Mac-7
Diamond Member
- Oct 9, 2019
- 73,431
- 53,254
- 3,565
The Red flag law in this bill is little more than backdoor gun confiscation
Here Rep Lance Gooden explains why he voted no
Friends,
The school shooting in Uvalde is an unimaginable tragedy, and my heart continues to break for the families who lost a child, a mother, or a loved one. There are twenty-one families in Texas that are forever shattered, and I will do everything in my power to ensure a tragedy like this never happens again. We must secure our children’s schools, address the mental health crisis gripping our nation, and restore respect for the sanctity of human life.
However, the bills considered by the House of Representatives today would have accomplished none of those things. Instead, liberals in Congress used an unimaginable tragedy to push a series of empty and blatantly unconstitutional proposals that attack Americans’ Second Amendment rights and fail to address the root causes of gun violence. The bills passed by the House today were nothing short of a foot in the door to nationwide gun grabs, unconstitutional age restrictions, and European-style gun control. I could not and will not support that. While there is a laundry list of reasons I voted no on these bills today, I wanted to explain to you the most egregious provisions and why I voted against them.
1. Mandating Firearms be Stored and Locked at Home
The Supreme Court has already ruled Americans have a right to defend themselves in their own homes. A federal mandate on how their self-defense weapon is stored that limits their ability to protect themselves would clearly violate that right. While firearm safety in the home is vitally important, especially to parents of young children, if an intruder enters your home, the time it takes to unlock your firearm box and load your gun could be the difference between life and death. Americans have a right to determine the safest way to store their guns at home. This provision would have done nothing to prevent the shooting in Uvalde and instead only risks more lives, especially in rural communities where law enforcement response times are longer.
2. Prohibiting Third-Party Gun Purchases or Loans
Federal law already prohibits the transfer or third-party sale of a firearm to someone prohibited from possessing one. The extreme prohibition in this bill on third-party gun purchases goes much further and would severely limit an individual’s ability to purchase a firearm as a gift or loan a gun to a friend. In other words, it would criminalize purchasing a gun for a friend who is experiencing domestic violence and may need a firearm for self-defense. This would put well-intentioned Americans at risk of criminal prosecution, and even prison, for trying to protect their sister or friend in an abusive relationship or for loaning a friend a gun while hunting.
3. Confiscating Americans’ Firearms without Due Process
The bill would create new “red flag” laws that trample on Americans’ Second Amendment rights by allowing family or household members to alert law enforcement or petition a court requesting an individual’s firearm be confiscated without due process. While this may seem commonsense if an individual is a risk to their family or their household, the way the bill establishes this procedure is extreme and ripe for abuse. It would allow any individual who has cohabitated with another in the past year to file the petition, meaning a disgruntled ex-spouse or former roommate could submit endless petitions to harass an individual or deprive them of the means to defend themselves. In the United States, you are innocent until proven guilty, and your Constitutional rights cannot be denied without due process and equal protection under the law.
4. Raising the Age Limit on Gun Purchases to 21
The bill considered today would prohibit the sale of certain firearms to individuals under the age of 21, with very limited exceptions. If you can fight for your country or join your local police force at age 18, then the government should not prevent you from buying a firearm to protect yourself and your loved ones. More importantly, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has already ruled this type of prohibition is unconstitutional.
5. Banning “High Capacity” Firearms
Perhaps the most far-reaching provision in the bill is a limit on firearm magazine capacity of ten rounds, which would apply to an overwhelming majority of magazines sold with rifles and handguns. Most weapons today can accommodate fifteen to thirty rounds of ammunition, and studies have shown limiting access to these weapons would have no impact on reducing violent crime. This provision is nothing more than an attempt to limit the number of guns available on the market.
These provisions would only burden law-abiding Americans and restrict their right to bear arms while also failing to prevent violent crime from occurring. This is not a serious attempt to find solutions. We must work to understand and prevent what drives individuals to commit such evil acts of violence. We must strengthen our nation’s mental healthcare system. We must emphasize and work to restore the core nuclear family and traditional family values. These actions would prevent future crime, but gun control will not. In the meantime, and most importantly, we must secure our schools.
I support protecting our children and our communities, but I will not support policies that infringe on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans. That’s why I voted no on the liberal gun grab today.
Sincerely,
Here Rep Lance Gooden explains why he voted no
Friends,
The school shooting in Uvalde is an unimaginable tragedy, and my heart continues to break for the families who lost a child, a mother, or a loved one. There are twenty-one families in Texas that are forever shattered, and I will do everything in my power to ensure a tragedy like this never happens again. We must secure our children’s schools, address the mental health crisis gripping our nation, and restore respect for the sanctity of human life.
However, the bills considered by the House of Representatives today would have accomplished none of those things. Instead, liberals in Congress used an unimaginable tragedy to push a series of empty and blatantly unconstitutional proposals that attack Americans’ Second Amendment rights and fail to address the root causes of gun violence. The bills passed by the House today were nothing short of a foot in the door to nationwide gun grabs, unconstitutional age restrictions, and European-style gun control. I could not and will not support that. While there is a laundry list of reasons I voted no on these bills today, I wanted to explain to you the most egregious provisions and why I voted against them.
1. Mandating Firearms be Stored and Locked at Home
The Supreme Court has already ruled Americans have a right to defend themselves in their own homes. A federal mandate on how their self-defense weapon is stored that limits their ability to protect themselves would clearly violate that right. While firearm safety in the home is vitally important, especially to parents of young children, if an intruder enters your home, the time it takes to unlock your firearm box and load your gun could be the difference between life and death. Americans have a right to determine the safest way to store their guns at home. This provision would have done nothing to prevent the shooting in Uvalde and instead only risks more lives, especially in rural communities where law enforcement response times are longer.
2. Prohibiting Third-Party Gun Purchases or Loans
Federal law already prohibits the transfer or third-party sale of a firearm to someone prohibited from possessing one. The extreme prohibition in this bill on third-party gun purchases goes much further and would severely limit an individual’s ability to purchase a firearm as a gift or loan a gun to a friend. In other words, it would criminalize purchasing a gun for a friend who is experiencing domestic violence and may need a firearm for self-defense. This would put well-intentioned Americans at risk of criminal prosecution, and even prison, for trying to protect their sister or friend in an abusive relationship or for loaning a friend a gun while hunting.
3. Confiscating Americans’ Firearms without Due Process
The bill would create new “red flag” laws that trample on Americans’ Second Amendment rights by allowing family or household members to alert law enforcement or petition a court requesting an individual’s firearm be confiscated without due process. While this may seem commonsense if an individual is a risk to their family or their household, the way the bill establishes this procedure is extreme and ripe for abuse. It would allow any individual who has cohabitated with another in the past year to file the petition, meaning a disgruntled ex-spouse or former roommate could submit endless petitions to harass an individual or deprive them of the means to defend themselves. In the United States, you are innocent until proven guilty, and your Constitutional rights cannot be denied without due process and equal protection under the law.
4. Raising the Age Limit on Gun Purchases to 21
The bill considered today would prohibit the sale of certain firearms to individuals under the age of 21, with very limited exceptions. If you can fight for your country or join your local police force at age 18, then the government should not prevent you from buying a firearm to protect yourself and your loved ones. More importantly, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has already ruled this type of prohibition is unconstitutional.
5. Banning “High Capacity” Firearms
Perhaps the most far-reaching provision in the bill is a limit on firearm magazine capacity of ten rounds, which would apply to an overwhelming majority of magazines sold with rifles and handguns. Most weapons today can accommodate fifteen to thirty rounds of ammunition, and studies have shown limiting access to these weapons would have no impact on reducing violent crime. This provision is nothing more than an attempt to limit the number of guns available on the market.
These provisions would only burden law-abiding Americans and restrict their right to bear arms while also failing to prevent violent crime from occurring. This is not a serious attempt to find solutions. We must work to understand and prevent what drives individuals to commit such evil acts of violence. We must strengthen our nation’s mental healthcare system. We must emphasize and work to restore the core nuclear family and traditional family values. These actions would prevent future crime, but gun control will not. In the meantime, and most importantly, we must secure our schools.
I support protecting our children and our communities, but I will not support policies that infringe on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans. That’s why I voted no on the liberal gun grab today.
Sincerely,
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