A recent piece in the Washington Post on the SHARE Act, legislation in Congress aimed at protecting the rights of America’s sportsmen and women, was fake news at its worst.
Washington Post Fake News:
Under the Share Act, hunters “will load their automatic weapons with armor-piercing bullets, strap on silencers, head off to the picnic grounds on nearby public lakes — and start shooting.”
The Facts:
Automatic Weapons
It is against the law in every state to hunt with fully automatic firearms. Such weapons are highly restricted and very rare due to the 1986 ban on their manufacture or importation. The SHARE Act doesn’t change this.
“Armor piercing bullets”
All shotgun and rifle ammunition is so-called armor piercing. Congress never intended to place restrictions on all shotgun and rifle ammunition. The SHARE Act simply clarifies congressional intent and limits interpretations that are contrary to that.
Picnic grounds and public lakes
Laws restrict hunting and shooting to designated areas on public lands. You can’t just go to any casual “picnic ground” and “start shooting.”
Washington Post Fake News
The SHARE Act would allow people to “bring assault guns and other weapons through jurisdictions where they are banned.”
The Facts:
Since 1986, federal law has allowed a person in lawful possession of any firearm to transport it from any place where they can lawfully possess a firearm to any other place where they can lawfully possess the firearm. But prosecutors in anti-gun states such as New York and New Jersey have ignored this federal law, and arrested individuals who were lawfully travelling with firearms. The SHARE Act would put a stop to that.
Washington Post Fake News:
The SHARE Act would “[r]oll back decades-old regulations on the use of silencers.
The Facts:
The SHARE Act would simply make it easier for law-abiding gun owners to protect their hearing with suppressors, sometimes called silencers in Hollywood movies. Current federal law requires registration, the paying of a $200 tax, and up to a 12 month wait to acquire a firearm suppressor. The SHARE Act would replace that antiquated 1934 system with the modern NICS system used for acquiring firearms in the United States.
According to the Center for Disease Control,“The only potentially effective noise control method to reduce students’ or instructors’ noise exposure from gunfire is through the use of noise suppressors that can be attached to the end of the gun barrel.” The SHARE Act recognizes that we must give law-abiding sportsmen and women greater options for protecting their hearing.
Washington Post Fake News:
The SHARE Act would: “Eas[e] importation of foreign-made assault rifles.”
The Facts:
Due to a quirk in federal firearms import law, firearms that are perfectly legal to manufacture, acquire, and possess in the United States are nonetheless prohibited from importation. The SHARE Act would simply allow for the importation of firearms that are already legal within the United States.
Washington Post Fake News:
The SHARE Act would “[protect] the practice of baiting birds with grain as they migrate and then [mow] them down.
The Facts:
Currently, if a person happens to hunt migratory game birds near a cornfield, they could be cited for “baiting” the animals. This law leaves hunters open to fines whenever hunting near any agricultural operations. The SHARE Act would clarify that such activities are only unlawful where the agricultural operations are manipulated in some way to entice the game birds into the area.
Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Be sure to follow the NRA on Facebook at NRA on Facebook and Twitter @NRA.