§58 —
On the guns first
Democrat
TAKE THE GUNS FIRST
His own words, at a White House meeting on school safety on February 28, 2018, answering the vice president: "Or, Mike, take the firearms first and then go to court. You could do exactly what you're saying, but take the guns first, go through due process second" 1. That December his ATF classified bump stocks as machine guns, effective March 2019, requiring owners to destroy or surrender them 2. In June 2024 the Supreme Court struck the rule, 6 to 3: "ATF exceeded its statutory authority" 3.
And the older page in the same file. On July 28, 1967, Governor Ronald Reagan signed the Mulford Act, banning the public carry of loaded guns without a permit, after the Black Panthers' armed protest at the state Capitol; the NRA backed it. Reagan: "I see no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons" 4. Not a second-class right. First, when it's somebody else's.
Sources
- "Take the guns first, go through due process second" — White House meeting on school safety, 28 February 2018 — TIME ↑
- ATF final rule classifying bump-stock-type devices as machineguns, effective 26 March 2019 — Federal Register, 26 December 2018 ↑
- Garland v. Cargill, 14 June 2024, 6–3: "ATF exceeded its statutory authority by issuing a Rule that classifies a bump stock as a 'machinegun'" — Cornell Legal Information Institute ↑
- Governor Reagan signed the Mulford Act on 28 July 1967 after the Black Panthers' armed protest at the California Capitol, with NRA support; "I see no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons" — HISTORY ↑
Republican
NOT A SECOND-CLASS RIGHT
The administration's record on guns this term is a long one, and it runs one direction. In April the Justice Department and the ATF announced 34 final and proposed rules under the executive order "Protecting Second Amendment Rights," aimed at reducing burdens on gun owners and dealers 1. The acting attorney general: "The Second Amendment is not a second-class right" 1.
That is a coherent position and a real set of rules, and on the evidence of this year it is the party's settled view: an individual right, protected against the agencies as much as the legislatures. The slogan and the regulations line up. The question is whether the man at the top of the ticket lines up with either of them, and his own words are on the other side.
Sources
“I had one like this, different year. 1967, California: a governor signs a law banning loaded guns in public without a permit, and says, "I see no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons." 2018: a president says, "take the guns first, go through due process second," and his agency bans bump stocks that December. 2024: the Supreme Court says the agency went too far, six to three. Excuse me — I forgot my notebook on your desk. The governor, the president, and the agency. Which one of them was a Democrat?”— Lou
“"Take the guns first, go through due process second." That's not a Democrat on a podium. That's him, on camera, 2018 — the same year his ATF turned every bump stock in America into a machine gun and told people to destroy them or turn them in. The Supreme Court threw the ban out six to three. Before that, Governor Reagan signed the Mulford Act in July 1967, less than three months after the Black Panthers walked into the California Capitol armed. The party of the Second Amendment has a second position on it, and the dates are on the record.”
“The president has always supported the Second Amendment, including the part that comes second, which is due process, and he simply proposed doing the parts in the order that made the most sense at the time.”