The Second Amendment is under attack like never before in our nation’s history, but I am leading the fight to preserve your constitutional rights.
Last year, just weeks after taking power, House Democrats passed a bill to limit the constitutional right to own guns. Their misguided legislation would do nothing to address the underlying problem behind actions of mass violence. That bill, H.R. 8, would prevent lawful gun owners from selling their guns to other law-abiding Americans. If that bill became law, anytime a gun owner like me wanted to transfer or sell a gun, he or she would have to go through a government-sanctioned middle-man. Of course, this process would be prohibitively time consuming and expensive. The authors of this bill’s true intent not only was to freeze all gun transactions through the power of a slow and inefficient federal bureaucracy but to subject millions of Americans to federal prosecution. Even transferring a firearm to a family member or friend could require federal permission!
Let’s not kid ourselves. Criminals are not going to put their illegal enterprises on pause while waiting for permission to buy or sell a gun. H.R. 8 does nothing to stop crime and only burdens lawful citizens. And it does nothing to address the mental health crisis behind so much of the mass violence we have seen. During the debate on that bill, I introduced an amendment to strip out this anti-gun legislation and replace it with nationwide concealed carry reciprocity. My amendment actually could make our country safer. Unsurprisingly, Speaker Pelosi blocked my amendment.
Fortunately for gun owners, we have a true friend in the White House. President Trump has been the biggest advocate for the Second Amendment ever to sit in the Oval Office. To appreciate the significance of that, contrast his Second Amendment policies with those of his opponent in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton.
In 2008 in District of Columbia v. Heller, in a major victory against zealous gun-grabbing liberals, the Supreme Court ruled against a District of Columbia law criminalizing handgun ownership. That law made it illegal to possess an unregistered firearm in the city but also effectively prohibited registration itself, a blatant attempt to block constitutional rights to own a gun. Clinton, however, disagreed with the Supreme Court’s ruling! Can you imagine if we had a president in the White House who thought it should be illegal to own a gun? Unfortunately, her beliefs are now standard for Democrat politicians.
The battle to preserve the second amendment continues in the courts. Last year, I wrote an amicus brief, often called a “friend of the court” brief, to the Supreme Court. The Court is working on a case, N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. City of New York, to determine if New York’s ban on transporting a handgun to a home or shooting range outside city limits is constitutional. Like the District of Columbia law found unconstitutional in Heller, this law is a backdoor attempt to weaken your Second Amendment rights. I was proud to have 120 lawmakers sign onto my brief as well as the support of the NRA and Gun Owners of America.
Last week, I signed on as an original cosponsor to an important bill to strengthen and protect gun rights. The Lawful Interstate Transportation of Firearms Act would ban states from prosecuting lawful gun owners simply traveling through their state. This commonsense legislation would protect against liberal states’ sneaky schemes to circumvent the Second Amendment. I’ll continue fighting for this bill with my colleagues, including Mo Brooks of Alabama who introduced the bill.
The gun-grabbers aren’t letting up, so we can’t stop fighting either. Rest assured I will keep leading the fight in Washington to protect your Second Amendment rights.
U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne is a Republican from Fairhope. He is a 2020 candidate for the U.S. Senate.
