As a proud and responsible gun owner, I am and always will be a resolute supporter of every law-abiding American’s Second Amendment rights. I’m open to meaningful solutions that may prevent future senseless acts of violence, but the President’s proposals wouldn’t have prevented any of the recent tragedies. So we have yet another attempt to fit a political narrative through the President’s use of his “pen and phone”, rather than trying to solve the actual problem at hand.
The U.S. Government already has more than 240 pages of federal gun regulations. In 2010, nearly 80,000 Americans were denied guns after providing false information about their criminal histories during background checks; yet only 44 would-be buyers were ever charged with a crime. A 2011 Government Accountability Office study found that many states currently fail to share felony and mental health records with the National Instant Background Check System. The first step is fairly simple: we must enforce existing laws to keep guns of out the hands of violent criminals, rather than hampering the rights of law-abiding citizens. I will be introducing legislation this week to stop this clear executive overreach.
