When the Founders drafted the Constitution, they saw fit to add the Ex Post Facto clause to prevent the Congress from passing retrospective legislation as they found the concept of criminalizing prior conduct after-the-fact to be repugnant. Biden seems to have overlooked this clause, because his gun plan calls for regulation of currently possessed assault weapons under the National Firearms Act.
As the law currently stands, the NFA requires individuals to register machine-guns, silencers, short-barreled rifles, and certain other arms. In addition to passing a background check, individuals with NFA-regulated items are required to pay $200 for a tax stamp. Joe Biden wants this requirement to apply to both assault weapons and magazines that are already in the hands of law-abiding gun owners. Consider that the average owner of a semi-automatic rifle has at least two magazines, that means these owners will have to pay at least $600 each for the privilege of owning property they already possess.
Biden’s proposed alternative is disarmament. As an alternative to paying a fortune to keep your guns and magazines, he plans to offer a “buy-back” program allowing you to surrender your right to self-defense in exchange for what is likely a paltry amount of cash.
FPC opposes registrations and buy-back programs. Individuals have a natural right to possess property, and the government has no right to intervene in that ownership until the owner harms someone else. Historically, registrations are an intermediate step toward seizure and human rights abuses. Likewise, economically compelled disarmament sales are also an act of tyranny.
