After Democratic victories in the midterm elections, some gun-rights advocates say they’re concerned about a renewed push for bans on certain firearms and a national gun registry.
However, with President Trump still in office and a conservative Supreme Court in place, a national gun-control advocate told Cowboy State Daily he doesn’t expect much to change.
With a blue majority in both chambers of Congress, there will probably be a push for “the wish list of Democrat gun controls,” said Mark Jones of Buffalo, a national director for Gun Owners of America (GOA).
That might include bills calling for bans on some semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity magazines and for universal background checks on all firearms transfers and sales, including between family members, he said.
In Wyoming, a shift in the Legislature could lead to new versions of bills calling for a lifetime ban on gun ownership tied to civil protection orders, not involving criminal charges, said Aaron Dorr, policy director for Wyoming Gun Owners (WyGo).
There could also be an attempt to pass another version of the previously failed “Fix NICS,” a mental-health reporting bill that could also result in residents without criminal charges against them losing gun rights, he said.
“WyGO will strongly oppose any of these bills and looks forward to exposing anybody who dares to vote for these bills on the floor,” Dorr said.
Gun Registry In The Works?
The Wyoming Legislature in recent years passed several gun-friendly bills, Jones said, most recently a law expanding concealed carry into some places previously designated as gun-free zones.
He expects Wyoming to hold the line on Second Amendment rights.
“At the national level, there is definitely cause for concern,” Jones said.
It’s practically to be expected that there will be a renewed push for an “assault weapons ban,” targeting such firearms as AR-15 variants, he said.
He also said he’s worried about universal background checks and a national gun registry.
Currently, people buying firearms from licensed dealers must pass a federal background check.
Universal background checks would extend that to private sales, as well as transfers between family members, Jones said. For example, that might include parents and grandparents passing heirloom firearms down to younger generations.
“It can make criminals out of family members,” he said.
A national gun registry could be the first step toward “the confiscation of guns,” Jones said.
He said an attempt at a national gun registry was made during the Biden administration, “and that’s still out there.”
The current Congress “might try to codify that into law,” he added.
Second Amendment advocates are counting on Trump to veto any such bills passed by Congress, Jones said.
‘It Can’t Happen Here’
On the national level, Dorr said he expects a renewed push for “red flag laws,” which would allow the seizure of firearms from people a court determines pose a risk to themselves or others.
Gun-rights advocates oppose such measures because, again, they don’t require criminal charges against the person who could have guns taken away.
Proponents of red-flag laws say they could prevent tragedies.
Wyoming gun owners shouldn’t take for granted that changes at the national level won’t affect their state, Jones said.
“We might say, 'It can’t happen here,’ but that’s what they were saying in Colorado 10 to 15 years ago," he said.
Few Changes?
Gun-control advocate Devin Hughes of Washington, D.C., said he doesn’t expect sweeping changes anytime soon.
“There might be changes in states like Arizona, with a new Democrat trifecta (control of both chambers and the governor’s office),” he said.
“For states like Wyoming, I tend to think, not much change,” said Hughes, the founder and president of the gun violence tracking nonprofit GVPedia Inc.
“I don’t think there’s anything Wyoming can realistically do to make their gun laws any worse” from his viewpoint, Hughes said.
Even at the national level, it’s likely that the Supreme Court would overturn such major changes as an assault-weapons ban, he said.
The one bright spot for gun-control advocates is national reciprocity, or a federal law requiring states to recognize other states’ concealed-carry permits, he said.
“As it (national reciprocity) is currently written, that would include carrying without a permit,” he said.
With a Democratic majority in Congress, that’s probably a “dead issue,” he said.
What’s more likely is a compromise on national reciprocity, such as requiring a permit and perhaps mandatory training before a person could carry in all 50 states, Hughes said.
Democrats will probably focus on other matters on which they oppose the Trump administration, and “for at least the first four, five, maybe six months, I don’t see much happening on guns,” Hughes said.
“That could change if there is a large-scale mass shooting that focuses national attention,” he added.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
