The good news about the narrow Republican control of both chambers of Congress is that anti-gun measures like Adam Schiff’s new “assault weapons” ban aren’t going anywhere. 

The bad news about the narrow Republican control of both chambers of Congress is that pro-Second Amendment legislation also face an uphill climb, given the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture in the Senate, which means that a pair of bills introduced by South Carolina Rep. Sheri Biggs aren’t likely to become law this year, no matter how much of an improvement they’d be to the status quo. 

The first bill repeals the federal prohibition on mailing concealable firearms through the U.S. Postal Service, according to a release from the congresswoman’s office. 

 “By ensuring that lawful gun owners and small businesses can ship firearms safely and reliably through USPS, the bill prevents future administrations from weaponizing postal policy against Second Amendment rights,” the release said. 

… “The ability to ship a handgun through the U.S. Postal Service is critically important to the firearm industry and this legislation to remove archaic restrictions, while maintaining safeguards for firearm security, is the right legislation at the right time,” said Lawrence Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel. “Handguns are overwhelmingly the most popular-selling firearms in America. The transfer of handguns is more restrictive than that for rifles and shotguns, which are not subject to the same U.S. Postal Service restrictions. 

“Congresswoman Sheri Biggs’ legislation would remove these antiquated barriers while maintaining the same security safeguards as required by other firearms for shipment,” he added. “The firearm industry is grateful for Representative Biggs’ leadership to bring our laws into the 21st century.”

It’s crazy that handguns can’t be shipped through the postal service, while rifles and shotguns can be. This is a common sense change to federal statute, and of the two bills I’d say it’s the one that’s far more likely to draw bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. 

The second bill removes short-barreled shotguns from unnecessary federal regulation under the National Firearms Act, eliminating what the release called “costly and burdensome registration requirements.”

“Law-abiding citizens will no longer have to pay a $200 tax or complete months-long paperwork just to own a practical firearm for self-defense,” the release said. 

… The NAGR also commented on the bill. 

“For nearly 100 years, the National Firearms Act has regulated certain shotguns for no particular reason. This has resulted in a series of bizarre, inconsistent and politically motivated determinations on which shotguns are regulated by the NFA and which are treated like ordinary firearms under federal law,” the NAGR said. “The No Frivolous Applications for Short-Barreled Shotguns (NFA SBS) Act, supported by the National Association for Gun Rights, would simply end the confusion by putting all shotguns on an even playing field under federal law.”

Unfortunately, a bill that would make substantive changes to the National Firearms Act stands about as much a chance of passing out of the Senate as a bill getting rid of the NFA altogether. There might be a half-dozen Democrats who’d support Biggs’ bill allowing handguns to be shipped via the USPS, but I doubt that even those Democrats trying to reinvent themselves as moderate would go along with removing any restricted items from the NFA. 

The No Frivolous Applications for Short-Barreled Shotguns Act  is also somewhat duplicative of the Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today (or SHORT) ACT introduced by Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia, which would not only remove short-barreled shotguns from the NFA, but exempt short-barreled rifles as well. Biggs’ bill has about 25 co-sponsors, and Clyde’s has 47 as of today, so there’s also no guarantee that either bill will even pass the House despite the small Republican majority. 

In order to see that happen, gun owners need to be in contact with their representatives and urging them to get behind these bills. Without grassroots pressure from constituents, it’s going to be all too easy for squishy Second Amendment supporters on Capitol Hill to sit on their hands and let these bills gather dust in a committee without ever being brought up for a vote.