Iowa Third District Republican Representative David Young made his way to parts of western Iowa Saturday afternoon. In Cass County, Congressman Young paid a visit to McCunn Specialty Firearms, just east Massena. There, he spoke with owners Kevin and his son Brice, McCunn, and others, about their store, which opened a couple of years ago, about accessories for weapons, such as the “Bump Stock,” which authorities said was used in the deadly attack on Las Vegas concert-goers event last month.

Brice McCunn e-mailed Young following statements he made following the shootings in Nevada, and invited him to the store to try one for himself. During his visit Saturday, Young declined the offer to fire a weapon equipped with a bump stock.

McCunn to Young they typically don’t sell them at their store, because there’s no demand for them. In fact, they have sold only one since the store opened in the past five-years.  Brice said he e-mailed Young because of comments he made about bump stocks turning a semi-automatic weapon in automatic. McCunn said disagreed, because legally you can’t turn a gun into an automatic. “It might function like an automatic,” he said, but legally, “they are two completely different guns.”

Left to right: David Young, Aaron McCurdy, Kevin McCunn and Brice McCunn.

McCunn said the government closed the registration period for machine guns in 1986. They can only be sold to law enforcement and for demonstration purposes only. McCunn said neither his father Kevin nor himself are fans of bump stocks. Young said a lot people had never heard of them, prior to Las Vegas, and, at the man who opened fire in Las Vegas, would have done so even without one. He said “He’s a criminal. He’s evil, and you can’t regulate evil. I wish you could. I wish you could regulate sanity as well.”

Young also asked about suppressors, or “silencers” as they are commonly called. MSF employee Aaron McCurdy told Young there are good reasons why a person might want a suppressor, even though they only reduce the sound by 30-percent. He said there’s less recoil, it’s easier to learn in an instructional environment, and it increases hearing protection.”

Young said opponents of suppressors claim deregulating them would mean supporting “Bad people doing bad things without getting caught,” which he called “insane.” McCunn pointed out that there is an expensive and lengthy process of paperwork hurdles to overcome before a person can legally own a suppressor. McCurdy said if a person wants one bad enough, there are illegal ways to make a suppressor.

Kevin McCunn, Brice McCunn and Congressman Young talk inside the indoor firing range.

Young asked about background checks on potential gun owners. Brice McCunn said they’ve turned away two people who were rejected by the computerized background program called NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) over the past two weeks, and about five altogether, since the store opened.

And, they’ve refused to sell weapons to persons based on a “Gut instinct” that something wasn’t right. Brice said he doesn’t have an answer to how NICS can be improved. On the topic of insurance, Young was asked about stop-gap insurance. He said there’s been no change to the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”) law, but “It’s collapsing, it’s not working. Democrats and Republicans agree that it’s not working, and something needs to be done.” He said his health insurance policy expires at the end of the year, like it will for many Iowans.” He suggested those persons check across state lines.

He said thanks to President Trump, he can make it possible to set up an “association,” where people with similar employment or business backgrounds, can pool their resources and create a group policy. Young said he would be in favor of that. He also said he wants to see transparency in pricing of insurance policies. The solution will have to be bipartisan, though, and even though it may not appeal to everyone, it’s better than nothing.