This week, Congress passed two gun control bills. While neither bill stands a chance of being passed by the Senate or signed into law by President Trump, they represent an alarming return by the Left to infringe on our most basic rights to score political points.
H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112 take no meaningful steps to stop gun violence. H.R. 8 would require universal background checks, on all weapons purchased public and private, and H.R. 1112 would significantly delay the NICS background check progress, even allowing for indefinite, endless background checks for some Americans. There are a myriad of laws authorizing the ATF, FBI, and local and state government to combat illegal weapons sales and firearm violence. Rather than reforming and modernizing those existing systems, Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats instead chose to limit firearm access to law abiding Americans.
We know that the overwhelming majority of weapon-related deaths in this country are linked to mental health issues and the firearms black market. It would rationally follow that Congress should focus any major anti-gun violence efforts into those areas. Instead, Democrats chose to ignore the root cause of the problem and unnecessarily target law-abiding gun owners like you and me. Our founders put it best- “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” I swore the same oath as my 434 colleagues to protect and uphold the Constitution, and I seriously hope Speaker Pelosi will take that oath to heart in the future.
FAQ (What folks have been calling/texting my office about this week)
Q: What are your thoughts on the resolution intended to block the national emergency President Trump declared over border wall funding?
A: Securing our borders provides an unparalleled return on investment in terms of national security and we cannot have true immigration reform without a border wall. It is unfortunate that President Trump has been forced to resort to declaring a national emergency, but Congress has granted the President that authority through law. I wrote a newsletter a few weeks go that covers this topic more in depth, if you'd like to give it a read, you can click here.
You can text me legislative concerns or questions at 870-292-6747
In a floor speech, Rep. Rick Crawford of Jonesboro said Trump had "full statutory authority" to declare an emergency.
"The only reason this legislation is being considered on the floor today is to obstruct the president's agenda. The president has made it clear that he will use all statutory tools at his disposal to secure the border, and that is exactly what he's doing in declaring this emergency," Crawford said.
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