The White House made clear Monday that if the House Democrats’ push to criminalize private gun sales somehow reached the president’s desk, it would be vetoed.
On Monday, Breitbart News reported that the Democrats plan to vote this week on H.R.8, the legislation criminalizing private gun sales. H.R.8 would not have stopped a single mass shooter from the last decade, but it would criminalize a friend who sells a gun to a lifelong friend without first getting government permission.
Bloomberg News’ Sahil Kapur reports that the White House released a “Statement of Administration Policy,” making clear the White House opposes the Democrat gun control push.
The White House said, in part:
H.R. 8 would require that certain transfers, loans, gifts, and sales of firearms be processed by a federally licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer of firearms. H.R. 8 would therefore impose permanent record-keeping requirements and limitless fees on these every day transactions. H.R. 8 contains very narrow exemptions from these requirements, and there exemptions would not sufficiently protect the Second Amendment right of individuals to keep and bear arms.
The Democrats named their gun control bill H.R.8 to honor the Gabby Giffords for surviving the attack on her eight years ago. Ironically, H.R.8 would not have stopped the attack on Giffords as her gunman acquired his firearm via a background check.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment. 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.