For many years, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) has been one of the vital efficient methods to protect America’s marksmanship custom and put iconic surplus rifles, such because the M1 Garand, into the palms of residents who will cherish them.
CMP proceeds fund youth packages, coaching, and competitions that guarantee the following era of People know methods to deal with a rifle safely and competently.
Naturally, that makes the CMP a goal for the gun-control crowd.
Democrats vs. CMP: The Identical Outdated Playbook
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) just lately launched an NDAA modification to permit further surplus weapons from the Navy and Air Pressure to be transferred to CMP. This is able to assist fund their mission — youth coaching, competitions, and the restoration of historic firearms.
Enter Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), who responded with the form of knee-jerk hysteria we’ve come to anticipate:
“This modification would make our nation extra harmful… placing extra weapons on the streets of this nation.”
What Frost both doesn’t know (or doesn’t care to know) is that purchasing a CMP rifle isn’t like ordering ammo off GunBroker. Consumers should meet strict eligibility necessities, endure background checks, and observe a course of that has been in place for many years.
The South Korean M1 Garands That By no means Got here House
This battle over CMP surplus rifles isn’t new. Again in 2010, South Korea tried to promote a whole lot of 1000’s of ageing M1 Garands and M1 Carbines, rifles that the U.S. had despatched them throughout the Chilly Conflict, again to the U.S. This is able to have saved them storage prices and boosted their protection funds.
However the Obama State Division, led by Hillary Clinton, quietly killed the deal. Their excuse? The rifles “might doubtlessly be exploited by people looking for firearms for illicit functions.” No signed coverage, no public debate, only a bureaucratic “no.”
Obama doubled down in 2013 with an govt motion formally banning the reimportation of those rifles aside from museums. Congress tried to override it with the Collectible Firearms Safety Act (because of Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-WY), however the payments by no means made it to a vote.
Trump May Repair This — At the moment
Right here’s the important thing level: this was by no means a legislation. It was govt coverage. And what one president did with the stroke of a pen, one other can undo the identical method.
Trump’s first time period already noticed some progress; CMP acquired practically 99,000 M1 Garands from the Philippines and Turkey in 2018. However South Korea’s M1 Garand rifles? Nonetheless sitting abroad.
All it could take is an order from the Oval Workplace to rescind Obama’s coverage and greenlight their return. It’s a transfer that will:
Carry an enormous variety of historic U.S. rifles again to American collectors and shooters.
Infuriate the gun-control foyer.
Hearth up gun homeowners forward of the 2026 midterms.
Gun Teams Have to Step Up
The true query is whether or not anybody in Trump’s circle is speaking to him about this. The administration’s so-called “Second Modification Job Pressure” is made up of presidency insiders — not gun homeowners.
If gun teams declare to have entry to the previous president, that is the second to make use of it. Name for the reimportation order. Remind him that CMP gross sales don’t “put weapons on the road,” they put them within the palms of law-abiding residents — the identical individuals who will present as much as vote in the event that they know their president is combating for them.
Backside Line
M1 Garands are greater than collectible rifles — they’re a dwelling hyperlink to America’s historical past. It’s time to deliver the remainder of them dwelling.
Trump might make that occur in a matter of hours. However he received’t except we maintain the stress on and ensure this concern breaks out of the gun-rights echo chamber and onto his desk.
