Should Antique US Military Pistols be Sold to Civilians?

Before we get any further, yes… Antique US military surplus pistols should be sold to law-abiding civilians who qualify.

The debate is over whether to allow the Civilian Marksmanship Program to begin selling M1911A1 surplus pistols to the American public.

These pistols date as far back as World War II. Many have seen service through the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Today, they sit in an armory somewhere and cost the American taxpayers $200,000 every year just to store and maintain them.

Think about that… American taxpayers have paid millions of dollars to have these old pistols stored and catalogued.

The solution? Sell them off to qualified American citizens through the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP). The CMP is an organization established by Congress to foster marksmanship and sell military surplus rifles and ammunition to the general public.

In order to be eligible to purchase a CMP firearm, you must pass a background check, submit notarized identification documents, belong to a relevant club or organization, and have a record of marksmanship.

But there’s one problem. The CMP doesn’t have the power to sell pistols…

All that could change, however. Congressman Mike Rogers (R-AL) has snuck an amendment into the National Defense Authorization Act that would allow these WWII relics to be sold to the public.

Believe it or not, this amendment actually made it out of committee. But the fight isn’t over yet. It can still be stripped from the legislation before the final vote.

Tell Congress to keep Rep. Rogers’ amendment in the NDAA and allow the public to buy military surplus pistols!

This is our heritage. These pistols defeated Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany, beat back the Communists in Korea, and were strapped to our boys’ hips in the jungles of Vietnam.

Now, they’re just collecting dust and rusting away. And to top it all off, we’re paying hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to store them in an armory somewhere.

They deserve to be in private collectors’ hands.

We tried to do the same for the surplus M1 Garands and Carbines stuck in South Korea. These rifles were made in America and were used by our soldiers during the Korean War. Instead of bringing the rifles home, many were just left behind.

The South Korean government has been trying to sell these rifles to American arms manufacturers. This would give the South Korean Army, our ally, a much needed cash infusion.

Unfortunately, Barack Obama blocked the re-importation of these WWII relics, citing concerns they could be used in a mass shooting.

There’s only one recorded mass shooting involving M1 Garands and that was the Kent State Massacre.

Obama blocked the re-importation and sale of these surplus rifles. We can’t let the same happen to these iconic American weapons!

It’s just such a common-sense solution. Instead of paying to have these weapons stored in a warehouse somewhere, how about we have them pay the taxpayers back?

http://conservative-daily.com/2015/05/07/should-antique-us-military-pistols-be-sold-to-civilians/