GOP elected officials are being called to “use every legislative tool” to oppose President Obama’s newest executive action on gun control by Arizona Republicans—this in the midst of Arizona Sen. John McCain facing tough primary challenger Dr. Kelli Ward.
“Yesterday we sampled tyranny, today we demand representation,” Maricopa County GOP Chairman Tyler Bowyer told Breitbart News regarding Obama’s Tuesday announcement pushing greater restrictions on gun ownership.
The typical ho-hum attitude of Congress, to act upset and subsequently do nothing about Obama’s executive power grab is plainly not enough. Grassroots Republicans across the country, including the 700,000+ here in Maricopa County, demand leadership from Washington and expect Congress to use every legislative tool within their power to oppose and stop Obama’s big government oligarchy.
Maricopa County Republicans formally censured McCain in January 2014 for support of legislation “best associated with liberal Democrats,” including “assaults on the Constitution and 2nd Amendment.” Similar resolutions were passed in Apache and Mohave Counties.
McCain reportedly opposed a series of executive orders revealed Monday out of the White House, according to the Arizona Daily Star. But the position could be brought into question as he currently faces a tough primary election challenger in his 2016 bid for re-election.
The entrenched establishment senator is among those elected representatives that have faced criticism for supporting greater gun control measures. Fellow Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake joined McCain and 14 other Republican senators and most Democrats in denying a filibuster on a 2013 gun control bill, according to the Arizona Republic.
Ultimately McCain was one of four Republicans to vote for the Manchin-Toomey proposal that ultimately failed to pass, according to U.S. News and World Report. The senior senator called the proposal “common sense.” When the White House faced criticism from gun control activists for not doing enough to push the issue, McCain said, “I don’t know what the administration could have done.”
President Obama came out condemning those who opposed the gun control bill in a White House press conference.
McCain primary challenger Dr. Kelli Ward came out strongly condemning the president’s new executive action as a “blatant assault on the second amendment” on Tuesday. Gun Owners of America endorsed Ward in her campaign to replace McCain in the U.S. Senate based on Ward’s record of Second Amendment support as an Arizona State Senator.
The Maricopa County Republican Party released the following statement from Chairman Bowyer directly following President Obama’s Tuesday speech:
The Republican Party of Maricopa County rejects President Obama’s unilateral, executive action to restrict the second amendment rights of the American people.
President Obama continues to disrespect the voters by subverting our duly elected Congress and circumventing federal statute with his recently announced illegal executive orders. We hope that Congress will act swiftly to block the President’s efforts and preserve the second amendment freedoms enjoyed by countless, law-abiding Americans.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana.