Under the new law, nearly every gun in the U.S. will be required to be registered. There are exceptions for single and double barrel shotguns, single shot and double barrel hunting rifles, black powder guns, and any gun made before 1932. No U.S. citizen will be allowed to have more than three guns registered to them at any time. Possession of an unregistered firearm, expect those exempted from registration, will be a felony that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in federal prison. States that refuse to enforce the new laws will lose federal highway and Medicaid funding.
In addition to requiring firearm registration, all citizens who wish to own or possess a weapon will be required to obtain a gun operator’s license. Two licenses will be available. A class one license will grant its owner the legal right to purchase and possess firearms which do not require registration; they will also be allowed use a friend’s registered weapon or rent a registered weapon from a licensed shooting range, provided that they handle the weapon under the supervision of a class two license holder. In order to obtain a class one license, the individual must undergo a criminal background and mental health screening and complete a three day, government approved gun safety course. In order to obtain a class two license, the individual must commit to at least one weekend per month of military training and must be prepared to mobilize in case of a national emergency. The class two license will allow them to register up to three weapons for personal use. When not in use, the weapons and ammunition must be locked in separate, government approved cabinets. All ammunition sales, even those for unregistered weapons, will be registered in a national database, and strict limits will be placed on how much ammunition can be purchased. The limits vary depending on the type of ammunition.
NRA spokesman Lawrence Ketchum enjoying a day of target shooting (Cassandra Schmidt / AP)
NRA spokesman Lawrence Ketchum enjoying a day of target shooting (Cassandra Schmidt / AP)
Once the new law is implemented, citizens will have one year to register/surrender their weapons. The government will purchase all surrendered weapons at current retail value. All of the surrendered weapons will be housed in strategically placed bunkers across the U.S. for use by the newly created citizen militia in training exercises and in case of a national emergency.
Also of note in the order is a provision that orders the federal government to assemble a panel which will analyze the effectiveness of current knife regulations, though it does nothing to alter current knife laws.
Executive Order 13752 is not without controversy. National Rifle Association Spokesman Lawrence Ketchum said the organization plans to appeal the order, which he refers to as “Obama gun”, on constitutional grounds and that they were prepared to take the fight to the Supreme Court . He also added that if federal agents attempted to confiscate his weapons he would give them to the agents “bullets first.”
It does not appear that the legal fight over the new executive order will be resolved any time soon. In the meantime, however, it is recommended that all U.S. gun owners begin to prepare themselves for the coming changes. If you are wondering how to register or surrender your weapons, or just want to learn more about the president’s new executive order, you can contact the ATF’s Firearms Registration Division at (202) 642-5720.
Contributors
