Guest Editorial
BY ALAN KORWIN | NOVEMBER 6, 2013
New Federal Gun Law coming under radar
With Mr. Obama and his allies attacking the right to keep and bear arms from a dozen angles at once, the anti-rights forces in America have overlooked the Undetectable Handgun Law of 1988, set to expire on Dec. 3, less than six weeks away. (Google 18 USC §922(p) for the letter of the law.)
If the law expires as it is scheduled to do, airports and all secure areas could be exposed to guns that metal detectors cannot identify.
Although no such guns exist (in the commercial world) and have never been available to the public, the "news" media created a furor over the non-existent firearms when the polymer-framed Glock pistol was introduced, spreading fear that such weapons could be smuggled into airports past all known screening devices. The Glock and all similar polymer-framed firearms contain large amounts of steel and are easily spotted by metal detectors.
The chances that Congress will let the statute expire are near zero, a quick survey of industry experts indicates. But the subject hasn't hit the public radar yet, and simple reenactment of a federal gun law is a risky bet, given the present administration's penchant for introducing gun mandates at any opportunity.
Any bill that must get through both houses of Congress becomes a magnet for amendments and agenda-driven add-ons. A gun bill will be particularly susceptible to that pressure. Only one tiny change will be needed, the same one made last time this expiration came up. The number of years in the sunset clause on this 1988 law, now "25," will have to increase to whatever new date Congress chooses. They went from 15 to 25 last time.
However – no plans for renewal of the expiring "invisible" gun ban have been announced by either major political party. The expiration date, however, is set in stone by the existing law. If the law does expire, someone somewhere is likely to try to develop and introduce an undetectable gun (outside the world of superspies).
Two bills were introduced, one back in April, HR1474, which extended the ban for another 10 years and added undetectable ammo magazines, and S1149 in June, which also extends the ban for 10 years with similar conditions. Neither bill has gone anywhere. Undetectable guns and magazines doesn't say much about undetectable ammo, but no one expects Congress to be very logical about any of this.
Sensitive Date
The expiration date is just 11 days prior to nationwide events planned to recognize the calamity surrounding the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Both pro-rights and anti-rights groups have announced intentions to use that date to press for action on gun rights in America. Efforts to restrict Americans' right to arms, using the actions of the psychopath on that day as a motivation, have thus far failed.
Second Event Also on Dec. 3
By coincidence, Dec. 3 has been set by the Arizona Court of Appeals to hear oral arguments in the Guns Save Lives censorship case, with the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation representing plaintiff Alan Korwin and TrainMeAZ, LLC. TrainMeAZ is a coalition of firearm industry firms working together to promote gun safety. http://www.trainmeaz.com
The red-heart Guns Save Lives logo at the center of the case has been adopted as a theme for Gun Save Lives Day, a response to the events planned for restricting gun rights timed around the Newtown demonstrations. When this counter protest was announced, the lamestream media went apoplectic, spewing bile and vitriol at the pro-rights people.
Politico reported Monday Oct. 28 that weekly sessions on gun control have been held between the White House Office of Public Engagement and representatives from Michael Bloomberg's Mayors Against Guns, the Brady Campaign to Promote Gun Violence, Moms Demand Action, the Center for American Progress, Organizing for Action and Americans for Responsible Solutions. It is understood that demonstrations and calls for new restrictions on gun rights tied to the Newtown date are part of those planning sessions.
To the extent government operatives are at work compromising the Second Amendment instead of supporting it, they violate their oath and should be removed from office or brought up on charges. This may seem quaint but it matters. No one in government is taking any action against this fifth column-type of activity.
Alan Korwin is the author of Gun Laws of America and The Uninvited Ombudsman
