encom MP–9 and MP–45.

  • Heckler & Koch model SP–89 pistol.

  • Intratec AB–10, TEC–22 Scorpion, TEC–9, and TEC–DC9.

  • IWI Galil Ace pistol, UZI PRO pistol.

  • Kel-Tec PLR 16 pistol.

  • MAC–10.

  • MAC–11.

  • Masterpiece Arms MPA A930 Mini Pistol, MPA460 Pistol, MPA Tactical Pistol, and MPA Mini Tactical Pistol.

  • Military Armament Corp. Ingram M–11.

  • Velocity Arms VMAC.

  • Sig Sauer P556 pistol.

  • Sites Spectre.

  • All Thompson types

  • All UZI types, including Micro-UZI.

• All of the following shotguns, copies, duplicates, variants, or altered facsimiles with the capability of any such weapon thereof:

  • DERYA Anakon MC–1980, Anakon SD12.

  • Doruk Lethal shotguns.

  • Franchi LAW–12 and SPAS 12.

  • All IZHMASH Saiga 12 types

  • Streetsweeper.

  • Striker 12.

• All belt-fed semiautomatic firearms, including TNW M2HB and FN M2495.

• Any combination of parts from which a firearm described above that can be assembled.

• The frame or receiver of a rifle or shotgun described above.

Democrats generally use the terms, “assault weapon,” and “military style weapons,” interchangeably. This may work in the favor of liberty if HR 5717 is ever passed into law. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has ruled on military style weapons previously. In United States v. Miller (15/MAY/1939), SCOTUS found that the National Firearms Act of 1934 was constitutional on the basis that, “In the absence of any evidence tending to show that possession or use of a "shotgun having a barrel of less than eighteen inches in length" at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia, we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument. Certainly, it is not within judicial notice that this weapon is any part of the ordinary military equipment, or that its use could contribute to the common defense.” From that opinion, it seems clear that military style weapons, necessary to the efficacy and preservation of the well-regulated militia would invalidate large sections of HR 5717.

HR 5717 would not accomplish its objective of ending gun violence. The types of weapons banned in HR 5717 accounted for 297 of 14,123 murder victims in 2018. Handguns accounted for 6,603 murder victims, knives or cutting instruments claimed 1,515 victims, blunt objects took 443 victims, and unarmed assailants killed 672 victims. Additionally, the creation of a gun-registry does nothing to curb gun-violence. According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), 43% of prisoners (state and federal) obtained their firearms from other criminals, 7% said they found it at the scene of the crime, 6% obtained firearms via theft, only 10% purchased the firearm from an authorized dealer (FFL), and 25% said they obtained the firearm from a friend or family member. DOJ also found that prisoners used any rifle in less than 1% of crimes committed. To single out “assault” weapons in a bill supposedly about ending gun violence is to manufacture a crisis where none exists.