In response to the poisoning of Aleksey Navalny, a domestic political enemy of Vladimir Putin, the State Department has banned U.S. citizens from buying Russian ammo. If you thought the Biden administration was too busy rescuing Americans and allies from the Taliban in Afghanistan to do much else, you would be mistaken. The Department somehow also made time for the critical work of denying this country an important source of firearm ammunition, all during a previously existing supply crisis.
Wrestling Bears
Because Putin’s henchmen, presumably, used poison to attack Mr. Navalny, U.S. gun owners will have to suffer. The import ban is being made pursuant to the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991. Had Navalny’s assailants used Louisville sluggers, U.S. firearm ammunition supplies would not have to suffer. But, alas, the Biden administration can use the barbaric acts of the Russian president to choke off the rights of Americans they disfavor. From the announcement, made Friday, August 21:
“New sanctions imposed today under the CBW Act include:
Restrictions on the permanent imports of certain Russian firearms. New and pending permit applications for the permanent importation of firearms and ammunition manufactured or located in Russia will be subject to a policy of denial.”
Americans are already in an ammunition crunch heading to a crisis. What good is the fundamental right to keep and bear arms if practical exercising of the right is diminished until dead? As LN reported just weeks ago, “For some popular calibers, like 5.56 and 9 mm, the backlog of orders already stretches out two years or more.” Now, the U.S. government has further frustrated the supply. Ammoland.com says, “The announcement is likely to rekindle the ammunition bubble for calibers commonly imported from Russia, such as 7.62×54, 7.62×39, 5.45×39, 5.56×45, and even match grade .22 ammunition.”
Ancillary Rights Are Fundamental, Too
There’s no right to a free press if newspaper ink is unavailable at any price – at least while the government is the one intentionally inflating that price. The Biden administration provided no link between ammunition made to function in small arms and attacking political enemies with bespoke nerve agents. They don’t need to because the sanctions law doesn’t require it.
If gun rights under the Second Amendment were treated as abortion “rights,” for instance, then perhaps the administration’s action could be defeated in the courts. Sadly, the Supreme Court has yet to act to fully enforce judicial protections for the right to keep and bear arms. As LN reported, they will have the chance to do so very soon in the case of N.Y. Rifle and Pistol.
Liberty Nation will continue to keep you posted with full coverage of the above-mentioned case and other Second Amendment rights issues.
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Read more from Scott D. Cosenza.
