H.R. 257: Attacks Handguns, Semi-Automatic Rifles, Magazines

In another attack on the Second Amendment, Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee has introduced H.R. 257, the Child Gun Safety and Gun Access Prevention Act of 2009.  H.R. 257 is a broad based attack, that would criminalize a number of things, including raising the age from 18 to 21 to lawfully own or possess a handgun.

The bill would also prohibit anyone under the age of 21 from owning or possessing a “semiautomatic assault weapon” or a “large capacity ammunition feeding device.”  So it would seem that we trust our troops to handle real assault rifles (you know, the kind that are fully automatic) overseas, but should a 20-year-old Marine lance corporal return to the States and obtain a semi-automatic AR-15 with (gasp) a 20-round magazine, he or she would be a felon.

Likewise, it would become criminal to transfer or sell a handgun,  “semiautomatic assault weapon” or a “large capacity ammunition feeding device” to an adult who has not yet reached the arbitrary age of 21.  Oh, and the penalty increases from up to one year in prison to up to five years in prison.

Further, it would also expand the requirement that all firearms, not just handguns, be sold with safety locks.  The law also adds new a new law imparting criminal liability to a gun owner who’s gun is obtained by someone under 18 years old.

And as another attack on gun shows, the bill would require that all persons under 18 be accompanied by an adult while at a gun show, and affixing liability on the gun show organizer if there is an unaccompanied teen on the show floor.  Conceivably, the BATFE could find a teenager at one table, while mom and dad are at another vendor, and shut down the show.

None of the above items have ever been shown to decrease crime or accidental deaths.  At best, they are “feel good” measures meant to “protect children.”  The reality is they are just another means to erode away our Second Amendment rights.

This bill is currently in the House Committee on the Judiciary.