This morning, as I awoke, the House Rules Committee was debating the budget reconciliation bill. The One Big, Beautiful Bill, as it's being called. Part of that debate was the inclusion of the Hearing Protection Act, which would remove suppressors – they're safety devices, by the way – from the list of items regulated by the National Firearms Act.
It should have already been included, but Rep. David Kustoff of Tennessee reportedly offered up something that was just table scraps for gun rights supporters. It reduced the fee for an NFA tax stamp from $200 to nothing.
It's not nothing, but it's pretty darn close.
See, the problem here is that we've been looking at Republicans and their position on guns wrong for quite some time.
For a while, the big thing was where they stood on gun control. The National Rifle Association and other gun rights groups' questionnaires typically revolved primarily around whether they'd oppose things like universal background checks, assault weapon bans, and things of that sort.
There were some questions about measures that would restore people's Second Amendment rights from where they are now, but a lot of it was about opposing gun control, and not without reason. After all, we were largely playing defense in legislatures across this nation, with more success in some than in others.
In truly pro-gun states, we saw the advancement of gun rights, of course, but in most places, that was much harder. That included in Congress.
The problem with playing defense is that you find yourself with two different groups. Some are pro-gun while others are anti-gun control.
Anti-gun control lawmakers have their place. In a state like California, that can be a big difference, especially if enough of them get elected to office. They can stem the tide of anti-Second Amendment legislation.
These are the defensive players.
What we really need right now, though, are actual pro-gun legislators in Congress.
Those are the ones who would easily back the Hearing Protection Act without hesitation and would insist the SHORT Act – which removes short-barrelled rifles from the National Firearms Act list as well – be included, too. They'd not just oppose gun control, but support legislation like national constitutional carry or, at least, national reciprocity.
Pro-gun doesn't mean opposing gun control. It means looking at our right to keep and bear arms as a sacred right gifted to all people by virtue of being free men and women. It's a right that makes damn sure we remain free, too.
For generations, our gun rights have been under assault, but for the first time, we have a chance to correct at least some of those past wrongs.
What we need aren't anti-gun control folks. Not right now. We need lawmakers to actually be pro-gun for a change. We need them to step up and do what they know is right. We need to get some of our rights back so that we can defend ourselves from tyranny, either a tyrannical government or from the tyranny of the thug.
I'm willing to accept that we can't get everything back, but nothing but the removal of the cost of a tax stamp is a slap in our faces. That's the act of Republicans who are anti-gun control more than pro-gun.
It's time we start calling them what they are.
Make them defend it, if they can.