H.R. 10583, filed September 24th by a California politician, Rep. Kevin Mullin, would classify most serious pellet rifles as “firearms” under the federal Gun Control Act. That means a federal background check when you buy one from a dealer, serial numbers, federal licenses for the companies that make and sell them, and a blank check for the Attorney General to add more air guns later. As of October 5th the bill had zero cosponsors and no hearing, and Ohio Gun Owners wants to stop it while it’s standing alone.
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H.R. 10583: federal gun control on air guns
Today it’s 800 feet per second.
For a lot of Ohio families, a pellet rifle is the first gun a kid ever learns on. It’s where you teach muzzle control, trigger discipline and respect for what a gun can do, long before that first morning in the woods with a shotgun.
Now a California politician wants Congress to treat that pellet rifle like a firearm.
On September 24th, Rep. Kevin Mullin (D-CA-15) filed H.R. 10583, a bill he calls “Garrett’s Law.” Its official title doesn’t dance around it: the bill is written “to classify lethal air guns as firearms.” It went to the House Judiciary Committee the same day, and two gun control groups, Giffords and March For Our Lives, endorsed it in Mullin’s announcement.
Here’s what the bill actually says
From the text of H.R. 10583
Under the bill, a “lethal air gun” is any gun that fires a pellet with air or gas pressure, other than one that fires only paint-filled pellets, if it can shoot:
- A .177 caliber pellet at 800 feet per second or faster
- A .22 caliber pellet at 500 feet per second or faster
- A .25 caliber pellet at 450 feet per second or faster
- Any metallic pellet above .25 caliber, at any speed
“…or if the weapon is otherwise designated as a lethal air gun by the Attorney General, through rulemaking, as capable of causing death.”
That list covers most serious pellet rifles sold today. And every gun on it becomes a “firearm” under the federal Gun Control Act. That means a federal background check when you buy one from a dealer, serial numbers, federal firearms licenses for the companies that make them and the stores that sell them, and federal paperwork on every dealer sale.
This bill doesn’t take your pellet rifle away. It drags it behind the gun counter, under the same federal gun control you deal with every time you buy a rifle or a shotgun.
The blank check
Read that last line in the box again. The four numbers are just where the bill starts. After that, the Attorney General gets to decide, by rulemaking, which other air guns are “capable of causing death.” The bill puts no limit on that standard.
The Red Ryder isn’t on the list today. Daisy rates it at up to 350 feet per second, well under the line. But the bill lets the Attorney General add any air gun he deems “capable of causing death.”
Mullin says, “If a weapon is powerful enough to kill, it should be subject to the same common-sense safety standards as any other gun.” Plenty of things are powerful enough to kill. That isn’t a standard. It’s a blank check with the amount left empty.
For decades, Ohio gun owners have been lectured. “What do you need an AR-15 for?” And when we pushed back, we got a pat on the head: “Relax, they’ll never come for your hunting rifle.”
Now there’s a bill in Congress that drags the pellet rifle an Ohio kid learns on behind the gun counter, and lets the Attorney General decide later whether the BB gun is next. If they’re coming for something that innocent, you’d better believe the Left won’t be satisfied until we’re disarmed of every possible tool we could use to defend ourselves.
Stop it while it’s standing alone
As of October 5th, not one other member of Congress had cosponsored H.R. 10583, and it hadn’t had a hearing. That’s good news, and it’s exactly when a bill like this is easiest to stop: before anybody else puts a name on it.
So I’m asking every Ohio gun owner on this list to go on record against it. Add your name to Ohio Gun Owners’ petition against H.R. 10583 today.
| SIGN THE PETITION AGAINST H.R. 10583 |
Or sign the H.R. 10583 petition here.
Once you’ve signed, if you’re able, chip in what you can to help Ohio Gun Owners keep fighting federal gun control like this.
For Freedom,
Rob Knisley
Political Director
Ohio Gun Owners
P.S. The bill’s four numbers are where it starts, not where it stops. The Attorney General’s blank check is the part every Ohio family with a pellet rifle in the closet should worry about. Sign the petition against H.R. 10583.