House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) believes securing gun control is more important than continuing to win elections and she supports numerous controls that will she undoubtedly pursue if Democrats gain control of the House.
The Washington Times reported that Pelosi reacted to the February 14, 2018, Parkland high school shooting by stressing that securing more gun control is a “higher [priority] than winning the next election.” In other words, she expressed willingness to trade her political career for the opportunity to restrict Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
Here are six gun controls Pelosi is certain to pursue if Democrats take control of Congress:
“Assault Weapons” Ban–Pelosi wants to ban commonly owned semiautomatic rifles. On March 4, 2018, Politico indicated that banning such firearms is part of Pelosi’s long range goals. In the wake of the Parkland high school shooting she told rabid gun controllers in the Democrat Party that an “assault weapons” ban “might take longer” to secure than other gun controls.
Universal Background Checks–Pelosi wants universal background checks, which is leftist-speak for outlawing private gun sales and criminalizing a neighbor who sells a gun to a lifelong neighbor without first getting government permission. And Pelosi will not be deterred by reality. For example, she pushed background checks in the wake of the Parkland high school shooting even though the Parkland gunman passed a background check to acquire his rifle.
Dropping National Reciprocity Push–Roll Call reported that Pelosi and her fellow Democrats also responded to the Parkland high school shooting by trying to remove the push for national concealed carry reciprocity. They did this even though concealed carry had absolutely nothing to do with Parkland. In fact, Parkland was a gun-free zone, so individuals were not able to carry for self-defense even if they had a concealed carry permit. If Pelosi supported dropping national reciprocity legislation over a rifle attack that had nothing to do with concealed carry, she will support dropping it over anything.
Dropping Hearing Protection Act–Following the October 1, 2017, Las Vegas shooting, in which 58 people were killed, Pelosi called for Republicans to drop legislation intended to remove suppressors from the purview of the National Firearms Act (1934). Were suppressors involved in the Las Vegas shooting? No. But Pelosi sought to seize on the emotion of the moment to get to Ryan to stop the Hearing Protection Act from going to the floor for a vote anyway.
“Armor Piercing” Ammunition Controls–Pelosi also pushed for controls on “armor piercing” ammunition following the Las Vegas shooting. Would such controls have prevented the shooting from taking place? No. When such controls have saved a single life? No. But Pelosi was seizing the moment to push one of her pet gun controls anyway.
Gun Confiscation Laws–In the weeks after the May 18, 2018, attack on Sante High School (Texas), Pelosi pushed for “Gun Violence Restraining Orders.” Such orders exist in California, Maryland, Florida, and a handful of other states, and they allow a judge to order the confiscation of an individual’s firearms if the gun owner’s family or co-workers file a complaint alleging the individual is a danger. Ironically, the laws have proven impotent–the June 28, 2018, shooting on the Annapolis Capital Gazette still happened and the August 26, 2018, shooting at Florida’s Jacksonville Landing still occurred–but Pelosi is pushing the confiscatory laws anyway. And as it regards the Sante Fe High School shooting, that gunman used someone else’s firearms, so confiscatory laws would have been powerless against him.
Americans can expect these six gun controls, and many others, to be relentlessly pursued if voters do not show up November 6, 2018, and protect the pro-gun majority in Congress.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
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