March 13, 2021
Dear Senator Tester,
Senator Feinstein's new bill would ban what she refers to as "high
capacity magazines."
I'd like to explain the impact of a ban on "high capacity
magazines" in Montana.
First, those with little knowledge of firearms may call these
"high capacity magazines," but we in the Montana gun culture speak
of them as "standard capacity magazines" (SCMs). After all,
these are the magazines that have always been shipped to Montana
with the firearms that use them.
Second, there are plenty of reasons why any attempt to ban SCMs
would be a really bad political idea or unworkable in Montana.
1. Surely any such ban would be in conflict with the Second
Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court has already affirmed that
the Second Amendment does not apply only to the flintlock
muzzleloading rifles that our Founders used to win our freedom
from Britain. The Second Amendment prevents government
interference with modern arms as well as antique arms. And,
SCMs are clearly a common accessory to modern firearms. If
the Second Amendment doesn't apply to modern arms, then surely the
First Amendment cannot apply under freedom of the press to the
computers relied upon in every news room across the U.S. It
would be back to quill and ink for all journalists and newspaper
publishers.
2. Passing unenforceable laws simply breeds disrespect for
the law. There are LOTS of SCMs legally possessed in
Montana, at least hundreds of thousands if not millions. In
other states that have enacted magazine limitations, there has
been remarkably low compliance with bans. Compliance in
Montana, certainly, would be even less than California, for
example. Plus, we know that Montana law enforcement officers
will be reluctant to enforce any such ban, and they may actually
soon become prohibited by Montana law from enforcing any such
ban. Thus, a ban on SCMs would only cause Montana people to
hold such an unenforceable federal law in contempt, which
disrespect would likely spill over onto other enforcement of
federal laws.
3. A ban would be unaffordable in Montana, maybe
deliberately so. Some proposals would redefine SCMs as items
subject to the National Firearms Act, which would place a $200 tax
on each SCM. At a rough guess, there are at least 500,000
SCMs in Montana (there could be a lot more). That would
total to a tax of $100,000,000 ($100 million) on Montana gun
owners. Montana gun owners simply couldn't and wouldn't pay
that tax. Plus, even though legislation introduced to ban
SCMs ostensibly would not apply to those possessed when the act
becomes effective, there is no way for a possessor to prove a
pre-act possession. So, notwithstanding the alleged
"grandfathering," that simply wouldn't work.
4. Existing SCMs cannot comply with ban. Any proposal
to cause SCMs to be considered an NFA item would require
registration of those, by serial number. SCMs do not have
serial numbers. Therefore, there could be no possible
compliance. Plus, it now takes the BATFE most of a year to
issue a tax stamp for those who pay the existing $200 tax for the
relatively small number of NFA items being registered. If
millions of SCMs were added to that paperwork queue, it would take
the BATFE decades or even centuries to process the applications at
their current rate.
5. What about a government "buyback" of SCMs? Only
something that has been previously owned can be bought back.
The federal government never owned SCMs currently possessed in the
thousands by Montana gun owners. So, the concept of a
"buyback" is a lie to begin with. Therefore, this idea must
be called what it is proposed to be - a mandatory government
confiscation with some possible compensation to those few who will
participate. How soon will the federal government propose a
mandatory "buyback" of noncompliant churches, media outlets, or
fossil-fueled vehicles?
Jon, what may be suitable for Senator Feinstein's home state of
California or Senator Schumer's home state of New York is simply
not suitable for Montana and not politically acceptable
here. We know that and you know that. Please oppose
any restrictions on SCMs.
Sincerely,
Gary Marbut, president
Montana Shooting Sports Association
https://www.mtssa.org
Author, Gun Laws of Montana
http://www.mtpublish.com