You ever have one of those days where you open up the internet and ready what has to be the dumbest thing you’ll read that day? Typically it’s a Twitter hot take, but this time it came from the mouth, or well, desk of an elected government official. A government official making $174,000 dollars to represent the great state of Florida. His name was Maxwell Alejandro Frost and he’s introduced a bill focused on closing the Zombie Guns Loophole.
Frost represents Florida’s 10th Congressional District, is a Democrat, and has worked as the national organizing director of March For Our Lives. He’s worked on numerous Democratic campaigns and received over a million dollars from Ponzi-scheme enthusiast Sam Bankman-Fried and his associated Super-PAC.
The Rise of the Zombie Guns
Yep, first it was ghost guns, now it’s zombie guns, and apparently a loophole. Of course, anything gun grabbers dislike becomes a loophole because it’s a war of vocabulary rather than actually just using any form of factual and logical arguments. If you, like me, are quite confused about what a zombie gun is, could be, or how we can close a supposed loophole.
Frost defines it for us: “zombie gun is exactly what it sounds like – it’s a gun that should not be living, it shouldn’t be able to operate, it shouldn’t be in use, and it shouldn’t be able to harm or claim another life – but it does,”
According to Representative Frost, the zombie gun loophole is a loophole that allows “gun disposal companies to only destroy one part of a gun before reselling the remaining parts as a kit that could be used in the next act of gun violence that devastates a community.” I didn’t realize there were gun disposal companies. He later clarifies via his website that:
…government agencies across the country are unknowingly fueling a secondary gun market when they send retired, seized, and surrendered guns to gun disposal companies that destroy one small part of the gun and resell the rest. In most cases, purchasers are even able to avoid the most basic requirements, such as a background check.
Oh Wait, Zombie Guns Still Don’t Make Sense
Oh, so he’s talking about companies who agree to destroy seized guns in states that mandate that and actually destroy the serialized portion of the firearm. They destroy the frame or receiver of the firearm but sell the pieces from the gun on the secondary market. Make no doubt about it. Like most anti-gun politicians, Mr. Frost knows nothing about guns. A lawmaker should know that the frame or receiver is the firearm. These companies are destroying the firearm.
The second part, regarding background checks, is laughable. Do I need a background check to buy grip screws for my gun? What about a magazine follower? He continues to elaborate by saying:
“Closing the loophole that has allowed gun destruction companies to collect taxpayer dollars for only destroying one part of the gun and not the whole thing is undoubtedly contributing to the gun violence we are seeing in our communities today. I refuse to see another life taken or another family devastated because of gun violence. We need to destroy zombie guns now.”
Education Optional
Knowledge of firearm laws would help Representative Frost immensely. If he had a little bit of an education on this, he’d know the companies are destroying the gun. That ‘one part’ of the gun is the portion considered the gun. In most cases, all of these parts can be found elsewhere and purchased as parts. Closing this supposed loophole won’t have any effect on gun violence.
The effect will just be shutting down a fairly small stream of niche parts being sold on the aftermarket. The press releases and several co-sponsors state that this bill will be effective in stopping gun violence. Do they, at any time, point to a single time when a zombie gun has ever been used in a crime?
Nope
Do I believe that Representative Maxwell Frost believes this will stop any gun violence? No, I don’t think so. It’s a vanity bill. A bill that targets a very niche thing that will get Frost media attention. I live in Florida, and I’ve never heard of this guy til now, so it’s working. Sadly, he picked one of the dumbest things he possibly could to be a vanity bill.
Is all press good press? Maybe, but man, oh man, I wouldn’t want my name on this bill. Do I think it will pass? Not a chance, but I’m betting Frost thinks the same way and he can get a double dose of fame when the bill fails and he can complain about zombie guns again. Good gosh, maybe they can target werewolf guns next. You know, those guns that become more dangerous under a full moon.
