In an October 9 video highlighting lawmakers’ ignorance of firearms, Congressional candidate Paul Nehlen (R) asked, “What’s Congress going to do, outlaw fingers?”
He said this in light of the fact that lawmakers who did not even know what a bump stock was 10 days ago are now expressing a willingness to ban them because they allow a gun owner to fire his rifle quickly. Nehlen shows the foolishness of this position by firing a semiautomatic rifle at bump stock levels using only his index finder. He then looks at the camera and asks, “What’s Congress going to do, outlaw fingers?”
His question gets at the heart of the current gun control debate, one that swirls around an accessory that allows semiautomatic gun owners to mimic gunfire while not converting semiautomatics into automatics. If Congress is willing to ban such firearm accessories, where will the bans stop?
Nehlen then shoots a rifle with a suppressor attached to show that suppressors are not silencers. After shooting it he highlights how clueless some lawmakers are, in that they look to Hollywood films to frame their understanding of suppressors.
He says, “Congress shouldn’t let people who misunderstood the latest James Bond movie, write our gun laws”:
Nehlen is running to unseat Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) in 2018. On October 3, Breitbart News reported that Ryan sided with Hillary Clinton and shelved the Hearing Protection Act just as it neared a Floor vote. Prior to this, Ryan stalled legislation revolving around national reciprocity for concealed carry.
On Thursday of last week Ryan said legislation banning bump stocks is “clearly” something Congress should look into.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.