Re: Biden's Contempt for the Rule of Law Laid Bare in Move to Close Imaginary 'Gun Show Loophole'

Biden's Contempt for the Rule of Law Laid Bare in Move to Close Imaginary 'Gun
Show Loophole'
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Bob Barr
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President Biden's family, individuals within his Administration, and his
political supporters will defend him aggressively when former President Trump
and others in the GOP deride him for his many gaffes and policy blunders.
Mainstream media pundits will continue to cover for him when presented with
inescapable evidence of his advanced age.
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There is, however, one trait exhibited repeatedly by the current President that
is beyond dispute or defense even by his most ardent supporters - Biden's utter
disdain for the rule of law. This disturbing characteristic was on full display
recently with the signing of a regulatory "rule" placing further limits on the
Second Amendment without bothering to secure the legislative approval to do so
as required by the Constitution.
Constitutional Law 101 reminds us that of the three branches of our government,
only the Legislative is empowered to pass, amend, or change laws. In fact, the
very first operative sentence of the Constitution makes this abundantly clear,
vesting All legislative Powers in the Congress; not in the presidency and not in
the Courts. Once the Congress has spoken by passing legislation, and once signed
by the president, it becomes the law of the land and can be changed only by
subsequent act of Congress.
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It is black-letter law that a president cannot, consistent with the Constitution
and the principle that America operates as "a government  of laws, and not of
men," simply change terms defined and codified in statutes to suit his policy
preferences.
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This is, however, exactly what the Biden Administration has done with
long-standing firearms laws which provide that if individuals or businesses
regularly and as a matter of course sell firearms, then such transfers must
first be cleared through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System
("NICS"). Importantly, neither the "Gun Control Act of 1968" (which set up the
system of Federal Firearms Licensees) nor the "Brady Handgun Violence Prevention
Act of 1993" (which established the NICS system) required that every  transfer
of a firearm be first cleared through the NICS system.
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In making such a distinction between what might be considered "occasional" gun
sales and those by a business or individual engaged in the regular commerce of
trading in firearms, the Congress properly limited the reach of mandated
firearms background checks to the scope of federal power under the Constitution;
namely, "commerce."
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Gun control advocates cleverly over the decades have hijacked the term
"loophole" to characterize sales at gun shows in such a way as to imply that
such sales were intended by Congress to have been covered by the background
check mandate. In fact, however, federal law is clear on this point - there is
no gun show "loophole" (defined by Merriam-Webster as "an ambiguity or omission
in the text through which the intent of a statute, contract, or obligation may
be evaded").
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In recent years, there have been myriad legislative proposals to do what the
Congress explicitly has declined to do - expand the definition of "engaged in
the business" of selling firearms to close an imaginary "gun show loophole." All
such efforts have failed to gain a majority vote in the Congress - something
that really chafes anti-Second Amendment advocates like Joe Biden, who believe
the default for every transfer of a firearm should be a mandatory NICS
background check.
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Not only has there never been a "gun show loophole," but even if such a thing
existed, according to the federal government's own data only a very small number
of illegally trafficked firearms originate at gun shows (a mere three percent
according to the just-published federal "National Firearms Commerce and
Trafficking Assessment").
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Despite these facts, the Biden Administration on April 8th finalized its
466-page "rule" that changes the statutory definition of "engaged in the
business" of  selling firearms so that, as accurately noted in an analysis of
the new rule by the NRA, tens of thousands of lawful private gun sales will now
be unlawful. The April 11th White House "Factsheet" proudly heralding the new
gun control rule includes the requisite fearmongering about untold victims of
guns acquired at gun shows without NICS background checks but who now will be
saved by closing the "gun show loophole."
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The only true victim in this latest gun control maneuver, however, is the rule
of law.
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https://townhall.com/columnists/bobbarr/2024/04/17/bidens-contempt-for-the-rule-of-law-laid-bare-in-move-to-close-imaginary-gun-show-loophole-n2637868
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