APOA - Op Ed Daniel Stuebs

Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act Is Dangerous for Our Police & Constitutional Rights

With the new Biden administration comes the attempt to push a far-left agenda. The Democrats now hold a slight majority in the House, Senate, and control the presidency. One of the far-left agenda items that was introduced in the House was the new federal gun laws to the system. Called the Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act, this bill “establishes a process for the licensing and registration of firearms. It also prohibits the possession of certain ammunition and large capacity ammunition feeding devices.” It will also create licensing requirements for the possession of a firearm and ammunition. These new gun laws not only affect the rights of law abiding citizens, but will also put our law enforcement in unnecessary danger.  

Potentially the most dangerous and harmful aspect of this bill will be the mandatory registration into an official registry system of all firearms. Firearm registries make it easier for the government to continue to saddle Americans with additional restrictions until our Second Amendment rights practically disappear. Suddenly, you will have to ask the AG for a license, submit a psychological exam, and have family members be interviewed in order to purchase a firearm, something that is supposed to be an inalienable right. This is dangerous on multiple levels. A psychiatrist or family member will be able deny someone access to firearms based on political views, grudges, or any number of personal issues that shouldn’t affect the process. It creates too much power with no checks and balances to ensure people are being fair and honest in their character testimonies. 

The other massively problematic aspect that has been overlooked in House Bill 127 is that law enforcement will be the ones actually out there enforcing these laws. This puts them in unnecessary danger and makes our police into political pawns. Who is to say that they will not be sent to someone’s house based on false information? And then they are expected to enforce these unconstitutional laws. Not only are the calls unnecessary, they are likely to become dangerous and gun owners will have to decide if they are willing to have their rights taken away or fight the poor officers stuck enforcing bad laws. Once taken away, the leftist judges or district attorneys will ensure they never have the legal right to firearms again. Ultimately, this could lead to gun fights between gun owners and law enforcement.  

Gun control bills like this need to be stopped. The Democrats know that they will not be able to get any gun bans in this political climate and if they do it, they will be using whatever political capital they have to push an unjust law through. This will cause them to lose big in the midterm elections. Should the gun laws we have on the books be enforced and possibly looked at, yes. But just adding more rules and regulations to the system is not the answer. 

The shop with a cop program is one of the most underrated and sadly not well-publicized programs that many law enforcement departments participate in. This program- despite what some progressives may suggest- is not police propaganda, but rather an opportunity to help strengthen community relationships and help to humanize our law enforcement officials.