LF: Bill Would Roll Back Prohibition-Era Gun Rules

Rep. Roger Marshall (R–Kan.) thinks short-barreled rifles are overregulated, and he's looking to change that.

On Tuesday, Marshall introduced the Home Defense and Competitive Shooting Act of 2019. This would change provisions of the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) that put extra restrictions on the ownership of short-barreled rifles—that is, rifles* with a barrel shorter than 16" in length or that have a total length of less than 26".

The NFA requires owners of short-barreled rifles to register them with the federal government; they must also pay a one-time $200 excise tax per gun. If Marshall's bill becomes law, these extra requirements would disappear; short-barreled rifles* would be regulated under the same rules as semiautomatic rifles.

The legislation would also order the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to destroy all current short-barreled rifle registration records within 365 days of the law's enactment. Information about those who already own these weapons would thus be erased from the federal database.

The NFA is the oldest federal gun law on the books, signed in 1934 by then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, primarily in response to Prohibition-era gangster violence. The law included these restrictions on short-barreled rifles because they were thought to be criminals' weapons of choice, due to their concealability and their popularity among gang members.

Today, Marshall notes, short-barreled rifles are "commonly used for hunting, personal defense, and competitive shooting." As of May of this year, 417,167 short-barreled rifles were listed on the National Firearms Registration and Transfers Record (the federal registry of NFA-restricted weapons in private hands).

Gun lobbying groups have praised Marshall's bill for, as Gun Owners of America (GOA) puts it, attempting to undo the "egregiously unconstitutional registration, taxation, and regulation of short-barreled rifles." GOA is joined by the National Rifle Association, which supported the NFA back in 1934 but now backs Marshall's bill.

*CORRECTION: This article previously referred to the short-barreled rifles the bill would impact as semiautomatic. The bill would impact all rifles with barrels shorter than 16" or a total length of 26", not just semiautomatic rifles with these characteristics.

With over 400K licensed short-barrel rifles out there, it is inevitable that some people would use them for hunting, varmints if nothing else. And just to build a record of them being used as ordinary hunting rifles for this kind of legislation.

I'll bet they can document a lot of hunting using these rifles if anyone asks them.

Well, you could use your 1911 as a hammer, but using it that way is hardly "common".

If it means doing away with the SBR regulation, no doubt every owner would claim that.

Varmints can be dispatched expeditiously with a simple air rifle. Much less likely to arouse the "concerned" angst of tree-hugging, squirrel-feeding, neighbors.

And tree-hugging, squirrel-feeding, neighbors who are concerned about global warming can be motivated to move somewhere else when local statutes prohibiting the feeding of wildlife are evoked... along with, non-violently, clearing the snow off of your driveway at 0530 with a 6hp gas powered snowblower.

I'm sure they're eager to testify and submit dead animal photos. GOA would love to parade them for the cameras.

I was surprised that their registration numbers were approaching a half-million.

I'm considering it myself. With a 12" barrel and a folding stock, I'd have a pretty compact self-defense weapon.

But $600 for the barrel and $200 for the SRB license is a bit much -- unless you're wondering what to get me for Christmas.

I facilitated that by stapling the tails of the varmint-squirrels to the fence - whenever I discovered one of the mysteriously demised varmints laying in the yard.

First I just left the tail hanging out of the trash can. But somebody kept trespassing and destroying my artwork. So, Staples = Trespassing with destruction of property.

My theory is the squirrels were inbreeding due to overfeeding and had a genetic deficiency which debilitated their ability to maintain elevation in the tree they were laying under.

And we shouldn't rule out the possibility of dispatchment by Klingons, armed with Air rifles - in stealth mode; which would explain why I never heard anything.

That noise you hear out in the backyard is a cop doing an unannounced "wellness check" on you (the kind you're so fond of).

He looks through the window and sees somebody wearing a muu-muu and waving an SBR around...what do you think he's going to do?

Someone let me know when I can purchase a full auto capable Thompson, and BAR. WITHOUT registration & Fed taxes .

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." (Will Rogers)

"No one ever rescues an old dog. They lay in a cage until they die. PLEASE save one. None of us wants to die cold and alone... --Dennis Olson "

People that say money can't buy you happiness, have never paid an adoption fee

The legislation aims to undo the "egregiously unconstitutional registration, taxation, and regulation of short-barreled rifles.