august 2019 ❘ 20 ❘ americanhunter.org
support for a ban on commonly owned
semi-automatic firearms.
In an attempt to distinguish
themselves on the issue, many have
called for far more than a return to the
1994 ban.
In March, Sanders told his Twitter
followers that “We must follow New
Zealand’s lead, take on the NRA and
ban the sale and distribution of assault
weapons in the United States.” The
statement amounted to an endorsement
of firearm confiscation. In the wake
of a high-profile shooting, the New
Zealand government enacted a ban
on the civilian possession of commonly
owned semi-automatic firearms and
announced a mandatory turn-in program
to confiscate the newly prohibited guns.
Booker has also touted confiscation
of semi-automatic firearms. In a May
appearance on CNN, anchor Poppy
Harlow pressed Booker about whether
gun owners would be jailed for failing
to comply with his confiscation efforts.
Booker replied in part, “[W]e should
have a law that bans these weapons,
and we should have a reasonable
period in which people can turn in these
weapons.” The candidate did not deny
that noncompliant gun owners would be
jailed under his proposal.
Outside the top 10, things have
gotten even worse. Rep. Eric Swalwell
(D-Calif.) has been unequivocal about
his desire to imprison noncompliant
gun owners. During an April interview
with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Swalwell was
asked about the consequences of his
semi-automatic confiscation plan. Tapper
inquired, “Criminal prosecution for
keeping assault weapons. What’s the
punishment for people who don’t hand
in their guns, do they go to jail?” to
which Swalwell responded, “Well, Jake,
they would ... .”
The one-upsmanship on semi-
automatic bans has gotten so frenzied
that one impulsive candidate has
proposed using executive authority
to enact a policy that is already in
place. During a May campaign event
in Nashua, N.H., Kamala Harris stated,
“I’m announcing for the first time today
here with you to take executive action
to ban the import of assault weapons
into our country.” She reiterated the
plan on her Twitter account, stating,
“I’ll take executive action as President
to ban imports of AR-15-style assault
weapons.”
Harris was referring to banning
the import of commonly owned
semi-automatic firearms using the
so-called “sporting purposes test.” As
interpreted, 18 U.S.C. § 925 permits
the Attorney General to prohibit the
importation of firearms that are not
“particularly suitable for or readily
adaptable to sporting purposes ... .”
She appeared to be ignorant of the
fact that in 1998, at the urging of
the Clinton White House, the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives adopted an interpretation
of the relevant statute that has barred
importation of the firearms the senator
wants to prohibit.
While a sweeping gun ban is the
most-popular extreme gun-control
position in the Democratic field,
candidates have tried to edge out their
competition by pushing a wide array of
increasingly outlandish proposals.
In May, Booker released a gun-
control wish list titled, “Cory’s Plan to
End the Gun Violence Epidemic.” The
senator has called his plan the “most
sweeping gun violence prevention
plan ever put forth by a presidential
candidate.” The centerpiece of
Booker’s “plan” is a federal gun-owner
licensing regime. He made clear
that applicants would be required
to “submit fingerprints, provide
basic background information, and
demonstrate completion of a certified
gun safety course” and that the license
would only be valid for five years (five
years less than Illinois’ Firearms Owner
Identification Card and one year
less than a Massachusetts Firearms
Identification Card). Moreover, The
New York Times reported that Booker’s
licensing procedure would require an
applicant to sit for an interview. This
indicates that he envisions a “may-
issue” licensing regime in which a
government functionary could use
subjective criteria to deny a person
their Second Amendment rights. Unlike
the Gore proposal, this license would
also be required to own a rifle or a
shotgun.
Other portions of Booker’s plan call
for handgun rationing (a one-handgun-
a-month law), mandatory handgun
microstamping, elimination of the
three-day, safety-valve provision on
the FBI conducting National Instant
Criminal Background Check System
checks and the repeal of the Protection
of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act
(PLCAA). He also called for legislation to
empower the Consumer Product Safety
Commission to regulate firearms, a tacticlong-favored by handgun prohibition
organization the Violence Policy Center.
Following the release of Booker’s
plan, a handful of candidates felt
compelled to endorse a federal gun-
owner licensing scheme. When asked
about the proposal by CNN’s Tapper,
Harris stated, “I like the idea.” In the
race to get in line with the new gun-
control orthodoxy, Beto O’Rourke
set a land-speed record for political
flip-flopping. When first presented
the idea, O’Rourke said Booker’s
proposal “might be too far.” The very
next day the candidate told New
Hampshire’s WMUR, “I think he is to
be commended for doing this. I think
we should explore that idea.”
Perhaps feeling left out of the
gun-control binge and craving
the attention granted to Booker’s
proposal, former Colorado Gov. John
Hickenlooper issued an even more
extreme version of the Booker plan.
Among a host of anti-gun measures,
Hickenlooper proposed a federal
gun-licensing regime, a ban on the
sale of suppressors, the criminalization
of private firearms transfers, repeal of
the PLCAA and raising the minimum
age to purchase any firearm to 21.
Aside from radical policy
proposals, other marginal candidates
have sought to raise their profile
by smearing the NRA. Sen. Kirsten
Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) tried to distinguish
herself by telling a Fox News townhall
audience, “I think the NRA is the worst
organization in this country ... .”
The hateful statement secured
Gillibrand’s place on the political
fringe. A 2018 Gallup poll found that
the majority of Americans hold a
favorable view of the NRA. Moreover,
her desperate opportunism was
exposed when the NRA released a
2008 letter from then-Representative
Gillibrand in which she wrote, “I
appreciate the work that the NRA
does to protect gun owners rights and
I look forward to working with you for
many years in Congress.”
Rather than learning from a history
of electoral hubris, much of the 2020
Democratic field seems intent on
indulging their anti-gun prejudice at
the cost of shackling their party to
ineffective policies that the American
people have repeatedly rejected. For
these candidates, the race for the 2020
Democratic presidential nomination
has become a race to the bottom
regarding our firearms freedom.