Precisely so. As I said(in part) at Backwoods Engineer yesterday:
With this ruling, Obama and the Left now have most of the pieces of an Erector set, from which to construct an unconstitutional machine for registration and confiscation of all legally-owned firearms in the United States. Just assemble and activate. Confiscate and exterminate. Insert Abramski, and turn key to start.
You doubt me? Let's break it down.
It is exceedingly difficult for courts and/or LEO's to determine when a possessor "decided" or "intended" to privately transfer a gun to another person. It's in the person's mind, and the action is identical, whether or not the intent existed. As of the Abramski ruling today, is a lot easier for courts and LEO's to just assume everyone who transfers a gun to another person outside an FFL intended to do so before signing the Form 4473. This makes anyone who transfers a gun to another person outside an FFL into an "straw buyer" and an instant felon. The charge? The ATF's oft-used "Conspiracy to violate Section 922 of the US Code".
As you can see, post-Abramski, it becomes illegal to give a gun to someone without them taking possession by a transfer through a licensed dealer. The transfer of the gun to another person is half of a private sales transaction. The rest is just money. It is but a tiny, tiny step, measured in millimeters, for some lower court to cite Abramski and rule that all firearms that move in lawful commerce must be transferred via a gun store on a Form 4473.
Private sales of firearms in America: GONE. Because Abramski. Because if we don't, someone might give a gun to their uncle.
Even if a court doesn't rule that way, all it would take is for the ATF to write a "determination letter" to that effect, start enforcing it, and it's done. "Stroke of the pen, law of the land, kinda cool," as "The Forehead" Paul Begalla said. Obama's ATF has tried similar extralegal maneuvers before, like forcing a CLEO signoff even for a machine gun transfer to a trust.
Count on it: it WILL happen at some point. Abramski will be the justification for prohibiting ALL private transfers, with or without money changing hands. It is inevitable, the next logical step, in their statist minds. And they'll get all the cover they want from the media. "No more straw sales!," the newscrone will screech. "Gun show loophole? Supremes say NO!," the headlines will read.
Without the ability to legally transfer a gun to another person without the intervention of an FFL, all lawfully-owned guns will eventually be registered - a name, an address, the model and a serial number will be on a Form 4473, either at ATF HQ, or in some gun shop somewhere.
Next, the Feds will make the leap, not far from where we are now, that Form 4473's are in the same category of information as cell phone metadata, because Abramski. Because someone, somewhere, might possibly conspire to give their uncle a gun. Then, the NSA will start hoovering up 4473's, to stop them "terrists" and their uncles.
At that point, they'll have the locations of MILLIONS of 'lawfully'-owned arms. They can either send LEOs to confiscate them, or use the information for blackmail, either to complete their registry, or for political intimidation. Or all three.
Want to go work for FedGov? Or, a cooperating state like Kommiefornia? The computer will say: "Checking 4473s for Mr. Backwoods Engineer... Found: 22... FLAGGED!" Turn in all the serial numbers of your guns, you "terrist"! Tell us what you have now! Because Abramski! If you don't, you might conspire to give one of them to your uncle! And by the way, you Tea Partying Threeper sovereign citizen, you're going to get an IRS audit to boot.
But what about the lawfully-owned guns that don't move in commerce anymore? Suppose you buy a few AR-15's, or even just a lower. Say you want to go out and shoot it. But the Feds get a ruling or a law, or the ATF demands that all shooting ranges have to log the serial numbers of all arms coming in their door. Because Abramski, and someone might conspire to give a gun to their uncle at the range! Horrors!
Tabulate, correlate, investigate, interrogate, confiscate, and exterminate.
I believe that’s what we’ll see over the coming years if not sooner.
PS: American Thinker etc usually only print columns original to their websites. Perhaps you could rewrite (make an instant original) your Abramski piece and submit it around. It’s very cogent and beyond most folks orbit of understanding at this point in time. We need to be ahead of the curve, not behind it, and your piece would at least let us catch up a bit, conceptually.