The National Rifle Association is moving quickly under the Trump administration to push proposals to strengthen gun owners’ rights, after eight years of being frozen out of policy under President Obama.
And while Trump said very little about his support for the Second Amendment since the election, the NRA sees a chance to make real policy changes under a president who has strongly indicated a willingness to work with the group.
“In the 2016 election, voters rejected the Obama/Clinton gun control agenda. It’s a new day for freedom. After eight years of playing defense the NRA is now on offense and rallying our grassroots organization for the fight to expand the constitutional right of self defense,” NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker told the Washington Examiner.
Trump has sent conservatives in Congress a message: if you send it, he’ll sign it. That has prompted a flurry of early legislative activity on guns, including key bills backed by the NRA.
Baker said GOP lawmakers are in an odd predicament having to decide which bills to focus on first, while the party has control of both chambers and the Oval Office. But a few have risen to the top.
Congress has already given Trump one piece of legislation to sign that the NRA supported. On Thursday, the Senate passed a resolution to revoke a rule that was finalized by the Social Security Administration in December.
That controversial rule required the SSA to report people to a national database if they request help managing their finances. It essentially deemed those people mentally unfit to own a gun, and conservatives argued it was an attempt by Obama to use the SSA as a tool to deny people their Second Amendment rights.
Trump is expected to sign that resolution soon. In the meantime, the NRA and its allies in Congress are hoping to tee up other priority bills.
The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 was reintroduced by Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., last month. That bill would allow lawful firearm carriers in any state to carry that gun into other states. Currently, each state has its own laws that determine whether they will allow gun owners from other states to carry the weapon across state lines.
Another bill, the Hearing Protection Act, would eliminate a $200 tax that people pay when they buy a suppressor. Depending on which version of the bill is agreed upon, those who have paid the fee would be reimbursed by the Internal Revenue Service.
“The Hearing Protection Act would make it easier for sportsmen to purchase the tools necessary to protect their hearing,” Chris W. Cox, executive director for the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, said at the time of the Senate bill’s introduction. “Many gun owners and sportsmen suffer severe hearing loss, and yet sound suppressors – a tool that can reduce such loss – is overly regulated and taxed.”
The NRA indicated these bills are just the tip of the iceberg, and that the group will likely push more legislation, as it has plenty of work to do, or undo in the wake of Obama’s presidency.
