House Democrats are continuing their rampage of stripping Americans of their rights by passing two gun control bills this week. In February on the anniversary of the Parkland school shooting, President Biden made gun control a priority by saying:
“This Administration will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call. We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer.”
However, these bills are being used as part of a false narrative of creating safer spaces.
The first bill to be voted on is H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act. Despite the title insinuating that this is a reach across the aisle, only three Republicans have co-sponsored compared to 207 Democrats. The language in this bill would subject every gun transfer to a government screening process with very few exemptions. The word “transfer” is not defined in the bill whatsoever, so this could be as far-reaching as criminalizing one person giving a rifle to a friend to go hunting.
The second bill, H.R. 1446, the Enhanced Background Checks Act, increases the wait times to purchase a gun. Democrats have used the example of the Emmanuel Church shooting in South Carolina to prop up this bill calling it the “Charleston loophole.” The gunman’s background check was delayed due to a previous drug charge, yet the gun was still sold to him prior to the FBI’s assertion that the sale should have not taken place. This was a matter of human error that is not addressed in this legislation. It only extends the delays by 10-day increments.
These bills blatantly ignore the facts about criminal gun activity. The Department of Justice under the Obama administration reported that 90 percent of guns owned by convicted criminals were either stolen or obtained through the black market. Instead of prosecuting the actual gun offenders, these bills would create more criminals out of harmless citizens.
Democrats are not going to stop at these two bills and call it a day though. The policy director for March for Our Lives, Max Markham, stated:
“Passing this legislation is the bare minimum. It’s the first step in comprehensive action.”
Liberal billionaires are funding organizations like Markham’s as well as sinking money into Democrat races. During the 2020 Presidential campaigns, not one Democrat championed our Constitutional right to bear arms but instead made promises to enact buy-back programs and federal mandates to tighten our restrictions on gun ownership.
While Democrats were threatening to take away our gun rights, firearm sales hit record highs. With violent protests happening frequently and crime on the rise, it’s no surprise that people are looking for ways to protect themselves. The highest increase came from Black men and women with a 58 percent increase. While Black voters have historically leaned Democrat, this shows that gun ownership transcends party lines and is simply an American right.
Both bills passed the House on Thursday mostly by partisan lines. Eagle Forum opposes any effort of Congress that would chip away at our Constitutional rights just like these two measures. We expect to see a tougher fight in the Senate if they decide to take it up.