Opinion

TLDR: The American Bar Association has spent decades pushing sweeping gun control—from penalties on victims who don’t report stolen guns, to redefining the Second Amendment as “militia-only,” to backing bans, mandates, and red flag laws—despite no evidence these measures reduce crime.

• Punishing victims: ABA wants criminal/civil penalties if gun owners don’t “promptly” report lost or stolen guns, despite no evidence that it reduces crime.
• Rewriting the Second Amendment: In 1994, ABA pushed the “militia only” interpretation to justify more restrictions on private ownership.
• Decades of bans and mandates: From “assault weapons” to .50 cal rifles, red flags, permits, microstamping, and doctor questioning—ABA has consistently backed sweeping gun control.

The American Bar Association (ABA) has voted to recommend American polities adopt criminal or civil penalties for people who do not “promptly” report the theft or loss of firearms. A paragraph was added to the resolution recommending the statutes, rules and regulation “include safeguards to protect a person’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination”.

The ABA has championed many infringements on rights protected by the Second Amendment, starting in 1965. The ABA lists 24 years of the last 60 where they advocated for more restrictions on the ownership and use of firearms.

Here is a list of the resolutions passed over the years, starting in 1965, to promote more restrictions. A brief excerpt for each is included.

1965   Amend Federal Firearms Act of 1934

..amend the Federal Firearms Act to prohibit the shipment of firearms in interstate commerce except between federally licensed manufacturers, dealers and importers; to prohibit sales by federally licensed dealers
of shotguns and rifles to persons under 18 years of age, and of all other types of firearms to persons under 21 years of age;  

1973 Reaffirm Amending Federal Firearms Act

 Resolved, That the American Bar Association reaffirms the position it took in 1965 recommending, in principle, the enactment of appropriate state and federal legislation providing effective control of the importation, sale, transportation and possession of firearms; and

1975  Recommended Amendments to the Gun Control Act of 1968 

.. prohibit interstate sales by unlicensed persons of ammunition and firearms components; define the term “firearms for sporting purposes”; upgrade standards of eligibility for licensing of dealers, requiring background checks of applicants and making conferral of such licenses discretionary rather than mandatory; require dealers, manufacturers, transporters and importers of firearms and ammunition to provide adequate and secure storage facilities in order to reduce theft of firearms and ammunition; mandate a waiting period prior to firearms purchases for a criminal background check by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; encourage severe, but not mandatory, penalties for offenses involving firearms;

1983  Final Report by the Criminal Justice Section Task Force on Crime

2. The Task Force endorses the effective and proven measures that can be implemented to successfully control the “possession” of handguns.
3. Appropriate penalties must be enacted and imposed as a tool to deter firearms-related crime, and as a means of bringing about compliance with existing gun control laws and those that may be passed in the future.

1991 Violent Crime Control Act of 1991

 The Executive Committee approved a resolution that the American Bar Association opposes certain provisions of the Biden-Thurmond Violent Crime Control Act of 1991, or similar legislation, which would give federal prosecutors concurrent jurisdiction with state prosecutors in virtually all crimes where a gun transported in interstate commerce was used in the commission of a homicide or other violent or drug-trafficking crime.

1993 Limit of Availability of Assault Weapons

 BE IT RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association supports federal, territorial and state legislation which would restrict the sale and possession of assault weapons to the military and law enforcement organizations.

1994 Task Force on Gun Violence Report and Reaffirm ABA Policy on Firearm Regulation

 2. Educate the public and lawmakers regarding the meaning of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, to make widely known the fact that the United States Supreme Court and lower federal courts have consistently, uniformly held that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution right to bear arms is related to “a well-regulated militia” and that there are no federal constitutional decisions which preclude regulation of firearms in private hands;

and

 BE IT RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association, which has for almost 30 years supported policies regulating the use and sale of guns, reminds the public of the Association’s long standing opposition to uncontrolled use and sale of guns and its commitment to public safety;

1996  Civil Remedies for Victims of Gun Violence

 2. Adopt and extend state and territorial laws to provide civil claimsfor relief for those persons sustaining injury or damage as a result of the violation of state, territorial or municipal laws regulating the use, sale, possession, license, ownership, or control of firearms and ammunition.

1998  Comprehensive Gun Violence Prevention in Schools

..support for increased efforts to enforce laws to prevent unauthorized or illegal access to firearms by minors, and enactment of firearm laws that emphasize prevention, adult responsibility, and safety.

2001  Opposition to Firearm Industry Immunity  (sue firearms industry for crimes committed by people outside their control)

 RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association opposes federal, state or
territorial legislation to create special legal immunity for the
firearms industry from civil tort liability.

2004  Enforcement of Existing Gun Laws and School Violence Prevention Education

 RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association supports stronger federal, state, local and territorial efforts to implement and enforce existing gun laws at all levels of government.

and

RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges federal, state, territorial and local governments to adopt legislation that promotes school violence prevention education, instruction, awareness training and programs for children, parents, teachers and school administrators;

2005  Restriction of Sale of .50 Caliber Sniper Weapons

 The ABA supports federal, state and territorial laws to restrict the
sale, transfer and possession of .50 caliber sniper weapons.

2007 Exclusion of Firearms from the Workplace

 RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association supports the traditional property rights of private employers and other private property owners to exclude from the workplace and other private property, persons in possession of firearms or other weapons and opposes federal, state, territorial and local legislation that abrogates those rights.

2010  Microstamping Technology

That the American Bar Association urges federal, state and territorial governments to enact laws requiring that all newly-manufactured semi-automatic pistols be fitted with microstamping technology which would ensure that when a firearm is fired, an alphanumeric and/or geometric code would be stamped on the cartridge casing

2011 Conceal Carry Permits and NICS Accuracy and Funding

.. supports state, territorial and local laws that give law enforcement or other appropriate authorities broad discretion, in accordance with specified state standards and subject to judicial review, to determine whether a permit or license to engage in concealed carry should be issued

and

That the American Bar Association urges the United States Department of Justice to immediately rescind its memorandum that advises other federal agencies that they need not report to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), for inclusion in the NICS system, persons who fail voluntary drug tests, including applicants to the military who are rejected for military service because they have been deemed to be drug abusers, and likewise urges the United States Department of Defense and any other federal agencies to immediately rescind any similar policies they have in effect;

2012 Physician Gag Orders

 RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association opposes governmental actions and policies that limit the rights of physicians and other health care providers to inquire of their patients whether they possess guns and how they are secured in the home or to counsel their patients about the dangers of guns in the home and safe practices to avoid those dangers.

2017 Extreme Risk Protective Orders

 ..the American Bar Association urges state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to enact statutes, rules, or regulations authorizing courts to issue gun violence restraining orders, including ex parte orders, that include at least the following provisions:

2019 Firearms in Courthouses and Arming of School Personnel and NICS Self-Reporting 

 .. allow only those persons necessary to ensure security, including approved safety officers, judges, and court personnel, have weapons in the courthouse, courtroom, or judicial center, including common areas within the buildings as well as the grounds immediately adjacent to the justice complex,

and

That the American Bar Association opposes laws and policies that would authorize teachers, principals or other non-security school personnel to possess a firearm in, or on the grounds of, a pre-K through grade 12 public, parochial, or private school, 

and

 any person may voluntarily and confidentially request that their own name be added to the Index of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, an equivalent state background system, or to both, to prevent future firearms purchases;

2020   Ghost Guns and Permit to Purchase and Safe Storage

(a) make it unlawful for any person to transfer, sell, trade, give, transport, or deliver any unfinished firearm frame or receiver to any person (other than a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector) unless (i) the unfinished frame or receiver is serialized in accordance with federal requirements for the serialization of firearms,

and

 Require any person seeking to acquire a designated firearm to apply for a permit from a designated law enforcement or public safety agency

and

That the American Bar Association urges federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to enact statutes, rules and regulations that: (a) define the requirements of safe storage of a firearm; 

2021 Guns in Polling Places

 .. enact statutes, rules and regulations to prohibit the possession and display of firearms by civilians in and around locations critical to the functioning of the democratic process—including in government buildings and at meetings where legislative debate is conducted, or where ballots are cast, received, processed, or counted, 

2022 Charleston Loophole

 urges federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to enact statutes, rules and regulations that provide law enforcement reasonable time to complete a thorough background check of a prospective purchaser of a firearm before the transfer of a firearm can take place;

2023 Guns on College Campuses

.. make it unlawful for any person, other than law enforcement, to possess firearms on property owned, operated, or controlled by any public or private institute of higher education;

2024  Firearms and Hate Crimes 

..include in the list of persons subject to those sections’ prohibitions on the possession, purchase, sale, disposal, shipment, transport, transfer, and receipt of any firearm and ammunition, those persons previously convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime or who received an enhanced sentence for a misdemeanor crime because of hate or bias in its commission;

The ABA long ago morphed from representing half of all American lawyers in 1979 to less than 15% in 2017.   The ABA has supported leftis positions since before 2000, including the gun control positions mentioned here.

When people cite the ABA, they are citing a leftist (Progressive) organization. The ABA claims:

“Reporting stolen and lost guns to law enforcement is a proven way to reduce violent gun crime,” the report of the ABA Standing Committee concludes.

The American Bar Association’s claim is not correct.

The Rand think tank reports there is no valid study that shows mandating the reporting of lost and stolen guns reduces crime, or even just violent crime committed with guns.

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About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30-year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

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