After years of bipartisan calls to reform the nation’s mental health system, the Democrats stand opposed to a Republican bill because it puts safeguards in place for gun rights.
The Republican bill was written by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and he wants to combine it with the mental health bill that passed in March, so as to guarantee Second Amendment rights are protected. Democrats, like Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), oppose the inclusion of the protections contained in Cornyn’s bill.
According to The Hill, Murphy is specifically opposed to language in Cornyn’s bill that requires a hearing in order to “ban someone from buying guns due to mental illness.” He is also opposed to language that guarantees that a person barred from gun possession due to a temporary mental treatment order regains their Second Amendment rights once the order expires.
Murphy said, “We’re still talking to [Cornyn] about whether we can move forward without those provisions. Obviously I can’t support a bill on the floor that has those provisions in it.” He indicated there are aspects of Cornyn’s bill he can support, but the protection of gun rights and the promise to restore said rights are not two of them.
During a May 2013 appearance on Rachel Maddow Lean Forward, Murphy made clear his divergence from the convictions of the Founding Fathers by saying, “The Second Amendment is not an absolute right, not a God-given right.” He told Maddow that the Second Amendment has “conditions upon it like the First Amendment has.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com