The Senate’s top Democrat says he’s introducing legislation to require the FBI to regulate the sale of body armor in the U.S.
Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday that the legislation would require the bureau to set standards on who would be eligible to purchase bullet-resistant vests and other body armor.
The New York senator says there would be exceptions for law enforcement and other public safety professionals.
Schumer says he’ll introduce the bill after the Senate returns to Washington in September.
The legislation is aimed at trying to curb the sale of body armor, which has been used by assailants in mass shootings. The push comes a week after a gunman wearing body armor killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio.
The FBI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
(AP)
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4 Responses
And Congress’s constitutional authority to do this comes from where? The commerce clause?! It’s almost inconceivable that this could ever pass the senate, but if it did it would be interesting to see whether the courts would say that there is an inherent right (either under the 2nd or the 10th amendment) to own purely defensive equipment such as this.
The FBI is not a consumer-oriented regulatory/licensing agency. They are police. They don’t do licensing and rule making. If body armor was to be regulated, it would go to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Schumer clearly knows this, suggesting he doesn’t expect his proposal to be taken seriously.
Thank you Chucky. Great idea. I wish you would have come up with this years ealier. Better late than never. Now, I heard that AOC wants to also sponsor a bill requiring background checks for the purchase of hoodies and ski masks. She insists that will stop all burglaries and muggings. It’s a shame the Republicans are not as smart as these guys.
How can you ban the selling of fully defensive equipment? If your great worry is of a gunman wearing body armor then pass legislation to make background checks to assure that guns don’t go to possibly violent people.