ccather
Marksman
Thank you for contacting my office about the important issue of our Second Amendment rights. This is an important issue and I am thankful for the opportunity to reply.
Our right to bear arms is a sacred one, enshrined by our Founding Fathers in the Bill of Rights. For too long, however, the government has slowly but steadily chipped away at this right, making responsible gun ownership a complicated process of paperwork and government intrusion. These burdensome rules have resulted in the unfair treatment of many citizens.
Any bill that restores Americans’ freedom to exercise their Second Amendment rights is likely to be distorted by the media, so I am grateful for the opportunity to explain in more detail.
I am proud to be one of the original cosponsors of Rep. Richard Hudson’s Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2019. This bill would allow concealed carry permits to be legal across state lines. Too many law-abiding citizens have suffered unjust legal penalties because of conflicting state laws regarding concealed carry. Someone who legally carries a concealed firearm in one state can be charged with a felony if they drive into another state. This is absurd. States recognize drivers’ licenses from other states; they should recognize concealed carry permits, too.
The Democrats recently passed H.R. 8 the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019. Don’t let the title fool you — this legislation is in no way a good bill constitutionally or for the American people. This bill would require a background check for almost every single firearm transfer in the country. While this sounds simple enough, it comes with a raft of unintended consequences. For instance, the bill has limited exemptions for “hunting, fishing, and trapping,” but not farming or ranching. This means that someone who owns a large ranch cannot lend an employee a firearm to guard a herd against wolves, which is absurd. For more information about this legislation, this article is extremely helpful.
I strongly support gun safety. NICS is a valuable program and I want to ensure that people who are barred from buying guns cannot do so. My Republican colleagues and I offered several amendments to this bill in the Judiciary Committee in an attempt to make it better, and I was dismayed that the Democrats on the committee rejected all of them. I introduced an amendment to create an exemption for domestic violence victims and those who were under orders of protection (for instance, people who had filed a restraining order against a stalker). I was shocked that the Democrats voted against this proposal. A colleague of mine offered an amendment that would report illegal aliens who attempted to purchase a firearm to ICE. Illegal aliens are prohibited from buying guns, so this seemed like common sense, but, once again, the Democrats voted no.
H.R. 8 causes far more problems than it solves, and deeply infringes on the rights of citizens. The second amendment freedoms endowed by our founding fathers are too important to be whisked away by power-hungry legislators. I opposed H.R. 8 in the Judiciary Committee and I opposed it when it came to the House floor for a vote.
Thank you again for contacting my office — hearing from constituents is valuable to me, so please reach out again if you have any further comments or questions. If you’d like to stay informed of the issues I am voting on, and the issues that impact northwest Florida, I encourage you to sign up for my weekly e-newsletter at http://Gaetz.house.gov!
Sincerely,
Matt Gaetz
Member of Congress
Our right to bear arms is a sacred one, enshrined by our Founding Fathers in the Bill of Rights. For too long, however, the government has slowly but steadily chipped away at this right, making responsible gun ownership a complicated process of paperwork and government intrusion. These burdensome rules have resulted in the unfair treatment of many citizens.
Any bill that restores Americans’ freedom to exercise their Second Amendment rights is likely to be distorted by the media, so I am grateful for the opportunity to explain in more detail.
I am proud to be one of the original cosponsors of Rep. Richard Hudson’s Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2019. This bill would allow concealed carry permits to be legal across state lines. Too many law-abiding citizens have suffered unjust legal penalties because of conflicting state laws regarding concealed carry. Someone who legally carries a concealed firearm in one state can be charged with a felony if they drive into another state. This is absurd. States recognize drivers’ licenses from other states; they should recognize concealed carry permits, too.
The Democrats recently passed H.R. 8 the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019. Don’t let the title fool you — this legislation is in no way a good bill constitutionally or for the American people. This bill would require a background check for almost every single firearm transfer in the country. While this sounds simple enough, it comes with a raft of unintended consequences. For instance, the bill has limited exemptions for “hunting, fishing, and trapping,” but not farming or ranching. This means that someone who owns a large ranch cannot lend an employee a firearm to guard a herd against wolves, which is absurd. For more information about this legislation, this article is extremely helpful.
I strongly support gun safety. NICS is a valuable program and I want to ensure that people who are barred from buying guns cannot do so. My Republican colleagues and I offered several amendments to this bill in the Judiciary Committee in an attempt to make it better, and I was dismayed that the Democrats on the committee rejected all of them. I introduced an amendment to create an exemption for domestic violence victims and those who were under orders of protection (for instance, people who had filed a restraining order against a stalker). I was shocked that the Democrats voted against this proposal. A colleague of mine offered an amendment that would report illegal aliens who attempted to purchase a firearm to ICE. Illegal aliens are prohibited from buying guns, so this seemed like common sense, but, once again, the Democrats voted no.
H.R. 8 causes far more problems than it solves, and deeply infringes on the rights of citizens. The second amendment freedoms endowed by our founding fathers are too important to be whisked away by power-hungry legislators. I opposed H.R. 8 in the Judiciary Committee and I opposed it when it came to the House floor for a vote.
Thank you again for contacting my office — hearing from constituents is valuable to me, so please reach out again if you have any further comments or questions. If you’d like to stay informed of the issues I am voting on, and the issues that impact northwest Florida, I encourage you to sign up for my weekly e-newsletter at http://Gaetz.house.gov!
Sincerely,
Matt Gaetz
Member of Congress