John Fetterman Wants to End Filibuster to Push Gun Ban Through

Senate candidate John Fetterman (D-PA) wants to end the filibuster so Democrats can push through a gun ban for “assault weapons.”

Fetterman’s gun control positions were in the spotlight over the weekend after a September 30 FOX News mention of his reference to NRA members as the “lunatic fringe of gun ownership.”

FOX News noted that he made comments in April 2022, saying, “I’m not afraid of anything, and certainly not the NRA. And let me be clear, the NRA does not represent the overwhelming majority of what gun owners really believe and want.”

In July Fetterman voiced gun control support that was more pointed, calling for an “assault weapons” ban in response to the July 4, 2022, attack on the Highland Park Independence Day parade. Days later, WCCS reported that he called for the filibuster to be ended so Democrats could push an “assault weapons” ban through the Senate, as well as ban on “high-capacity magazines.”

But Fetterman’s gun control aspirations also include getting ride of the filibuster so Democrats can secure universal background checks on gun sales, according to Penn Live.

The United States has had FBI-run National Instant Criminal Background Check System checks on retail gun sales since 1998. When Democrats push universal background checks they are pushing to expand retail checks so as to mandate checks on private gun sales as well. This move effectively criminalizes private sales between neighbors, life-long coworkers, and acquaintances, unless the buyer undergoes a background check with the FBI.

Ironically, high-profile mass shooters rarely acquire their guns privately. Rather, they almost always go through a background check at retail.

Here is a short list of examples of high-profile shooters from the past 15 years who acquired their guns at retail, via a background check:

• Uvalde School attacker (May 24, 2022)
• Buffalo grocery attacker (May 14, 2022)
• Indianapolis FedEx attacker (April 15, 2021)
• Atlanta-area attacker (March 16, 2021)
• Parkland high school attacker (February 14, 2018)
• Texas church attacker (November 5, 2017)
• Las Vegas attacker (October 1, 2017)
• Alexandria attacker (June 14, 2017)
• Orlando attacker (June 12, 2016)
• UCLA gunman (June 1, 2016)
• San Bernardino attackers (December 2, 2015)
• Colorado Springs attacker (October 31, 2015)
• Umpqua Community College attacker (October 1, 2015)
• Alison Parker’s attacker (August 26, 2015)
• Lafayette movie theater attacker (July 23, 2015)
• Chattanooga attacker (July 16, 2015)
• Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal attacker (Jun 17, 2015)
• Muhammad Cartoon Contest attackers (May 3, 2014)
• Las Vegas cop killers (June 9, 2015)
• Santa Barbara attacker (May 23, 2014)
• Fort Hood attacker (April 2, 2014)
• Arapahoe High School attacker (December 13, 2013)
• D.C. Navy Yard attacker (September 16, 2013)
• Aurora movie theater attacker (July 20, 2012)
• Gabby Giffords’ attacker (January 8, 2011)
• Fort Hood attacker (November 5, 2009)
• Northern Illinois University attacker (February 14, 2008)
• Virginia Tech attacker (April 16, 2007)

None of the high-profile shootings listed above would have been stopped by background checks on private sales.

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, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.