Freshman Republican Congressman Ben Cline (VA-6) took to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives this week to speak out against what he calls “misguided legislation” forwarded by Democrats. The bill represents one of the most sweeping gun control measures to come out of Washington in two decades.
H.R. 8, dubbed the “Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019,” would “utilize the current background checks process in the United States to ensure individuals prohibited from gun possession are not able to obtain firearms.” The bill states that any person who is not a “licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer” will be prohibited from transferring a firearm to any other person who is also not licensed.
The Democratic majority House, in a 240-190 Wednesday vote, passed the legislation, which now heads to the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate.
Cline began his remarks by “thanking” Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (CA-12) “for her remarks [that] reminded us all that it is California where Michael Bloomberg and gun control advocates have established their ‘utopia’ of a land without guns.”
“And what has that led us to?” he asks.
“With some of the strictest gun control laws in the land, [California has] some of the worst incidents of gun violence in the country,” Cline said.
“Gun control measures do not address the problems of gun violence and this bill will not address gun violence,” he added.
Currently, only federally-licensed gun dealers are required to run background checks through the FBI’s national “instant check system.” The Democrat-led bill would expand background checks on nearly all gun purchases, including most firearms transfers.
Only law enforcement officers, private security personnel, and members of the armed forces are excluded from the provisions of the legislation.
Although the bill states that it does not “authorize the establishment, directly or indirectly, of a national firearms registry,” conservatives are weary the legislation is just the first step towards doing such.
Cline continued by stating “the legislation is an attempt to take away our Second Amendment rights hidden under the guise that we will see a reduction in violent crime.”
House Democrats claim that extending background checks to cover more private sales is a “simple way” to have the government flag more people who are barred from buying guns, including those convicted of felonies and terrorists.
The freshman representative said Democrats claim the bill “will save lives.” However, he added that “nothing in this bill would have stopped any of the recent mass casualty shootings that have occurred in our country.”
A 2016 study by the Rand Corporation concluded that “the effects of background checks for all handgun sales and for all firearm sales on mass shootings” provided “inconclusive evidence” that an expansion of checks would have stopped shootings. Other current measures have also been found to be either unsatisfactory or have no effect at all, according to studies from Northwestern University, CNN, and the Crime Prevention Research Center.
Unequivocally, Cline said in his address on the floor of the House “the only thing this bill does is limit the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.”
“They’ll tell you this bill closes loopholes,” he said; “however, the loophole that they believe exists is private gun ownership, and what they really want is to regulate the private transfer of firearms.”
“If my neighbor is in trouble and needs to borrow a firearm to protect his family, I should be allowed to loan that firearm to my neighbor so that he can protect himself and his family,” Cline explained.
Under the legislation that passed earlier this week, if Cline’s neighbor, or indeed the congressman himself, are not licensed importers, manufacturers, or dealers, the exchange would, in fact, be illegal.
“This is not something we should need to go to the federal government to get permission to do,” the congressman explained. “The Second Amendment does not say that ‘after you get permission from the government, your right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’ Our Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution to protect us from the government and gave individuals the Second Amendment to protect themselves.”
“I carried this Constitution everyday on the campaign trail last fall, he said, adding that, “I carry it with me everyday now to remind myself of those protections that were given to us not by government, but by God.”
Ending his speech, Cline concluded, “this bill is nothing more than an attempt to advance the agenda of radical gun grabbers and lay the foundation for a national gun registration scheme.
He said lawmakers must “reject the legislation” and “begin to have real discussions about ways to reduce crime across this great nation.”