The Freedom Caucus on Gun Rights and Safety

I have an official letter today from Rep. Mark Meadows, the head of the House Freedom Caucus, on the issue of the day. Since such a letter is a public record, I'll reproduce it here as I would not with genuinely private correspondence. I omit the opening and closing courtesies, though his office did not.
On August 3, 2019, a gunman cowardly took the lives of 22 innocent people in El Paso, Texas. Sadly, another gunman murdered 9 individuals in Dayton, Ohio. I continue to pray for the victims and their families, who are undergoing terrible, unexpected loss. I am thankful for the brave men and women of law enforcement that selflessly responded to these tragedies.

Violence committed with firearms is a serious problem in our nation, and it must be addressed with common sense solutions that ensure firearms are used according to our founders’ intentions: self-defense and freedom, not murder and terror.

I agree with President Trump when he said, “In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy. These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in America.” As Americans, we must stand up against acts of hatred and violence anywhere. The President also tasked the FBI to identify all resources they need to investigate and disrupt hate crimes and domestic terrorism. Earlier this year, the FBI established the Domestic Terrorism-Hate Crimes Fusion Cell to target domestic terrorism influenced by hate. The Department of Justice has launched a centralized website to educate the public on hate crimes and encourage reporting. You may view this website here.

I support proper enforcement of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which licensed gun dealers are required to contact, either directly through the FBI or indirectly through state and local law enforcement, before selling or transferring a firearm. Since its implementation in the 1990s, NICS has stopped over three million-gun sales or transfers from licensed dealers. I have also supported the FIX NICS Act, which improved the federal background checks system. This law requires federal agencies to make annual reports and certifications of compliance regarding the NICS system and it penalizes agencies that fail to comply. It also reauthorized the NICS Improvement Act and increased assistance to states to help them submit complete and accurate records to make the NICS system more thorough. This legislation was signed into law by President Trump on March 23, 2018.

For my part, I have introduced two measures to specifically protect schools in the United States. The Protect America’s Schools Act, which would provide adequate funding to the Community Oriented Policing Services’ School Resource Officer program; and the Veterans Securing Schools Act, which would allow Veterans hired by a state or local agency to serve as School Resource Officer – giving state and local law enforcement agencies greater flexibility in hiring Veterans to protect school campuses. These two bills are the direct results of input from sheriffs and law enforcement officers across Western North Carolina. You can read more about these bills here: https://meadows.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=857.

Additionally, I am a current cosponsor of H.R.1339, the Mass Violence Prevention (MVP) Act of 2019. This bill would establish a Fusion Center at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to better share critical information and intelligence across federal, state, and local channels. The authorities failed to share information about threats at Columbine, Charleston, and Parkland for example. The MVP Act would also strengthen the penalty for a burglary of a Federal Firearms Licensee and authorizes the DOJ to hire attorneys to prosecute cases of violence committed with firearms under Project Safe Neighborhoods. These efforts will give law enforcement additional tools to protect schools and communities and will dismantle gangs and other criminal organizations that trade in violent crime.

6 comments:

raven said...

All these laws are like swivel guns on a frigate. They were ostensibly designed for pirates, but just as easily can be turned to sweep the decks of mutineers.

It is very hard to anticipate the one wacko out of millions, and the Gov.borg does not care anyway. What they want is the same same thing every government since the dawn of time has wanted- the ability to counter domestic opposition. Envision all these new proposed laws in the hands of an overtly hostile government.

J Melcher said...

Hypothesis: mass shooters are motivated by mass media. The shooters want to get the high score in a real-life game and put their names on the board for all to see. The US has the worst problem because of our foolish and antiquated insistence on the 1st amendment. While other nations and cultures properly censor their media, to keep the scores from being publicized, our mass media not only publishes body counts, but backgrounds and biographies, interviews with family friends and rivals, prints the manifestos and promotes shooters' old twitter pages and facebook timelines. There is no better faster way for a social nobody in the US to become a media celebrity than to shoot up a crowd. The media is culpable and must be censored. No more publications of any sort about mass shootings, shooters, and celebrity-seeking hate crimes. The 1st Amendment was never intended for a century like this.

Name names. The talking heads who put the spotlight on the shooters are just as guilty as the shooters themselves. Blame the cameras, blame the press, blame the internet cloud servers, sure all of that. But name and shame and blame the over-paid pretty faces that lure the demented and damaged and deranged into these situations. The 1st Amendment was never meant for people like Rachel Meadows!

Now, ask a person who makes a living, and devoted a lifetime, to the profession of journalism how they FEEL about such proposals to curtail their freedom. Would they put their own freedom above the lives of children?


Grim said...

"...like swivel guns on a frigate."

Excellent analogy.

Hypothesis: mass shooters are motivated by mass media.

I get the satirical thrust of your comment, but in general I think the mass-level descriptions of the problem are categorically wrong. Almost no Americans are or are capable of being terrorists; almost none will be affected by video games in such a wise as to become murderers; etc. We are talking about a tiny fringe of a fringe, and should shape solutions accordingly.

If we do that, it is less likely that such solutions will be disruptive.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

I don't think it was satire, and I agree with it. The number of people who are susceptible is small, but the desire to be seen as a big tuna, badder than Old King Kong, is exactly their motivation. Some have even referenced the "record" of other killers and expressed their desire to beat it.

Ymar Sakar said...

This was rather predictable after the eclipse in ardra. Ardra signifies loss, sadness. Kyoto ani went up in smoke with many deaths. America was not spared either. Most things are guided by the stars.

Ymar Sakar said...

Also fusion centers are a deep state resource via gang stalking and coup de tats vs trum.

Who watches these people, same as irs and tsa.