Eric Swalwell. Politico.
Democratic presidential candidate Eric Swalwell has said that the 2nd amendment is not an unlimited right. Politico. Swalwell said on CNN's State of the Union that "... the Second Amendment is not an absolute right. Just like free speech — you can't shout fire in a theater or lie about the products you are selling. You can't own a bazooka, you can't own a tank, you can't own rocket-propelled grenades." Swalwell again pushed his "assault weapons" confiscation scheme where the government would buy those weapons from gun owners and imprison those who don't go along with it. Swalwell said he would make an exception to gun owners who stored their rifles outside of their homes at a gun range or hunting club.
My Comment:
I don't have much to say about Eric Swalwell that I haven't already said, but I did want to point out that Swalwell is either lying here or simply doesn't know the law. It actually is totally legal to own a "bazooka", tank or RPG, depending on what state you live in. Some states have additional laws governing such things but federally, you can legally own heavy weapons like this.
For the bazooka and RPG all you would have to do is pass the background check for the FFL, pay a $200 tax on each explosive you want to buy plus the weapon itself. It's ludicrously expensive and there is no great benefit in doing so, but if you want a rocket launcher and can find one for sale you can buy it. And, of course, it's totally legal to buy a deactivated or replica rocket launcher.
And tanks are even more available. Anyone can buy a tank without any regulation at all (other than at the state level) if they have the main cannon deactivated first. Sure, that's half of the fun of a tank, but it's still true. If that's what you want the only limit is your budget and what is available out there to buy. And if you want one with a functioning cannon, you just have to follow the regulations for destructive devices.
None of this is obscure trivia or anything, people always talk online about how you can get these kinds of things in America. Which makes me wonder if Swalwell is just out and out lying here. It's certainly possible that he believes that California's regulations on destructive devices is a national thing. He is from that state after all and seems like he is dumb enough to believe that his state is actually the norm. But I think he was deliberately lying to CNN's remaining viewers in order to push his gun control agenda.
Finally, on a slightly different subject, I did see that Swalwell has moderated his stance on "assault weapons" a bit. In the past Swalwell said he wanted a full confiscation of these weapons, buying them from gun owners and imprisoning the ones who don't turn them in. However, now he is saying that he will allow ownership of these guns if they are stored at a gun range.
This is, of course, unconstitutional and very plainly defeats the purpose of owning an AR or other rifle. You can't defend yourself and your family if your rifle is in a locker at the range. And there is a very good chance that the "assault weapon" is going to be the best option for anyone in a self defense situation. For me personally, the only reason there is any doubt in my mind at all over which gun I would pick in a home defense situation is that I literally bought my AR last weekend and haven't taken it to the range yet. Otherwise there is no question that it would be the best choice out of all my guns. Only thing that comes close is my handgun, but that doesn't match the capacity and accuracy of my AR.
Still, it is very disturbing to me that someone like Eric Swalwell can run for President and be taken seriously. He is a major threat to gun rights and to American stability in general. My sincere hope is that he is embarrassed in the election and never even makes it to the first primary, but the fact that someone like him has even a long shot chance of winning the presidency is beyond disgusting.
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