Gone are the days when the law required Americans to be armed. Instead, we face a new bans on guns, ammunition, or firearms accessories every time we turn around. In fact, many people see no reason for civilians to have guns at all, let alone the weapons they view as designed specifically for the military.
Because of this flawed viewpoint, too many Americans, including politicians, prefer to take machine guns, “assault weapons” and “large-capacity” magazines completely out of the hands of civilians. These gun control advocates have tried various ways of accomplishing their desired end. Until recently, the gun bans that withstood constitutional challenges all included a special protection for the people who own a newly banned firearm or firearm accessory. These protections are commonly called grandfather clauses. Grandfather clauses allow the owners of firearms banned by a new law to keep them, despite the new restrictions against buying, making or transferring them.