Michael Bane argues that the regulations applied to short barreled rifles, short barreled shotguns, and suppressors, are worse than stupid. I couldn’t agree more. Even most European countries don’t regulate suppressors, and regulating barrel lengths has never made much sense. Suppressors particularly, with more and more shooting ranges under threat from noise ordinances, would be particularly useful for ranges in keeping friendly relations with neighbors. But suppressors aren’t common in the US like they are in Europe, because of their excessive regulation in this country.
I think it’s politically feasible to create a movement against these aspects of the National Firearms Act, but if Obama ends up in the White House, we’ll be two decades just undoing that damage, if we ever manage at all. If gun owners don’t win elections, we don’t win. Michael also isn’t too happy about the candidacy of Bob Barr on the Libertarian ticket. I agree with him that it’s no time for a feel good vote. If Governor Richardson had gotten the nod, I might feel better about telling the GOP to go to hell, but the idea of an Obama presidency scares the ever living crap out of me.