Why Delaware’s Latest Proposal Is Nothing But Yet Another Gun Grab

The vast majority of gun stores out there are small businesses run by law-abiding men and women who might not like the regulations they have to abide by, but they do so, if for no other reason than to stay open. As it stands, there’s a lot they have to do with regard to accountability unless they want the ATF to lower the boom on them. While trivial mistakes aren’t fatal anymore, there are still strict requirements for these stores, yet Delaware seems inclined to view them as insufficient.

So, a bill is in the works that would “increase oversight” of gun stores, and there are people who are for it and others who are against it, as is natural, I suppose.

And there’s something darker at work here, I believe, that can’t be dismissed.

Gun shop owners, however, argue the proposed changes could place significant new burdens on licensed dealers, particularly smaller businesses already operating under strict federal oversight.

Katie Pauley, a Smyrna gun shop owner, said the legislation would add layers of reporting and fee structures tied to inventory and sales.

“I mean, you’re talking every month, every inventory of every gun that comes into the state that’s not sold,” Pauley said. “And then, trying to figure out the fees based on, ‘hey, how many guns did you sell because that’s how we’re going to charge you.'”

Pauley also questioned the effectiveness of the proposal in addressing violent crime.

“The state police are basically going to replace the ATF,” she said. “And so now we’re going to comply with the federal guidelines and burdensome state guidelines. Do I think it’s going to stop a single crime in action? No, because we’ve yet to have a criminal come in here with a permit to purchase, to buy a gun.”

Gun rights group raises concerns over impact

Opposition is also coming from gun rights advocates, including Jeff Hague, president of the Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association, who argues the focus of the legislation is misplaced.

“I will always stand by the statement: the object does not cause the violence, it’s the person behind the object,” Hague said.

That’s a slightly more polite way of saying the same thing I usually say, which is, “It’s not the tool, it’s the tool using it.” Same energy, different phrasing.

But let’s think about Katie Pauley for a moment. She’s running a gun store, and if it’s a small store, she’s not flush with cash to hire people specifically to make sure they’re complying with the law. That’s on her, which means every little burden they lump on these stores creates more difficulty in just keeping the doors open.

An anti-gunner was quoted in that article as saying this would create a code of conduct for stores, because not everyone is following the rules. Well, if they’re not following them, why aren’t these dealers being arrested and charged? If they’re not following the law, they’re committing a crime. Most gun stores want those guys gone, too, so why not just enforce the laws on the books?

Because it’s not about that. It’s about those burdens and the difficulty for small stores to stay open.

Large stores are more likely to buckle under to political pressure, but small stores are run by people who typically believe in the Second Amendment. They’re not going to give unless the law specifically requires it, so the ideal situation here is for anti-gunners to shut down the small stores, bully the larger ones into complying with things that aren’t law, and then leave the consumer well and truly screwed.

See, we need to remember that the right to keep and bear arms is meaningless if we have no means of acquiring arms. Restrictions against privately made firearms, coupled with proposals like this, which would run many gun stores out of business, are nothing more than a way to make it harder to get a gun lawfully in the first place.

No criminal walks into a Delaware gun store with a purchase permit. We all know that. Everyone knows that. 

Regular people do, though. If they can’t, the criminals will still get guns. Their supply isn’t interrupted in any real way. It’s just everyone else who is screwed over, and that’s the real point.

The focus is on guns when it should be on criminals, but it’s on guns because that’s how they can create a disarmed population in time, all without actually banning a thing.

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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