Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been strongly pro-Second Amendment during his tenure. He has signed into law Florida's new Constitutional Carry law, among other pro-gun actions and advocacy. Now he has come out swinging against the Biden administration's new "gun show loophole" rule.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has come out firing against President Joe Biden’s move to close the so-called “gun show loophole,” framing the executive action as a misrepresentation of the issue, an attack on Second Amendment rights to firearms, and certain to be struck down by the judiciary.

In St. Augustine, DeSantis said he expects the order to “be challenged immediately and … will end up getting nixed,” with the executive action being mere “window dressing” in lieu of legislative authorization.

“Let’s just be clear on these gun shows because you have these narratives and these talking points,” DeSantis said. “Every one of them must do a background check before they sell to you.”

It's important to note that there is no "gun show loophole." Firearms sales at gun shows are required to follow precisely the same laws and regulations as at any other location. If a state requires background checks for all private sales - a requirement that is ridiculously unenforceable and will have zero effect on weapons used in crime, which are overwhelmingly stolen or black-market purchases - then that requirement applies at gun shows. If a state does not require such a check on private sales, as here in Alaska, then there is no requirement. This is not a loophole. This is complying with state law.

Governor DeSantis went on to point out some other consequences of this rule.

The Governor said people like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer “want to say if you give a rifle, like if someone gives his brother a rifle, that they have to do a background check before they could just loan that if they go hunting or something.

“And what they’re trying to do is really crimp the ability to exercise Second Amendment rights,” DeSantis added.

A requirement to pass a background check before borrowing a firearm from a family member for legal purposes just doesn't pass the smell test.

See Related: Biden Admin to Issue Rule to Close Nonexistent 'Gun Show Loophole,' Expand Background Checks

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It's common for Democrats to complain that "nobody wants to take your guns." Still, regulations like this certainly infringe on the right to bear arms, which the Second Amendment disallows in plain language. But as recently as 2022, Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY) stated: 

“We will not rest until we’ve taken weapons of war out of circulation in our communities,” Jones said. “Each and every day we will do whatever it takes to end gun violence. Whatever it takes.”

That certainly sounds like he wants to take away guns.

Governor DeSantis is right to condemn the Biden administration's unconstitutional imposition of rules by fiat. Not only is this rule unconstitutional, it is futile. Like every gun control law since the 1934 National Firearms Act, it only affects the law-abiding. Criminals have and always will be able to obtain weapons, and today, with the advent of 3-D printing and other technologies that empower small-scale manufacturing, evading those laws is easier than ever.

It's past time for the Biden administration and other pols pushing unconstitutional and useless laws and regulations to take a hard look at perhaps adopting some policies that will make violent criminals, rather than their victims, the ones who live in fear.