The Democratic Caucus – and their staff – indicate just how stupid they are in some of the recent legislation filed by the magnificent members of the US House of Representatives. Well, in this case, one specificant member, and her staff. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas introduced House Bill 127, the “Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act” way back on 4 JAN 2021.

This little hot potato is designed to impact more than 150 million households in the Fifty States. In some very strange ways. It is designed to make as many gunowners as possible into felons. But WE would be the stupid ones if we just ignore it. It would (if it did pass) be impossible to enforce, but that would not stop them from trying to do so.

I will leave it to all the gun guys to really dissect the 2900+ words of this bill. But among the many provisions of this bill are a few of great interest. I am quoting the bill and putting my own comments in bold, non-italics, after some of the paragraphs.

“(a) In General.—The Attorney General, through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, shall establish a system for licensing the possession of firearms or ammunition in the United States, and for the registration with the Bureau of each firearm present in the United States.

“(b) Firearm Registration System.—

“(1) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—Under the firearm registration system, the owner of a firearm shall transmit to the Bureau—

“(A) the make, model, and serial number of the firearm, the identity of the owner of the firearm, the date the firearm was acquired by the owner, and where the firearm is or will be stored; and Okay, make, model and SN – that makes sense BUT it means you must have a license for EACH and EVERY gun. Identity – that’s clear enough. But date of acquisition? That is insane and makes no sense, nor is it possible. How many of us remember the date we got something? Even if a birthday gift, what year? And notice – where the firearm WILL be stored? Even if just for the one-/three-year life of the permit, can any of us do that? And “where” – how many decimal places do the want on a lat-long? Exact room and drawer or closet or safe?

“(B) a notice specifying the identity of any person to whom, and any period of time during which, the firearm will be loaned to the person. Here we have the same problem, but worse: you have to list everyone you will lend it to. Even in your own family and household. AND the date. Again, even if just the one/three-year term of the license, fat chance! And in another part of the bill it states that the person you lend your weapon to must have their own license. Apparently FOR that very same gun. And apparently you must notify BATFE in advance every time you lend a weapon to someone, after listing them on your application.

“(2) DEADLINE FOR SUPPLYING INFORMATION.—The transmission required by paragraph (1) shall be made—

“(A) in the case of a firearm acquired before the effective date of this section, within 3 months after the effective date of this section; or

“(B) in the case of a firearm acquired on or after the effective date, on the date the owner acquires the firearm.

“(3) DATABASE.—

“(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall establish and maintain a database of all firearms registered pursuant to this subsection.

“(B) ACCESS.—The Attorney General shall make the contents of the database accessible to all members of the public, all Federal, State, and local law enforcement authorities, all branches of the United States Armed Forces, and all State and local governments, as defined by the Bureau. Yep! Everyone on the planet (with access to the internet, certainly the only way this can be done) will know just WHAT you have, WHAT its serial number is, WHERE you store it, and who you may lend it to (and for how long you lend it).

Clearly, this is as impossible a task as anything Canada (or anyone else) ever dreamed up. The rest of the bill, believe it or not, is even worse.

Which brings me to this point, and conclusion: the law (if it is passed) is designed to be a law which which you and I CANNOT comply, and which will make it impossible to meet the requirements to register a gun, provide ANY margin of security for that weapon, or afford to own one.

When you add in some of the other provisions, it is easy to see how this works.

• Owning any ammo of greater than .50-cal is forbidden. There is no exemption for black powder or anything else.
• The “firearm insurance” is insurance provided by the FedGov, possibly for EACH weapon, and has a stated annual fee of $800.
• Presumably, that person you loan a gun to would have to also have that $800/year insurance. And you can’t loan a gun to anyone under 18: no children. (And maybe not under 21, since the bill stated only those 21 and older can get a license.

It is indeed a hoplophobe’s (and hoploclast’s) wet dream.

Which, together with the stupidity of congress-critturs and their staff, make it totally impossible to enforce if it ever does pass. The Canadian experience shows that.

Stupid or not, there is a good chance that the current Congress COULD pass it. And Joe certainly sign it. And that the courts will “deny standing” as an excuse to not find it unconstitutional. Then, sadly, things start to go really, really bad.

(To further point out the stupidity and lack of attention to detail, the official website (Congress.gov) calls it House Resolution 127 – although the total list of ALL SIX-HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE bills filed as of the close of business, Friday 28 JAN 2021 is hilarious (and demonstrates their disconnect with reality). They can’t even get the system straightened out enough for them to understand and follow their own procedures. They drown themselves (and all Americans) with their nonsense.)