Democrat Bill Nelson Wants to Implement Gun Controls Already in Place

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) wants to implement gun controls that are already in place and are almost always the means by which mass public attackers get their guns.

The Sun Sentinel reports that Nelson wants to put universal background checks in place. Although such checks are a go-to gun control for Democrats, they would have done absolutely nothing to stop any mass public firearm-based attack during the last ten years.

Why would such gun controls be so impotent? Because we already have background checks, which became the law of the land in 1998. Sure, the Democrats constantly talk about the “gun show loophole” and private gun sales, but mass public attackers do not get their guns at gun shows or private sales. Rather, they walk into retail stores, pass a background check, and acquire their gun.

Consider this little-known fact about Gabby Giffords, one of the most vocal proponents of background checks. The attacker who tried to assassinate her acquired his gun via a background check.

So when Nelson pushes for universal background checks, he is pushing for a gun control that already exists, as far as it applies to retail sales, and which is already a demonstrable failure.

Nelson also supports barring Americans from possessing commonly owned semiautomatic rifles. In other words, he wants to make it illegal for law-abiding citizens to own or use AR-15s and similar firearms.

While banning such rifles would do little to stop mass public attacks — mass public attackers much prefer handguns over long guns — Nelson’s support of such a ban is a perfect illustration of the Democrats’ penchant for taking things away from Americans.

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.