Imagine that an out-of-state factory dumps its hazardous products on the streets of Buffalo. Today it’s easy to think of this product as weapons, but more than 100 years ago alcohol, with breweries having “tied houses,” and saloons eluded any attempts to rein them in.
Learning the hard way, Americans scrapped ban with 21Street An amendment that gave states the power to regulate alcohol distribution. This led to the creation of a three-tiered system, in which all types of alcohol are licensed by the state at every level – manufacturing, wholesalers and retailers of the state.
The system itself would be ideal for improving gun enforcement and helping to stabilize the gun industry.
The three-tiered system has two main advantages. First, it eliminates restricted homes by requiring that inventory be distributed without any interest or incentives to sell. It is a cash-only transaction and manufacturers and distributors in the country should treat every merchant the same. This way, small arms dealers get the same deal as big box stores and the incentives to build unnecessary inventory are eliminated.
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The second benefit is the savings in comfort. This requires manufacturers to ship to a state wholesaler who does inventory and taxes the product to the state and helps enforce laws by cutting distribution to any non-compliant dealers. It’s easy for countries to cut inventory from popular distributors.
Like the alcohol industry, there are provisions for public events, such as gun shows, and for those who make their own guns at home, as well as for people who brew at home.
One limitation is that the state must treat every plant within the state the same as any plant outside the state. 21Street Regardless of the amendment, the US Supreme Court rules states that they must remain bound by the clause of trade and not show favoritism to domestic industry.
Another limitation is that the three-tiered regulatory system does not address consumer sales, which is the subject of all gun control efforts today. For better or worse, there is no shortage of alcohol options today.
But with a tested and regulated distribution structure, dramatic store laws discouraging customer supervision and banning service to underage buyers are in place because the industry knows the state can get its license for non-compliance. The state has this power because of the three-tiered system. Likewise, New York State will also have the power to prosecute any weapons brought into the state and sold in violation of the three-tier system.
Clause 1 of the Second Amendment states the importance of a “well-organised militia.” We must use a state-based, federally approved system of regulation to give process and meaning to this clause. Hence our implementation of the “right of the people to keep and bear arms” would be more effective.
Clifford Ong is the past chair of the Indiana State Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.