The administration of President Obama has voiced objection to Mike D. Rogers’ amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act which has received approval from the House of Representatives. The said amendment made earlier by Congressman Mike D. Rogers could enable Americans to acquire military surplus handguns from the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP). There are particular requirements that have been stipulated to guide this kind of firearm acquisition.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program is authorized by the federal law to sell excess rifles and ammunition to citizens of the US. Any US national who meets the requirements established under the federal law and is of age can secure these guns. They need to belong to a shooting club allied with the program, should have passed a background check, and must satisfy all federal and state rules to be able to purchase the guns under this program.
Rogers’ amendment is intended to simply extend the legalization to include other firearms. These would include about 100,000 M1911 .45 type caliber pistols from the Army. Both the Army and the CMP would benefit alike, and so would the taxpayers.
The Obama administration was however reported by the Huffington Post to be against the Congressman Rogers’ amendment. The government claimed that that the Civilian Marksmanship Program would sell the guns online or via mail-order shipment. This, according to the administration, would lead to bypassing of the regulatory background checks.
Federal law normally requires this Marksmanship Program to comply with state and federal legislations governing their sales and conduct background checks before settling on any of their sales. The persons running the CMP are aware of these regulations and always abide by them.
It is therefore inaccurate for the government to claim the CMP would do otherwise on an online firearm merchant account. Apparently the administration has also claimed the firearms sold by the CMP would not be traceable. This has been termed as falsehood since all military guns and ammo have serial numbers. The CMP normally keeps all records of each firearm sold.
With the legislative powers vested on the Congress by Article I of the Constitution and the power of the electorates to influence decisions affecting them, it remains unclear which side will have the final say regarding this piece of legislation.