Tusk to tusk: This is our battle too
It may surprise those who are quicker to visit a gun show than an art museum, but many of the latter will actually feature a firearms display. Guns are frequently objects that artists have lavished loving, hard work on with ornate engraving, gold, silver and ivory inlay, if not full ivory stocks. You see, even those who may not like guns can still appreciate guns when they are done as art.
One thing I love about the Ohio Gun Collector Association shows is the antique firearms displays; many are embellished with engraving and ivory. It's a delight to the eyes. But this is true of modern firearms too and that is the purpose of my article today: to draw your attention to yet another backdoor way the Obama administration is attacking our gun rights. He is going after our ornate guns now.
Via the Interior Department's U.S. Fish and Wildlife division, a new war is being waged on the ownership of ivory in the United States. Even if you favor a ban on the hunting of elephants for ivory, I ask you to bear with me. What is particularly galling about the new regulations is that it would make it illegal to sell ivory that is less than 100 years old. That means if you have an old family heirloom, such as a piano with ivory keys, flatware with ivory handles, statues, scrimshaw tusks, jewelry or, yes, even gun stocks with ivory - and unless you can prove it was made prior to 1914 - you can not sell it.
Does it make any sense to trap people who currently own ivory and tell them they cannot sell what is at the moment a legal thing to own? To me in the supposed land of the free, this is an outrage.
There is something in the law called ex post facto. The Latin translates as "From a thing done afterward", in this case taking and retroactively criminalizing a product which was previously legal. There are actually two clauses in our U.S. Constitution that prohibit this: Article 1 sections 9 and 10. Sadly, our Constitution is oft ignored these days as we see this administration and various states abusing our constitutional protections and retroactively banning guns previously legal and forcing owners to register or turn them in, often with no compensation. Folks in New York and Connecticut are currently facing such injustice.
The other thing that galls me (and this is also true with gun bans) is that, having made the legal item illegal, the government is offering no compensation for the now contraband item. With the flip of a switch, your valuable property becomes illegal and you have to soak up the loss. I ask, is that fair? No. It's also not fair to ask tax payers to have to pay for things someone in the government with some private agenda wants to ban.
I know not many of us own ivory stocked guns, but in my view this is still part of our fight - yet another blow to our liberty at the hands of an unjust administration that is hell bent on pushing their agenda of fundamental change of America. Don't sit in silence and take this, friends. Get involved and call your members of Congress and demand they stop the Interior Department's actions against ivory now. While you are at it also ask them to protect and defend our Second Amendment rights from this administration too. Our rights and freedoms are slowing ebbing away from us daily; do your part to stop this insidious assault on our rights and liberty.
You can reach your member of Congress by calling 202-225-3121 or by using our Write Your Reps tool.
Tim Inwood is the current Legislative Liaison and Past President of the Clinton County Farmers and Sportsmen Association, an Endowment Member of the NRA and Life Member of the OGCA, A member of the Board of Directors of the OGCA, Chairman of the Clinton County Republican Central Committee, and a volunteer for Buckeye Firearms Association.
Additional Information:
On Tuesday, June 24, 2014, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs held a hearing titled, "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Plan to Implement a Ban on the Commercial Trade in Elephant Ivory." During the hearing, an agent from FWS confirmed that a near complete ban on the sale and trade of ivory within the United States will be proposed within the "next two months." While individuals would still be able to sell items that are bona fide antiques (over 100 years old), the burden of proof would be on the seller to provide documentation that the ivory is old enough. Many bona fide antiques do not have this documentation. FWS has also announced that they will soon limit the number of African elephant sport-hunted trophy imports to two per hunter, per year. Again, as these issues progress, the NRA will continue to provide updates.
We ask again that you please call your Representative and Senators at 202-224-3121 to let them know you oppose the ban on commercial sale and trade of firearms with ivory, as well as the limitations on the importation of sport-hunted elephants.
Your actions today may determine if the sale of firearms that contain ivory, as well as the importation of sport-hunted elephants, will be banned. The NRA is currently meeting with offices in the House and Senate, and we will continue to keep you informed as this issue progresses.
For more information on the proposed ivory ban, please read the NRA-ILA Ivory Ban Fact Sheet here.
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