John Rutherford: “I thank my good friend from Texas for yielding. Mr. Speaker, the Second Amendment, which undergirds all the other…”

“I thank my good friend from Texas for yielding. Mr. Speaker, the Second Amendment, which undergirds all the other amendments, is the only amendment in the U.S. Constitution to include the following four words: ``shall not be infringed.'' As a lifetime law enforcement officer and former sheriff, I have seen firsthand how law-abiding citizens using legal firearms protect themselves, their families, their neighbors, and other innocent persons from those who would do them harm. Mr. Speaker, any crime I have ever seen, I have never seen a stabilizing brace used. While we are prioritizing safe gun ownership and work to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and those with mental illness, the Federal Government shall not infringe on the rights of legal gun owners. That means that the executive branch must not use this administrative rulemaking to rewrite the bounds of the Second Amendment--all without even a vote from Congress. That, Mr. Speaker, is exactly what the Biden administration is trying to do. They legislate by fiat, through rulemaking. Earlier this year, the ATF finalized a rule that redefines these pistols with attached stabilizing braces as a short-barreled rifle. After decades, they changed the interpretation. Mr. Speaker, this insidious rule would turn millions of law-abiding gun owners--including many disabled veterans, as we have heard--who rely on these stabilizing braces into criminals simply for possessing firearms with a legal accessory. Mr.…”