Thomas Massie: “Before I talk about the substance of this bill, or the lack thereof, I would like to put it in the context of the other…”

“Before I talk about the substance of this bill, or the lack thereof, I would like to put it in the context of the other dozen or so unserious, unconstitutional, unnecessary, and unsafe responses to gun shootings in this country that the Democrats have offered and passed in this Chamber. What have they done? Well, they passed a law to ban magazines with a capacity of more than 15 rounds. The chairman of the Rules Committee claimed that this would stop shootings like the one at Virginia Tech. What he failed to mention is the shooter at Virginia Tech never used a magazine that had more than 15 rounds. That is an example of an unserious solution that has come from this body. What else have they done? They have changed the definition of a gun dealer so that any law-abiding individual who sells a firearm to anybody and makes a profit off it now might be a gun dealer and, therefore, prosecutable in a Federal crime. What else have they done that is unserious or unconstitutional? Well, they have passed a law to ban gun trafficking. The problem is that is already illegal. Who did they sweep up in this dragnet in this new law? Well, they swept up domestic violence victims who might ask a neighbor for a firearm. Now, they can be prosecuted. Not the neighbor, not just the Good Samaritan, but also the domestic violence victim can be prosecuted as a gun trafficker under a bill that they passed here.…”