The latest from the Obama camp on fixing America is that the power of Executive Order (EO) will be exercised quite strongly.
I don’t have a fundamental problem with EOs. They simply direct the Executive branch when the Legislature left something in the law that’s rather ambiguous and the Judicial branch hasn’t had a reason to help clarify the matter.
That said, although I consider the chances of another another AWB to be rather remote, President Elect Obama, if he wants to, can certainly jack with our access to firearms via EO, and he’d be doing the exact same thing Bush 41, Clinton, and Bush 43 did.
The worst part is hardly anybody notice when a President does this. Hell, I’m pretty well versed in this nation’s gun laws and even I’m fuzzy on the details of EOs in recent history related to this matter.
Let’s rewind the clock a bit. Back in 1968 Congress passed the Gun Control Act (GCA) which, among other things, put a “sporting purposes” clause on the importation of firearms.
No further definition as to what “sporting purposes” means has come from Congress, and to the best of my knowledge the Judicial branch hasn’t set any limits either. That means it’s entirely up to the Executive branch.
Now, fast forward to 1989 when Bush 41 is in office.
He banned importation of something or another related to semi-automatic weapons. In my 8 minutes of research I haven’t nailed it down but I’m pretty sure it’s why MAK-90’s from China were forced to have a thumbhole stock. You could think of it like a precursor to the 1994 AWB.
During the Clinton years Bubba locked us out of any semi-automatic firearms coming from China. Today we can still import their Remington 870 and Winchester 1897 clones but the Norinco M1A’s and 1911’s among others are forbidden.
So far we’re mostly fucking with China and depriving their arms manufacturing company of American dollars so I’m still mixed on the matter.
Roll ahead a few years and now we’ve got Bush 43 in office. He pens an EO that forbids importation of certain foreign barrels, the details of which I’m not clear on, but I do know that it directly affects folks looking to buy an AK parts kit. They can’t import the barrels to these anymore, which really really jacks with the final price point on building an AK clone off a parts kit when you’ve got to find a US barrel for the thing.
Obama will have the ability to stop the importation of any firearm that might possibly not meet the undefined meaning of “sporting purposes” when he ascends to office in glorious fashion next January. If you’re lusting after a particular semi-automatic firearm that doesn’t say “Made in USA” on the side you’d probably be best off buying it now.
