An op-ed published by the Washington Post explains Democrat presidential hopeful Joe Biden’s proposed gun controls would be “terrible for working class firearm owners.”
The Post op-ed, written by Kim Kelly, notes Biden is pushing numerous gun controls, one of which would require owners of “assault weapons” to register those firearms with the government, while paying a $200 tax on each.
The tax that would be administered is the outworking of the National Firearms Act (1934). That Act currently governs the sale of machine guns, suppressors, short barrel rifles, and other Class III weapons only.
The $200 tax was put in place in hopes of making sales of firearms and accessories cost prohibitive. It will apply to AR-15s, AK-47s, Ruger Mini 14s, and other wildly popular semiautomatic firearms if Biden gets his way.
In the fall of 2019 the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) told Breitbart news there were an estimated 16 million-plus privately owned AR-15s in the United States.
Kelly’s point in the Post op-ed is millions upon millions of those firearms are owned by working Americans, who will have to scrape together $200 per rifle in order to retain them.
Moreover, they will have to come up with an additional $200 per “high capacity” magazine, as those will be placed under the purview of the National Firearms Act as well. Kelly writes:
Regardless of one’s opinion on guns and gun control, it is obvious that this proposal will disproportionately impact poor and working-class communities. Those within those communities who already own firearms would be robbed of their ability to protect themselves and their loved ones, while their wealthier counterparts would skate by on their ready piles of cash.
Biden’s plan will ultimately create an environment in which his wealthy supporters will still be able to afford firearms for self-defense but his poorer constituents–working Americans and the truly poor–will be priced out of Second Amendment rights. Kelly put it this way:
Biden’s plan falls into a long line of government efforts to disarm the working class while keeping the lanes clear for the privileged who can afford whatever legal curveballs are thrown their way.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
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