President Joe Biden | Photo by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons 2.0
Part XXXIX of the “EDEN America” Series
In Part XXXIV of this series, this columnist reiterated what he wrote after Joe Biden became the Democratic nominee for President. We said then: “Many of the Republican-Party detractors of Joe Biden say that — at age 77 — he is now too old to become the President of the greatest country in the world. This writer, however, reckons that many Americans will not mind having an ‘Old Joe Biden’ as their leader for as long as he is the ‘Joe Biden of Old’.”
Now the President is “Biden, the Bold.”
Mr. Biden’s decision to authorize the capture of the ISIS head was a bold one. President Biden trusted the US military is preparing for the mission since December 2021. The assault team reportedly even had ample time doing practice rounds of the raid in an alleged replica of the three-level residence of the ISIS chief in Syria. The image was said to have been built in a military camp somewhere. Had it failed, Mr. Biden’s poll-approval ratings would have sunk lower. Perhaps reach the nadir. But boldness often has big rewards. More details in this CNN report about the successful mission against ISIS in Syria.
Then, President Biden announced Thursday in a meeting in New York City a new initiative against illegal guns and weapons smuggling. It was again a bold step “to combat gun violence.” And a necessary move to save the lives of innocent victims of many shooting incidents.
After Mr. Biden became the official Democratic Party candidate for the presidency, this writer forwarded to his campaign a note about the topic of Firearms Bond (or 3rd-party Liability Insurance. We first presented the idea to former New York City Mayor Mike R. Bloomberg in January 2020. We reminded Mr. Bloomberg that the USA took over the Philippines (PH) as a colony of Spain (after the Spanish-American War of 1898). Eventually, under the first Civil-Governor William Howard Taft, the American civil government permitted Filipinos (who were then American nationals) to resume owning firearms. Still, the gun owners had to register with law enforcement agencies. Then the PH Commonwealth government required gun owners to post also a bond to obtain said license to possess firearms. (The “gun-ownership bond” was the equivalent of a mandatory third-party liability insurance policy for motor vehicles after cars became popular in the PH archipelago). The posted “Firearms Bond” is still available on the Facebook link.
It will be easy for a bolder President Biden and his allies in the US Congress to push the necessary legislation to require the “firearms bond” as a precondition for gun ownership.
It will be easy for a bolder President Biden and his allies in the US Congress to push the necessary legislation to require the “firearms bond” as a precondition for gun ownership. How? The insurance industry will welcome the passing of the needed legislation. Why will it be easy to persuade nearly all the members of the US Congress to approve the said legislation? Because insurance companies are some of the biggest political donors in Washington, DC Ergo …
And as this columnist wrote in January 2020, it will be easy to push nationally this “bonding requirement” as mandatory for gun ownership and registration — without violating the Second Amendment.
The federal and state governments may not even have to exert efforts to weed out those not qualified to own guns like the under-age prospective gun owners, the mentally infirm, or those with criminal records. How? The insurance companies will do the screening of those who apply for the required bond for gun ownership or possession. The same standard-operating procedure (SOP) of screening and credit-checking the firms do when they accept applications for life, accident, motorcar, and, or home owner’s insurance coverage.
The suggested SOP of a bonding requirement will bring billions of dollars in premiums annually to the insurance companies. The insurance firms’ lobby — with its huge budget — can defeat the NRA lobbyists, especially since the National Rifle Association has lately sought the protection of the federal bankruptcy court.
