The Justice Department has proposed a rule to restrict accessories that turn pistols into rifles and legislation for states to adopt new “red flag” laws to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous owners.
The department’s rule change proposal seeks to clarify and heighten regulations for pistols that are converted with accessories into short-barreled rifles that are “dangerous and easily concealable weapons.”
The proposal says that restrictions on short-barreled rifles also apply to pistols equipped with stabilizing braces that enable the weapon to be fired from the shoulder.
The department argued that converted weapons are more likely to be used to commit crimes, as manufacturers are able to sell such accessories without background checks or registration requirements.
“These requirements are important public safety measures because they regulate the transfer of these dangerous weapons and help ensure they do not end up in the wrong hands,” the Justice Department said in a statement Monday.
“The proposed rule would clarify when these attached accessories convert pistols into weapons covered by these heightened regulations.”
The department also unveiled model legislation for states to fashion “extreme risk protection order,” or red flag, laws to prevent guns from ending up in the hands of people who pose a danger to themselves or others.
The proposal authorizes courts to temporarily prevent dangerous owners from accessing firearms and allows family members or police to step in “before warning signs turn into tragedy.”
“The Justice Department is determined to take concrete steps to reduce the tragic toll of gun violence in our communities,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
“We continue to deliver on our promise to help save lives while protecting the rights of law-abiding Americas.”
Monday’s announcement came exactly a month after the department proposed a rule to close the “ghost gun” loophole to ensure serial numbers are printed on frames and receivers in firearms kits.
There have been dozens of deadly shootings in the United States in recent months as governments have eased coronavirus restrictions. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there were more than 250 mass shootings during the first 158 days of 2021, or more than half of the total from 2020 (417).
The shootings prompted President Joe Biden in April to sign executive actions to address the “gun violence public health epidemic.” Among changes in Biden’s orders include some sought by the Justice Department for ghost guns, red flag laws and pistols converted into compact rifles.
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How about enforcing the laws already on the books, leave responsible citizens alone and support their second amendment rights. The duplicity of you people is astounding. You have armed security wherever you go. The lawbreakers that you refuse to do anything about threaten the rest of us—gun ownership is our security. Pull your heads out of your respective ***es and think.
AND how’s about we RED_FLAG LAW EVERY Bloomin idiot in the Dept of injustice.. AND REMOVE ALL THEIR FIREARMS!
they will never stop until they get our weapons.
Even our BB guns and water pistols.
In other words, Conservatives will be labeled as criminals, so they cannot own a gun and the real criminals are let loose on the streets, so we Conservatives cannot defend ourselves.
Sounds about right… Trump supporters are terroroists.. ACTUAL ISIS terrorists are given guns BY the govt..
Just another attempt by the dishonorable Democrats to restrict law abiding citizens.
The fool that wrote this story obviously knows nothing about guns, accessories or criminals.
#1. “short-barreled rifles that are “dangerous and easily concealable weapons.” Huh?
How does adding a 18″ rifle stock make a pistol dangerous and easily concealable??
#2. “The department argued that converted weapons are more likely to be used to commit crimes, as manufacturers are able to sell such accessories without background checks or registration requirements.” Huh?
What good is a pistol accessory without a background check and legally bought pistol?
Converted weapons are more likely to be used to commit crimes??
#3. What makes these Democrat fools think that criminals are going to pay any attention to another stupid law?
Have you ever wondered why Politicians never address:
I.A.W. U.S. Census & FBI (Table 43a)
Black males make up about 6% of the U.S. population but every year commit ~53% of all the murders and ~55% of all robberies in the U.S... Every year in the U.S. there are ~5,000 African-Americans men, women and children killed and 93% of them were killed by fellow African-Americans.
AND “WE argue that this is”.. BUT WHERE IS YOUR PROOF..
Show us via Facts, that criminals are using “legally modified weapons”.. Show us by the Stats of guns recovered FROM these crooks, which have been modified, by LEGAL products bought from stores..
IF Not. Then shut the hell up!
How about sending in the national guard to go house to house in the hood and taking criminals guns.
James Lott, an economist who has studied the gun-crime connection the most thoroughly and written several books full of explanatory stats and graphs has shown that if you removed guns from blacks, America’s rate of gun crime would drop to low European levels. Of course, that’s just a theoretical example to demonstrate where gun crime lies and no one wants to deprive law-abiding blacks of arms for their own defense. But why the pretense that all gun owners are the problem when everyone knows it’s almost entirely black gang-bangers? They should be disarmed over and over again and jailed over and over again for illegal possession of a firearm. There should be regular sweeps as you suggest.
Grabbing everyone’s guns so as not to offend blacks fits with Dem totalitarian desires to have a disarmed populace to cow.
AND THEN remove the guns from the security staff, of EVERY DEMOCRAT and RinO in office!!!