Bill of Rights Week: Second Amendment

Like clockwork, immediately following a mass shooting – in this case an actual terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 49 Americans in Orlando – the gun control advocates start ringing the bells to place limits on the second amendment. They will use any crisis they can to further their agenda and if we want to ensure that our right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, we must push back.

Last Thursday, Senator Joe Manchin (WV) even went so far as to say that due process is killing us, suggesting that the government should be able to take away someone’s right to own a firearm if there is suspicion that the person might be linked to terrorism or generally unfit to own a firearm. One wonders how Senator Manchin would feel if he were thrown in prison without trial for simply suggesting that we should throw due process out the window. Surely he’d walk back those words.

And while the gun control advocates will do everything they can to make their solutions sound reasonable, we have to be careful. It’s easy for someone to agree that a suspected terrorist or someone who has been placed on the “no-fly list” should be barred from purchasing a firearm. But who in our government gets to decide who is a terrorist or if someone should be on the no-fly list? At one point, Vice President Joe Biden likened the Tea Party to terrorists and there are known cases of innocent people finding themselves on the no-fly list – even Members of Congress. As an organization who was targeted by the government, we know first-hand how it feels to have our rights diminished from simply being on a secret government list.

Today, the Senate will vote on four gun control amendments to H.R. 2578, the vehicle for the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill. Beginning at 5:30 PM, the Senate will conduct a stack of up to four roll call votes in the order listed below:

1. Grassley amendment #4751: An amendment offered by Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa to reauthorize and provide funding for the National Instant Background Check System (NICS), provide incentives to share mental health records, and further encourage federal record sharing.
2. Murphy amendment #4750: An amendment offered by Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut to expand background checks, which would require (with a few exceptions) a background check for the sale and transfer of any firearm. It would also require states to make data for NICS electronically available and would require federal agencies to certify that they have shared all records on any individual who would be prohibited from purchasing a firearm.
3. Cornyn amendment #4742: An amendment offered by Sen. John Cornyn of Texas would allow the Attorney General to delay suspected terrorists from purchasing a firearm for up to 72 hours while seeking a court order to stop the sale. It would also allow the Attorney General to delay the sale of a firearm to anyone who has been the subject of a terror investigation within the previous five years.
4. Feinstein amendment #4720: An amendment offered by Sen. Diane Feinstein of California would allow the Attorney General to prohibit the sale of a firearm if there is a “reasonable suspicion” that an individual has been or will be involved in a terrorist attack.

We must call and Tweet Senators and tell them not to tread on our Constitutional freedoms – especially today regarding the second amendment. Every American citizen has the right to keep and bear arms and none of us should lose that right without due process.