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Several Senators just introduced the “Federal Firearm Licensing Act,” a bill proposing that federally-issued licenses be required of anyone who wishes to buy and own a gun.
According to the text of this bill, “it shall be unlawful for any individual to purchase or receive a firearm unless the individual has a valid Federal firearm license.” It further explains that these licenses would be issued by the Attorney General and Department of Justice.
Those who understand the original, philosophical justification for creating the Second Amendment, know that “asking permission” of the federal government to buy a gun defeats its entire purpose.
As the Founders understood it, owning a firearm was an unmitigated right–one that ought never to be beholden to the federal government. Many even went so far as to say that it would be the people’s duty to be armed as a safeguard should the government ever turn tyrannical, but if it is that very government deciding who can and can not own a gun, the people’s leverage against oppression would be lost.
This is why the Founders so valued the right to bear arms. It is also why they belabored the point that such a right did not come from–and never should be perceived as having come from–the government.
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