On the recordMarch 9, 2021
I thank my friend from Arizona for yielding. Mr. Speaker, we are all concerned with this bill, H.R. 8. And the reality is, the big money donors and powerful special interest groups behind the Democratic Party for a long time have sought to undermine, restrict, and even eliminate the Second Amendment rights of Americans. With the Democratic Party now calling the shots here in Washington, quite frankly, the majority party is not even trying to hide their true agenda. Masquerading as supposedly good-faith proposals to end gun violence, what they are really putting in place are the stepping-stones to creating a national firearm registry and eventually even confiscating firearms. H.R. 8 is being considered later this week, and it would implement a universal background check system. The majority claims that this is an obvious solution to gun violence, but that is simply not the case at all. Gun violence in America is complex, and so are the solutions. But the overwhelming majority of criminals would not be stopped by H.R. 8 whatsoever. In fact, the Justice Department itself, by its own data, says that 75 percent of criminals in prison who possessed a firearm obtained it through theft, the black market, or family and friends. Secondly, we know that the vast majority of mass shooters would have been able to pass background checks. This bill does not in any way end gun violence.…
