All eyes are on Georgia and the runoff elections for the final two U.S. Senate seats. The results will impact the firearm industry and the ability of Americans to purchase and possess firearms of their choosing.
Americans have made clear how they feel about their Second Amendment rights, with record firearm purchases topping 19 million. The gun-owning community is the most diverse ever, with women and minorities accounting for large portions of new sales. There were approximately 186,000 background checks for firearms on Black Friday alone. More than 7.5 million people bought a firearm for the first time. That’s the backdrop of the runoff elections between Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democratic nominee Rev. Raphael Warnock and Republican Sen. David Perdue and Democratic nominee Jon Ossoff.
The stakes couldn’t be higher as the very balance of power in the Senate is up for grabs.
Warnock Mocks The Flock
The candidates’ different stances on the Second Amendment is striking. Sen. Loeffler is a strong gun rights supporter, while Rev. Warnock is not. The most telling example is found in Rev. Warnock’s sermons condemning gun-carrying Georgians. After Peach State legislators passed the Safe Carry Protection Act in 2014 to add locations where law-abiding gun owners can carry a firearm for self-protection, Warnock denounced those who obey the law and carry a concealed firearm.
“Somebody decided that they had a bright idea to pass a piece of legislation that will allow for guns and concealed weapons to be carried in churches,” Warnock said, adding churches were “the last place” firearms were needed and that gun owners are “crazy people.” He may need a civics lesson – that “somebody” was the Georgia state legislature elected by the people.
Rev. Warnock’s timing was noteworthy. Just three months after Georgia passed the bill, Jack Wilson, a concealed carry permit holder and volunteer security guard stopped a murderer with his concealed firearm from inflicting unthinkable violence on his fellow churchgoers during a religious service at the West Freeway Church of Christ, in White Settlement, Texas. Gun-free zones do not keep people safe. This is a lesson we have learned repeatedly.
Rev. Warnock’s words, and his antigun positions, are reminding Georgians he’s not on their side when it comes to their rights.
Ossoff’s Double Deal
Democratic nominee Jon Ossoff is attempting to unseat incumbent Sen. Perdue, who has been a consistent Second Amendment supporter. Ossoff has tried to fool Georgians from knowing he wants to institute a ban on so-called “assault weapons.” Ossoff even got knocked for running two different TV ads trying to trick voters, one saying he supports the Second Amendment while the other conspicuously avoiding the subject.
“I support a ban on the sale of semiautomatic rifles (‘assault weapons’) and high-capacity magazines to the general public,” he said. “Americans who would purchase high-powered weapons derived from modern military technology should be required to demonstrate high qualification and compelling specific needs.”
Ossoff also supports a ban on standard-sized magazines and won the praise of Everytown for Gun Safety.
Blocking Biden
Georgia’s runoff elections are a national affair. Gun control champions Stacey Abrams and Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms are working overtime to crank up Democratic voter turnout. If both Ossoff and Rev. Warnock win, it will guarantee a Biden-Harris administration will be able to move on their radical antigun agenda. That agenda includes demolishing the entire firearm industry, imposing confiscation and bans on modern sporting rifles, instituting gun registration schemes and more. Two votes stand in the way of Sen. Chuck Schumer from making good on his promise to take Georgia and then “we change America.” Those votes belonging to Senators Perdue and Loeffler.
Lawrence Keane is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearm industry trade association.
