Holy shit, this exploded, which is guess it deserved to do, because it is an unprecedented grab for power and exceeds the constitutional limits that our republic is based on.
Im not going to go back and read every post in this thread since I initially posted about it this morning, but I will add a few thoughts.
1. There are plenty of people from many persuasions who are appaled by this. Calling them out for unrelated disagreements can do nothing but harm the cause.
2. It is a known tactic for Russia to pay people/bots to post controversial content vilifying both sides of any political conflict in order to sew discord. Don't take anything for granted if it is posted from an extreme point of view with language clearly intended to divide.
3. Natural rights such as being able to defend oneself are legitimate, and extend into political situations, hence a well regulated militia. The term "well regulated militia" was used at the time to describe a group of citizens willing to take up arms to fight for their freedoms. It did not mean we gotta regulate those arms. It meant there might be a slave rebellion and we need to be ready (clearly the whole natural rights thing needed some time to mature and recognize that it wasnt6just white land owners who were the recipients of them).
4. The federal tax for short barreled rifles and suppressors goes to $0 on January 1. Suppressors don't make gunshots silent like in the movies, but they do help keep you from being deaf. They do add length, so it makes sense to put them on shorter rifles so that the overall length is manageable. Right now, you can buy an AR-15 with what is called a pistol brace on it and it is still classified as a pistol instead of a short barrelled rifle (sbr). You could theoretically hold that pistol brace against your shoulder and shoot it, but the distance between the end of the brace and the sights on the rifle would not be ideal. Come January first you can then legally register thet "pistol" as a short barreled rifle for free. Then you can put a proper stock on it. You can then buy a legally registered suppressor without having to pay am exorbitant tax to make it marginally quiet enough to shoot without hearing protection. Everyone should have one of these given the current climate.