There Is More Than One Way To Attack Gun Ownership In America

Yesterday The Western Journal posted an article about a recent decision by the Texas Supreme Court.

The article reports:

Back in February, on the third anniversary of the Parkland, Florida, high school shooting, President Joe Biden announced three major gun control initiatives he wanted to pursue, including “eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets.”

That empurpled language was code for repealing the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which shields firearm manufacturers and retailers for gun crimes committed with weapons that were legally produced or purchased. Of the three legislative proposals he floated, this was the one that raised the least alarm among gun rights advocates, with universal background checks and bans on so-called “assault weapons” and “high-capacity magazines” getting a lot more play.

And yet, repealing the PLCAA would be the most pernicious of the three. If you don’t believe me, just ask the owners of Academy Sports and Outdoors.

On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the San Antonio-area store couldn’t be sued by victims of the 2017 Sutherland Springs, Texas mass shooting because the store was protected by the PLCAA when it sold a Ruger AR-556 rifle, an additional 30-round magazine and ammunition to a Colorado man who allegedly killed 26 individuals at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. The shooter later killed himself during a police chase.

The shooter should not have been able to purchase a gun, but somehow the Air Force failed to notify the FBI of the shooter’s conviction of wife and stepson abuse. The shooter was dishonorably discharged from the Air Force and served 12 months confinement. Obviously he should not have been able to buy a gun. However, the problem was with the Air Force reporting the information to t he FBI–not with the store that sold him the gun. The store followed the correct procedures. Bureaucratic mistakes should not be used as an excuse to attack responsible gun merchants or to take guns away from law-abiding citizens.